News Digest — 11/26/24
Cabinet May Vote On Ceasefire Deal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is planning to bring the ceasefire agreement with Lebanon for the approval of only the Cabinet, and not bring it for approval of the entire Israeli government.
It is expected that Netanyahu will call the Cabinet ministers together on Tuesday afternoon (26th), and present them with the agreements achieved.
Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Herzog on Tuesday morning (26th), estimated that an agreement will allow Israel to cancel the limits on American weapons shipments.
“I believe that the current agreement with Lebanon gives space to reduce the limits on weapons shipments from the US to Israel,” Herzog told Kan news.
“We have understandings with the administration, which anchors our freedom of movement if there are violations on the Lebanese side of the border. We will not allow Hezbollah to strengthen itself on the border.”
On Monday night (25th), Israeli sources said that a final text of the agreement with Lebanon had been reached. According to the report, Israel has given the green light to American mediator Amos Hochstein to move forward with the agreement.
Reuters reported that the US has informed Lebanese officials that a ceasefire could be declared “within hours.”
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Monday (25th) that a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon is close but not yet finalized.
“What I’d say is we have made significant progress with getting towards a resolution. That includes progress from where we were when I spoke of this last week, but we’re not done yet. Nothing is final until everything is final. We continue to work to try and get an agreement over the line. And we’re hopeful we can get one, but we need both the parties to get to yes,” Miller said during a press briefing.
Amid Reports of Ceasefire: Woman In Her 70s Seriously Injured In Rocket Barrage On Nahariya
A woman in her 70s was seriously injured on Monday evening (25th), shortly before midnight, in a barrage of ten rockets that were launched from Lebanon at Nahariya and the surrounding area.
Magen David Adom reported that two injured people were treated at the scene of a fallen rocket, one in serious condition and the other, a man in his 80s, in light condition. The two were injured in a residential building that took a direct hit. The woman suffered shrapnel wounds to her head. The man suffered shrapnel wounds to his ear. They were evacuated to Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya.
Before the fall, sirens were sounded in the area. The IDF said, “Following the sirens in the Western Galilee area, approximately ten projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory. Some were intercepted and some fell in the area.”
The barrage on Nahariya came hours after the Home Front Command announced changes to the Command’s defensive guidelines.
As part of the changes, the activity scale in the areas of the Confrontation Line, Northern Golan and Southern Golan (in the communities of Qatsrin and Kidmat Tsvi) will change from Partial Activity to Limited Activity.
Earlier on Monday evening, (25th) the IAF conducted intelligence-based strikes on Syrian routes along the Syrian-Lebanon border, used as smuggling routes to transfer weapons to the Hezbollah terrorist organization.
“These strikes follow similar operations in recent weeks targeting Syrian regime smuggling routes in the area. This is another step in the IDF’s ongoing efforts to degrade the capabilities of Hezbollah’s Unit 4400, which is responsible for smuggling weapons used in terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF forces,” the IDF’s Spokesperson’s Unit said.
“The IDF remains committed to preventing Hezbollah’s weapons buildup, which poses a direct threat to Israeli civilians,” it added.
“With the support of the Syrian regime, Hezbollah continues to systematically exploit civilian infrastructure for its terrorist activities.”
Also on Monday (25th), the IDF conducted intelligence-based strikes on two command centers of the Hezbollah Executive Council control centers.
‘Enemy Forces Retreating:’ 7th Brigade Guards North From Inside Southern Lebanon Commander Says
The operational activities of the IDF’s 7th Armored Brigade continue to achieve significant results, uncovering vast troves of Hezbollah weaponry in southern Lebanon, the brigade’s Commander Colonel Elad Zuri, said in a recent interview.
Over the past year and two months, the brigade has added another impressive chapter to its legacy as the IDF’s first armored brigade. Since October 7, they have not stopped for a moment, participating in battles in Gaza and, for the past two months, engaging in three rounds of fighting in Lebanon.
“Our home is the State of Israel, and it must be defended both in the south and in the north,” said Zuri.
The brigade fighters have been operating for over a week in the northern region overlooking the town of Metulla and the Hula Valley.
“We are finding significant amounts of weaponry. When we were fighting in Gaza, I said it was hard to imagine the sheer number of tunnels. Here, I say – it’s hard to imagine the quantity of weapons Hezbollah has accumulated and hidden. Almost every house we enter to search reveals weaponry. Some are wrapped in plastic and stored in homes converted into emergency depots for the organization, but we’ve also found launchers with missiles ready to fire at Israel,” Zuri said.
“When you look southward, you see Israel, the northern communities. At a moment like this, my soldiers and I are filled with a sense of purpose. We stand here defending northern Israel – Metulla, the Hula Valley, and its communities.”
According to Zuri, Hezbollah is in distress.
“I have no doubt the rocket fire shakes the public. However, our strikes against Hezbollah, at least on the ground, are highly effective. We clear structures, operate in complex terrain, and expose Hezbollah’s assets. In recent days there has been a decrease in the volume of rocket fire into Israel. The goal of our operations deep in the territory is to eliminate Hezbollah’s threat and capabilities in the area.”
“A diplomatic move always complements a military one. Generally, that’s how wars end. The decision on when the military campaign has reached its conclusion lies with the policy makers. Our role is to provide tools and expand the operational boundaries to maximum achievements.”
The 7th Brigade now faces the challenge of operating in the winter. Heavy rain fell on Sunday morning (24th) in the area where the brigade was fighting, and by evening the temperatures had dropped to freezing.
Zuri also mentioned that the brigade constantly evaluates the routes used by their tanks and engineering vehicles to prevent them from sinking or slipping in the mud.
“The Merkava tank has incredible resilience. Do we sometimes get stuck in the mud? Absolutely. Do we sometimes slip? Certainly. Do we occasionally tip over when a route collapses? It’s a challenge. Due to the weather, we strive to assess the routes and plan our movements in advance. Some anti-tank missiles were fired at the tanks, but the ‘Trophy’ defense system worked well. Nonetheless, the weather remains a significant challenge.”
Regarding Hezbollah’s combat capabilities, Zuri commented, “We encounter many enemy forces who are retreating. Northern Command has done a good job this year in striking Hezbollah’s formations. At the same time, we face an entrenched enemy operating from houses and underground. We also encounter them in difficult face-to-face combat scenarios. In Gaza, we dealt with drones and trajectory-dependent fire.”
Although the 7th Brigade is a regular unit, it relies heavily on reserve forces.
“Reservists are incredible people, and the State of Israel owes them a great deal. We are not a reserve Brigade, but many of my forces are reservists. We aim to provide clarity to the reservists – if we call them up for three weeks, we strive to stick to that timeline and not exceed it unnecessarily. Managing reservist fatigue is a significant challenge, but we are handling it well. At the brigade level, we’ve improved our treatment of reservists, but is it sufficient? No. There’s still work to be done.”
Last Friday (22nd), the next commander of the 7th Brigade was named. In a few months, Colonel Zuri will complete one of the most combat-intensive tenures of a 7th Brigade commander since its establishment. He has expressed his desire to take a year to study before pursuing another challenging position within the IDF’s combat framework.
Paranoia Grips Hezbollah As Hundreds Of Members Are Charged With Espionage
With Israel knocking out Hezbollah’s top leaders, paranoia has overtaken the Iranian-backed terror group resulting in a sweeping purge that has seen more than 200 people detained on trumped-up espionage charges.
According to Lebanon’s Al-Akhbar newspaper, since early September, Hezbollah’s security apparatus has unleashed a sweeping crackdown in its Beirut stronghold of Dahiyeh.
They’ve been targeting an international mix of suspects, including Lebanese citizens, multiple Western passport holders, and dozens of Syrian nationals.
In one notable case, authorities detained a former American law enforcement officer who was discovered touring the area with a local Lebanese contact.
During interrogation, the ex-cop maintained he was simply documenting conditions in the war-afflicted region.
Similarly, a French national who presented himself as a member of the press found himself in custody after Hezbollah uncovered what they deemed suspicious footage of Dahiyeh buildings on his mobile device.
Hezbollah’s crackdown has fallen particularly heavily on Syrian nationals, with more than 50 detained thus far.
Intelligence sources claim many of these individuals leveraged dual citizenship status to enter Beirut, allegedly using their foreign passports as cover while gathering photographic intelligence.
State security maintains these suspects have documented connections to Syrian opposition forces, though no evidence has been publicly presented.
Beyond espionage, Hezbollah has taken a page from Russia’s playbook by charging suspects with additional crimes like drug dealing and theft.
Rule Of Law Disgraced By ICC: Alan Dershowitz To Assemble Team To Defend Israel In The Hague
US defense lawyer and former Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz is assembling a team to defend Israeli leaders in The Hague, he announced on Sunday (24th) in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.
Dershowitz noted that the case would be tried in the court of public opinion as well as in the Hague.
“For that reason, I am assembling a team of world-class lawyers from around the globe to help defend Israeli leaders against the false charges,” Dershowitz wrote.
Last Thursday (21st), the International Criminal Court issued international arrest warrants for war crimes allegedly committed by the Israeli Prime Minister and the former defense minister Yoav Gallant.
Various countries, such as the Netherlands, France, and Ireland, have announced they would uphold the ICC decision and arrest Netanyahu and Gallant if they chose to land in those countries.
However, the United States rejected the ICC decision.
“The United States fundamentally rejects the Court’s decision to issue arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials. We remain deeply concerned by the Prosecutor’s rush to seek arrest warrants and the troubling process errors that led to this decision,” a government spokesperson said.
In the WSJ op-ed, Dershowitz added that several prominent lawyers have already promised to join the legal battle, including multiple former U.S. attorneys and a former FBI director.
“We will argue that the ICC has no jurisdiction against Israel, not only because it isn’t a member, but also because the treaty that established that court precludes it from considering cases against any country with a valid judicial system that is willing and able to investigate the alleged crimes,” he wrote.
“We will also demonstrate that Israel’s actions in Gaza don’t violate any international law or laws of war over which the ICC has jurisdiction.”
Germany, which supplies 30% of Israel’s military equipment, expressed criticism of the petition for arrest warrants, saying that the Court had no jurisdiction since Israel has not signed the Rome Statute. Nevertheless, Germany has made clear in the past that it will respect the ICC’s decision.
Dershowitz continued, “By issuing arrest warrants… the Court is seeking to equate the terrorism of Hamas, which murdered, raped, kidnapped and killed over 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, with the self-defense efforts of Israel to prevent a promised recurrance of Oct. 7.”
Netanyahu responded publicly on Thursday evening (21st), condemning the decision that ruled for his arrest. “This is a moral bankruptcy that undermines the natural right of democracies to defend themselves against murderous terrorism,” he said.
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog similarly noted that the decision reflects the choice to side with “terror and evil over democracy and freedom” and that it turned the justice system into a human shield for Hamas’ crimes against humanity.
Dershowitz concluded, “Our group of lawyers hope to bring justice to Israel and its leaders, as well as the rule of international law, which is being disgraced and destroyed by the ICC. We welcome others to join in this endeavor.”
Iran’s Khamenei Calls For Death Sentence For Israeli Leaders, Not Arrest Warrants
The Supreme Leader of Iran who backs the Hamas and Hezbollah terror groups fighting Israel in Gaza and Lebanon, said on Monday (25th) that death sentences should be issued for Israeli leaders, not arrest warrants.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was commenting on a decision by the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants on Thursday (21st) for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister Yoav Gallant and a Hamas leader, Mohammed Deif who is dead.
“They may issue an arrest warrant, that’s not enough… Death sentences must be issued for these criminals,” Khamenei said, referring to the Israeli leaders.
Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah all avowedly seek the destruction of Israel.
In their decision, the ICC judges said there were reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant were criminally responsible for acts including murder, persecution, and starvation as a weapon of war as part of a “widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza.”
The Hamas attacks on Israeli communities on Oct. 7, 2023, (in which 1,200 Israeli civilians were murdered, and raped, and 251 were kidnapped to Gaza), triggered the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. Israel said it has killed at least 17,000 in Gaza mostly Hamas combatants during the fighting and that it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities but stressed that Hamas uses Gaza civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools and mosques.
The day after the Hamas assault, Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group began attacking across Israel’s northern border saying it was supporting Gaza. Nearly daily rocket and drone attacks have continued for months, with 60,000 Israelis forced from their homes.
The fighting has drawn Israel into direct conflict with Hamas and Hezbollah’s sponsor, Iran, which has twice fired barrages of rockets and drones at Israel.
Israel responded to both barrages with the latest being on October 26. Since then Iran has vowed to retaliate. A senior advisor to Khamenei said Monday (25th) that Iran was preparing to “respond” to Israel without giving details.
