BEIRUT: The second phase of a cease-fire agreement between Hezbollah and Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham (JFS) militants near the Lebanon-Syria border was delayed for a second day as talks reached a “critical phase.”
The negotiations “include some demands to release detainees in Lebanese prisons,” said Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, Lebanon’s security chief, who is leading the talks.
“The most critical phase of negotiations has begun,” he said.
“We would better work more and talk less now, as all that is being circulated negatively affects the process.”
In the first phase of the deal, the bodies of 14 fighters were exchanged in northeast Lebanon, nine from JFS and five from Hezbollah.
The second phase is expected to involve moving militants and displaced people from camps in the Lebanese border town of Arsal to Idlib in Syria.
While negotiations described as “exhaustive” and “intricate” continue, JFS militants and their families, as well as the displaced Syrians who wish to leave, have been waiting in the barren and mountainous area for their departure to Idlib.
Sheikh Mustafa Al-Hujairi, a local leader in Arsal who is in charge of negotiating with JFS, has made several visits to Wadi Hmeid and Al-Zimrani crossing, where the militants have been gathering since the implementation of the cease-fire last week.
The demands of JFS include the release of nine prisoners, seven Syrians and two Lebanese. The nine men have all been arrested on charges of terrorism and belonging to JFS.
Four have been convicted, including one who shot dead a Lebanese soldier abducted from Arsal three years ago, and the others are being tried by a Lebanese military court.
“The JFS-Hezbollah deal includes the withdrawal of all militants from Western Qalamoun and displaced Syrians wishing to leave. It also includes the release of 10 Syrian prisoners from Roumieh prison,” JFS leader Abu Malek Al-Talli said in an interview published on the Facebook page of the Nors Studies Center.
“The failure to accomplish the deal is due to a disagreement between Hezbollah and the Lebanese government regarding the release of prisoners from Roumieh.”
In a separate interview with Al-Rai Media, Talli blamed the delay on “Hezbollah’s lack of credibility regarding the details of the deal.”
The prisoner exchange deal was criticized by the Lebanese MP Sami Gemayel, head of the Kataeb Party.
“Who decided that coward criminals who committed crimes against the Lebanese army and executed soldiers that we are proud of should be released from prison?” he said.
“Who allowed them to escape and return to their country? Did the Lebanese government decide to send them back without trial and without paying for their crimes? Did the Lebanese judiciary give its consent to stop prosecuting those who are known to have killed our army? Can anyone tell us who approved the deal? The government did not hold a meeting regarding this matter and the judiciary did not make any decision. Can we know who decides the fate of Lebanon today?”
Demand to free militants delays Lebanon cease-fire deal
Demand to free militants delays Lebanon cease-fire deal
Israeli defense firm Elbit gets $130 million European rocket supply deal
- Pro-Palestine activists have repeatedly targeted Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems in the UK
- They accuse the company of supplying weapons used in Israel’s military actions in Gaza and the West Bank
JERUSALEM: Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest defense firm, said on Tuesday it received a $130 million contract to supply advanced rocket munitions to an unnamed European country.
The contract for the Precize and Universal Launching System (PULS), an advanced and versatile artillery rocket system capable of launching a wide range of ammunition types from a single platform, will be performed over three years.
The system, Elbit said, offers precision strike capabilities with a range of up to 300 kilometers.
“As European nations continue to enhance their defense capabilities, the selection of PULS reaffirms its strategic value in modern battlefield scenarios,” said Yehuda Vered, general manager of Elbit Systems Land.
Under the deal, Elbit will supply a variety of advanced rocket systems that are designed to significantly enhance the operational capabilities of the customer’s defense forces.
Pro-Palestine activists have repeatedly targeted Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems in the UK, accusing it of supplying weapons used in Israel’s military actions in Gaza and the West Bank.
The activist group Palestine Action has led these protests, often involving vandalism and direct action against Elbit’s sites. They argue that Elbit profits from war crimes and demand its closure.
Netanyahu reverses decision on new Israel security chief
- Decision to appoint former navy commander Vice Admiral Eli Sharvit as Shin Bet chief reconsidered following criticism, including from a key US senator
JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Tuesday he had reversed a decision to appoint former navy commander Vice Admiral Eli Sharvit as security agency chief following criticism, including from a key US senator.
“The prime minister thanked Vice Admiral Sharvit for his willingness to be called to duty but informed him that, after further consideration, he intends to examine other candidates,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
Netanyahu had announced Sharvit’s appointment on Monday, pushing back against a supreme court decision to freeze his government’s move to dismiss incumbent director Ronen Bar.
The prime minister had announced Bar’s dismissal on March 21, citing an “ongoing lack of trust.” The supreme court swiftly suspended the decision until April 8.
Bar’s dismissal has sparked daily mass protests in Jerusalem, disrupting the city.
On Monday, hours after Sharvit’s appointment was announced, reports began surfacing that he had been among tens of thousands of Israelis who took to the streets in 2023 to oppose the Netanyahu government’s attempts to reform the judiciary.
Israeli media reports also recalled that Sharvit, who served in the military for 36 years, had supported a 2022 water agreement with Lebanon that Netanyahu had opposed.
It was also revealed that the former naval chief had penned an opinion piece criticizing US President Donald Trump’s policies on climate change, prompting staunch Trump ally, Senator Lindsey Graham, to criticize his appointment in a post on X.
“While it is undeniably true that America has no better friend than Israel, the appointment of Eli Sharvit to be the new leader of the Shin Bet is beyond problematic,” Graham wrote on Monday.
“There has never been a better supporter for the State of Israel than President Trump. The statements made by Eli Sharvit about President Trump and his polices will create unnecessary stress at a critical time. My advice to my Israeli friends is change course and do better vetting.”
Yemen’s Houthis claim they shot down another American drone as US strikes pound country
- The reported shootdown over Yemen’s contested Marib governorate came as airstrikes hit around Sanaa and Saada
- The US military acknowledged to The Associated Press being aware of reports of the downing of a Reaper
DUBAI: Yemen’s Houthi militia claimed Tuesday that they shot down another American MQ-9 Reaper drone, even as the US kept up its campaign of intense airstrikes targeting the group.
The reported shootdown over Yemen’s contested Marib governorate came as airstrikes hit around Sanaa, the country’s militia-held capital, and Saada, a stronghold for the Houthis.
US President Donald Trump issued a new warning to both the Houthis and their main benefactor, Iran, describing the group as having “been decimated” by the campaign of strikes that began March 15.
“Many of their Fighters and Leaders are no longer with us,” Trump wrote on his social media website Truth Social. “We hit them every day and night — Harder and harder. Their capabilities that threaten Shipping and the Region are rapidly being destroyed. Our attacks will continue until they are no longer a threat to Freedom of Navigation.”
He added: “The choice for the Houthis is clear: Stop shooting at US ships, and we will stop shooting at you. Otherwise, we have only just begun, and the real pain is yet to come, for both the Houthis and their sponsors in Iran.”
Houthis claim they downed another US drone
The militia claimed to have felled a drone in Marib governorate, home to oil and gas fields still under the control of allies to Yemen’s exiled central government. Footage released on social media showed flames in the night, with a Yemeni man claiming a drone had been shot down.
Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesman, separately claimed downing the MQ-9 drone in a prerecorded video message.
Saree described the militia targeting the drone with “a suitable locally manufactured missile.” The Houthis have surface-to-air missiles — such as the Iranian missile known as the 358 — capable of downing aircraft.
Iran denies arming the militia, though Tehran-manufactured weaponry has been found on the battlefield and in sea shipments heading to Yemen for the Shiite Houthi militia despite a United Nations arms embargo.
The US military acknowledged to The Associated Press being aware of reports of the downing of a Reaper, but declined to comment further.
General Atomics Reapers, which cost around $30 million apiece, can fly at altitudes over 40,000 feet (12,100 meters) and remain in the air for over 30 hours. The aircraft have been flown by both the US military and the CIA for years over Afghanistan, Iraq and now Yemen.
The Houthis claim they’ve shot down 20 MQ-9s over the country over the years, with 16 downed during the militia’ campaign over the Israel-Hamas war. The US military hasn’t acknowledged the total number of the drones it has lost there.
Intense US bombings began March 15
An Associated Press review has found the new American operation against the Houthis under Trump appears more extensive than those under former President Joe Biden, as the US moves from solely targeting launch sites to firing at ranking personnel as well as dropping bombs in cities.
The new campaign of airstrikes, which the Houthis now say have killed at least 61 people, started after the militia threatened to begin targeting “Israeli” ships again over Israel blocking aid entering the Gaza Strip. The militia have loosely defined what constitutes an Israeli ship, meaning many vessels could be targeted.
The Houthis targeted over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels and killing four sailors from November 2023 until January of this year. They also launched attacks targeting American warships, though none has been hit so far.
The attacks greatly raised the Houthis’ profile as they faced economic problems and launched a crackdown targeting dissent and aid workers at home amid Yemen’s decade-long stalemated war, which has torn apart the Arab world’s poorest nation.
Egyptian inmates’ ordeal in Sudan prisons
CAIRO: Prisoners held by the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan spoke on Monday of their ordeal in paramilitary detention centers.
Arrested two months after the country’s civil war began in April 2023, Egyptian traders suspected of spying for the regular army were stripped, tortured and starved, and watched as other inmates died from cholera and malaria.
“You couldn’t go two weeks without falling sick,” said Emad Mouawad, 44, who was held at the notorious Soba prison in southern Khartoum after paramilitary forces raided his home in the city.
At night, swarms of insects crawled over the prisoners. “There was nothing that made you feel human,” he said.
Ahmed Aziz, who was detained with Mouawad, said: “They would bring us hot water mixed with wheat flour. Just sticky, tasteless paste.” Water was either polluted from a well or muddy from the Nile. “If you were sick, you just waited for death,” Aziz said.
Another trader, Mohamed Shaaban, 43, said: “They stripped us naked as the day we were born. Then they beat us, insulted and degraded us.”
Back home in Egypt, the former prisoners are struggling to recover physically and mentally. “We have to try to turn the page and move on,” Shaaban said. “We have to try and forget.”
New Syrian Cabinet ‘won’t be able to satisfy everyone’
- Interim president says 23 ministers chosen for competence and expertise, not ideology
DAMASCUS: The new transitional government in the Syrian Arab Republic would aim for consensus in rebuilding the war-torn country but would “not be able to satisfy everyone,” interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa said on Monday
The transitional 23-member Cabinet was named at the weekend, more than three months after Sharaa’s forces led an offensive that toppled dictator Bashar Assad. The new authorities were seeking to reunite and rebuild the country and its institutions after nearly 14 years of civil war, Sharaa told a gathering at the presidential palace broadcast on Syrian television after Eid Al-Fitr prayers.
“A new history is being written for Syria ... we are all writing it,” he said.
Sharaa said ministers had been chosen for competence and expertise, “without ideological or political orientations.” The government’s composition took into consideration “the diversity of Syrian society” while rejecting a quota system for religious or ethnic minorities, instead opting for “participation,” he said.
