Iran maybe but I wouldn't rule out Russia the guys arrested are Uzbeks I believe.

CNN November 22, 2024

A decision by the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for Israeli officials was met with anger and annoyance.
But the most palpable sentiment was one of unity.

The prime minister said the ICC judges were “motivated by antisemitic sentiments against the one and only Jewish state.”
Meanwhile, opposition leader Yair Lapid called the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant a “reward for terrorism.”

Gil Siegal, a legal scholar at the Ono Academic College in Israel, said The Hague-based court’s decision has united Israelis, many of whom believe the ICC and other international organizations, including the United Nations, are biased against their country.

And while many oppose Netanyahu and his government – mass protests calling for his resignation are now happening weekly – most feel he has been targeted unfairly by the ICC and see the move as an attack on Israel rather than just the prime minister.

Some Israelis are also outraged that the ICC issued warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant alongside one for Mohammed Al-Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, the Hamas leader who Israel claims was one of the masterminds of the October 7 attack.

The ICC “is saying that Gallant and Netanyahu are equal to Mohammed Deif… this is something that Israelis truly cannot comprehend, truly, truly cannot comprehend,” Siegal said.

Yael Vias Gvirsman represents the families of hundreds of Israeli victims of the October 7 attacks at the ICC and was in The Hague on Thursday when the warrants were issued.

She said the warrant against Deif was an important recognition “that Hamas attacks consisted of extermination, torture, rape and other sexual crimes and inhumane treatment” and that it was good news for families she represents. “It’s the first step for recognition and the first step for them rebuilding their lives,” she said.

But she added that the simultaneous warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant were understandably met with “great shock” in Israel, “because it is a nation at its most difficult hour.”
Gaza, West Bank, Lebanon not at its most difficult hour.”

The limited opposition to the war is motivated by the rising death toll of Israeli soldiers and the hope that a ceasefire would secure the release of the 101 hostages still held there, with the suffering of Palestinians largely absent from the anti-war discourse.

Implications for soldiers fighting in Gaza

While the ICC arrest warrants target only Netanyahu and Gallant, some are worried about the implications for the Israel Defense Forces and its soldiers.

Conscription is mandatory for most Jewish Israelis and some 300,000 reservists have been called up because of the war, on top of the estimated 170,000 active-duty soldiers.

The right-wing Israeli legal organization Shurat HaDin has warned about the arrest warrants “creating a dangerous precedent for the ICC to target other democratic armies and leaders.”

The group has long warned about the ICC possibly opening a criminal investigation against Israeli soldiers.

Legal action at the ICC against Israeli soldiers, it said on its website, would “carry devastating effects” on Israel, and cause immediate personal risk to individuals “whose only blame is for serving their country and fighting terror.”

Refusals by potential recruits and reservists to serve are rare in Israel, but there are signs that they have been increasing amid the global outrage over the toll of the war in Gaza.

Taking an unusually public stance, a group of more than 130 Israeli reservists signed an open letter to Netanyahu and Gallant last month, stating that they refuse to serve unless a deal is signed to end the war and bring back the hostages, saying that for some of them “the red line has already been crossed.”

Soul Behar Tsalik, an Israeli who intends to refuse his mandatory enlistment in the IDF next week, said the ICC warrant strengthens his commitment to refuse.

“Israel’s war machine does not only destroy Gaza but also hurts Israelis – in body and in spirit,” he told CNN. “I hope the ICC’s ruling will help make a change, will make my fellow Israelis realize the truth and severity of the claims against our leaders, and push Israel to leave Gaza, free the hostages and end the occupation as soon as possible.”

Breaking the Silence, an organization of Israeli veterans who oppose the war in Gaza and the occupation of the West Bank, was a rare voice of support for the ICC’s decision.

It said in a statement that the “flood of condemnations, an array of whataboutisms and countless allegations of antisemitism” was indicative of the Israeli “society’s insistence, even now, to not see what we are doing in Gaza.”

Hezbollah's arsenal is like the widow's flour and oil, in the Bible -- never run out
The group vows that a “blow in the heart of Beirut equals a blow in Tel Aviv.”

Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis and all the terrorists -- still standing, still fighting, still firing

From: ABC News November 25, 2024
Far-right Israeli minister says Lebanon cease-fire would be a 'big mistake'

Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said Monday that a potential cease-fire agreement to end the fighting in Lebanon would be "a big mistake."

Ben-Gvir has previously pressured Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reject any cease-fire deal in Gaza, where fighting continues with Hamas and other militant groups. "We must continue until the absolute victory," Ben-Gvir said of both the Gaza and Lebanon fronts.

Ending the war would be a "missed opportunity" to "eradicate Hezbollah," Ben-Gvir wrote on X

No indication Netanyahu will call in cabinet and vote to approve Lebanon cease-fire

There are no indications that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to call in his cabinet and vote to approve the Lebanon
cease-fire Monday night, Israeli officials told ABC News.

Netanyahu is planning a series of meetings Tuesday to discuss the Lebanon cease-fire deal, including talks with his minister of strategic affairs, former American ambassador Ron Dermer, along with his most senior defense officials.

Later in the afternoon, Netanyahu will hold a larger cabinet meeting that includes the far-right.

That meeting may lead to a final vote to approve a deal, though that remains unclear.
A deal can pass even if one of the two far-right leaders opposes it.

The cease-fire would last for 60 days, but would not require the Israel Defense Forces to withdraw right away.

We don't believe we have an agreement yet': State Department

The U.S. is hopeful that Israel and Hezbollah are close to a cease-fire deal, but striking a pact "is up to the parties, not to us," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a briefing Monday.

"We don't believe we have an agreement yet. We believe we're close to an agreement.

We believe that we have narrowed the gap significantly, but there are still steps that we need to see taken, but we hope -- we hope that we can get there," Miller said.

Echoing comments earlier Monday by White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby, Miller emphasized that
"nothing's final until everything's final."

"Oftentimes the very last stages of an agreement are the most difficult, because the hardest issues are left to the end," Miller said.

From: ABC News November 25, 2024
IDF conducts Beirut strikes despite cease-fire push

The Israel Defense Forces continued its intense airstrike and ground campaigns in Gaza and in Lebanon, with Israeli attacks on targets nationwide including in the capital Beirut.

The strikes continue despite a cease-fire push fronted by President Joe Biden's White House as it prepares to hand power to President-elect Donald Trump.

Iran
Tensions also remain high between Israel and Iran after tit-for-tat long-range strikes in recent months and threats of further military action from both sides.

Khamenei calls for 'death sentence' for Netanyahu, Israeli leaders

In an address to thousands of Basij militia members on Monday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the International Criminal Court arrest warrants issued last week for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant were insufficient.

"What [they have] done in Gaza and Lebanon is not a victory, it is a war crime," Khamenei said.

"Now they have issued arrest warrants for them; this is not enough," he added of the ICC decision.
"A death sentence must be issued for Netanyahu and the criminal leaders of this regime."

Netanyahu's office expressed its "disgust" at the decision and dismissed the ICC warrant as "absurd."

The ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif, who the Israel Defense Forces claimed to have killed in an airstrike in Gaza in July.

Déjà vu -- would be another "missed opportunity" to "eradicate Hezbollah,"

Associated Press November 25, 2024
It is not clear whether a new deal would be any more successfully implemented than the one in 2006

The proposal under discussion to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah calls for an initial two-month ceasefire during which
1. Israeli forces would withdraw from Lebanon
2. and Hezbollah would end its armed presence along the southern border south of the Litani River.

An international committee would be set up to monitor implementation of the ceasefire agreement and of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 which was passed in 2006 to end a month long war between Israel and Hezbollah but never fully implemented.

Hezbollah never ended its presence in southern Lebanon, while Lebanon said Israel regularly violated its airspace and occupied small patches of its territory.

Associated Press November 25, 2024
the world wants to stop regional conflict from spreading after more than a year of fighting.

What's blocking a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah?

Diplomats and other officials say there have been several sticking points in ceasefire talks in the war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, even as conditions for an agreement appear to be ripe

Israel’s military has killed nearly all of the militant group’s top leaders, but it continues to fire missiles into Israel.

On Sunday, Hezbollah fired about 250 rockets and other projectiles into Israel, wounding seven people in one of the militant group’s heaviest barrages in months

Analysts say Hezbollah has been weakened but continues to keep up steady fire into Israel, including strikes far from the border.

Many now believe no agreement will be reached before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.

From: The Guardian November 27, 2024

Israel-Hezbollah “historic” ceasefire deal
Joe Biden announces ceasefire deal to end fighting between Israel and Hezbollah
Benjamin Netanyahu endorses imminent ceasefire with Lebanese group after cabinet approval

Joe Biden has announced a highly anticipated ceasefire to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, in what he called a “historic” deal to end the 14-month-old war.

US key security guarantor
The US is expected to be a key security guarantor of the deal.

In remarks from the White House Rose Garden, Biden said: “Under the deal reached today, effective at 4am tomorrow, local time, the fighting across the Lebanese Israeli border will end,”. He repeated the last two words: “Will end.”

“This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities."
What is left of Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations will not be allowed, I emphasize, will not be allowed to threaten the security of Israel again,” he said.

Biden said that US troops would not be committed to the border between Israel and Lebanon, but that “we, along with France and others, will provide the necessary assistance to make sure this deal is implemented fully and effectively.”

The deal follows months of international lobbying from the Biden administration, which had launched desperate efforts to halt the fighting but regularly came up short after promising that a deal was imminent.

Biden-Trump
The signing of a ceasefire comes with less than two months left in the lame duck Biden administration, meaning that the president-elect, Donald Trump, could continue to support or upend the deal when he enters office on 20 January.

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had endorsed an imminent ceasefire in the country’s war with the Lebanese group after his full cabinet approved the deal on Tuesday evening despite opposition from his far-right allies -- After so much carnage All sides...

Israeli government approves Hezbollah ceasefire - with caveats

In televised remarks after the Israeli security cabinet met to vote on the proposal for a 60-day ceasefire, Netanyahu said he was ready to implement the deal, but
1. Israel would retain “complete military freedom of action” in the event of an infringement by Hezbollah.
2. “We will enforce the agreement and respond forcefully to any violation. Together, we will continue until victory,”

That ever elusive Victory...

Netanyahu said that there were three reasons to pursue a ceasefire:
1. to focus on the threat from Iran;
2. replenish depleted arms supplies
3. and rest tired reservists; and to isolate Hamas

The terrorists are doing the same...

Netanyahu noted what he said was the group’s weakness after 13 months of fighting, saying:
1. “We have set [Hezbollah] back decades,
2. eliminated … its top leaders,
3. destroyed most of its rockets and missiles,
4. neutralised thousands of fighters,
5. and obliterated years of terror infrastructure near our border.”

Yet -- still standing, still fighting, still firing

“historical mistake”
The far-right Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir wrote on social media that he opposed the agreement, calling it a “historical mistake”. He said Israel “must not trust anyone but ourselves” and predicted that it would soon lead to renewed fighting with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

But he did not threaten to withdraw from Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, indicating that the Israeli prime minister may be able to contain any discontent on the right wing of his ruling coalition.

Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel in support of its ally, Hamas, the day after the Palestinian group attacked Israel, triggering the regional conflagration.

The conflict on the blue line – a demarcation line dividing Lebanon from Israel – escalated in late September, when hundreds of Hezbollah pagers exploded in an attack attributed to Israel.

Israel then killed much of Hezbollah’s leadership in airstrikes and launched a ground invasion of southern Lebanon.

Under the deal’s terms,
1. Israel will withdraw entirely from southern Lebanon,
2. Hezbollah will move its heavy weaponry north of the Litani River, about 16 miles (25km) north of the border.

During a 60-day transition phase, the Lebanese army will deploy to the buffer border zone alongside the existing UN peacekeeping force.

border disputes
Longstanding border disputes will be discussed after the 60-day withdrawal period.

The 2024 agreement follows the contours of UN security council resolution 1701 which ended the 36-day Israel-Hezbollah war of 2006 but was never fully implemented.

US-led supervisory mechanism and guarantees
The process will be monitored by a US-led supervisory mechanism that will act as a referee on infringements.

A letter of assurance that was not formally part of the deal reportedly guarantees US support for Israeli freedom of action if Hezbollah attacks Israel again or moves its forces or weaponry south of the Litani.

Israel-Hamas conflict
Hamas is the Palestinian militant group that triggered the war in the region when it attacked Israel on 7 October last year.

The deal will not have any direct effect on the fighting in Gaza, where US efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas have not led to a deal.

The negotiations over Tuesday’s ceasefire were reportedly facilitated by a decision to decouple them from the Gaza talks, where the conflict remains intractable.

Importantly for Israel, Hezbollah dropped its demand that a ceasefire in Lebanon was contingent on ending the fighting in Gaza.

I reckon,
1. Hezbollah will continue their indirect support of its ally, Hamas
2. and may even shift their fighting to Gaza, in direct support
3. Nasrallah, Sinwar and others -- champagne corks popping!
4. Israel licking their wounds
5. Hezbollah will regroup
6. painfully difficult horrors of tunnel-based urban warfare terror -- all over again

Israel-Hezbollah truce
The Australian 27 November 2024

Extracts:
Victory for Israel but truce with Hezbollah may prove fragile
Iran’s Lebanese proxy staggers out of the fight, leaving Hamas alone in Gaza

Why the ceasefire if Israel is winning?
and Hamas or any other terror group never alone


These terrorists with their bottomless support and funds by Iran and probably other terrorist-supporting countries and the numerous nations hostile to Israel “reorganize its ranks” come back bigger and more lethal

The terrorists would rebuild its military to continue their efforts to exterminate the Jewish state, delivering on their promise to launch more and more attacks like that of 7 October 2023

Israeli cabinet likely to approve Lebanon ceasefire deal in Tuesday vote
CNN by Jeremy Diamond 25 November 2024

• Zeevi - very irresponsible “surrender agreement”

Extracts:
Residents of northern Israel – many of whom have been displaced by the conflict, along with residents of southern Lebanon across the border – have also expressed concern about the potential deal -- even before the agreement

Nizan Zeevi, who lives north of Kyriat Shimona in Kfar Kila village, told CNN many residents view the deal as a “surrender agreement”Zeevi feared,Zeevi said, referring to the Hamas attacks on southern Israel more than a year ago,
*CNN’s Lauren Izso, Nic Robertson, Tamara Qiblawi, Michael Conte, Jennifer Hansler and Christian Edwards contributed reporting

Israel At War - Day 418

Israel opened the Lebanese front 'limited ground incursion' stretching their resources even thinner when all the other multiple fronts 6 still remain “undefeated” “unconquered” No wins in the ongoing terror war

It seems, Israel has not destroyed any of the Iran-backed proxies and now in direct conflict with Iran itself
1. Hamas still fighting and still has the Israeli hostages -- How many are alive
2. Hezbollah still firing drones, missiles, rockets etc. causing death and destruction -- another fragile ceasefire
3. Houthis still attacking the ships

• Israel-Hezbollah “historic” ceasefire deal

among others,
1. The horrors and immeasurable suffering of the innocent civilians
2. Thousands killed
3. Millions displaced
4. Families torn apart
5. Homes flattened
6. Infrastructure destroyed
7. Vast areas uninhabitable

Lessons unlearned by Israel
Middle East Monitor by Omar Ahmed 22 November 2024

• Lessons unlearned, as Israel’s war against Hezbollah is starting to mirror its 2006 defeat

Extracts:
Tel Aviv has spent nearly two decades supposedly learning from past mistakes in planning its next major confrontation with Hezbollah

"Convinced Israel could force Hezbollah to disarm and withdraw from southern Lebanon by initiating an effects-based air campaign, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) began pounding targets across Lebanon

Although initially taken aback by the destructive air strikes, Hezbollah unleashed its own attack within 24 hours, launching an extensive rocket barrage from southern Lebanon into Israel

Despite Israel assuring the United States of a “quick and decisive” resolution to the conflict, Hezbollah’s short-range Katyusha rockets continued to rain down on the Israeli population

As days went by, it became increasingly apparent to both the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and western military analysts that the IAF was having little effect on Hezbollah’s rockets

When the IDF reluctantly moved its ground forces into southern Lebanon, the apparent ineffectiveness of the operation and the stubborn resistance of Hezbollah fighters stunned military observers worldwide"

• Although the above excerpt could well have been written about the current war on Lebanon by the US-backed Israeli army, it is, in fact, an analysis of the 2006 July war fought between the occupation state and the Hezbollah resistance movement

"We Were Caught Unprepared: The 2006 Hezbollah-Israeli War" by Matt M. Matthews
Originally published two years after the war by the US Army Combined Arms Center (USACAC) Matthews also notes,
Thanks! allies

Lessons unlearned by Israel
Middle East Monitor by Omar Ahmed 22 November 2024

• Lessons unlearned, as Israel’s war against Hezbollah is starting to mirror its 2006 defeat

Extracts:
Hezbollah, under the leadership of Nasrallah’s successor Sheikh Naim Qassem has taken
According to its Operations Room, Hezbollah has since last month, coinciding with Israel’s “limited” invasion of South Lebanon,
1. killed over 100 Israeli soldiers
2. wounded over 1,000 others
3. in addition to destroying dozens of Merkava tanks and other military vehicles

What is noticeable, here is that unlike in 2006 where

• guerilla warfare tactics and strategy

Much like in 2006 Hezbollah made effective use of guerilla warfare tactics and strategic use of its arms, heading towards a political victory -- In the previous war,

Israel’s objectives were to secure – they failed on both counts
1. the release of two captured soldiers alive
2. and destroying the resistance movement

Hezbollah on the other hand,
1. avoided disarmament
2. enhanced its regional prestige
3. strengthened its standing among its domestic base
4. and presence near the border

Lessons unlearned by Israel
Middle East Monitor by Omar Ahmed 22 November 2024

• Lessons unlearned, as Israel’s war against Hezbollah is starting to mirror its 2006 defeat

Extracts:
As acknowledged by The News York Times: according to US officials

• striking parallels

Yet one striking parallel that has been overlooked was when, after a 39-minute widespread overnight raid on 12-13 July 2006 Israeli military Chief of Staff Dan Halutz told then Prime Minister Ehud Olmert,However Hezbollah subsequently carried out extensive long-range rocket strikes into the north of the occupation state

In the current conflict, prior to his dismissal, former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant claimed late last month,However just this month, Hezbollah successfully struck greater Tel Aviv “with a volley of qualitative missiles and a squadron of attack drones”

Additionally, a rocket barrage targeted several military sites, coinciding with senior White House envoy Amos Hochstein’s visit to Beirut for talks with Lebanese officials regarding a ceasefire

Despite this, the Netanyahu government continues to press on, seemingly committed to deploying the Dahiyeh doctrine, now that it is losing whatever strategic edge it had achieved just two months ago

Although such a move is unlikely to bring about a political victory and instead further isolate the occupation state

• eventual ceasefire - Hezbollah victory and Israel defeat

With International Court of Justice (ICJ) arrest warrants issued for Netanyahu and Gallant, an eventual ceasefire, much like in 2006 will likely result in,
1. another political victory for Hezbollah
2. and an equally humiliating defeat for Israel

—this time without the long-time Hezbollah leader who had vowed that the movement would continue until the occupation army ended its genocidal campaign in Gaza

The Lebanese people didn't want war with Israel, and are suffering the consequences. They resent Hezbollah, and they know that Iran directed the attacks on Israel that have brought so much destruction. Now Hezbollah, greatly decimated, will withdraw to an area in the north of the country. This has to be counted as a big setback for Iran.

NOS News
•
today, 15:07
•
Amendedtoday, 15:39
Minister Veldkamp receives Iranian colleague for discussion on 'de-escalation'

Minister of Foreign Affairs Veldkamp is receiving his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi today. "The aim is to achieve de-escalation in the Middle East," Veldkamp wanted to say about the aim of the conversation.

The minister did not go into "the details". According to Veldkamp, ??Iran is disrupting the region "through its proxies, through its vassals". Among those organisations supported by Iran are Hamas and Hezbollah, both of which are involved in a battle with Israel.

Don't bend your knees
Veldkamp emphasizes that Iran is not a regime that is close to the Netherlands, "but it is important to have contact with them". "The fact that you enter into talks does not mean that you give in".

It is not the first time that Veldkamp has spoken to his Iranian counterpart about the unrest and violence in the Middle East. In early October, the two spoke by telephone after Iranian missile attacks on Israel. And a month ago, Veldkamp passed on an Israeli message about an imminent attack on Iran to Araghchi.

Last week it was announced that a planned trip by Veldkamp to Israel would not go ahead. According to the ministry, it was decided in joint consultation between the Netherlands and Israel that the trip would be cancelled. Reference was made to "the current circumstances", without specifying this further.

Friendly countries
On the day the trip was cancelled, an arrest warrant was issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. In a debate in the House, Veldkamp said when asked that Netanyahu would be arrested if he came to Dutch soil. Shortly afterwards, Israeli media reported that Veldkamp was no longer welcome.

But the mediating role of Veldkamp, ??who was previously ambassador to Israel, does not seem to be over. The minister said that he had contacted "friendly countries" prior to today's meeting. This may indicate that Veldkamp had contact with Israel about this in advance.

The Dutch minister further said that "a number of other countries" will also enter into talks with Iran this week.

Reuters November 28, 2024
The group has been weakened by casualties and the killing of its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah by Israel

In the first statement by Hezbollah's operations centre since the truce was announced, the group made no direct mention of the ceasefire and vowed to continue its resistance.

Hezbollah said its fighters "remain fully equipped to deal with the aspirations and assaults of the Israeli enemy."
Its forces will monitor Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon "with their hands on the trigger".

While Hezbollah and its supporters celebrate achievements against the Israeli military, their critics point to the,
1. widespread destruction,
2. significant loss of life
3. and thousands displaced in Lebanon

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Iran welcomed the truce and hoped it would be permanent