Mahmoud Abbas hopes ceasefire with militia will help stop Israel’s offensive in the Strip
▲ Mourning after Israel’s air attack against a school that served as a refuge for displaced people, yesterday in Gaza.Xinhua Photo
AFP, Europa Press, Sputnik and Xinhua
La Jornada Newspaper
Thursday, November 28, 2024, p. 24
Beirut. The Lebanese army yesterday reinforced its presence in the south of the territory, while Israel imposed a temporary curfew for the residents of the area, who were asked not to go to the Litani River, at a time when tens of thousands of displaced people began to return home, on the first day of the ceasefire between Tel Aviv and Hezbollah.
Work is being carried out in coordination with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Finul) to expand the authority of the State in the south of the Litani Riverindicated the Lebanese armed forces on social networks.
This movement of troops is carried out after Prime Minister Nayib Mikati yesterday advocated for restore the confidence of the Lebanese in the State and consolidated the deployment of the army in the south, from where Hezbollah must withdraw.
Lebanon deserves all the effort, patience and faith that tomorrow will be bright and meaningful,” said Mikati, who called for more cooperation between parties and institutions to open a new page that consolidates the normalization of institutional work.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Lebanese displaced by the clashes between Hezbollah and Israel returned to their homes, after the entry into force of a ceasefire established after more than a year of fighting in southern Lebanon and northern Lebanon. Israel that began on Wednesday at 4 in the morning (Lebanon time).
Without waiting for the military to give the green light, thousands of inhabitants of the southern outskirts of Beirut and the Bekaa Valley in the east – strongholds of Hezbollah – began their journey back to their homes, AFP journalists observed.
A few hours after the truce came into force, the Israeli army announced that it would restrict population movements in the southern area for the next night.
In the suburbs of the capital, Hezbollah militiamen circulated on motorcycles waving the party’s yellow flags and praising Hassan Nasrallah, their emblematic leader killed in September in an Israeli bombing.
The Shiite militia said in a statement that it obtained a victory against Israel and that remains ready for combat. God’s victory was the ally of the just causethey said.
On the Gaza front, at least 33 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks in the last 24 hours, the Gaza Health Ministry reported yesterday, while a senior Hamas official who spoke on condition of anonymity welcomed the ceasefire reached in Lebanon. and assured that the Islamist movement is also willing to agree to a truce for Gaza.
The president of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), Mahmoud Abbas, declared that he hopes that the ceasefire in Lebanon will help stop violence and the end of the offensive on the strip.
Abbas, 89, said that if he dies, the head of the National Council, Rawhi Fattouh, will take office for 90 days until elections are held. Fattouh already served as interim president in the past, after the death of Yasser Arafat in November 2004.
Al Jazeera also reported Abbas’ announcement and clarified that it is a measure that excludes Hamas from any participation in a future transition. He recalled that the president of the ANP remains in power even though his mandate ended in 2009.
Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) declared that they thwarted an attempt to smuggle weapons into Israel from Egypt by means of a drone.
The device crossed into Israeli territory with four rifles, five cartridges and hundreds of bullets, the IDF detailed, adding that weapons and ammunition were delivered to the security forces.
Israel Katz, new Israeli Minister of Defense, assured that the main moral objective of his country is to free the hostages who remain in the hands of Hamas.
Meanwhile, in Syria, at least 57 soldiers and jihadist militiamen died yesterday in fierce fighting in the province of Aleppo, reported the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in London.
Finally, US Central Command forces attacked a weapons storage facility of an Iran-aligned militia in Syria, in response to an offensive against US forces in that Arab country.
