Lebanon

Lebanon and Israel signed a framework deal in late June that calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from south Lebanon and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the region. Naim Qassem deemed the agreement 'illegitimate, unlawful, humiliating, destructive to Lebanese sovereignty.'

Damaged roads, disrupted services and ongoing military activity continue to put civilians at risk in south Lebanon as strikes between Israeli forces and Hezbollah continue, according to the UN’s peacekeeping mission in the country (UNIFIL).

Italy has proposed an alternative to replace the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon after UNIFIL's mandate expires at the end of this year as Lebanese authorities work to preserve an international security presence in the south amid ongoing tensions between Israel and Hezbollah. The local LBCI [Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International] station reviewed published some details from the four-page proposal on Monday.

[…] Worryingly, one year on from the Security Council’s decision, and with the end of the mission’s mandate only months away, there is not yet an agreed plan for what happens after UNIFIL leaves.

Around 860,000 people displaced by the conflict in southern Lebanon have returned, but the displacement and humanitarian crisis are “far from over,” the UN warned on Tuesday.

Israel said it carried out retaliatory strikes against the Iran-backed militant group, but Lebanon's prime minister said seven people killed in one of the strikes were not 'military targets' and urged Israel to halt an 'extremely dangerous' escalation.

The Israeli military has announced that two of its soldiers have been killed in combat in southern Lebanon, after it launched retaliatory strikes that killed at least one person. … It came as Israeli and Lebanese officials attended another round of US-sponsored talks in Rome aimed at maintaining the ceasefire that ended a conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

Lebanon is working towards a “complete Israeli withdrawal” from areas it occupies, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Wednesday on a visit to a village where Lebanon’s army recently deployed. … Salam’s visit came a day after Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met with his US counterpart Donald Trump at the White House, where he “stressed the urgent need for a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory.”

Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun has begun a series of high-level meetings in Washington, holding talks with United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as Beirut looks for US backing to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah and secure an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon.

With violence in south Lebanon significantly decreased since mid-June, UN peacekeepers there have returned to core functions such as protecting humanitarian aid and restoring critical infrastructure as families continue to return home. “The welcome reduction in violence allows our peacekeepers to do more of what we are here to do,”UNIFIL spokesperson Kandice Ardiel said in a press release on Thursday.