JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right wing Likud party has reduced the gap behind the centrist party of former minister Benny Gantz, who quit the wartime unity government on Sunday, two polls showed on Friday.
The polls, for the left wing Ma’ariv daily and the right wing Israel Hayom newspaper, showed Likud winning 21 seats behind the National Unity Party on 24. The Ma’ariv poll last week showed Gantz’s party on 27 seats, while at the start of the year, it was regularly polling in the high 30s.
The Ma’ariv poll shows the current ruling coalition winning 52 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, against 58 for the main opposition parties, with the balance of 10 seats held by the United Arab List and the left-wing Hadash-Ta’al alliance.
The Israel Hayom poll put the coalition on 50 seats against 61 for the opposition parties and 9 for the UAL and Hadash-Ta’al.
Both polls showed a majority of voters would prefer Gantz as prime minister in a head-to-head choice with Netanyahu. However, the Israel Hayom poll showed that if former prime minister Naftali Bennett were to join forces with Avigdor Liberman and Gideon Saar, two other center right politicians from outside the Likud camp, their alliance could beat both Likud and Gantz’s National Unity Party.
Gantz, a former army general and defense minister in the last government, joined Netanyahu’s coalition last year as a gesture of national unity following the devastating attack by Hamas on Oct 7.
However, he clashed repeatedly with other ministers and quit the government after demanding Netanyahu articulate a clear strategic plan for the war in Gaza, now in its ninth month.
Netanyahu, who was widely blamed for the security failures that allowed the Oct. 7 attack to take place, has refused to call early elections and would not normally face voters until 2026 if his coalition with a clutch of religious and right wing pro-settler parties holds.
Israeli polls show Netanyahu party narrowing gap behind Gantz
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Israeli polls show Netanyahu party narrowing gap behind Gantz
- The polls showed Likud winning 21 seats behind the National Unity Party on 24
- Both polls showed a majority of voters would prefer Gantz as prime minister in a head-to-head choice with Netanyahu
Lebanese leaders criticize Hezbollah’s refusal to disarm
- ‘Those who use threats must first stop the tragedies,’ says Lebanese Forces leader
BEIRUT: The Lebanese army on Saturday continued to detonate munitions left over from the Israeli war in southern Lebanon, as well as confiscating ordnance in the area south of the Litani River.
Explosions were heard across southern Lebanon, accompanied by reconnaissance flights from Lebanese army Cessna aircraft south of the Litani River.
During the most recent cabinet session, Army Commander Gen. Rudolph Haykal confirmed that it was no longer possible to cross the Litani River from north to south without passing through Lebanese Army checkpoints. The commander also reviewed the seizure and confiscation of equipment, weapons, and ammunition, presenting statistics from more than 5,000 missions.
In a statement earlier this week, President Joseph Aoun announced that weapons would be brought under state control this year. However, campaigns by Hezbollah officials threaten to disrupt the path outlined by President Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam to achieve this end. On Saturday, several Lebanese politicians came out against Hezbollah’s attempt to retain its weapons.
The Hezbollah leaders have not learned from the lessons of the catastrophe caused by their party.
Ashraf Rifi, MP and former justice minister
“The remaining Hezbollah leaders have not learned from the lessons of the catastrophe caused by their party,” said MP and former Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi, claiming that Hezbollah was being “reckless” and holding on to weapons “in support of Tehran, which is negotiating with the US at the expense of the Lebanese.”
He added: “These people appear to have lost essential wisdom and reasoning skills. Sooner or later, the weapons will be surrendered and dismantled; history does not move backward.”
Rifi’s comments followed a series of statements from Hezbollah in recent days, in which the group rejected the notion of surrendering its weapons to the state. They issued a threat to “cut off the hand” of anyone who tried to disarm them.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said on Friday: “Remove this issue from your vocabulary, as no one will disarm us.”
He added that an Israeli withdrawal and reconstruction efforts must come before any discussions of a defense strategy.
Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani endorsed Hezbollah’s stance, stating on Saturday that “the disarmament project is a clear plot against countries,” and warning against “falling into Israel’s trap.”
The Iranian diplomat posted on X: “While the US supplies the Israeli regime with the latest weapons and missiles, it simultaneously prevents other countries from strengthening and arming their militaries. Using various pretexts, it pressures them to reduce or destroy their arsenals.”
He added that when countries agree to disarmament demands, they become vulnerable to attacks and occupations, citing Iraq, Libya, and Syria as examples.
Amani stressed that Iran was aware of the dangers posed by “this conspiracy and its threat to regional nations’ security.”
He said: “We warn others not to fall into Israel’s trap, as maintaining deterrence is the first line of defense for sovereignty and independence, and it should not be put at risk.”
Hezbollah’s position has drawn widespread criticism, however. MP Paula Yacoubian characterized it as a strategy to enhance Iran’s negotiation position with the US, and said Lebanon was being used as a bargaining chip.
“Iran, which has poured billions into Hezbollah, now seeks greater returns,” she said. “To preserve the regime, it is time to make concessions, and the party must stop repeating outdated rhetoric while reclaiming its Lebanese identity.”
Former President Michel Suleiman said in a statement: "No to threats of cutting off hands. No to hints of civil war. No to discussions about the army's weaknesses. No to claims regarding the strength of the resistance. No to the idea of keeping weapons in the south, the mountains, the Bekaa, the north, or Beirut in the hands of anyone other than the state.
"Why is this important? Because if the state does not control weapons, then the state and its institutions will not survive.
"Consequently, the economy will not prosper, and we will not restore our friendship with our sister state or the international community."
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea stated that “resorting to threats, especially regarding severing hands, has no place in a democratic state or a country seeking civil peace.”
He urged those using such rhetoric to stop, as their actions have already caused “significant harm and damage to Lebanon and its people,” adding that they should step aside and “allow the new leadership to guide the country out of the tragedy” they have created.
Geagea also urged Hezbollah to focus on “rebuilding an effective state capable of restoring dignity, pride, and a decent life for the Lebanese people, and take the initiative to facilitate reconstruction efforts.”
A political source told Arab News that Hezbollah’s rejection of disarmament, most recently expressed by Naim Qassem, aimed to preserve internal balance and boost morale within the party.
“Meanwhile, the Iranian position indicates that Iran is trying to control Hezbollah. There may also be another explanation: they may be seeking to gain time,” said the source.
Gazans resort to turtle meat in hunt for food
- Once the shell has been removed, the meat is cut up, boiled and cooked in a mix of onion, pepper, tomato and spices
- “The children were afraid of the turtle, and we told them it tasted as delicious as veal,” said Majida Qanan
KHAN YUNIS, Palestinian Territories: With food scarce in the besieged and war-battered Gaza Strip, some desperate families have turned to eating sea turtles as a rare source of protein.
Once the shell has been removed, the meat is cut up, boiled and cooked in a mix of onion, pepper, tomato and spices.
“The children were afraid of the turtle, and we told them it tasted as delicious as veal,” said Majida Qanan, keeping an eye on the chunks of red meat simmering in a pot over a wood fire.
“Some of them ate it, but others refused.”
For lack of a better alternative, this is the third time 61-year-old Qanan has prepared a turtle-based meal for her family who were displaced and now live in a tent in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza largest city.
After 18 months of devastating war and an Israeli blockade on aid since March 2, the United Nations has warned of a dire humanitarian situation for the 2.4 million inhabitants of the Palestinian territory.
Israel has accused Hamas of diverting aid, which the Palestinian militant group denies.
The heads of 12 major aid organizations warned on Thursday that “famine is not just a risk, but likely rapidly unfolding in almost all parts” of the territory.
“There are no open crossings and there is nothing in the market,” said Qanan.
“When I buy two small bags (of vegetables) for 80 shekels ($22), there is no meat,” she added.
Sea turtles are internationally protected as an endangered species, but those caught in Gaza fishermen’s nets are used for food.
Qanan mixes the meat with flour and vinegar to wash it, before rinsing and boiling it in an old metal pot.
“We never expected to eat a turtle,” fisherman Abdel Halim Qanan said.
“When the war started, there was a food shortage. There is no food. So (turtle meat) is an alternative for other sources of protein. There is no meat, poultry or vegetables.”
The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has warned that Gaza is facing its most severe humanitarian crisis since the war began on October 7, 2023, triggered by Hamas’s attack on Israel.
Fighting has raged in Gaza since then, pausing only twice — recently during a two-month ceasefire between January 19 and March 17, and in a previous one-week halt in late November 2023.
The World Health Organization’s regional chief Hanan Balkhy said in June that some Gazans were so desperate that they were eating animal food, grass, and drinking sewage water.
Hamas on Thursday accused Israel of using “starvation as a weapon” against Gazans by blocking aid supplies.
Fisherman Qanan said the turtles were killed in the “halal” method, in accordance with Islamic rites.
“If there was no famine, we would not eat it and leave it, but we want to compensate for the lack of protein,” he said.
Israeli strikes on Gaza kill more than 90 people in the last 48 hours, Palestinians say
- Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 90 people have been killed by Israeli strikes in the last 48 hours.
- The dead include at least 15 people killed overnight, among them women and children, some of who were sheltering in a designated humanitarian zone, according to hospital staff
DEIR AL-BALAH: Israeli strikes in Gaza have killed more than 90 people in the last 48 hours, Gaza’s Health Ministry said Saturday, as Israeli troops ramp up attacks to pressure Hamas to release its hostages and disarm.
The dead include 15 people who were killed overnight, among them women and children, some of who were sheltering in a designated humanitarian zone, according to hospital staff.
At least 11 people were killed in the southern city of Khan Younis, several of them in a tent in the Mwasi area where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are living, hospital worker said. Israel has designated it as a humanitarian zone.
Four other people were killed in separate strikes in Rafah city, including a mother and her daughter, according to the European Hospital, where the bodies were brought.
Israel has vowed to intensify attacks across Gaza and occupy large “security zones” inside the strip. For six weeks Israel also has blockaded Gaza, barring the entry of food and other goods.
This week, aid groups raised alarm saying that thousands of children have become malnourished, and most people are barely eating one meal a day as stocks dwindle, according to the United Nations.
On Friday, Dr. Hanan Balkhy, the head of the World Health Organization’s eastern Mediterranean office, urged the new US ambassador in Israel, Mike Huckabee, to push the country to lift Gaza’s blockade so medicines and other aid can enter the strip.
“I would wish for him to go in and see the situation firsthand,” she said.
In his first appearance as ambassador on Friday, Huckabee visited the Western Wall, the holiest Jewish prayer site in Jerusalem’s Old City. He inserted a prayer into the wall, which he said was handwritten by US President Donald Trump. Huckabee said every effort was being made to bring home the remaining hostages held by Hamas.
The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Most of the hostages have since been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Israel’s offensive has since killed over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. The war has destroyed vast parts of Gaza and most of its food production capabilities. The war has displaced around 90 percent of the population, with hundreds of thousands of people living in tent camps and bombed-out buildings.
Syria president hosts Republican US congressman in Damascus
- Al-Sharaa meets with US Congressman Cory Mills in Damascus
- Washington has already eased some sanctions on Syria affecting essential services
DAMASCUS: Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa has met with a US congressman, the Syrian presidency said on Saturday, the first such visit by an American lawmaker since the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar Assad.
Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani was also present at the meeting with Republican Cory Mills at the presidential palace in Damascus, a presidency statement said.
Mills arrived in Syria on Friday along with Marlin Stutzman, another politician from the Republican party of US President Donald Trump.
In late December, less than two weeks after a coalition spearheaded by Sharaa’s Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham toppled Assad, Washington scrapped a long-standing reward for the arrest of the new leader.
The decision to drop the bounty for Sharaa followed “positive messages” from a first meeting with the new authorities, a senior US diplomat said at the time.
The new government, dominated by Sharaa loyalists, has been pushing for Assad-era sanctions to be lifted to revive Syria’s economy and support reconstruction after nearly 14 years of war.
Washington has already eased some sanctions on Syria affecting essential services, although it is a temporary measure as the United States and other governments wait to see how the new authorities exercise their power before enacting wider exemptions.
The United States, which has welcomed the formation of an interim government, has demanded progress on issues such as the fight against terrorism.
Nevertheless, Washington announced on Friday that it would halve the number of US troops deployed to the country to fight the Daesh group, bringing their number to fewer than 1,000.
International sanctions have weighed heavily on the Syrian economy, with around 90 percent of people living in poverty, according to UN figures.
Next week, Syrian ministers and the country’s central bank chief are due to attend the International Monetary Fund and World Bank’s spring meetings in Washington, sources with knowledge of the meetings told AFP.
The congressmen’s visit came as Washington warned on Friday of “imminent attacks” in Syria and particularly in “locations frequented by tourists,” according to an alert posted on the US embassy’s website.
The embassy’s operations in Damascus have been suspended since 2012, the year after the brutal repression of anti-government protests under Assad sparked civil war.
Earthquake of magnitude 5.8 strikes Afghanistan-Tajikistan border, GFZ says
- The quake was at a depth of 92 km
DUBAI: An earthquake of magnitude 5.8 struck the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border on Saturday, German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ) said. The quake was at a depth of 92 km (57 miles), GFZ said.
