While the ceasefire with Israel is holding tenuously, reports emerge from the areas hardest hit by the war. The agreement came on the day of a Marian feast, just as it did in 2006. The damage caused by the heavy bombardment in the last hours before the truce came into effect. A nun from Nabatyeh: ‘The entire city is dead, our school will not be able to reopen until February’.
On 9 January, a new session for the election of the head of state. ‘The moment of truth has arrived for the Lebanese, especially for the Shia community,’ says Speaker Berry. After the cease-fire it will be the decisive test for the future. The probable return of Hezbollah to a ‘political role’.
Backed by President Biden, the US-brokered ceasefire plan between Israel and Hezbollah is awaiting the green light from the Netanyahu government. The deal would see Hezbollah's Al-Radwan force pull back north of the Litani and Israel's total exit from Lebanese territory, followed by the return of displaced populations and a five-member commission to supervise the process.
The Moldovan-Israeli rabbi killed in Dubai was a member of a Hasidic group that, although not the largest, is known for its outreach. It boasts nearly 5,000 emissaries (shluchim) who run about 3,500 institutions, including Chabad houses. For Israeli activist, defining the rabbi’s death as an act of anti-Semitism is limiting. His movement is "very important", but with critical issues.
For the Jordanian scholar, the plan that led to normalisation with Israel ‘seems dormant’ but remains a valid ‘basis’. The Middle East is a different reality today compared to the Tycoon's first term. The ‘zero conflict’ policy pursued by Riyadh privileges the economic sphere and opens up dialogue with Tehran. The centrality of the Palestinian issue to stop conflicts.
Negotiations for a 60-day suspension of the fighting, followed by the implementation of resolution 1701, continue on difficult tracks. Among the obstacles is the military doggedness of the Jewish state against the cedar country. Another of Hezbollah's historic leaders, Mohammed Afif, was the victim of a targeted attack. According to World Bank estimates, more than 100,000 homes have been destroyed in the last two months.
