RSS
Israel Said to Outline to US Demands for Ending Lebanon Military Operations
Israeli tanks are being moved, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, in the Golan Heights, Sept. 22, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Jim Urquhart
Israel has shared a document with the US outlining its conditions to end Israel’s ongoing military operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon, according to a new report.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented the document to the White House last week ahead of US Special Envoy Amos Hochstein’s visit to Beirut, Lebanon on Monday, Axios reported. The papers were produced after intensive discussions between Ron Dermer, the Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs, and the Israeli Ministry of Defense and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
The document reportedly explains that the Jewish state is open to a diplomatic resolution and the return of displaced Lebanese civilians under specific conditions.
According to Axios, Israel is demanding that the IDF be allowed to engage in “active enforcement” to prevent Hezbollah, the Iran-backed terrorist organization that wields significant influence in Lebanon, from rebuilding its military infrastructure near Israel’s northern border to attack the Jewish state.
In addition, Israel wants to have freedom of operation in Lebanese air space.
Hezbollah has pummeled northern Israeli communities almost daily with missiles, rockets, and drones following the Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel perpetrated by Hamas, another Iran-backed terrorist group. The powerful Lebanese Islamist movement has fired over 10,000 projectiles at Israel over the past year.
About 70,000 Israelis have been forced to evacuate their homes in northern Israel and flee to other parts of the country amid the unrelenting attacks from Hezbollah. The Jewish state has vowed to ensure all citizens can safely return to their homes.
In recent weeks, Israel has killed many high-ranking Hezbollah terrorists, including top leader Hassan Nasrallah. The IDF has also conducted limited ground operations in southern Lebanon with the goal of establishing a buffer zone between Israel and Hezbollah. The Jewish state was also allegedly responsible for the widespread explosions of communications devices used by Hezbollah members last month, although Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement.
Observers believe that Lebanon and the international community are unlikely to agree to Israel’s demands, arguing that they violate United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701. The resolution, adopted after the 2006 Lebanon War, mandated the disarmament of Hezbollah and the terrorist group’s withdrawal of forces away from the Israel-Lebanon border. The resolution also mandated that the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) maintain a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
“We are talking about 1701 with increased enforcement. Our main message is that if the Lebanese army and UNIFIL do more, the IDF will do less and the other way around,” an Israeli official told Axios.
Thus far, Hochstein’s discussions with Lebanese officials indicate the country will likely not be willing to modify the conditions outlined in UNSC Resolution 1701. During a press conference in Beirut, Hochstein also stated that neither the Jewish state nor Lebanon have faithfully abided by the measure, resulting in “the conflict we are witnessing today.”
“We are working on a formula that will end the conflict once and for all so that it won’t start again next month or next year,” Hochstein added.
Hochstein said that the US aims to stop the fighting and resolve the situation while still honoring UNSC 1701.
The post Israel Said to Outline to US Demands for Ending Lebanon Military Operations first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
RSS
Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
RSS
Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.