The Israeli military said it was striking Hezbollah targets in several areas in Lebanon on Thursday, adding that the strikes were in response to Hezbollah‘s “repeated violations of the ceasefire.”

An Israeli military spokesperson had earlier issued a warning to residents of certain buildings in the Lebanese village of Sohmor.

Israel and Lebanon agreed to a US-brokered ceasefire in 2024, ending more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that had culminated in Israeli strikes that severely weakened the Iran-backed terrorist group. Since then, the sides have traded accusations over violations.

Lebanon has faced growing pressure from the US and Israel to disarm Hezbollah, and its leaders fear that Israel could dramatically escalate strikes across the battered country to push Lebanon‘s leaders to confiscate Hezbollah‘s arsenal more quickly.

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey have prepared a draft defense agreement after nearly a year of talks, Pakistan‘s Minister for Defense Production said, a signal they could be seeking a bulwark against a flare-up of regional violence in the last two years.

Raza Hayat Harraj told Reuters on Wednesday the potential deal between the three regional powers was separate from a bilateral Saudi–Pakistani accord announced last year. A final consensus between the three states is needed to complete the deal, he said.

“The Pakistan–Saudi Arabia-Turkey trilateral agreement is something that is already in pipeline,” Harraj said in an interview.

“The draft agreement is already available with us. The draft agreement is already with Saudi Arabia. The draft agreement is already available with Turkey. And all three countries are deliberating. And this agreement has been there for the last 10 months.”

Asked at a press conference in Istanbul on Thursday about media reports on negotiations between the three sides, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said talks had been held but that no agreement had been signed.

Fidan pointed to a need for broader regional cooperation and trust to overcome distrust that creates “cracks and problems” that led to the emergence of external hegemonies, or wars and instability stemming from terrorism, in the region.

“At the end of all of these, we have a proposal like this: all regional nations must come together to create a cooperation platform on the issue of security,” Fidan said. Regional issues could be resolved if relevant countries would “be sure of each other,” he added.

“At the moment, there are meetings, talks, but we have not signed any agreement. Our President [Tayyip Erdogan]’s vision is for an inclusive platform that creates wider, bigger cooperation and stability,” Fidan said, without naming Pakistan or Saudi Arabia directly.

Ali Shaath, the Palestinian former government official chosen to administer Gaza under a US-backed deal, has an ambitious plan that includes pushing war debris into the Mediterranean Sea and rebuilding destroyed infrastructure within three years.

The appointment of the civil engineer and former deputy planning minister on Thursday marked the start of the next phase of US President Donald Trump‘s plan to end Israel’s war in Gaza.

Shaath will chair a group of 15 Palestinian technocrats tasked with governing the Palestinian enclave after years of rule by Hamas terrorists.

Under Trump‘s plan, Israel has withdrawn from nearly half of Gaza but its troops remain in control of the other half, a wasteland where nearly all buildings have been destroyed. Trump has floated turning Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”

Shaath will face the uncertain task of rebuilding the territory’s shattered infrastructure and clearing an estimated 68 million tons of rubble and unexploded ordnance even as Israel and Hamas continue to trade fire.

After past rounds of fighting with Israel, Palestinians in Gaza used war rubble as foundational material for the historic marina in Gaza City and for other projects. In an interview with a Palestinian radio station on Thursday, Shaath suggested a similar approach.

“If I brought bulldozers and pushed the rubble into the sea, and made new islands, new land, I can win new land for Gaza and at the same time clear the rubble,” Shaath said, suggesting the debris could be removed in three years.

He said his immediate priority was the provision of urgent relief, including forging temporary housing for displaced Palestinians. His second priority would be rehabilitating “essential and vital infrastructure,” he said, followed by reconstruction of homes and buildings.

“Gaza will return and be better than it used to be within seven years,” he said.

According to a 2024 UN report, rebuilding Gaza’s shattered homes will take until at least 2040, but could drag on for many decades.

REBUILDING GAZA

Shaath, born in 1958, is originally from Khan Younis in southern Gaza. He previously served as the deputy minister of planning in the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, where he currently resides.

In that role and others, he oversaw the development of several industrial zones in the West Bank and Gaza. He holds a PhD in Civil Engineering from Queen’s University Belfast.

Shaath’s upbeat assessment of the timeline for rebuilding Gaza is almost certain to face challenges as mediators struggle to agree terms on disarming Hamas, which refuses to give up its weapons, and deploying peacekeepers in the enclave.

It was unclear how Shaath’s committee would proceed with rebuilding and gaining permissions for the import and use of heavy machinery and equipment – generally banned by Israel.

Israel, which cites security concerns for restricting the entry of such equipment into Gaza, did not respond to requests for comment on Shaath’s appointment and plans.

Shaath said the Palestinian committee’s area of jurisdiction would begin with Hamas-controlled territory and gradually increase as Israel’s military withdraws further, as called for in Trump‘s plan.

“Ultimately, the [committee’s] authority will encompass the entire Gaza Strip — 365 square kilometers — from the sea to the eastern border,” Shaath said in the radio interview.

SUPPORT FROM HAMAS AND ABBAS

The formation of Shaath’s committee has won support from Hamas, which is holding talks on Gaza’s future with other Palestinian factions in Cairo.

Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim said the “ball is now in the court of the mediators, the American guarantor and the international community to empower the committee.”

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, whose authority has limited sway in the West Bank, voiced support for the committee, which he said would run Gaza through a “transitional phase.”

“We reaffirm the importance of linking the institutions of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Gaza, and avoiding the establishment of administrative, legal and security systems that entrench duality and division,” Abbas said in a statement published on Thursday by the official WAFA news agency.

Israel and Hamas agreed in October to Trump‘s phased plan, which included a complete ceasefire, the exchange of hostages living and deceased for Palestinian prisoners, and a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The deal has been shaken by issues including Israeli airstrikes targeting Hamas operatives, the failure to retrieve the remains of one last Israeli hostage, and Israeli delays in reopening Gaza’s border crossing with Egypt.

On Thursday, a senior Hamas figure was among seven people killed in a pair of Israeli airstrikes in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, a Hamas source said.

The source said one of the dead was Mohammed Al-Holy, a local commander in the terrorist group’s armed wing in Deir al-Balah.