Israel and Hamas are ready to sign a ceasefire and release some hostages, but the end of the war remains far away. Yonatan Zeigen, son of an Israeli pacifist killed on 7 October, speaks to AsiaNews about the question of “power and interests" behind the agreement, starting with the new US administration. The historical precedent between Israel and Egypt is an example of how to overcome the conflict with the Palestinians.
The water plant will be built in cooperation with a French group and will provide 300 million cubic metres of drinking water. It will be the country's largest infrastructure serving three million citizens; four years to completion. It will replace an earlier project studied with Israel that was supposed to connect the Dead Sea and the Red Sea.
The new president speaks of a new page in the history of Lebanon and ‘respect for the Constitution’. An appointment welcomed by the international community, including by Tel Aviv and Tehran. A military man to file away the disastrous war between Hezbollah and Israel and the 26 months of institutional vacuum.
The latest case concerns Umm al-Hiran, razed to the ground to build Dror, a new Jewish Orthodox town. Some of the land was offered at ridiculously low prices to members of Garin Torani's Zionist religious group. Peace Now warns that with the Netanyahu-Smotrich-Ben Gvir government, authorisations for new homes in the settlements are breaking new records every week.
Since the beginning of the conflict, at least 16,000 workers have come from India to replace the blockades in the West Bank and the Strip. Influx destined to increase thanks to targeted campaigns. In the north, farmers from Thailand are returning, among the migrants who have paid the most in terms of victims and kidnappings. From 165,000 to only 15,000 Palestinians working in Israel.
A climate of relative stability in preparation for the Lebanese Parliament's election of a new head of state on 9 January. A framework that remains fragile, given Hezbollah's determination to reorganise its forces, Iranian influence and the IDF troops still present. Elements that undermine institutions, border security and economic recovery.
