Israeli army chief Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi has toured fire-affected areas in Kiryat Shmona and said Israel "was approaching a point where a decision will have to be made".
Munitions fired from Lebanon by Hezbollah on Monday evening had ignited several blazes across northern Israel.
Full StoryThe Progressive Socialist Party kicked off Tuesday a series of meetings with the Lebanese political parties to discuss the ongoing presidential crisis.
In Maarab, a PSP delegation comprising MPs Taymour Jumblat, Marwan Hamadeh, Akram Shehayyeb and Wael Abou Faour met with Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, in the presence of MPs Ghassan Hasbani and Nazih Matta.
Full StoryFree Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has called for “a dialogue tackling issued related to economy and the political system alongside the discussions over the presidency.”
“Doesn’t dialogue over a president necessitate that we carry out a dialogue over three main issues, which are structural reforms in the Lebanese economy and model; the defense strategy and the meaning of neutralizing Lebanon; and the Lebanese system in terms of continuing the implementation of the Taif Accord and fixing its gaps through consensus among all Lebanese,” Bassil said in an interview on LBCI television.
Full StoryIsraeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said the Israeli military should invade Lebanon and push "hundreds of thousands of Lebanese" away from the border area.
Hezbollah has traded regular cross-border fire with Israel since the Gaza war began almost eight months ago, but clashes have intensified in recent days.
Full StoryTwo Israeli drone strikes targeted Tuesday a car on the road between Libbaya and Yohmor in West Bekaa, deep inside Lebanon, and a motorbike in the coastal border town of Naqoura, killing one person, the latest in a slew of targeted drone attacks on vehicles in recent days.
"The strike targeting a motorcycle in Naqoura killed one person and wounded another," the National News Agency (NNA) said after earlier reporting an "enemy drone strike" in the area.
Full StoryIran's acting foreign minister Ali Bagheri Kani met Tuesday with Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, a day after he arrived in Lebanon on his first official diplomatic visit since his predecessor died last month.
Bagheri discussed with Nasrallah "proposed solutions" for ending the war, the Iran-backed Lebanese group said.
Full StoryThe newly-appointed U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert held her first meeting in Lebanon on Monday.
“It is a great privilege to have arrived in Beirut in my new capacity as U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon. I am extremely honored to have met with His Excellency, caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, to mark the beginning of my first round of consultations with Lebanese officials,” she said after the meeting.
Full StoryParliament Speaker Nabih Berri has “dropped his mask” and “let no one dream of reaching a moment when Lebanon would have a supreme guide,” Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has said.
“Which Lebanese constitution article stipulates that prior to every presidential election, the parliament speaker would call for a dialogue table attended by the blocs to consult over the presidential vote? Today Berri has dropped his mask,” Geagea said in an interview with the al-Markazia news agency.
Full StorySpeaker Nabih Berri has been calling for dialogue over the presidential vote “as has been the norm,” and a norm in Lebanon is “stronger the constitution,” Hezbollah’s top MP Mohammad Raad has said.
“Michel Suleiman was elected after a dialogue session and Michel Aoun was elected after a dialogue session,” Raad added.
Full StoryParliament Speaker Nabih Berri said he was flexible and responsive to the Quintet's requests as he was asked to replace a presidential "dialogue" initiative with "consultations."
"Consultations, communication, meeting, and talks are all synonyms for dialogue," Berri told French special envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian and the five ambassadors of Qatar, France, Egypt, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.
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