Report by Human Rights Watch says use of repeated evacuation orders against civilians amounts to crimes against humanity
Overnight the IDF announced that six soldiers had been killed in clashes with Hezbollah inside southern Lebanon.
The Times of Israel reports “it was one of the heaviest single-day losses in the operation that began in late September,” and that “according to an initial IDF probe, the soldiers were killed in an exchange of fire with at least four Hezbollah operatives inside a building in a village in southern Lebanon.”
Lebanese authorities have put the death toll in the country since Israel stepped up its airstrikes at over 3,000 people, with more than 14,000 people wounded. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
According to a report yesterday in the leftwing Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Israeli forces in Gaza are clearing large areas with the apparent intention to remain inside the territory until at least the end of 2025.
The newspaper reported that a “combat graph for 2025” distributed in recent weeks to Israeli soldiers and commanders in Gaza describes “exposing large areas” in the coastal strip: destroying existing buildings and infrastructure in addition to the construction of roads and preparations for building more permanent military facilities.
Overnight the has suggested that Israel is working to time any ceasefire deal with Lebanon so that it appears as a “gift” to incoming US president Donald Trump when he takes office.
The report says an Isreali official told the paper “There is an understanding that Israel would gift something to Trump … that in January there will be an understanding about Lebanon.”
There have been contradictory noises from Israeli ministers about the prospects for a settlement on Israel’s northern front in recent days. Foreign minister Gideon Saar said “certain progress” had been made on a deal, but defense minister Israel Katz said there would be “no ceasefire” and “no respite” in Lebanon, and that Israel “will not take our foot off the pedal” in its fight against Hezbollah.
At least one member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has said they will collapse the coalition if a peace deal was signed with Hezbollah. Hezbollah has said it has had no direct participation in talks.
