Israeli minister says ‘certain progress’ on Lebanon ceasefire talks but Hezbollah says it has not been involved – Middle East crisis live | Israel-Gaza war

Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee has issued forced evacuation orders for residents of southern Lebanon, saying people there must move north of the Awali river, which meets the coast about 50km (30 miles) from the border with Israel.

The order was aimed at the towns of Sheheen, al-Jebbayn, Tayr Harfa, Abu Shash, Beit Shama, Majdal Zoun, al-Mansouri, Zebqin, Rashidieh, Barghliyeh, Qasmiyeh, al-Bayyaada, Naqoura, Bint Jbeil, Ainata, Kounine, Aitaroun, Taybeh, Rab Thalathin, Markaba, and Bani Hayyan.

In a post on X, Adraee wrote:

For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and move to the north of the Awali river. For your safety, you must evacuate without delay.

Anyone who is near Hezbollah elements, facilities or weapons is putting his life in danger. You are prohibited from heading south. Any movement south could be dangerous to your life.

We will inform you of the appropriate time to return to your homes as soon as the conditions are suitable for this.

William Christou reports from Beirut for the Guardian

Israel’s newly appointed foreign minister Gideon Saar said on Monday that “certain progress” had been made on ceasefire talks in Lebanon, where Israel has been engaged in fighting Hezbollah for over 13 months, however a spokesperson for Hezbollah said they were yet to be directly engaged in talks.

“We will be ready to be there if we know, first of all, that Hezbollah is not on our border, is north of the Litani River, and that Hezbollah will not be able to arm with new weapons systems,” Saar said. He added that diplomatic efforts were taking place through US mediation, but that the lack of enforcement mechanism in any future deal remained a stumbling block.

Israel’s stated objective in its ground invasion of south Lebanon was to bring back residents of north Israel, of which tens of thousands were displaced after Hezbollah began firing rockets “in solidarity” with Hamas on 8 October 2023. Israel has said that Hezbollah would need to retreat back of the Litani river, about 18 miles from its northern border, to ensure the security of north Israel.

Diplomatic efforts were not only confined to American channels, as Israel’s army radio reported that Israel’s minister of strategic affairs, Ron Dermer, visited Russia last week to discuss ways to reach a ceasefire in Lebanon. Saar said that Russia could play a role in a ceasefire agreement by helping ensure that arms do not flow to Hezbollah via Syria, where Russian troops are present.

Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati, also met with a number of Arab leaders, including Jordan’s King Abdullah II and the Crown Prince of Kuwait, at the Arab-Islamic Summit in Riyadh on Monday.

Despite the reported progress on a ceasefire deal, Hezbollah has said that it had not seen any actual proposal come across its desk, nor does it expect to any time soon.

Mohammad Afif, the head of Hezbollah’s media office, said at a press conference on Monday: “There is great movement between Washington and Moscow and Tehran and a number of capitals. I believe that we are still in the phase of testing the waters and presenting initial ideas and proactive discussions, but so far there is nothing actual yet.”

Any ceasefire in Lebanon would have to be approved by Hezbollah, and presumably its patron, Iran. Hezbollah’s secretary general, Naim Qassem, has said that the group is ready for a ceasefire with Israel and that it has backed away from its previous demand that a ceasefire in Gaza come before it stops fighting.

A senior member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government has posted to social media to declare that next year will be a year for Israel to take full sovereign control of the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.

In the message, posted in Hebrew, Bezalel Smotrich said “2025 – the year of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria.”

Judea and Samaria is a term used by Israeli nationalists to refer to the occupied West Bank.

Smotrich has previously said he aims to establish sovereignty over the occupied territory and thwart the creation of a Palestinian state. He has also threatened to collapse Netanyahu’s coalition government if a ceasefire is agreed with Hezbollah on Israel’s northern front. He has remained in Netanyahu’s cabinet.

Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, has warned that his country was suffering an “unprecedented” crisis that threatens its existence, as Israel’s assault on Lebanon continues.

He told the joint Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation summit in Riyadh:

Lebanon is going through an unprecedented historical and existential crisis that threatens its present and future.

Mikati also demanded that countries stop “interfering in its internal affairs by supporting this or that group, but rather support Lebanon as a state and entity”.

Hezbollah, the Iranian backed Lebanese militant group, began firing rockets into northern Israel in support of Palestinians on 7 October 2023, the day after its ally Hamas’s attack on southern Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage.

The Israeli military unleashed its assault on Lebanon in October, claiming its aim was to return tens of thousands of people evacuated from homes in northern Israel due to the cross-border hostilities.

Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed over 3,100 people since October 2023, the Lebanese health ministry, with more than 1.2 million people displaced across Lebanon.

Government services for the huge numbers of displaced people – and those injured by Israeli bombardments – have been inadequate as the caretaker government struggles to fill the demand.

Speaking in Riyadh at a conference today of Arab and Muslim leaders to address conflict in Gaza and Lebanon, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman has accused Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinian people, and said the Israel’s actions deliberately “violate Lebanon’s sovereignty.”

He said:

Israel’s continued aggression towards the Palestinian people hinders peace efforts. We emphasise our opposition to the genocide Israel is committing against the Palestinian people, and the deliberate military actions which violate Lebanon’s sovereignty.

It is approaching 2pm in Beirut, Tel Aviv and Gaza City. Here are the latest headlines …

• Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the pager and walkie-talkie explosion attacks inside Lebanon and Syria. Omer Dostri, spokesperson for Netanyahu’s office, confirmed Israeli responsibility on Monday. The pager attack killed 39 people and wounded more than 3,400. Israeli media reported that Netanyahu claimed responsibility during a cabinet meeting, telling ministers senior defence officials and political figures were opposed, but that he went ahead with the operation intended to target Hezbollah operatives. Taiwan said it had closed its probe into the explosions, saying no Taiwanese citizens or companies were involved despite the pagers carrying the name of Taiwanese firm Gold Apollo

• A senior Hezbollah figure has said Israel “will never win” its war against the group, and said it retains resources for a long war. Hezbollah’s media relations official Muhammad Afif boasted that after “45 days of bloody fighting … the enemy is still unable to occupy a single Lebanese village”

• Israel’s military has announced an expansion of what it calls “the humanitarian area” in the Gaza Strip, which it has had under seige for over a year. Over 40,000 people have been reported killed by Israel’s military action during that period. Nearly 70% of the people killed in the war have been women and children, according to a UN analysis of verified deaths

• Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service says it is treating injuries after rockets were fired at Karmiel in northern Israel

• Syria’s main Homs-Damascus highway was temporarily cut off after an Israeli strike targeted an aid gathering centre for displaced Lebanese south of the city of Homs, according to Syria’s state news agency

• Lebanon’s government has signed a memorandum of understanding with the International Committee of the Red Cross to equip four mobile medical clinics to help provide for the needs of the 1.2 million people estimated displaced from their homes by Israel’s campaign of airstrikes

• Netanyahu’s legal team has filed a request to delay the prime minister’s testimony at his corruption trial, saying recent developments in the war have prevented him preparing for the hearing

• Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that Israeli forces have demolished a mosque near Jaba’ to the east of Jerusalem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. It said more than 20 people had been arrested by Israeli security forces overnight