Daily Archives: 16. Oktober 2024


16.10.2024 - 23:21 [ United Nations ]

Opening Remarks of UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator at the Lebanon Response Plan Steering Committee Meeting

A Steering Committee for the Lebanon Response Plan (LRP) was formed today following the endorsement of the humanitarian and stabilization response plan for Lebanon for 2024. The meeting was co-chaired by the Prime Minister and the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator of the UN. It was attended by the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministers of Education and Higher Education, Public Health, Social Affairs, Energy and Water, Labor, Agriculture and Environment; alongside the Ambassadors to Lebanon of Canada, France, the EU, Germany and the charge d‘affaires for the US; as well as Representatives of UN Agencies and national and international NGOs.

Below are the opening remarks as delivered by the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in the LRP Steering Committee meeting:

Your Excellency, Prime Minister Mikati, esteemed ministers, honorable ambassadors, distinguished guests, dear colleagues, good morning.

We gather here today at a truly unprecedented time for Lebanon. This country has already faced many years of multi-layered crises. Over the past year, the escalation of hostilities has inflicted severe damage on communities in the South. In the last weeks, the violence has intensified, causing widespread civilian casualties, mass displacement, and extensive destruction across the country.

Healthcare and frontline workers have come under attack, as have civil defense centers and water supply systems, pushing essential services to the brink of collapse. This must stop.

16.10.2024 - 23:07 [ Associated Press ]

Israeli strikes kill 27 in Lebanon, including in a town with a dark history of civilian deaths

In 1996, Israeli artillery shelling on a United Nations compound housing hundreds of displaced people in Qana killed at least 100 civilians and wounded scores more people, including four U.N. peacekeepers. During the 2006 war, an Israeli strike on a residential building killed nearly three dozen people, a third of them children. Israel said at the time that it struck a Hezbollah rocket launcher behind the building.

16.10.2024 - 22:48 [ Reuters ]

Mayor among 16 killed in Israeli strike on south Lebanon municipality building

The Israelis „intentionally targeted a meeting of the municipal council to discuss the city‘s service and relief situation“ to aid people displaced by the Israeli campaign, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said.
The U.N. mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said its peacekeepers observed an Israeli tank firing at their watchtower near southern Lebanon‘s Kfar Kela on Wednesday morning. Two cameras were destroyed, and the tower was damaged, UNIFIL said.

16.10.2024 - 22:24 [ ssllabs.com ]

SSL Report: unmissions.org (85.159.207.65)

TLS 1.3 No
TLS 1.2 Yes
TLS 1.1 Yes
TLS 1.0 Yes

16.10.2024 - 22:14 [ United Nations ]

‘Yet another’ Israeli strike on peacekeepers’ position in southern Lebanon

“Yet again we see direct and apparently deliberate fire on a UNIFIL position,” the Mission said in a statement.

“We remind the IDF and all actors of their obligations to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and property and to respect the inviolability of UN premises at all times,” it stressed.

16.10.2024 - 22:10 [ Middle East Eye ]

Israeli tank fired at UN peacekeepers‘ watchtower in Lebanon, says Unifil

(19:06 BST)

The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon (Unifil) said an Israeli Merkava tank fired at their watchtower near southern Lebanon‘s Kfar Kela on Wednesday morning.

Two cameras were destroyed, and the tower was damaged, Unifil said.

16.10.2024 - 06:30 [ Nachdenkseiten ]

Aktuelles Scholz-Interview: Auch in Frage um Krieg und Frieden „keine roten Linien“ – hat der Kanzler das Grundgesetz vergessen?

Der Nordkurier stellt folgende Frage:

„Ebenfalls oft kritisiert wird ihre Aussage aus der Corona-Zeit, als sie sagten: ‚Für meine Regierung gibt es keine roten Linien mehr.‘ Wie stehen Sie heute zu diesem Satz?“

Scholz antwortet daraufhin mit den Worten:

„Es darf keine roten Linien geben, das hat uns diese Pandemie nun wirklich gezeigt. Dazu stehe ich auch heute noch. Politik muss handlungsfähig bleiben. Wir müssen immer bereit sein umzudenken, wenn die Umstände es erfordern. Ich habe mich in keinem Politikfeld je auf rote Linien festlegen lassen, weil das nur zu einer hypernervösen Öffentlichkeit führt, wann eine solche Linie möglicherweise doch überschritten wird – weder in der Corona-Pandemie, noch in der Frage von Krieg und Frieden.“

16.10.2024 - 05:11 [ theCradle.co ]

Israeli opposition leader calls to revive ‚South Lebanon Army‘ to assist with occupation

(October 10, 2024)

Lapid advocated regime change in Lebanon, saying, “the international community will need to appoint a sort of oversight committee for Lebanon to manage its civilian life for a set period until elections can be held and a new government can take control.”

Crucial to this effort would be the establishment of a collaborator Lebanese army loyal to Israel and its Western and Gulf allies.

(…)

Lapid claimed it would be easy to recruit Lebanese by paying soldiers in a new army $500 a month. New recruits would then be trained by French, Emirati, and US military officers.

The South Lebanon Army (SLA) was established by Israel in 1976 after the collapse of the Lebanese government due to civil war.

16.10.2024 - 04:56 [ theConversation.com ]

IDF actions against UN peacekeepers suggest Israel may be considering occupying part of southern Lebanon

Since 1978, Unifil has lost 337 peacekeepers, making Lebanon the most costly, in human terms, of all the UN peacekeeping operations. But despite these risks it has remained in post. Throughout Unifil’s deployment, IDF has put it under pressure both directly and through a proxy force, the South Lebanon Army (SLA). As such Unifil has a strong institutional memory of staying put in the direst of circumstances which makes it unlikely to recommend a drawdown.

16.10.2024 - 04:49 [ Haaretz ]

Israeli Minister Claims Lebanon Cannot Be Defined as State, IDF Should Establish ‚Buffer Zone‘ Inside Its Territory

(September 22, 2024)

Israel‘s Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli accused Lebanon of not fulfilling the definition of a state and argued that the Israeli military should establish buffer zones inside of Lebanon in order to protect Israeli citizens living in the country‘s north.

16.10.2024 - 04:34 [ Anadolu ]

Death toll from Israeli onslaught on Lebanon reaches 2,350 since last year

More than 10,900 injured since Oct. 8, 2023, says Lebanese Health Ministry

16.10.2024 - 04:02 [ Fananews.com ]

Death Toll from Israeli Aggression on Gaza Surges to 42,344

In a statement, the Palestinian Ministry of Health – Gaza said that that Israeli occupation forces committed four massacres against families in the Gaza Strip over the last 24 hours, resulting in the killing of at least 55 Palestinians and the injury of 329 others

16.10.2024 - 00:05 [ Caitlin Johnstone ]

Slaughter In Gaza And Lebanon As War With Iran Approaches

(October 9, 2024)

On Tuesday State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller told the press that the Biden administration no longer supports a ceasefire with Hezbollah, saying “We support Israel’s efforts to degrade Hezbollah’s capability” instead. Two weeks ago CNN reported that the administration has also essentially given up on a ceasefire in Gaza.

(…)

And we haven’t even talked about Iran yet.