Lebanon has refused to withdraw the massive Hezbollah terrorist build-up along Israel’s border, the Jerusalem Post reported Tuesday. Amid relentless shelling and rocket attacks by Hezbollah into northern Israel, Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib rejected an international proposal to pull back the Iranian proxy terrorist group from the border areas in keeping with a 2006 United Nations resolution.
The Lebanese rejection comes a day after Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned Lebanon of a military response if the deadly cross-border attacks and infiltration attempts from its territory continued unabated. “The clear-cut instruction I gave the Air Force is to point the noses of our aircraft northward… we are prepared.” the minister said on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Israel continues to take defense measures against Hezbollah’s aggression. The Israeli air force on Tuesday carried out retaliatory strikes after the Lebanon-based terrorist group fired more rockets into Israel. “IDF fighter jets struck an observation post and terrorist infrastructure used by the Hezbollah terrorist organization earlier today in the areas of Labbouneh, Jabal Blat, and Houla, in southern Lebanon,” the Israeli military announced in a press release.
The Jerusalem Post reported:
Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib rejected an international proposal for Hezbollah to withdraw away from Israel’s northern border to behind the Litani River, as set out under United Nations Security Council 1701.His statement was carried by the Arabic language newspaper Al-Watan in advance of a visit today by French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne, following his stop in Israel on Sunday.This formula of a Hezbollah withdrawal eight to ten kilometers from the Israeli border was “rejected by Lebanon, which will not accept half-solutions that do not bring the desired peace and do not secure stability,’ Bou Habib told Al-Watan. (…)Israeli officials have said that they prefer a diplomatic solution but would not hesitate to open a second front to forcibly force revue Hezbollah from the border.On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israeli citizens would only be secure when Hamas in Gaza was removed from the southern border and Hezbollah from the northern one. “We will not stop the war without achieving this goal of total victory, which will restore security to both the south and the north.”
The Hezbollah terror threat from the north has forced tens of thousands of Israelis to evacuate their homes. According to a Reuters article published on January 11, “more than 96,000 Israelis” have fled their homes in “northern Israeli village close to the Lebanese border” in the wake of Hezbollah escalation since October 7. Israel shares a 75-mile border with Lebanon and another 45-mile border with Syria, both countries harboring Iran-backed terrorist groups.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday announced that the IDF had succeeded in eliminating nearly half of Hamas’s terrorist fighting force in Gaza.
As Israel’s ground offensive entered its fourteenth week, the IDF in Gaza has taken out around 10,000 terrorist fighters and wounded 10,00 others. “10,000 Hamas fighters have been killed and 10,000 wounded, up from around 9,000 killed and around 8,000 wounded around a week and a half ago,” the Jerusalem Post reported Friday, citing the Israeli defense ministry.
The Times of Israel reported:
Israel’s leaders claimed Monday that the IDF had killed or seriously injured half of the Hamas terror group’s fighters, and said the end of a nearly 4-month-old offensive in Gaza was a matter of months, not years, as fighting was set to spread to the southern metropolis representing the Strip’s final redoubt.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that Israel would achieve “complete victory,” even as military officials detailed resurgent fighting in areas of northern Gaza previously cleared by troops. The complicated situation underlines the difficulty Israel faces in meeting its war goals, though it looks to complete an unprecedented sweep by pushing into the southern city of Rafah.
The Israeli military continues to take out terrorist commanders and fighters as they tighten the noose around the last major Hamas stronghold of Khan Yunis. The military eliminated a Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist who took part in the October 7 attack, the IDF revealed Tuesday. The unnamed PIJ terrorist took part in the massacre in Kibbutz Nir Oz, where 20 residents were murdered, and 80 were taken as hostages to Gaza.
“Over the past day, dozens of terrorists have been killed and approximately 80 individuals suspected of involvement in terrorist activity have been apprehended, including a number of terrorists that took part in the October 7th massacre,” the IDF disclosed in a statement.
Palestinian terrorists continue to use Gaza civilians as human shields. “IDF troops are continuing to operate in western Khan Yunis in order to secure new areas above and below ground. The forces have encountered armed Hamas terrorists wearing civilian clothing who were preparing attacks on IDF troops in the area,” the Israeli military noted.
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