Paris (France) (AFP) – The latest developments in the Middle East war:
– **Israel strikes journalists in Lebanon**
Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon killed veteran Al-Akhbar newspaper correspondent Amal Khalil and wounded freelance journalist Zeinab Faraj Wednesday, despite a negotiated ceasefire. A Lebanese Red Cross official told AFP they “managed to rescue” Faraj but couldn’t reach Khalil under the rubble immediately and withdrew “because of a warning strike” for several hours, before they returned to recover her body. Lebanon’s Information Minister Paul Morcos called the targeting of journalists “a grave crime and a blatant violation of international humanitarian law” on social media.
– **’Serious disagreements’**
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Wednesday that Israel does not have any “serious disagreements” with Lebanon, calling Hezbollah “the obstacle to peace and normalisation.” A Hezbollah lawmaker, however, told AFP on Monday that the group might accept indirect talks mediated by the United States. Despite the truce, Israel is continuing its strikes in Lebanon, and Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed at least 2,454 people since the start of the war, according to Lebanese authorities.
– **Israel hits Gaza, killing five**
Three children were among the five Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes targeting a group of civilians near Al-Qassam mosque in Beit Lahia, in the north, Gaza’s civil defense agency said Wednesday. At least 786 Palestinians have been killed since the October 10 ceasefire with Israel, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which is under Hamas authority and whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.
– **Second French soldier dies**
French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that a second French soldier died “of the consequences of his wounds” suffered in a weekend ambush against UN peacekeepers in Lebanon blamed on Hezbollah, which has denied responsibility.
– **No deadline for peace plan**
US President Donald Trump has not set a deadline by which Iran must submit a peace proposal, the White House said on Wednesday. “The president has not set a firm deadline to receive an Iranian proposal, unlike some of the reporting I’ve seen today. Ultimately, the timeline will be dictated by the commander in chief,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told journalists.
– **Reopening Hormuz ‘not possible’**
Iran’s parliament speaker said the Islamic republic would not reopen the Strait of Hormuz as long as the US naval blockade remained in place, calling it a “blatant violation” of the two countries’ ceasefire. “A complete ceasefire only has meaning if it is not violated through a naval blockade… Reopening the Strait of Hormuz is not possible amid a blatant violation of the ceasefire,” speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on X.
– **Trump says halted executions**
Trump said Iran had halted alleged plans to execute eight women arrested over anti-government protests, after he urged Tehran to release them to help peace negotiations. “I very much appreciate that Iran, and its leaders, respected my request… and terminated the planned execution,” he said on his Truth Social platform. Iran’s judiciary called the claim “false news,” saying the women had never faced the death penalty.
– **Ceasefire violations**
Trump does not consider Iran’s seizure of two container ships to be a ceasefire violation because the vessels are not American or Israeli, the White House said Wednesday. “No, because these were not US ships, these were not Israeli ships. These were two international vessels,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News, when asked if Trump viewed it as a violation of the ceasefire that paused US-Israeli operations against Iran.
– **War ‘weakening’ Europe**
The war is “starting to weaken Europe,” said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “The war in our region is likewise starting to weaken Europe, and if we do not address this situation with an approach that prioritises peace, the damage… will be far greater,” Erdogan told his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, according to a statement from the Turkish leader’s office.
© 2024 AFP
