Nov. 27: After Lebanon truce, Egyptian delegation expected to visit Israel in push for Gaza deal

IDF: Sirens triggered in northern border town were false alarms

The IDF says that the sirens triggered moments ago in the northern border town of Arab al-Aramshe were false alarms.

Sirens triggered in northern border town, day into ceasefire; no confirmation on what set it off

Rocket sirens have been triggered in the northern border town of Arab al-Aramshe.

There is no immediate confirmation of what set off the alert nearly 24 hours into the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

Biden urged PM to help secure hostage deal in call ahead of Lebanon ceasefire announcement

US President Joe Biden told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their call yesterday ahead of the public announcement of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire that now was the time to focus on securing a hostage deal, Axios reports.

Biden said as much in his speech announcing the Lebanon deal shortly after the call.

“We have an opportunity now. Let’s get the hostages,” Biden told Netanyahu, according to US officials who spoke to Axios and who said the prime minister responded positively and said he wanted to try.

“What the president refuses to say is ‘The hostages should stay in tunnels or in some other horrible condition that they’re in for three more months because the United States has a transition period,” US special envoy Amos Hochstein told Jewish American community leaders during a briefing earlier today.

Syrian rebels launch attack against army in Aleppo province

Syrian rebels in the last opposition enclave in northern Syria have launched a wide-scale military operation against the Syrian army and seized territory in the first such advance in years, army and rebel sources say.

The rebel offensive has overrun at least 10 areas under the control of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in northwestern Aleppo province, says a source in the operations room run by a coalition of insurgent groups led by the militant Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

The land incursion is the first such territorial advance since March 2020 when Russia, which backs Assad, and Turkey, which supports the rebels, agreed to a ceasefire that led to military action halting in Syria’s last major rebel stronghold in the country’s northwest.

Rebels advanced almost 10 km (6 miles) from the outskirts of Aleppo city and a few kilometres away from Nubl and Zahra, two Shi’ite towns where Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah has a strong militia presence, an army source says.

They have attacked Al-Nayrab airport east of Aleppo, where pro-Iranian militias have outposts.

Rebels say the campaign was in response to stepped-up strikes in recent weeks against civilians by the Russian and Syrian air force on areas in southern Idlib, and to preempt any attacks by the Syrian army, which was building up troops near front lines with rebels.

The army pounded areas near rebel-held Idlib city and the cities of Ariha and Sarmada along with other areas in southern Idlib province, according to an army source.

Source familiar with Hezbollah ops says up to 4,000 fighters may have been killed over past year

A woman holds a portrait of her grandson, a Hezbollah fighter who was killed in the fighting with Israeli troops, as she waits for rescuers to recover his body from under the rubble of a destroyed house, background, in Ainata village, southern Lebanon, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah on November 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

BEIRUT — With the bodies of its fighters still strewn on the battlefield, Hezbollah must bury its dead and provide succor to its supporters who bore the brunt of Israel’s offensive, as the first steps on a long and costly road to recovery, four senior officials say.

Hezbollah believes the number of its fighters killed during 14 months of hostilities could reach several thousand, with the vast majority killed since Israel went on the offensive in September, three sources familiar with its operations say, citing previously unreported internal estimates.

One source says the Iran-backed terror group may have lost up to 4,000 people — well over 10 times the number killed in its month-long 2006 war with Israel. So far, Lebanese authorities have said some 3,800 people were killed in the current hostilities, without distinguishing fighters from civilians.

The IDF has estimated that Israeli forces killed some 3,000 Hezbollah operatives.

Defense minister defends continued closure of northern schools amid truce: ‘A cautionary step’

Israel Katz during a Knesset plenum session on his appointment as defense minister, in Jerusalem, November 8, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Defense Minister Israel Katz defends his move to not allow schools to reopen in northern border towns tomorrow, despite the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

“The decision of the defense establishment to not remove the restrictions and not return the Galilee and northern communities to normalcy tomorrow is a step of necessary caution and a clear message regarding Israel’s determination to enforce the agreement,” Katz says in a statement issued by his office.

“If Hezbollah’s attempts to violate the agreement continue and the Lebanese government does not fulfill its obligations, Israel is prepared to respond strongly. We will not give up and we will not compromise on the safety of the residents of the north,” Katz adds.

According to Army Radio, the chiefs of the IDF Northern Command and Home Front Command, both recommended to Katz to lift the restrictions in northern Israel.

Katz ruled against it, and the Home Front Command did not change the current guidelines, under which schools are closed in the Golan Heights and northern frontier communities.

British FM says he’ll keep speaking with Netanyahu but PM will be arrested if enters UK

Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy addresses the the Summit of the Future, in the United Nations General Assembly, September 23, 2024. (Richard Drew/AP)

LONDON — British Foreign Secretary David Lammy says he will continue to talk and meet with Benjamin Netanyahu after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against the Israeli prime minister for alleged war crimes in Gaza.

Lammy tells parliament’s foreign affairs select committee he will comply with the ICC’s request to arrest Netanyahu if he enters Britain, insisting he has no choice to ignore the order.

But Lammy says he will continue to talk to Netanyahu and other senior Israeli government officials about issues such as seeking a ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza and the importance of getting aid into the Palestinian territory.

“I do believe they are important matters that require engagement from those of us in government,” Lammy says. “I can’t see circumstances under which I would not be speaking to the elected representatives of the Israeli government.”

US envoy pushes back at criticism in Israel of ceasefire, says buffer zone a ‘fantasy’

Amos Hochstein, center, US special envoy for Lebanon, is received ahead of a meeting with Lebanese Parliament speaker Nabih Berri, in Beirut, November 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

US special envoy Amos Hochstein pushes back at criticism in Israel of the ceasefire deal with Hezbollah, in particular for not creating an Israeli military buffer zone in southern Lebanon.

“From the sidelines to say you could have had a better deal that gets all these fantasy elements to is nothing more than just that — fantasy,” he says during an interview with Channel 12 news.

He also denies Israeli claims that the US considered action against Israel at the UN Security Council if it wouldn’t agree to end the fighting with Hezbollah.

“There was no such discussion at any point. It never came up,” Hochstein says.

President Biden did not plan any action against Israel to pressure it to agree to a ceasefire – says @amoshochstein who brokered the deal. This is the full interview that aired tonight on @N12News: pic.twitter.com/OtDO9GdgZo

— Yonit Levi (@LeviYonit) November 27, 2024

Trump cabinet nominee says pipe bomb with ‘pro-Palestinian themed message’ left at his home

Jewish former GPO congressman Lee Zeldin of New York speaks during the third day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 17, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP)

NEW YORK — A number of US President-elect Donald Trump’s most prominent cabinet picks and appointees have been targeted by bomb threats and “swatting attacks,” Trump’s transition team says. The FBI says it’s investigating.

“Last night and this morning, several of President Trump’s cabinet nominees and administration appointees were targeted in violent, unAmerican threats to their lives and those who live with them,” Trump transition spokesperson Karoline Leavitt says in a statement.

She says the attacks ranged from bomb threats to swatting, in which attackers initiate an emergency law enforcement response against a target victim under false pretenses. The tactic has become a popular one in recent years.

“In response, law enforcement and other authorities acted quickly to ensure the safety of those who were targeted. President Trump and the entire Transition team are grateful for their swift action,” Leavitt says.

Among those targeted were New York Representative Elise Stefanik, Trump’s pick to serve as the next ambassador to the United Nations, Matt Gaetz, Trump’s initial pick to serve as attorney general, and former New York congressman Lee Zeldin, who has been tapped to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.

Susie Wiles, Trump’s incoming chief of staff, and Pam Bondi, the former Florida Attorney General whom Trump has chosen as Gaetz’s replacement, were also targeted, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity amid the ongoing investigation. Wiles and Bondi did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Zeldin says in a social media post that he and his family had been threatened.

“A pipe bomb threat targeting me and my family at our home today was sent in with a pro-Palestinian themed message,” he writes on X. “My family and I were not home at the time and are safe. We are working with law enforcement to learn more as this situation develops.”

Police in Suffolk County, Long Island, say emergency officers responded to a bomb threat this morning at an address listed in public records as Zeldin’s home and were checking the property.

IDF says it downed drone being used to smuggle weapons from Egypt

The IDF says it foiled an attempt to smuggle weapons into Israel from Egypt earlier today, using a drone.

The drone had been identified crossing the border from Egypt into Israel, before it was downed by troops of the Border Defense Corps’ Caracal Battalion.

Troops at the scene found that the drone was ferrying four rifles, five magazines and hundreds of bullets, the military adds.

*סוכלה הברחת אמצעי לחימה במרחב גבול מצרים*

כוחות צה״ל זיהו מוקדם יותר היום (ד׳) רחפן שחצה משטח מצרים לשטח מדינת ישראל במרחב חטיבת פארן>> pic.twitter.com/ikb1GMZkjt

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) November 27, 2024

Hezbollah claims ‘victory’ over Israel, say its fighters still at ‘full readiness’

Hezbollah gunmen stand next to a poster of the terror group's slain leader Hassan Nasrallah as displaced residents return to Dahiyeh, in Beirut, Lebanon, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that went into effect on November 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

BEIRUT — Lebanese terror group Hezbollah says it has achieved “victory” over Israel and that its fighters are at the ready after a truce between the two sides took effect.

“Victory from God almighty was the ally of the righteous cause,” a statement from the Iran-backed group said, adding that its fighters “will remain in total readiness to deal with the Israeli enemy’s ambitions and its attacks.”

IDF spokesman warns any Hezbollah violation of ceasefire ‘will be answered with fire’

This map released by the IDF on November 27, 2024, shows no-go zones in southern Lebanon amid a ceasefire with Hezbollah. (Israel Defense Forces)

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari in a press conference says any Hezbollah violation of the ceasefire agreement “will be answered with fire.”

“The IDF’s mission is to enforce the agreement. The IDF is determined, and any violation will be answered with fire,” he says.

Hagari says IDF troops are still positioned in southern Lebanon “in the villages and areas from which there will be a gradual withdrawal, in accordance with the agreement.”

“Air Force planes continue to fly over Lebanon’s skies, collecting intelligence and are prepared to operate wherever necessary,” he continues.

Hagari says that in the coming weeks, the IDF will “shape” its defenses on the northern border, and “implement lessons from the past.”

Today, he says IDF troops worked to enforce the agreement. The soldiers “identified suspects who approached no-go zones, detained them, and fired warning shots. We also killed terrorists today,” Hagari says.

Hagari also shows a map of areas in southern Lebanon that are currently off-limits for Lebanese civilians amid the gradual handover to the Lebanese Armed Forces.

“We are stationed and operating in this area. Armed operatives in the area marked on the map is a violation [of the ceasefire], and any armed operative will be eliminated or detained,” he says.

Addressing Lebanese civilians, Hagari says: “As you saw throughout the war, we are doing what we say. For your safety, we call on you not to approach the area where our forces are. The ceasefire agreement is built in a gradual way, and we will update when you can return.”

He says that during the entire conflict, over 12,500 Hezbollah sites in Lebanon were struck, including 360 in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

“Hezbollah is a strategic Iranian asset, which the Iranian leadership invested many resources in, money, weapons and personnel over the years. Iran’s leadership has lost a strategic asset adjacent to our border,” Hagari adds.

IDF thwarted attempt by Hezbollah to produce chemical weapons — TV report

The IDF thwarted efforts by Hezbollah to develop chemical weapons, according to Channel 12 news.

The unsourced report doesn’t specify when the Israeli operation took place but says the chemical weapons are believed to have been slated for use by Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force during an invasion of northern Israel.

Senior Israeli official insists IDF can resume fighting after Biden envoy says truce is permanent

US special envoy Amos Hochstein gives a statement to the media after his meeting with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP/Bilal Hussein)

After US special envoy Amos Hochstein tells CNBC that the ceasefire in Lebanon is permanent and that there won’t be any more fighting, Israel fires back, promising to act against any threat.

“Contrary to what was attributed to Hochstein,” says a senior Israeli official, “fighting can restart at any moment, as we saw today.”

“Israel will act firmly against any violation of the ceasefire, and is prepared militarily for any scenario,” says the official.

IDF releases video of strikes on major underground Hezbollah precision missile factory

The IDF releases footage of last night’s airstrikes, before the ceasefire took effect, against Hezbollah’s largest underground precision-guided missile manufacturing site in Lebanon.

The 1.4-kilometer-long site, located near the town of Janta in eastern Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley, very close to the Syrian border, was struck by fighter jets for over four hours, according to the military.

The missile manufacturing plant was built several years ago with Iranian support, the IDF says.

The site was used by Hezbollah to build precision surface-to-surface missiles and other weapons, as well as to store the guided missiles. The IDF says that Iranian operatives also worked at the facility, alongside Hezbollah members.

The military says that its proximity to Syria allowed Hezbollah to smuggle into Lebanon thousands of components to build the precision missiles, as well as for operatives to travel between Syria and Lebanon.

“This is the most strategic production infrastructure of the Hezbollah terror organization in Lebanon that was struck during the war. The strike was made possible by a precise intelligence file that was collected and built over the years,” the IDF says.

The strike on the manufacturing facility “is a blow to the Hezbollah terror organization’s ability to produce weapons,” the military adds.

Before the massive bombardment of the site, the IDF says it struck the surrounding area, including a central Hezbollah Radwan Force base. The IDF estimates that dozens of operatives were killed in the strike.

Footage released by the IDF on November 27, 2024, shows airstrikes against a Hezbollah missile manufacturing site, a nearby Radwan Force base, and an illustrative video of the missile plant. (Israel Defense Forces)

Abbas declares Rawhi Fattouh will be interim PA head if presidency becomes vacant

Rawhi Fattouh, head of the Palestinian Legislative Council, attends a cabinet meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah in July 2004. (AFP Photo/Jamal Aruri))

The Palestinian Authority announces that PA President Mahmoud Abbas, 89, has declared that if the presidency becomes vacant he will be temporarily replaced by Rawhi Fattouh, the former speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council who also served as interim PA chief following the death of Yasser Arafat.

A statement posted to the PA’s official Wafa news site says that in such an event, Fattouh will serve as interim president for no more than 90 days, during which presidential elections will be held. But if it’s not possible to hold elections, the Palestinian Central Council can grant a one-time extension to the interim president’s term.

Egyptian delegation to visit Israel in bid to reach Gaza ceasefire, sources tell Reuters

An Egyptian security delegation will travel to Israel tomorrow in an effort to reach a Gaza ceasefire deal, two Egyptian security sources tell Reuters.

IDF says troops raided former school in north Gaza where Hamas gunmen were gathered

Overnight, troops of the Givati Brigade’s reconnaissance unit raided a former school in northern Gaza’s Jabalia, where the IDF says it had intelligence of Hamas operatives gathered there.

The operation comes as the IDF says the 162nd Division expanded its offensive in the far north of the Strip.

Many gunmen were killed in close-quarters combat and in airstrikes during the operation at the al-Harthani School, according to the military.

The former school was serving as a shelter for displaced Palestinians.

Separately, the IDF says that Hamas operatives launched anti-tank projectiles at troops from within the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahiya overnight.

Troops also enabled thousands of civilians to evacuate from the areas of fighting over the past day, the military says, adding that among them several terror operatives were detained and taken to Israel for interrogation.

כוחות אוגדה 162 הרחיבו הלילה את הפעילות במרחב ג'באליה ובית להיא.

במהלך מבצע חטיבתי כוחות שב״כ ולוחמי סיירת גבעתי ושריון, פשטו על המבנה ששימש בעבר כבית הספר ״אל חארתני״, זאת בעקבות מידע מודיעיני בדבר המצאות מחבלים במרחב>> pic.twitter.com/crb89gtICO

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) November 27, 2024

US advances $680 million arms sale to Israel; official insists no link to Lebanon truce

US President Joe Biden meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, July 25, 2024. (AP/Susan Walsh)

The Biden administration is advancing a $680 million weapon package to Israel, a US official confirms to The Times of Israel, while insisting that the sale is not tied to the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, which went into effect this morning.

On Tuesday, Washington had insisted that the ceasefire was not tied to any weapon shipments to Israel.

The US official speaking on condition of anonymity explains that this latest arms sale, which includes thousands of joint direct attack munition kits (JDAMs), was in the works for several months and is just one of countless shipments green-lit since the start of the war, including in recent weeks before the Lebanon ceasefire was signed.

“There are constantly packages being advanced through various stages. This has nothing to do with the ceasefire in Lebanon,” says the official, who is speaking on condition of anonymity.

“This case has been in the pipeline for some time now. Deliveries aren’t expected to start for at least a year, and this should be viewed in the context of long-term support for Israel’s defense and not tied to the ceasefire yesterday or any specific current activity,” says another US official.

The State Department declines to confirm the advancement of the JDAMs sale, but did say that US support for Israel’s security against Iran-backed threats is “unwavering” and that no country can be expected to tolerate the threats Israel is facing.

The statement from the State Department says all weapon transfers are carried out in line with US law, which bars their use in the perpetration of war crimes or by countries that block the delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians.

“We have made clear that Israel must comply with international humanitarian law, has a moral obligation and strategic imperative to protect civilians, investigate allegations of any wrongdoing, and ensure accountability for any abuses or violations of international human rights law or international humanitarian law,” the State Department says.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed yesterday that the US has been delaying weapon shipments to Israel — setbacks that would end soon, he said, not so subtly referencing the January 20 inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.

The Biden administration immediately denied Netanyahu’s claims, saying the only shipment that has been withheld is a package of 2,000-pound bombs that Washington is concerned would be used in densely populated areas.

Videos show Israeli flag being burned in southern Lebanon village

Videos from southern Lebanon show an Israeli flag being burned in a village after locals returned to areas that were evacuated amid the fighting between the IDF and Hezbollah.

In the clips, a man can be seen removing an Israeli flag hung on a watchtower,

⚡️????????JUST IN:

Upon returning to Aita al-Shaab, South Lebanon, residents immediately took down Israel’s flag raised by Israeli forces on the town's water tank upon reaching its outskirts then they burned it???? pic.twitter.com/L2wNK22r6V

— war against crime (@ZahidKh735121) November 27, 2024

IDF says no Israeli troops have been withdrawn yet from southern Lebanon

A soldier with the 146th Division stands guard in southern Lebanon amid a ceasefire with Hezbollah, in a handout photo published November 27, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF says it has not yet withdrawn any forces from southern Lebanon, as under the ceasefire deal it has 60 days to do so.

During the coming weeks, the Lebanese Army will gradually take responsibility for southern Lebanon and an American-led committee that will adjudicate complaints regarding potential ceasefire violations will be established.

Throughout today, there were several incidents of Lebanese people — civilians and Hezbollah members — trying to reach the border villages and areas where the IDF is still deployed.

Troops fired warning shots, and direct fire in some cases, at the suspects who approached the area. There are several Lebanese people dead and wounded in the incidents. Four Hezbollah operatives were also detained today.

The IDF says it expects such incidents to continue amid the gradual handover of southern Lebanon to the Lebanese Army.

IDF assesses that truce enforcement could spark several days of fighting with Hezbollah

The Israeli military assesses that its enforcement of the ceasefire with Hezbollah could potentially lead to several days of fighting with the terror group in the future.

The IDF says it will act to prevent any weapon deliveries to the terror group, including by striking such shipments in all areas of Lebanon, and not just in the south of the country, as well as in Syria.

Last night, the IDF struck three border crossings between northern Lebanon and Syria, which the military says were used by Hezbollah to smuggle weapons. The IDF assesses that it will take time to repair the crossings, and during that time, Hezbollah will have limited routes to bring in weapons, which will be easier for Israel to monitor.

The IDF says that if it identifies Hezbollah attempting to rebuild itself in southern Lebanon, it is ready to act, which could potentially deteriorate the situation. If Israel does not act, the IDF says it may find itself in another war with a rebuilt Hezbollah in several years.

Lapid calls for PM to announce state commission of inquiry as part of ICC appeal

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to announce the formation of a state commission of inquiry alongside Israel’s appeal against the ICC arrest warrants for the premier and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, declaring that doing so would be “for the benefit of the state and also [Netanyahu’s] own benefit.”

Such a move seems highly unlikely, however, as Netanyahu has refused to commit to the formation of such a committee and repeatedly insisted any investigation into the failures surrounding Hamas’s terror onslaught last year be put off until after the war.

According to an Israeli television report in September, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara told Netanyahu and other ministers that impaneling a state commission of inquiry — which enjoys the broadest powers under Israeli law — was the best way to stave off international arrest warrants.

Top Biden aide pushes back after Trump team claims credit for Lebanon ceasefire

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan speaks during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, November 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

WASHINGTON — US President Joe Biden’s national security adviser is pushing back on the incoming Donald Trump administration for taking credit for the Lebanon ceasefire coming together.

“I would just point out that you know you’ve done a really good thing when other people take credit for it,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan says in a CNN interview.

The comments come after Trump’s pick to serve as his national security adviser, Representative Mike Waltz, in a posting on X said his boss is the reason the two sides reached the long-sought-after agreement.

“Everyone is coming to the table because of President Trump,” Waltz noted.

Sullivan says the deal came together because Israel achieved its military objectives in Lebanon and the stakeholders in Lebanon didn’t want war anymore. He also credits the “relentless American diplomacy” of Biden and White House senior adviser Amos Hochstein.

Sullivan also confirms that he had briefed Waltz on the negotiations as they unfolded.

Israel files appeal against ICC arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant

An exterior view of the International Criminal Court, or ICC, in The Hague, Netherlands, on April 30, 2024. (AP/Peter Dejong)

The Prime Minister’s Office says Israel has appealed the International Criminal Court’s decision to issue arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

The PMO’s statement says that Israel’s appeal filing “exposes in detail just how absurd the issuance of arrest warrants was and how it lacks any factual or legal basis.”

The statement adds that if the ICC rejects the appeal it would only “underline to Israel’s friends in the US and the world how biased the International Criminal Court is against Israel.”

The ICC issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant last week on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity over their prosecution of the war in Gaza.

The court rejected Israel’s claim that the court should have given Israel notification of its investigation into the conduct of the war, although it said Israel could appeal the court’s jurisdiction after its decision to issue the arrest warrants.

Urging deal, US hostage families lament that their ‘Thanksgiving tables will have an empty chair again’

Family members of US-Israeli hostages held by Hamas speak to the press outside the White House in Washington, December 13, 2023, after a meeting with US President Joe Biden. (Jim WATSON / AFP)

The families of the seven remaining American-Israeli hostages in Gaza lament that their “Thanksgiving tables will have an empty chair again” in a statement calling on their governments to act to secure their loved one’s release, as they ready to mark a second Thanksgiving without them.

“While we are encouraged by this ceasefire deal in Lebanon, we ask ourselves: When will our children, parents, sisters and brothers come home? We cannot allow their chairs at our tables to sit forever empty,” the families say in a joint statement.

“We urge President-elect Trump and his transition team to work together with President Biden and his administration officials to bring seven Americans – Omer Neutra, Edan Alexander, Judi Weinstein, Gad Haggai, Keith Siegel, Sagui Dekel-Chen and Itay Chen – and the additional 94 hostages home now,” they add.

2 killed by apparent car bomb in Ramle

Paramedics declare the death of two people fatally by an apparent car bomb while in the central city of Ramle.

Police say they’re investigating the explosion, which isn’t believed to be an act of terror.

Israel said to have conditioned French involvement in truce on statement that warrants won’t be enforced

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) shakes hands with French President Emmanuel Macron (L), as they hold a joint press conference in Jerusalem on October 24, 2023. (Christophe Ena/Pool/AFP)

Israel conditioned France’s involvement in the Lebanon ceasefire deal on Paris publicly announcing that it would not comply with the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he enters the country, Haaretz and the Kan public broadcaster report.

Hours after the Lebanon ceasefire went into place, France made an announcement saying it can’t arrest Netanyahu because it believes the Israeli premier has immunity from the ICC. The French statement appeared to contradict the one it made shortly after the arrest warrants were issued, when Paris said it would uphold the court’s decision.

The ICC’s war crimes allegations against Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant have been strongly rejected by Israel.

Wizz Air announces gradual resumption of flights to Israel starting December 20

A Wizz Air flight takes off from Ben Gurion International Airport, July 22, 2019. (Moshe Shai/Flash90)

Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air says it will gradually resume flights to and from Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport on December 20.

The announcement comes shortly after a ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon came into effect.

Wizz Air says it will start operating a route from Tel Aviv to Larnaca with 4 flights per week on December 20. The low-cost carrier is offering the first 1,000 flight tickets to Larnaca for 50 euros (NIS 192) per one-way ticket.

The airline says it will provide updates on the remaining routes, which are scheduled to resume on January 15.

In October, Wizz Air canceled all its flights to and from Israel until January 15 amid ongoing fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, exacerbating the crisis in wartime air travel to and from the Jewish state.

Prison guard who executed Eichmann dies at 88

Shlomo Nagar, who carried out the hanging of Adolf Eichmann after Israel sentenced the Nazi commander to death over his role in the Holocaust, has died at age 88.

Nagar was serving in the Israel Prisons Service when Israel arrested Eichmann in Argentina and brought him back to stand trial for helping orchestrate the Nazi genocide of Jews during World War II, receiving the assignment to guard the SS officer.

Eichmann was ultimately found guilty and sentenced to death, becoming the only person to be executed following Israel’s founding.

Recounting the execution years later, Nagar gave a chilling description of hanging Eichmann before taking down his body.

“All the air stayed in his stomach. When I lifted him up, all the air inside come out and a horrible, unbearable sound came out of his mouth. I felt the angel of death came to take me as well,” Nagar recalled, according to the Haaretz daily.

Court indefinitely extends detention of defendants in PMO security documents case

Screen capture from video of Eliezer Feldstein, July 2023. (Kan: Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

The Tel Aviv-Jaffa District Court extends indefinitely the detention of Eli Feldstein, the central suspect in the Prime Minister’s Office security documents scandal, and that of an IDF reservist noncommissioned officer.

The decision issued by Judge Ala Masarwa follows a remand hearing at the court during which Feldstein appeared for the first time.

Feldstein was indicted on the charge of transferring classified information with the intent to harm the state, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, over allegations that he leaked a secret document to the Bild newspaper as part of an effort to influence the public discourse over hostage negotiations.

The NCO, whose name is under gag order, was indicted on a lesser charge of transferring classified documents, while other suspects in the case have yet to be indicted.

Masarwa permitted Feldstein and the NCO to hold 10 telephone conversations and have family visits.

“Someone observing from the sidelines could not understand why the state is behaving in this way,” Uri Korev, who is representing the NCO, is quoted as saying by Channel 13.

“The ground will shake here when the gag order is lifted. To think that the state wants to incarcerate this man until the end of proceedings, after October 7, shows that perhaps we have learned nothing and will learn nothing.”

Mayor of northern border town slams ceasefire, says it doesn’t address the threat to locals

Metula Mayor David Azoulay on May 7, 2024. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)

The ceasefire with Hezbollah is “a bad agreement for the State of Israel,” Metula Mayor David Azoulay tells The Times of Israel, as it’s an “agreement that does not address the threat to the residents of the north.”

“It saddens me that this is the decision of the most right-wing government Israel has ever had. The agreement does not provide security for the residents of the north and will not allow them to return to their homes safely,” Azoulay says in a written statement responding to a query.

The ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed terror group came into effect at 4 a.m. on Wednesday, bringing an end to almost 14 months of fighting. Under the terms of the deal, the IDF has 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon, where the Lebanese Army will gradually take responsibility. IDF troops fired warning shots at people trying to approach several Lebanese villages on this afternoon as part of efforts to prevent people from reaching areas where troops are still positioned.

Azoulay was one of several northern mayors who criticized the agreement ahead of its approval by the cabinet on Tuesday evening, calling it “a surrender deal” during an interview with Channel 12 news.

PM’s office: IDF ordered not to let Lebanese enter ‘area of the villages near the border’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have instructed the IDF to “not allow the [Lebanese] population to enter the area of ​​the villages near the border in southern Lebanon,” the Prime Minister’s Office says.

“This is in accordance with the first stage in the implementation of the ceasefire outline,” the PMO adds.

Netanyahu’s office also says that four Lebanese suspects detained by IDF troops in southern Lebanon earlier today are Hezbollah operatives, including a local commander.

The statement makes no mention of the Litani River, which the IDF had minutes earlier warned Lebanese civilians against crossing.

MKs advance bills to block supporters of terror and armed resistance from holding local office

Likud MK Likud MK Hanoch Milwidsky in a meeting of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, November 25, 2024. (Noam Moskowitz, Office of the Knesset Spokesperson)

Lawmakers vote to advance a pair of nearly identical bills prohibiting supporters of terrorism or armed struggle against the State of Israel from running in local council elections and creating a mechanism for impeachment if they’re found to have expressed such sentiments after being elected.

Passing its preliminary reading 51-11, the first bill, sponsored by Likud MK Hanoch Milwidsky, seeks to bring the Local Authorities Bill in line with an existing law barring individuals who support terror and racism from running for the Knesset.

Milwidsky’s bill would ban candidates who support armed struggle by an enemy state or terrorist organization against the State of Israel from running for local office. Members of local councils would be empowered to expel colleagues who express such views following a four-fifths vote ratified by the High Court.

The presence of supporters of terrorism, armed struggle and racism against the State of Israel in local authorities is “absurd,” the bill’s explanatory notes state, adding that such people “cannot serve as elected officials when they express solidarity with a violent act against [Israel] and in practice represent the citizens of their city and even the state at international events.”

The fact that they currently can do so “is very disturbing and frightening, and the elected representatives of the State of Israel have the responsibility to prevent this horrific scenario from coming true,” the bill argues.

A similar bill, backed by Yisrael Beytenu MK Oded Forer, also passes its preliminary reading, 36-10. It states that a candidate or party slate will not be allowed to participate in elections if their actions or rhetoric explicitly or implicitly promote “the denial of the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state,” incite racism, or promote the “armed struggle of an enemy state or of a terrorist organization against the State of Israel.”

In addition to allowing for the impeachment of elected officials via a four-fifths vote, the proposal allows for the Interior Ministry to revoke the election of a council member found in violation of the bill’s provisions, following a hearing with the candidate and the head of the local authority in question.

The bills’ advancement comes less than a month after lawmakers voted 61-35 in favor of another measure changing the criteria for banning candidates from running for the Knesset, which could make it easier to push out Arab-led parties and MKs.

That bill, an amendment to Basic Law: The Knesset, would expand the current rule whereby candidates can only be banned from running if there is a significant body of evidence that they have supported terror, to include isolated support of acts carried out by a lone attacker and not just those by a group or enemy state.

Among the acts that would be construed as support for terror would be visiting the family of an attack suspect.

Halevi: Enforcement of truce ‘will be even more determined’ than IDF offensive in Lebanon

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi speaks in a video statement, November 27, 2024. (Screenshot: Israel Defense Forces)

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi vows that the military is very determined to enforce the ceasefire with Hezbollah.

“The fighting in Lebanon was very determined. The enforcement of the agreement will be even more determined,” Halevi says in a video distributed by the IDF.

“Hezbollah operatives who approach our forces, the border area, or villages within the zone we have designated will be hit,” he says.

“We are preparing and getting ready in case this [ceasefire] doesn’t work,” Halevi continues, adding that the IDF is “very, very determined to enforce the rules and bring a completely different reality to the residents of the north.”

IDF warns Lebanese against returning south, says ‘will deal firmly’ with truce breaches

Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, again warns Lebanese civilians to hold off on returning to villages in southern Lebanon amid the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

“For your safety and the safety of your family, you are prohibited from moving south toward the villages that the IDF has ordered to be evacuated or toward IDF forces in the area,” he says.

Adraee says that from 5 p.m. until 7 a.m. tomorrow, “it is absolutely forbidden” to cross the Litani River in a southbound direction. Those who are south of the Litani must remain where they are, he says.

“We remind you that the IDF is still deployed in its positions in southern Lebanon in accordance with the terms of the ceasefire agreement, and our forces will deal firmly with any movement that violates this agreement,” Adraee adds.

The IDF has 60 days to withdraw under the deal. During that time, the Lebanese Army will gradually take responsibility for southern Lebanon and an American-led committee will be established to adjudicate complaints regarding potential ceasefire violations.

Lebanese army says it started ‘reinforcing its presence’ in south Lebanon

BEIRUT — Lebanon’s army says it began reinforcing its presence in south Lebanon, after Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced a cabinet decision to bolster the force’s deployment following a Hezbollah-Israel ceasefire.

“The army has begun reinforcing its presence in the South Litani sector and extending the state’s authority in coordination with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL),” the military says in a statement. An AFP journalist reports seeing army troops and vehicles in two south Lebanon areas.

باشر الجيش تعزيز انتشاره في قطاع جنوب الليطاني وبسط سلطة الدولة بالتنسيق مع قوة الأمم المتحدة المؤقتة في لبنان – اليونيفيل، وذلك استنادًا إلى "التزام الحكومة اللبنانية تنفيذ القرار ١٧٠١ الصادر عن مجلس الأمن بمندرجاته كافة والالتزامات ذات الصلة، ولا سيما ما يتعلق بتعزيز انتشار… pic.twitter.com/TlvuQWe20a

— الجيش اللبناني (@LebarmyOfficial) November 27, 2024

IDF says soldiers detained four suspects who approached them in southern Lebanon

The IDF says it detained four suspects who approached troops in southern Lebanon.

The four are being questioned in the area.

IDF troops are still positioned in some areas of southern Lebanon under the ceasefire agreement which took effect at 4 a.m. The IDF has said it will announce when people can return to their villages in southern Lebanon, once troops withdraw under the agreement.

After lengthy legal battle, reservist who died by suicide to receive military funeral

Asaf Dagan with his mother, Miri. (Courtesy)

The IDF says a reservist who died by suicide last month will be able to receive a military burial, after a lengthy legal struggle between the army and the soldier’s family.

Maj. (res.) Asaf Dagan shot himself with his handgun on October 23 while not in active service, which made him ineligible for a military burial.

This morning, the IDF says Israeli Air Force chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar met with Dagan’s family and presented them with the IDF’s solution, under which he would be buried in a military funeral ceremony, but at a civilian cemetery.

“The IDF went to great lengths to reach an agreed-upon outline with the family, in accordance with a High Court decision, which will help the family bring the late Asaf to a dignified burial,” the military adds.

Dagan was a combat navigator in the IAF for 20 years and served in the Second Lebanon War. Before then, he served in the Paratroopers Brigade.

When he was released from duty in the IAF, he served as a reservist in the Intelligence Directorate’s Unit 8200.

Asaf suffered from PTSD but would regularly show up for reserve duty, according to his family.

Adviser to Ben Gvir named as a suspect in probe into unlawful allocation of gun permits

David Bavli, an adviser to National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, is named as one of the suspects being investigated by police over suspicions the ministry improperly issued gun permits.

עו״ד דוד בבלי צורח ללא תוכן pic.twitter.com/w5yI68x7aZ

— Israel Ganir (@IsraelGanir2) May 10, 2024

Demanding deal, hostage relatives briefly block entrance to Netanyahu’s Knesset office

Relatives of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza temporarily block the entrance to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Knesset office, demanding that he meet with them about promoting a hostage deal.

משפחות חטופים התבצרו מחוץ ללשכת נתניהו בכנסת ודרשו שראש הממשלה יפגש איתן ויקדם עסקה pic.twitter.com/wmNEtP1HJ6

— דפנה ליאל (@DaphnaLiel) November 27, 2024

Eli Albag, whose 19-year-old daughter Liri was taken captive by Hamas on October 7, says that just as Netanyahu managed to close a deal with Lebanon, he needs to do so in Gaza as well.

After being removed by Knesset security, the protesters go down one floor and block the stairs leading to the faction wing of the building, where the various political parties hold meetings and press conferences.

משפחות חטופים מתבצרות במדרגות הכנסת אחרי שהזיזו אותן מהכניסה ללשכת רה"מ

מלמעלה צופים עליהם חכ סוכות והיועץ המורשע של השר לבטחון לאומי גופשטיין pic.twitter.com/bnDoeNu4ne

— Noa Shpigel (@NoaShpigel) November 27, 2024

Hezbollah MP claims group has no ‘visible’ arms, bases in southern Lebanon

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah says his group is cooperating with the Lebanese army’s deployment in south Lebanon, denying the terror group has any unhidden assets there.

There is “full cooperation” with the Lebanese state over strengthening the army’s deployment in south Lebanon, Fadlallah tells AFP. He adds that the group has “no visible weapons or bases” there.

Fadlallah also dismisses the part of the ceasefire agreement requiring the Lebanese army to control access to southern Lebanon until Israeli troops withdraw, saying that “nobody can make residents leave their villages.”

Lawmakers give initial go-ahead to bill privatizing public broadcaster

A bill that would privatize the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation passes a preliminary reading in the Knesset 49-46.

The bill, sponsored by Likud MK Tally Gotliv, would require the government to issue a tender for the purchase of the television and radio networks controlled by the Broadcasting Corp., which operates the Kan public broadcaster and Reshet Bet radio, among others.

According to the proposed legislation, if a buyer cannot be found in two years, the broadcaster will be shuttered completely and its intellectual property will revert to the government.

“The [Israel Public Broadcasting Corporation] provides a service to the public, at the public’s expense, without asking the public whether they want it or not,” says Gotliv.

Communications Minister Shlomi Karhi presents the bill’s advancement as a boon for economic liberalization, stating that “there is no need for the public to finance public broadcasting. There are enough news channels in the private market, all of which have higher ratings than public broadcasting.”

Opposition leader Yair Lapid attacks the legislation as “an attack on Israeli democracy” and freedom of expression.

The government, he says, “decided to do what dark regimes do – first crush the free media and then go and deal with everything else.”

In a statement, the Foreign Press Association says the bill, and separate legislation targeting the liberal Haaretz daily, “appear vindictive and politically motivated.”

The bill has also been criticized by Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.

Iran says ceasefire will factor into decision to hit back at Israel

Tehran reserves the right to react to last month’s airstrikes on Iran, but it also considers other developments in the region such as the ceasefire agreement in Lebanon, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says in Lisbon.

He tells reporters Tehran welcomes yesterday’s agreement halting hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, a global terror organization controlled and funded by Iran.

He says he hopes it leads to a permanent ceasefire, despite Tehran’s official position of seeking Israel’s destruction.

Iran has repeatedly threatened to respond after Israel carried out sorties on the country’s military facilities on October 26 in retaliation for a barrage of hundreds of ballistic missiles lobbed by Tehran at Israel on October 1.

In Lebanon, Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah tells broadcaster Al-Jadeed the terror group retains the right to defend itself if Israel attacks.

Earlier, Kataeb Hezbollah, an Iraqi group backed by Iran, said it would not be bound by the agreement and would continue attacking Israel.

Letter seeking AG’s ouster has 13 ministers’ signatures so far, Likud lawmaker says

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi tells the Kikar Hashabbat news site that over a dozen ministers have signed onto a document demanding the government begin the process of removing Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara from her post.

“I’m working on it actively,” Karhi tells the Haredi site, pulling out a piece of paper that he says contain the signatures of ministers seeking Baharav-Miara’s ouster. “There are 13 ministers who already signed the letter to convene a government discussion and to fire the attorney general, to start the process.”

Several signatures can be seen during the brief moment Karhi flashes the document, including that of Otzma Yehudit minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf. Otzma Yehudit head Itamar Ben Gvir and others have not been shy about publicly demanding she be pushed out, but politicians have thus far stopped short of making good on threats to seek her removal.

“I believe the attorney general is a political adviser and not fit for the position,” claims Karhi, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party.

Troops raze home of West Bank Palestinian behind deadly September attack

Overnight, IDF soldiers entered the West Bank town of Idhna to demolish the home of Muhannad Ala’sawdeh, a Palestinian who killed three police officers in a September shooting attack, the army says.

On September 1, Ala’sawdeh opened fire at a police car on Route 35 near the Idhna-Tarqumiyah junction, just east of a checkpoint between the West Bank and Israel, before fleeing the scene. He was later killed in an exchange of fire with troops in Hebron.

Ch. Insp. Arik Ben Eliyahu, Command Sgt. Maj. Hadas Branch, and First Sgt. Roni Shakuri were killed in the attack.

As a matter of policy, Israel demolishes the homes of Palestinians accused of carrying out deadly terror attacks.

After clinching Lebanon calm, Biden says Gaza truce efforts will ramp back up

US President Joe Biden says the US and other mediators will jumpstart efforts to reach a ceasefire deal in Gaza that removes the Hamas terror group from power while freeing hostages held captive in the Strip for over a year.

“Over the coming days, the United States will make another push with Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Israel, and others to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza with the hostages released and an end to the war without Hamas in power,” Biden says in a tweet from his official X account.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan tells MSNBC that Biden will begin work on a possible ceasefire today.

Israel nabs trove of Iranian arms destined for West Bank attack — Shin Bet

A captured shipment of Iranian weapons destined for terror operatives in the West Bank, in an image released by the Shin Bet on November 27, 2024. (Shin Bet)

The Shin Bet security agency reveals it recently foiled an attempt by Iran to smuggle large amounts of advanced weapons, including rockets, to terror operatives in the West Bank to be used in attacks on Israeli targets.

In a joint operation, the Shin Bet and Israel Defense Forces captured a shipment of advanced weapons that the agency says were destined for terror operatives in the Jenin area.

Later, a site where a large number of weapons from Iran had been buried was uncovered, the Shin Bet says.

The Shin Bet does not provide further details on where the weapons were hidden or where the shipment was captured.

Among the weapons captured were 40 “quality” Claymore-type explosive devices and 33 makeshift Claymores, along with remote detonation systems; six RPG launchers and 24 RPGs; three 107mm rockets; two 60mm mortar launchers and 20 mortars; six M16 assault rifles and one M4 rifle; seven sniper rifles; and 37 handguns.

According to the Shin Bet, two Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ special forces units were responsible for the plot.

Unit 4000 is the special operations division of the IRGC’s Intelligence Organization, headed by Jawad Ghafari; Unit 18840 is the special operations unit of the IRGC’s Quds Force in Syria, which is subordinate to the head of Iran’s clandestine Unit 840, Asghar Bakri.

The Shin Bet says it has identified renewed attempts to smuggle advanced weapons into the West Bank in recent months.

“The seized weapons are part of an ongoing Iranian campaign to destabilize security in the region, by arming terror cells in Judea and Samaria, whose goal is to carry out attacks against Israeli citizens and IDF forces,” the agency adds.

A captured shipment of Iranian weapons destined for terror operatives in the West Bank, in a video released by the Shin Bet on November 27, 2024. (Shin Bet)

IDF staying in Lebanon until enforcement mechanism is seen working — official

An Israeli security official says Israeli forces are remaining in their positions in southern Lebanon and will only gradually withdraw back across the Blue Line.

The official declines to say when troops will begin the withdrawal but says it will be completed during the 60-day period laid out in the ceasefire agreement.

The pace of the withdrawal and the scheduled return of Lebanese civilians to their homes will depend on whether the deal is implemented and enforced by all sides, he adds.

“We need to see the mechanism is working,” he says. “It’s a gradual agreement. It’s a gradual withdrawal.”

While they remain there, Israeli soldiers “will fire when our forces are threatened,” the official says.

Non-immediate threats will be reported to the international monitoring committee, but if no action is taken, “we will enforce it,” the official says.

Ben Gvir touts his easing of limits on Jewish prayer at Temple Mount

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir boasts in a briefing to Knesset lawmakers that under his leadership there has been a “strengthening of sovereignty in Jerusalem, including on the Temple Mount.”

There used to be a policy that “a Jew who mutters and says a prayer is removed. I changed the policy and I am proud of it,” he says.

The status quo governing the Temple Mount compound allows Muslims to enter and pray with few restrictions, while non-Muslims, including Jews, can visit only during certain times and are prohibited from anything that can be interpreted as a religious rite, including prayer. Visibly religious Jews are only allowed to walk on a predetermined route, closely accompanied by police.

While Jews are still not officially allowed to pray, police have increasingly tolerated limited prayer in recent years — a trend that began before Ben Gvir’s tenure but has accelerated since he took office.

Since his appointment, Jewish worshipers have increasingly been seen prostrating themselves at the holy site. Ben Gvir has repeatedly declared an end to the longstanding status quo — prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to announce that it remains unchanged.

Any change to the status quo would likely set off fiery protests in the region and beyond while endangering Israel’s peace treaty with Jordan, which claims custodianship over the compound.

Hamas terrorist behind 2002 Beersheba blast killed in Gaza — IDF

A recent Israeli drone strike in Gaza City killed Murad al-Rajoub, a Hamas terrorist behind a 2002 bombing attack in Beersheba, the military says.

Israeli authorities say Al-Rajoub was one of two Hamas terrorists behind the May 2002 attack, in which 10 civilians were wounded. He had been sentenced to 38 years before being released and deported to Gaza in a 2011 deal in which Israel exchanged 1,027 terror convicts for captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.

According to Palestinian media, al-Rajoub was killed in a strike on Friday, along with three other Palestinians.

Meanwhile, the IDF says it is continuing an offensive against Hamas in the Strip’s far northern towns of Beit Lahiya and Jabalia.

Fighter jets struck dozens of Hamas weapon depots, buildings used by the terror group, and other infrastructure in the area overnight, according to the military.

The IDF says that many of the targets were located based on intelligence obtained from detained terror operatives who were interrogated.

UAE newspaper publishes full text of ceasefire deal

Emirates-based newspaper The National publishes what it says is the full text of the ceasefire deal agreed to by Lebanon ending fighting between Israel and the Hezbollah terror group. It says the draft was obtained via a senior official.

The 13-point document tasks Lebanon’s armed forces with enforcing UN Resolution 1701 from the year 2006, which bars Hezbollah arms and military infrastructure south of the Litani River, and calls for the deployment of 10,000 Lebanese troops to the area as soon as possible, under the guidance of the US and France.

Much of the document is concerned with the working of a tripartite mechanism set up by the UNIFIL international observer force, the US, and France to deal with enforcement and violations of the treaty.

The document requires the Lebanese military to control access to areas south of the Litani, though many Lebanese have already seemingly streamed to the area nonetheless.

A final point includes a request from Jerusalem and Beirut that the US and UN help “facilitate indirect negotiations between Israel and Lebanon with the objective of resolving remaining disputed points along the Blue Line [Israel-Lebanon frontier], consistent with Resolution 1701.”

France says ICC immunity rules cover Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is covered by immunities from prosecution at the International Criminal Court, the French foreign ministry says,
adding that it would take that fact into account if it was asked to arrest the premier and his former defense minister.

In a statement, the ministry reaffirms its commitment to international justice, but also says that immunity rules that apply to states that are not a party to the ICC cover the Israeli leader. Israel is not an ICC member.

“Such immunities apply to Prime Minister Netanyahu and other relevant ministers and will need to be taken into consideration should the ICC request their arrest and surrender,” the ministry says.

Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant are wanted by the ICC on war crimes allegations. Both Israel and the US have dismissed the case as spurious.

MK must declare immunity bill won’t be used to shield self, legal adviser rules

MK Tally Gotliv speaks during a Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee at the Knesset, Jerusalem, November 19, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

In order to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, MK Tally Gotliv must publicly affirm in the Knesset plenum that a parliamentary immunity bill she is sponsoring will not retroactively apply to civil litigation in which she is engaged, Knesset legal adviser Sagit Afik states in a letter to Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana.

The Ministerial Committee on Legislation gave its backing on Sunday to a bill sponsored by the firebrand Likud legislator that would strengthen lawmakers’ parliamentary immunity.

The bill would prohibit the hearing of civil suits against lawmakers or opening of investigations into them unless the Knesset determines, with the support of 90 of the 120 MKs, that the activity the legislator is accused of undertaking was not carried out in the performance of their duties.

The legislation, if passed, would not apply to cases of fraud and breach of trust.

Gotliv has insisted — including in a conversation with Afik — that the law would not be applied retroactively, meaning that it would not affect an ongoing defamation suit filed against Gotliv by activist Shikma Bressler, due to unfounded claims made by Gotliv that sought to connect the anti-government protest leader with the Hamas terror group and the October 7, 2023, onslaught.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara has already issued a legal opinion in which she warned that the bill would turn parliamentary immunity “into a de facto sanctuary from criminal investigation and prosecution and the filing of civil lawsuits.”

Lebanese leaders urge Israel to pull back, tell displaced to go home

Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati appeals to Israel to fully commit to a newly agreed ceasefire and “withdraw from all the regions and positions it occupied.”

“I hope this will be a new page for Lebanon, I hope the coming days will lead to the election of a president,” says Mikati.

Meanwhile, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who negotiated the truce on behalf of Hezbollah, urges displaced residents to return home, despite official instructions from the Israeli and Lebanese army for those who fled southern Lebanese villages to wait until troops withdraw.

“Return to your land and your birthplace,” he says.

Berri calls the the last months of war “the most dangerous” in the history of Lebanon, apparently outstripping the civil war from 1975 to 1990 that nearly destroyed the entire country, but praises the Lebanese people for showing unity and urges the swift election of a president.

Hezbollah precision missile plant hit in massive pre-truce bombardment — IDF

A picture taken from Lebanon shows Syrian officials inspecting the damage on the Syrian side of the Dabussiyeh border crossing after an Israeli airstrike on November 27, 2024. (Fathi AL-MASRI / AFP)

Overnight before the ceasefire, the Israeli Air Force struck dozens of Hezbollah targets across Lebanon, including a major precision missile site, according to the IDF.

Several waves of strikes, targeting some 330 Hezbollah sites, were carried out yesterday and into the night, right up until the ceasefire took effect at 4 a.m.

One of the strikes overnight in the Beqaa Valley, close to the Syrian border, targeted an underground Hezbollah precision-guided missile manufacturing and storage site.

The IDF says it spent several hours bombing the underground kilometer-long site, along with an adjacent Radwan Force base where it estimates that several dozen Hezbollah operatives were killed.

Another strike shortly after midnight hit a border crossing between Syria and Lebanon, which the IDF says was used by Hezbollah to smuggle weapons. Syrian media reported six dead in the strike.

Among the 330 Hezbollah sites struck on the day before the ceasefire, 42 were in Beirut, according to the military.

The IDF says that another strike yesterday killed the operations chief of Hezbollah’s aerial forces, known as Unit 127, which is responsible for drone and cruise missile attacks on Israel.

Army says several suspects shot in southern Lebanese village, access blocked to others

The military confirms that soldiers have fired warning shots at people trying to approach several southern Lebanon villages, after Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered “forceful action” to keep Hezbollah members from returning.

Several suspects were hit by IDF fire in Meiss al-Jabal, according to the military, which says it has shifted from active fighting in Lebanon to focusing on enforcing the ceasefire deal.

The military says it is working to prevent people from reaching areas where troops are still positioned in southern Lebanon, and several routes to villages have been blocked.

Israeli Air Force planes are still patrolling the skies, and troops are still at positions in southern Lebanon.

The IDF has 60 days to withdraw under the deal. During that time, the Lebanese Army will gradually take responsibility for southern Lebanon and an American-led committee will be established to adjudicate complaints regarding potential ceasefire violations, the IDF says.

Hamas says Hezbollah has right to agree to ceasefire, hopes for deal in Gaza

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri. (AP/Hatem Moussa)

Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri says the group understands Lebanon’s right to reach an agreement that protects its people and is hoping for a deal to end the war in Gaza.

“Hamas appreciates the right of Lebanon and Hezbollah to reach an agreement that protects the people of Lebanon and we hope that this agreement will pave the way to reaching an agreement that ends the war of genocide against our people in Gaza,” Abu Zuhri tells Reuters.

Interlocutors have expressed hopes that the loss of support from Hezbollah will help isolate Hamas and push it toward a deal releasing hostages and ending the fighting in Gaza.

Abu Zuhri blames the failure to reach a ceasefire deal on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has repeatedly accused Hamas of foiling efforts.

“Hamas showed high flexibility to reach an agreement and it is still committed to that position and is interested in reaching an agreement that ends the war in Gaza,” Abu Zuhri says. “The problem was always with Netanyahu who has always escaped from reaching an agreement.”

In the West Bank, senior Palestinian Authority official Hussein Al-Sheikh welcomes the agreement in Lebanon.

“We welcome the decision to ceasefire in Lebanon, and we call on the international community to pressure Israel to stop its criminal war in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and to stop all its escalatory measures against the Palestinian people,” Sheikh, a confidant of President Mahmoud Abbas, posted on X.

Senior Hezbollah terrorist seen in public after surviving apparent Israeli hit attempt

A senior Hezbollah official who survived an apparent assassination attempt last month is seen in pictures shared by Lebanese media touring openly in public after the declaration of a ceasefire.

Hezbollah Liaison and Coordination Unit chief Wafiq Safa survived a rare strike in central Beirut on October 10, according to reports, though claims at the time described him as badly injured.

In pictures circulating today, Safa is seen without any visible ailments, smiling while standing with two others in a cemetery.

A minaret in the background appears to match one in the Ghobeiry section of Beirut.

صورة جديدة متداولة لمسؤول التنسيق والإرتباط في حزب الله وفيق صفا pic.twitter.com/fzd88yUmhb

— LBCI Lebanon News (@LBCI_NEWS) November 27, 2024

Safa was sanctioned in 2019 by the US Treasury Department, which described him as Hezbollah’s interlocutor to the Lebanese security forces.

“As the head of Hezbollah’s security apparatus, which is directly linked to Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, Safa has exploited Lebanon’s ports and border crossings to smuggle contraband and facilitate travel on behalf of Hezbollah, undermining the security and safety of the Lebanese people, while also draining valuable import duties and revenue away from the Lebanese government,” the Treasury Department wrote at the time.

Lebanese report Israeli fire on returnees in border villages, no injuries

Hezbollah-linked media in Lebanon report that Israeli troops opened fire in a number of southern Lebanese villages as Lebanese returnees ignore orders not to rush back to areas where Israeli troops are still present.

According to the al-Akhbar news outlet, mortars were fired near the town of Odaisseh and in the center of Meiss al-Jabal, both of them villages on the border opposite the Galilee panhandle. Shots were also fired near Markaba, another border village in the area, it claims.

Al-Manar, another Hezbollah mouthpiece, reports that troops opened fire in Khiam. Video from the frontier village earlier showed people milling around just a few meters away from an Israeli tank.

No injuries are reported, indicating soldiers may have issued warning shots.

There is no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which earlier announced firing warning shots at cars that approached the border village of Kafr Kila.

Sa’ar set for Czech visit to press case against ICC

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar leads a Knesset faction meeting in Jerusalem on November 25, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar will fly to the Czech Republic today to meet with his Czech counterpart and Prime Minister Petr Fiala, his office says.

According to the Foreign Ministry, Sa’ar will focus in his meetings on the International Criminal Court arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, calling it a “dangerous precedent of attempting to harm the right of self-defense of a democratic country fighting terrorism.”

The Czech foreign ministry says it will heed the court’s ruling, but Fiala called the ICC decision “unfortunate” and said it “undermines authority in other cases by equating the elected representatives of a democratic state with the leaders of an Islamist terrorist organization.”

In a statement, Sa’ar compares the ICC arrest warrant to the Munich Agreement of 1938, which was meant to appease Nazi Germany by giving it Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland region. “I say to our Czech friends – do not allow us to be sacrificed as the Western countries sacrificed Czechoslovakia in 1938,” he says.

During the meetings, Sa’ar will also stress the need to stop Iran’s nuclear program and its support for terrorism across the region.

His meetings with Piala and Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky will take place on Thursday.

He is also convening all of Israel’s ambassadors in Europe to discuss Israel’s diplomatic response to the ICC arrest warrants and will brief them on the ceasefire in Lebanon, his office says.

Sa’ar will then meet with President of the Czech Senate Miloš Vyštarčil and with Jan Bartosek, who heads the Czech-Israel Parliamentary Friendship Association.

Ben Gvir tells mother of hostage he’ll block any deal freeing ‘1,000 Sinwars’

Einav Zangauker speaks during a National Security Committee meeting at the Knesset on November 27, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

The mother of a hostage held in Gaza gets into a heated argument with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir at a Knesset National Security Committee meeting, accusing him of being more concerned with putting settlements in the Strip than with the fate of captives held there.

Sparring with the far-right minister, Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zaungauker, says that “yesterday you said that the hostages need a little bit of patience,” prompting a vehement denial from Ben Gvir.

On Tuesday evening, Ben Gvir was asked about the possibility of a hostage deal during an interview with Channel 12 and answered that “we need some patience to bring Hamas to its knees.”

Zangauker, a vocal government critics, says that the hostages who are no longer alive are buried dozens of meters below ground, but Ben Gvir wants to build roads and towns “and settle Gaza on their blood without bringing them home for burial.”

“This isn’t Jewish values,” she asserts as Ben Gvir shakes his head and looks pained. “The hostages are suffering in body and soul and you’re allowing this to continue. Where is your cry for redeeming hostages and solidarity? Why not agree to a hostage deal?”

Itamar Ben Gvir speaks during a National Security Committee meeting at the Knesset on November 27, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Asked how long he can leave her son in captivity and why he believes a hostage deal would be dangerous, Ben Gvir responds that October 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar was released during the 2011 deal for captured soldier Gilad Shalit and that a new agreement would likewise result in the freeing of dangerous terrorists.

Israel has an obligation to “do everything to release the hostages but we also have a responsibility for the lives of Israeli citizens. I will not allow the release of 1,000 Sinwars under any circumstances,” Ben Gvir says.

Katz orders IDF to take action against ‘Hezbollah members’ entering border villages near troops

Defense Minister Israel Katz says that he is ordering the military to take “forceful” action to block what he says are Hezbollah members entering border villages where Israeli troops may still be operating.

“Due to the entry of Hezbollah members into Kfar Kila,” Katz has ordered the military “to act forcefully and without compromises against developments of this kind,” his office says in a statement.

Katz says that Hezbollah members must be prevented from reaching areas in southern Lebanon where the IDF is still prohibiting movement, “and if they endanger the IDF troops, they must be hit.”

Footage shows Lebanese returnees near IDF tank, border wall

Despite the IDF warning Lebanese civilians against returning to southern Lebanon villages at this stage of the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, live television footage shows people walking around in the town of Khiam, in close range of an IDF tank.

كاميرا التلفزيون العربي ترصد تمركز دبابة إسرائيلية داخل مدينة الخيام جنوبي لبنان@ramezelkadi pic.twitter.com/BYEtoodBA4

— التلفزيون العربي (@AlarabyTV) November 27, 2024

Another clip posted to social media shows that Lebanese people have reached the border wall between the Lebanese village of Kafr Kila and the Israeli community of Metula.

مصادر لبنانية: نازحون يصلون إلى بوابة فاطمة في بلدة كفركلا بعد انسحاب جيش الاحتلال. pic.twitter.com/Kw2dg6qWN9

— الجرمق الإخباري (@aljarmaqnet) November 27, 2024

There is no immediate comment from the military on the footage.

IDF troops are still positioned in some areas of southern Lebanon under the ceasefire agreement that took effect at 4 a.m.

The IDF has said it will announce when people can return to their villages in southern Lebanon, once troops withdraw under the agreement.

Turkey urges world pressure on Israel to pay for war damage in Lebanon

Turkey welcomes Israel and Iran-backed group Hezbollah reaching a ceasefire in Lebanon and hopes the truce will be lasting, its foreign ministry says, calling on the international community to pressure Israel into paying for military strikes on the terror group.

“It is imperative for the international community to exert pressure on Israel to fully comply with the ceasefire and to provide reparations for the damages it has caused in Lebanon,” the ministry says in a statement.

It adds that Ankara is ready to support peace efforts in Lebanon and says a ceasefire must also be declared in Gaza as soon as possible.

France indicates it could ignore ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot says “certain leaders” may be immune from prosecution by the International Criminal Court, referring to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the court on war crimes charges.

Asked if France would arrest Netanyahu if he stepped on French territory, Barrot tells Franceinfo radio that France “is very committed to international justice and will apply international law.”

But he adds that the court’s statute “deals with questions of immunity for certain leaders.”

“It is ultimately up to the judicial authorities to decide,” he says.

China welcomes ceasefire, France and Egypt look to expand calm

China and Egypt are the latest members of the international community to welcome a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

In Egypt, which is mediating ceasefire talks with Hamas in Gaza, the foreign ministry expresses hopes that the move will help pave the way to a wider regional de-escalation.

In China, which has played a role in pulling Saudi Arabia toward Iran, foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning says Beijing “support[s] all efforts conducive to easing tensions and achieving peace and welcome the agreement reached by relevant parties on a ceasefire.”

French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot says the ceasefire in Lebanon should help lead to a cessation of fighting in Gaza as well.

“Force must give way to dialogue and negotiation. This has now been achieved in Lebanon, and it must happen as soon as possible in the Gaza Strip,” he tells franceinfo radio.

IDF fires warnings at cars approaching southern Lebanon village near border

An Israeli convoy in Kafr Kila, south Lebanon, on October 28, 2024. (Diana Bletter/Times of Israel)

The IDF says it fired warning shots toward several vehicles in Lebanon that approached an area on the border where it is still prohibiting movement.

The incident took place in the Lebanese village of Kafr Kila, just across the border from the Israeli town of Metula, according to local authorities.

According to the IDF, the cars drove away after the warning shots.

A short video apparently taken by a Lebanese man claiming to have returned to Kafr Kila shows widespread destruction, though no Israeli military presence can be seen.

العائدون يدخلون الى كفركلا فجر اليوم ✌???? pic.twitter.com/oeyPN5x8Kh

— مصدر مسؤول (@fouadkhreiss) November 27, 2024

IDF troops are still positioned in some areas of southern Lebanon under the ceasefire agreement that took effect at 4 a.m., and militaries in Israel and Lebanon have warned Lebanese civilians against returning to villages where soldiers are still deployed for now. The military says it will announce when people can return to their villages in southern Lebanon, once the IDF withdraws under the agreement.

The military also says that the Israeli Air Force is “prepared to operate across Lebanon and air defense systems are on high alert.”

“The IDF will act against anyone who attempts to violate the ceasefire agreement, and will not allow harm to the security of Israeli residents,” the army says.

The IDF adds that as of now, there are no changes to guidelines for Israeli civilians.

Over 2,800 structures damaged in months of Hezbollah attacks — report

Damage caused to vehicles and buildings from a missile fired from Lebanon, in the northern city of Haifa, November 24, 2024. (Flash90)

Nearly 3,000 homes and buildings in Israel were damaged over the last 14 months of war with Hezbollah, Army Radio reports, citing official figures.

The tally of 2,874 structures includes 841 that will need to be completely rebuilt, according to the report.

In Kiryat Shmona alone, 382 buildings suffered damage, while the nearby kibbutz of Manara and the Western Galilee towns of Nahariya and Shlomi also took significant hits.

Israeli authorities have previously estimated property damage to be at least NIS 1 billion ($273 million).

About 55,000 acres of forestry, nature reserve, parks and open lands in northern Israel and the Golan Heights have been burnt down since the start of the war, Israeli authorities say.

Hamas says group ready for Gaza ceasefire after Hezbollah appears to lay down arms

Palestinians inspect the damage after an Israeli airstrike in the Shejaiya suburb east of Gaza City on November 26, 2024. (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

Hamas is ready to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, a senior official in the Palestinian terror group says, hailing the truce that took hold in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah.

“We have informed mediators in Egypt, Qatar and Turkey that Hamas is ready for a ceasefire agreement and a serious deal to exchange prisoners,” the official tells AFP. He accuses Israel of obstructing an agreement.

Officials from the US and Israel had expressed hopes as the Lebanon ceasefire took shape that the loss of Hezbollah’s military support would help push Hamas to sue for peace. The group has long maintained that it wants a ceasefire, but has been unwilling to meet Israeli demands on hostages, according to Jerusalem. International mediators say Israeli demands regarding leaving troops in Gaza have also been an obstacle, blaming both sides for the impasse.

Northern residents still waiting to return yearn for home, but bearish on future

As many residents of southern Lebanon return home, the mayor of the northern city of Shlomi says Israelis are continuing to stay away from the border region for now.

“As of now, there’s no plan to return home,” Gabby Neeman tells Army Radio. He  complains that there is no compensation being offered to residents for their losses, and no government commitment to invest in rebuilding the community.

“Nothing is happening,” he says.

Neeman, who was among several northern leaders to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of the government’s approval of the US-brokered ceasefire, says he left the meeting with the feeling that fighting would return eventually.

“Everything we were shown testifies to the fact that the next round is ahead of us, whether in a month, two months or 10 years,” he says.

Ruti Yidan, an elderly Kiryat Shmona resident who was forced to leave her longtime home by the fighting, fights back tears as she tells Channel 12 news of her desire to return.

“I’m not young, and I want to be at home,” she says. “And I hope we can return with full security.”

Masses head back to southern Lebanon as Beirut joins plea for civilians to delay return

People sit in traffic as they return to their villages after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect in Ghazieh, Lebanon, November 27, 2024. (AP/Mohammed Zaatari)

Lebanon’s army joins Israel in warning residents of the country’s south to delay returning home until the Israel Defense Forces withdraws, expected to take place over the coming weeks.

The Lebanese army says it is preparing to send troops to the south of the country as Israeli soldiers retreat back over the border, asking residents to avoid entering villages where Israelis may still be present.

“With the ceasefire coming into effect, the army is taking the necessary measures to complete its deployment in the south,” the army says in a statement. “The army command calls on citizens to wait before returning to frontline villages and towns that Israeli enemy forces have penetrated, awaiting their withdrawal.”

Earlier, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee warned Lebanese civilians to not yet return to villages in the south, “for your protection and the safety of your families.”

Despite the plea, displaced residents of southern Lebanon have been streaming back to the area all morning.

In the coastal city of Tyre, cars and motorcycles carry jubilant Lebanese who have been forced from the city by the fighting for months.

Sporadic celebratory gunfire can be heard at a main roundabout in the city, as people returning honk the horns of cars — some piled with mattresses — and residents cheer.

A couple of men at the roundabout shout slogans praising slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in September.

Hussein Sweidan says he sees the ceasefire as a victory for Hezbollah. “This is a moment of victory, pride and honor for us, the Shia sect, and for all of Lebanon,” he says.

A man who is returning to his village waves as the ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel begins, in Tyre, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024. (AP/Hussein Malla)

Ahmad Husseini, in his car with family members, describes returning as an “indescribable feeling” and praises Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who led Lebanon’s negotiations with Washington.

“He made us and everyone proud,” he says.

Syria raises death toll to 6 in alleged Israeli strikes on border crossings

Damascus has upped the death toll to six in alleged Israeli strikes on Syrian border crossings with Lebanon which took place just after a ceasefire with Hezbollah was announced late Tuesday.

Syria’s state news agency reported four civilians and two soldiers were killed, and 12 people were wounded including children, women and Syrian Red Crescent workers.

The Red Crescent said earlier a volunteer was killed and another was injured in “the aggression that targeted Al-Dabousyeh and Al-Arida crossings … as they were performing their humanitarian duty of rescuing the wounded early on Wednesday.”

The strike damaged several ambulances and work points, it claimed in a statement.

Syrian state TV reported the Israeli strike hit the Arida and Dabousieh border crossings with Lebanon.

Israel has not commented on the strikes, but has indicated it will keep up efforts against attempts to smuggle arms to Hezbollah via Syria even after the ceasefire takes effect.

Iran welcomes end of Israeli ‘aggression’ in Lebanon

Iran welcomes the end of Israel’s “aggression” in Lebanon following the start of a US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group.

“Welcoming the news” of the end of the “aggression against Lebanon,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei stresses Iran’s “firm support for the Lebanese government, nation and resistance.”

Streams of cars seen heading toward southern Lebanon despite IDF warning to not yet return

Streams of cars carrying people displaced from southern Lebanon by the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah and the Israeli ground operation in recent months begin heading south after a ceasefire halting hostilities between the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah and Israel came into force.

Reuters reporters see dozens of cars leaving the port city of Sidon south of Beirut around 4:00 a.m. local time and heading deeper into southern Lebanon.

Earlier, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee warned Lebanese civilians to not yet return to villages in the south, “for your protection and the safety of your families.”

IDF tells civilians not to return to southern Lebanon villages, will update when safe to return

Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, warns Lebanese civilians to not yet return to villages in southern Lebanon as a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah takes effect.

“With the ceasefire agreement coming into effect, and in accordance with its provisions, the IDF continues to be prepared in its positions in southern Lebanon,” Adraee says.

“Do not move towards the villages that the IDF evacuated or towards IDF forces in the area. For your protection and the safety of your families, avoid reaching the area,” he says.

“We will inform you of the safe date to return to your homes,” the spokesman adds.

Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire takes effect, bringing a halt to fighting after almost 14 months

An Israeli flag stands next to destroyed buildings on an area in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, November 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

A US-brokered ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah comes into effect at 4 a.m. local time, bringing a halt to almost 14 months of Hezbollah-initiated fighting across the northern border.

The agreement, which was not published ahead of the deal coming into effect, reportedly provides for a 60-day transition period during which the IDF will withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon; the Lebanese Army will deploy some 5,000 troops to south of the Litani River, including at 33 posts along the border with Israel; Hezbollah forces will leave southern Lebanon, and its military infrastructure will be dismantled. The US is also reportedly providing a side letter specifying Israel’s rights to respond to Hezbollah violations of the ceasefire.

Hezbollah began firing into Israel the day after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught in southern Israel, in support of its fellow Iran-backed terror group, forcing the displacement of some 60,000 residents of northern Israel. Israel’s military responses intensified two months ago, with Israel killing much of Hezbollah’s leadership and destroying much but not all of its missile, rocket and drone capabilities.

Israeli strikes reported in Beirut’s southern suburbs, less than an hour before truce expected to begin

Air strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs early Wednesday, according to Lebanese media reports, less than an hour before an announced truce between Israel and Hezbollah is expected to come into force.

The IDF issued evacuation warnings for civilians ahead of the strikes.

Syrian Red Crescent says volunteer killed in alleged Israeli airstrike on border with Lebanon

Syria’s Red Crescent says that a volunteer was killed sand another was injured in alleged Israeli airstrikes on two locations along the Lebanon-Syria border on Tuesday night.

The medical organization says the volunteers were “performing their humanitarian duty of rescuing the wounded early on Wednesday.”

The reported strike is said by the Syrian Red Crescent to have damaged several ambulance and work points.

According to Syrian state media, some 18 people were injured in the strike on the Arida border crossing, while an unspecified number of casualties were reported in the alleged Israeli strike on the Dabousieh border crossing with Lebanon.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF.

US CENTCOM says it struck ‘Iranian-aligned militia weapons storage’ in Syria

The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) carried out an airstrike a short while ago against an “Iranian-aligned militia weapons storage facility in Syria,” it says in a brief statement, adding that the strike was a response to an attack on US forces in the area the previous day.

It says that the purpose of the strike was to “degrade their [Iranian-aligned forces] ability to plan and launch future attacks on US and Coalition forces who are in the region.”

CENTCOM commander Gen. Michael Kurilla says that the US “will not tolerate any attacks on our personnel and coalition partners.”

“We are committed to taking all necessary actions to ensure their protection,” he adds.

The statement adds that the impact of the strike is not immediately clear, but that there have been no reports of civilian casualties.

CENTCOM Forces Strike Iranian Aligned Target in Syria in Response to Attack on U.S. Personnel pic.twitter.com/w7bbBnLhD8

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) November 26, 2024

US official says there may be ‘window of opportunity’ for Israel-Saudi normalization

Asked to explain US President Joe Biden’s optimism about a potential Israel-Saudi normalization agreement following the announcement of a ceasefire in Lebanon, a senior administration official tells reporters that conversations US officials have held in the past 24 hours left them with the belief that there “is a window of opportunity here — if we can get some changes in Gaza.”

“The political and geopolitical stars of both are aligned, and we’re going to see what we can do over the next 50 or so days,” the US official says, insisting that Washington is clear-eyed about its prospects and will keep the incoming administration informed on its efforts.

The senior administration official is then asked why he’s able to maintain this optimistic assessment given repeated assertions by Israeli cabinet members that they will never accept the establishment of a Palestinian state, which is Riyadh’s condition for a deal with Israel.

Reflecting on his career in high-stakes negotiations, the official says he has repeatedly heard leaders enter them with declarations that include words such as “never” and “always.”

“They’ll say ‘We will never do this, and ‘We will always insist on that,’ but that doesn’t necessarily hold, because when you have that kind of a position you don’t reach an agreement, so I don’t get too excited when I hear those kinds of statements,” he says.

Report: US ‘side letter’ to Israel pledges to share intelligence on Hezbollah activity after ceasefire, cooperate against Iranian threat

Israel’s Channel 12 news outlet shares details from a side letter that it says the US is providing to Israel as part of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal, in which it affirms and details Israel’s right to defend itself against renewed threats from the Iran-backed terror group in Lebanon.

According to the report, the US will commit to providing Israel with intelligence information pertaining to violations of the terms of the ceasefire deal, and in particular, regarding any indication that Hezbollah is attempting to infiltrate the ranks of the Lebanese Armed Forces, which will be deployed to southern Lebanon.

The letter also reiterates the US’s commitment to cooperating with Israel to prevent Iran from continuing its destabilizing operations in Lebanon, including the smuggling of Iranian weapons to Hezbollah, the report adds.

The US also confirms in the letter that Israel has the right to act in response to threats from inside Lebanon, “in accordance with international law,” Channel 12 reports.

Regarding the possibility that Hezbollah will violate the terms of the ceasefire, the letter is reported to note that should the terms of the agreement be broken in southern Lebanon, from which Hezbollah is required to withdraw, Israel will reserve the right to act at any time.

Beyond southern Lebanon, it will reportedly only be permitted to act in response to Hezbollah violating the ceasefire if the Lebanese Armed Forces are unable or unwilling to deal with the violations itself.

Should Israel feel it is required to take action in response to threats inside Lebanon, regardless of where, it will be required to notify the United States wherever possible, Channel 12 says the letter adds.

Finally, the report says, the letter confirms Israel’s right to conduct reconnaissance flights over Lebanon, for intelligence purposes, so long as they do not break the sound barrier.

IDF says drones intercepted over Golan Heights, Red Sea

Two drones launched at Israel were intercepted by air defenses within a few minutes of each other a short while ago, in the Golan Heights and in the Red Sea, the IDF says.

Sirens had sounded in the northern Golan Heights after a drone, apparently launched from Iraq, entered Israeli airspace. The IDF says the drone was shot down.

Minutes later, another drone heading toward Israel was intercepted by the Israeli Air Force over the Red Sea, before reaching Israel, the military says. No sirens were activated.

בהמשך להתרעות שהופעלו בשעות 23:22-23:23 על חדירת כלי טיס עוין במרחב צפון הגולן, חיל האוויר יירט כלי טיס בלתי מאויש שחצה ממזרח.

בנוסף, חיל האוויר יירט לפני זמן קצר במרחב ים סוף כלי טיס בלתי מאויש שעשה את דרכו לשטח הארץ.
על פי מדיניות, לא הופעלו התרעות pic.twitter.com/60eROuAIvY

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) November 26, 2024