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IDF Forces Reach Litani River as Israeli Cabinet Set to Vote on Lebanon Ceasefire
Smoke billows over Beirut’s southern suburbs after an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Hadath, Lebanon October 19, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
JNS.org — Israeli troops reached the Litani River on Tuesday, for the first time since the Israel Defense Forces’ withdrawal from southern Lebanon on May 24, 2000, the IDF reported.
Soldiers from the 91st Division carried out intelligence-driven raids on Hezbollah targets, engaged in close-quarters combat with terrorists, and uncovered and destroyed dozens of rocket launchers, thousands of rockets and missiles, as well as concealed weapons storage facilities, according to the military.
The raids near the Litani River involved forces from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, including reservists from the 769th Brigade, the Golani Reconnaissance Battalion, and the Israeli Air Force’s Shaldag commando unit.
In the Wadi Saluki area of southern Lebanon, the Commando Brigade Combat Team carried out a targeted raid on terrorist infrastructure. The troops uncovered hundreds of weapons, underground facilities, and dozens of rocket launchers ready for immediate use.
Maj. Gen. Ori Gordin, the chief of the IDF Northern Command, also visited the Litani River during the operations.
Thirty Hezbollah terror targets struck in southern Lebanon
Since Tuesday morning, the IAF has struck 30 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, the military announced in the afternoon. The strikes targeted weapons storage facilities, anti-tank missile depots, and arms caches belonging to Hezbollah’s Aerial Defense unit in the Bint Jbeil area.
Storage facilities associated with the “Nasser” unit, responsible for many terror attacks against northern Israeli communities and IDF troops, were also targeted, as was the launcher used to attack the Western Galilee area on Monday, according to the military.
Strikes on Dahieh continue
On Tuesday, the IAF targeted six Hezbollah sites in the terror group’s stronghold of Dahieh, south of Beirut. Over the past week, 30 Hezbollah targets have been hit in the Dahieh district, including operational hubs of the terrorist group’s intelligence unit and Unit 4400, which oversees weapons smuggling from Iran to Lebanon via Syria.
The IDF highlighted that, despite Hezbollah’s practice of embedding its infrastructure within residential neighborhoods, using the population as human shields, the military took extensive precautions to minimize harm to civilians. Measures included issuing advance warnings before the strikes.
On Tuesday, the IDF issued evacuation orders for approximately 20 buildings in Dahieh in preparation for strikes on Hezbollah assets.
Lebanese media also reported an Israeli strike in central Beirut on Tuesday, which was carried out without warning, potentially targeting a high-profile individual. The IDF confirmed that it was carrying out strikes on Hezbollah terrorist targets in Beirut, noting that further details would be provided later.
Hezbollah coastal commander killed
The IDF announced on Tuesday that Ahmad Sabhi Hazima, the commander of Hezbollah’s operations unit in the coastal sector, had been killed in an airstrike in the Tyre area.
According to the IDF, Hazima was responsible for orchestrating numerous terror attacks, including plans to infiltrate Israeli territory and launch anti-tank missiles at communities in the Western Galilee prior to the “Northern Arrows” operation.
Previously, Hazima served as deputy to the former coastal sector commander, who was killed on Nov. 17.
“This operation significantly weakens Hezbollah’s ability to plan and execute terrorist activities from southern Lebanon targeting Israeli civilians along the northern border,” the IDF stated.
Israeli Security Cabinet to vote on Lebanon ceasefire
According to the reported terms of a draft ceasefire agreement expected to be approved by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Security Cabinet during its meeting on Tuesday at 5:30 pm local time, all IDF soldiers are to withdraw from southern Lebanon over a 60-day transition period.
Hezbollah will relocate its “heavy weapons” north of the Litani River, while the Lebanese Armed Forces are to deploy near the border areas.
A key unresolved issue is Israel’s insistence on maintaining operational freedom in Lebanon should Hezbollah violate the truce by rearming or attempting to reestablish its forces south of the Litani River.
The agreement reportedly includes a US-led oversight committee to monitor implementation and address violations. Israel has pledged to limit military action against Hezbollah violations to situations where the Lebanese Armed Forces fails to neutralize the threat, and only after consulting with the United States.
United Nations Resolution 1701, which brought an end to the 2006 Second Lebanon War but was never fully enforced, mandated the complete demilitarization of Hezbollah south of the Litani River and prohibited the presence of armed groups in Lebanon except for the official Lebanese Army and UNIFIL.
Iran-backed Hezbollah has launched near-daily attacks on Israel for over a year, firing thousands of rockets, missiles and suicide drones at the Jewish state.
The post IDF Forces Reach Litani River as Israeli Cabinet Set to Vote on Lebanon Ceasefire first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Former Columbia University President Appointed as UK Economic Adviser
Columbia University administrators and faculty, led by President Minouche Shafik, testified before the US House Committee on Education and the Workforce on April 17, 2024. Photo: Jack Gruber/Reuters Connect
i24 News – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has named Minouche Shafik, former president of Columbia University, as his chief economic adviser at Downing Street, a move aimed at stabilizing the country’s fragile economy and averting a potential budget crisis.
Shafik, an economist of Egyptian origin with dual British and American nationality, has held senior roles at the Bank of England, the IMF, and the World Bank.
She later led the London School of Economics and was elevated to the House of Lords in 2020.
Her tenure in the United States was more turbulent. Shafik stepped down as president of Columbia University in 2024 after just a year in office, amid fierce criticism over her handling of pro-Palestinian protests following the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, and the subsequent war in Gaza.
US officials accused her of failing to confront antisemitism on campus, while students and faculty condemned her decision to call in police to dismantle protest encampments.
Since returning to Britain, Shafik has played an active role in policy and cultural institutions. She advised Foreign Secretary David Lammy on international aid reform, has chaired the Victoria & Albert Museum since January, and led the “Economy 2030” inquiry for the Resolution Foundation, where she argued for reforms to the UK’s system of wealth taxation.
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Israel Mulls West Bank Annexation in Response to Moves to Recognize Palestine
The Jordan Valley. Photo: Юкатан via Wikimedia Commons.
Israel is considering annexation in the West Bank as a possible response to France and other countries recognizing a Palestinian state, according to three Israeli officials and the idea will be discussed further on Sunday, another official said.
Extension of Israeli sovereignty to the West Bank – de facto annexation of land captured in the 1967 Middle East war – was on the agenda for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet meeting late on Sunday that is expected to focus on the Gaza war, a member of the small circle of ministers said.
It is unclear where precisely any such measure would be applied and when, whether only in Israeli settlements or some of them, or in specific areas of the West Bank like the Jordan Valley and whether any concrete steps, which would likely entail a lengthy legislative process, would follow discussions.
Any step toward annexation in the West Bank would likely draw widespread condemnation from the Palestinians, who seek the territory for a future state, as well as Arab and Western countries. It is unclear where US President Donald Trump stands on the matter. The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar did not respond to a request for comment on whether Saar had discussed the move with his US counterpart Marco Rubio during his visit to Washington last week.
Netanyahu’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the prime minister supports annexation and if so, where.
A past pledge by Netanyahu to annex Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley was scrapped in 2020 in favor of normalizing ties with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in the Abraham Accords brokered by Trump in his first term in office.
The office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The United States said on Friday it would not allow Abbas to travel to New York for the United Nations gathering of world leaders, where several US allies are set to recognize Palestine as a state.
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Israel Pounds Gaza City Suburbs, Netanyahu to Convene Security Cabinet
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Israeli forces pounded the suburbs of Gaza City overnight from the air and ground, destroying homes and driving more families out of the area as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet was set on Sunday to discuss a plan to seize the city.
Residents of Sheikh Radwan, one of the largest neighborhoods of Gaza City, said the territory had been under Israeli tank shelling and airstrikes throughout Saturday and on Sunday, forcing families to seek shelter in the western parts of the city.
The Israeli military has gradually escalated its operations around Gaza City over the past three weeks, and on Friday it ended temporary pauses in the area that had allowed for aid deliveries, designating it a “dangerous combat zone.”
“They are crawling into the heart of the city where hundreds of thousands are sheltering, from the east, north, and south, while bombing those areas from the air and ground to scare people to leave,” said Rezik Salah, a father of two, from Sheikh Radwan.
An Israeli official said Netanyahu’s security cabinet will convene on Sunday evening to discuss the next stages of the planned offensive to seize Gaza City, which he has described as Hamas’ last bastion.
A full-scale offensive is not expected to start for weeks. Israel says it wants to evacuate the civilian population before moving more ground forces in.
HAMAS SPOKESPERSON TARGETED
Netanyahu confirmed on Sunday that Israeli forces had targeted Abu Ubaida, the spokesperson of Hamas’ armed wing. Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Abu Ubaida was killed. Two Hamas officials contacted by Reuters did not respond to requests for comment.
Gaza health authorities said 15 people, including five children, were killed in the attack on a residential building in the heart of Gaza City.
Abu Ubaida, also known as Hozayfa Al-Khalout, is a well-known figure to Palestinians and Israelis alike, close to Hamas’ top military leaders and in charge of delivering the group’s messages, often via video, for around two decades, delivering statements while wearing a red keffiyeh that concealed his face.
The US targeted him with sanctions in April 2024, accusing him of leading the “cyber influence department” of al-Qassam Brigades.
In his last statement on Friday, he warned that the planned Israeli offensive on Gaza City would endanger the hostages.
On Saturday, Red Cross head Mirjana Spoljaric said an evacuation from the city would provoke a massive population displacement that no other area in the enclave is equipped to absorb, with shortages of food, shelter and medical supplies.
“People who have relatives in the south left to stay with them. Others, including myself, didn’t find a space as Deir Al-Balah and Mawasi are overcrowded,” said Ghada, a mother of five from the city’s Sabra neighborhood.
Around half of the enclave’s more than 2 million people are presently in Gaza City. Several thousand were estimated to have left the city for central and southern areas of the enclave.
Israel’s military has warned its political leaders that the offensive is endangering hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza. Protests in Israel calling for an end to the war and the release of the hostages have intensified in the past few weeks.