Israel cites 'progress' on Lebanon ceasefire

JERUSALEM

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Nov. 11 said there had been progress toward a ceasefire in Lebanon, where war has raged for more than six weeks as Israel targets Hezbollah.

"There is certain progress," Saar said in response to a question about a possible ceasefire.

"We are working with the Americans on the issue," he told reporters in Jerusalem.

Saar also said Israel would "be ready" for a ceasefire if Hezbollah is not on the country's border and unable to rearm itself with weapon systems arriving "from Syria, from the sea, from the airport.”

"The main challenge, eventually, will be to enforce what will be agreed."

His remarks came after an Israeli news report claimed that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump informed the Biden administration that he expects to see progress in the efforts to obtain a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

On the other hand, challenging the top diplomat’s statement, the Israeli army approved a plan seeking enlargement of ground operation in Lebanon.

Israel PM ‘okayed Lebanon pager attacks’

Israel has for the first time confirmed that it was behind the operation in September to detonate hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Nov. 10 that he greenlighted the pager operation in Lebanon," his spokesman Omer Dostri told AFP.

Hand-held devices used by Hezbollah operatives detonated two days in a row in supermarkets, on streets and at funerals in mid-September. The attack killed nearly 40 people and wounded nearly 3,000.

The Israeli media also reported that Netanyahu told his cabinet that the pager attacks and the elimination of Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah were launched “despite the opposition of senior officials in the security establishment and the political echelon in charge of them.”

"Before the pager operation, they told me that the U.S. would oppose it, but I did not listen to them,” Netanyahu reportedly added.

In a new development on the attack, Taiwan investigators said on Nov. 11 there was no evidence that Taiwanese individuals or firms were involved in the attack.