Israel-Lebanon latest: Israeli soldier group warns Netanyahu ‘red line crossed’ and threatens to stop fighting
It comes as the Israeli military expanded its ground invasion of southern Lebanon with thousands of troops
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Over 100 Israeli soldiers have warned Benjamin Netanyahu a “red line has been crossed” over the government’s war strategy and threatened to stop fighting.
In a letter addressed to Netanyahu and his defence minister Yoav Gallant, 130 soldiers said they would lay down their arms if a hostage release deal was not secured.
“If the government does not change course immediately and work towards securing a deal to bring the hostages home, we will not be able to continue serving,” the letter read.
“For some of us, the red line has already been crossed, and for others, it is rapidly approaching: the day when, with broken hearts, we will stop reporting for service.”
The group includes both reserve and regular soldiers, some of whom have served in Gaza and on Israel’s northern border since last year’s 7 October Hamas attacks.
It comes as Hezbollah targeted Israeli forces near the Lebanese border village of Labbouneh with artillery shells and rockets on Wednesday, injuring three soliders.
The conflict in Lebanon has escalated dramatically in recent weeks after Israel launched ground operations into southern Lebanon on 1 October that expanded further this week.
Naim Kassem: The former teacher now leading Hezbollah
Sheikh Naim Kassem has been the acting head of Hezbollah since its longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed as part of an Israeli offensive that has taken out many of the Lebanese militant group’s senior officials.
Kassem made a defiant televised speech on Tuesday, claiming that the group’s military capabilities are intact and Israelis will only suffer further as fighting continues.
Like Nasrallah, Kassem is one of the founding members of the Shiite political party and armed group, but he is widely seen as lacking the former leader’s charisma and oratory skills.
More here.
Naim Kassem: The former teacher now leading Hezbollah
Kassem is widely seen as lacking Hassan Nasrallah’s charisma and oratory skills
On the ground: NHS medics volunteering in Gaza warn of catastrophic collapse of healthcare system
NHS medics volunteering in Gaza have warned of the “catastrophic” collapse of the healthcare system one year into the war, as they described trying to treat the wounded and sick amid shortages of everything from paracetamol to surgical gauze.
Nurses and doctors working in field hospitals run by the British medical charity UK-Med have called for immediate delivery of supplies and for health workers and facilities to be protected, as the world marks the grim milestone of one year at war.
UK-Med, which runs two facilities in the centre of Gaza, has treated 200,000 people and sees around 1,400 patients a day, but is struggling with overwhelming demand and a punishing lack of supplies.
NHS medics volunteering in Gaza warn of catastrophic collapse of healthcare system
‘The situation is extremely desperate... humanitarian access and supplies remain severely restricted,’ the medics tell Bel Trew
Pictured: Aftermath of Israeli airstrikes on Beirut
Watch: Wife of journalist killed in Gaza wears husband's press vest as she continues his work
Watch: ‘This is a tense life’: Teenager speaks from Gaza's bombed humanitarian zone
Comment: Could the unremitting fury over October 7 be the end of Israel?
Could the unremitting fury over October 7 be the end of Israel?
A year after the atrocious terrorist attacks by Hamas, Israel’s vengeance, far from stabilising its future, has returned it to a besieged state on the brink of an existential crisis, says Mark Almond
Comment: Peace in the Middle East is possible – but we need to act now
Peace in the Middle East is possible – but we need to act now
Both of Maoz Inon’s parents were killed in the Hamas attacks on 7 October in southern Israel, while Aziz Abu Sarah’s teenage brother died after being tortured in an Israeli prison. Yet the Palestinian and Israeli peacemakers have joined forces with a shared message of action and hope
Hezbollah officials drop Gaza truce as condition for Lebanon ceasefire
Hezbollah officials are no longer demanding a truce in Gaza as a condition for reaching a ceasefire in Lebanon, rowing back from an oft-repeated promise to keep fighting until Israel halts its offensive on Hamas.
Ever since Hezbollah began launching missiles across Lebanon’s border a day after the October 7, 2023, Hezbollah officials have consistently said they would not stop until Israel ended the war in Gaza.
But Naim Qassem, the deputy leader of Hezbollah, broke that link in a televised speech on Tuesday, even as he promised to continue to stand with Hamas and Palestinians in their battle with Israel.
Qassem, now Hezbollah’s top official after its chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli strike, said he backed efforts by Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally, to secure a truce - without setting a precondition.
“We support the political activity being led by Berri under the title of a ceasefire,” Qassem said. “If the enemy (Israel) continues its war, then the battlefield will decide.”
Two days earlier, two lower-ranking Hezbollah officials had also talked about a Lebanon truce without making a linkage with Gaza.
Hezbollah has not explicitly said it was shifting its position. The group did not comment for this story.
36 killed in Israeli attacks across Lebanon on Monday
Lebanon’s health ministry has said 36 people were killed and 150 wounded in Israeli attacks on Monday.
The total number of people killed in Lebanon in Israeli attacks has now reached 2119 and 1019 have been wounded.
Comment: When their ambulance was hit, I had to salvage my colleagues’ bodies
When their ambulance was hit, I had to salvage my colleagues’ bodies
A year after the Hamas attack that triggered Israel’s invasion of Gaza, paramedic Younis Abdel Qader reveals the grim realities of trying to save civilian lives in a warzone
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