Axios claims the White House sent an “angry message” to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the IDF’s killing of a Hamas military commander over the weekend, considered a ceasefire violation. It’s unclear how reliable the report, published by Israeli journalist Barak Ravid, a former IDF intelligence officer, is. The Egyptians, acting as mediators, certainly protested. Israeli soldiers celebrated Hanukkah by lighting candles inside the Tulkarem camp, which drew criticism from the ranks of the Islamic Resistance.
Following the attack on the synagogue in Sydney, Prime Minister Netanyahu declared: “The safe place for the world’s Jews is the place where the government, the army, and the security forces protect them, and that is the State of Israel.” Army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir reassured the population: “We have established security lines in Lebanon, Syria, and the Gaza Strip.”
Walla news site: “Israel continues to exert American pressure for rapid progress toward the next phase of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, until the return of Ran Guili’s body.” Finally, according to the Israel Broadcasting Authority: No country has agreed to join the international stabilization force that will be established in Gaza under the Trump plan.
On December 15, Lebanese press sources stated that the Lebanese dossier is being prepared during meetings between US envoy Thomas Brack and officials in Tel Aviv, along with the dossier on negotiations with Syria to reach a security agreement in the Golan Heights.
The two weeks leading up to the end of the current year are crucial for Lebanon, as they largely shape the next phase, which officially begins with the start of the new year. These two weeks will witness three important meetings, starting in Paris on the 18th of this month, where a preparatory meeting for the International Conference on Support for the Army will be held. This will be immediately followed by a meeting of the Ceasefire Mechanism Committee on the 19th of this month in Naqoura. And finally, on the 29th of this month, the long-awaited meeting between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will take place.
Lebanese Army Commander General Rodolph Hikkel and senior officers arrived in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on December 15th aboard a military hovercraft, along with ambassadors and military attachés to Lebanon. All those present from the Barakat barracks traveled to villages in the western sector, particularly Aita Al-Shaab and Wadi Zabqine, to see what the army has accomplished and is accomplishing in terms of arms control.
Once Lebanon completes the Southern Litani, it will have fulfilled its full obligations under Resolution 1701 and the ceasefire agreement (November 2024). The tour for the military attachés includes a visit to a resistance base in Wadi Zabqine and a military center.
From Lebanon, local press reports that Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has informed President Joseph Aoun and other officials of his opposition to postponing the parliamentary elections from next May to the summer, believing that a technical postponement is unconvincing, as the government can hold the elections on the scheduled date. Berri’s remarks came after Presidents Aoun and Nawaf Salam presented an agreement for the elections. The request for the postponement comes in light of the difficulties in ensuring expatriates have access to the vote. It has been considered to postpone the elections to mid-summer, allowing expatriates to come to Lebanon during their holidays to vote, provided that indications confirm that Berri is unwilling to allow the law to be amended again, as happened in the previous session.
And now a look at the military scenario, updated at 12:00 on December 15. There are reportedly 15 victims in the December 14 attack on a Sydney synagogue during Hanukkah. The Australian report declared the perpetrators of the Sydney shootings to be a father and son. According to the Australian police: “Two explosive devices found at the scene of the terrorist attack in Sydney. Intelligence sources in Israel estimate that the attack in Australia, in which 15 people died, was carried out by a foreign Iranian-backed cell, at a time when Australian authorities have not officially confirmed any external interference. Australian police reported finding an ISIS flag in the attackers’ car. France will launch its own investigation with the DGSE. Among the dead is a French citizen of Jewish faith.
Aidarus al-Zoubaidi (Vice-President of the Southern Transitional Council of Yemen, supported by the United Arab Emirates) reiterated his forces’ willingness to participate in any military operation to liberate the northern regions from Houthi control,” source Sky News Arabia. In response, the Yemeni Houthi spokesperson: “Israel is preparing for heavy attacks against Lebanon. […] The armed forces in Yemen are ready and will act according to Abdul-Malik al-Houthi’s instructions to attack Israel when it strikes innocent civilians in Lebanon.”
Intense attacks by Israel were reported over the weekend. Machine gun fire destroyed a newly constructed site in Tal Hamra, near the outskirts of Al-Khiyam city. Two mortar rounds were fired from the Al-Malikiyah site toward the Al-Mahafir area, outside the city of Aitaroun. An Israeli drone dropped explosive bombs on a house in the Al-Salam area, on Al-Ghabeh Road, on the southern outskirts of Aitaroun city. An Israeli drone targeted a car in the city of Jouya. An IDF drone dropped a sonic bomb on the city of Ramiyeh. An Israeli drone strike targeted a car in the city of Safad Al-Batiikh. Another Israeli drone strike was recorded in the Tayr Harma area, between Yatar and Jabal Al-Batim. An Israeli artillery shell fell on the “Shanoh” farm, on the outskirts of Halta, in Al-Arqoub. Israeli artillery bombardment targeted the outskirts of Halta. An Israeli drone targeted two tractors with three bombs in the “Al-Wasitani” neighborhood of Chebaa. The Bustara farm, on the outskirts of Kfarchouba, was hit by attacks from Al-Rimtha Hill. Machine gun fire from Al-Jardah toward the outskirts of Al-Dhahira.
On the morning of December 15, a powerful explosion was heard in the eastern sector of southern Lebanon. An Israeli drone dropped a bomb on the house targeted last night in the Salam area, on the outskirts of Aytron. Four attacks were reported in the city. An Israeli plane dropped a bomb on the beach of Ras Al-Naqoura. Israeli drone attack in Al-Dhahira. An Israeli quadcopter takes off from the newly constructed Jabal al-Bat site, dropping liters of explosives on one of the houses in the “Al-Matit” neighborhood in the town of Ayta al-Shaab.
According to Human Rights Watch, Israeli attacks against reconstruction equipment and civilian infrastructure in southern Lebanon constitute war crimes. The Israeli “army,” having reduced border towns in southern Lebanon to rubble, is attempting to hinder the reconstruction of what it destroyed and the return of residents. Israeli strikes destroyed over 360 heavy vehicles, including bulldozers and excavators, as well as an asphalt and cement plant. Finally, Human Rights Watch stated in a statement: “We found no evidence of military targets at the sites targeted by the Israeli army and in the surrounding areas.” “We have found no evidence that the supplies targeted by the Israeli army were used for military purposes by Hezbollah.”
According to Al-Mayadeen’s correspondent, Israeli artillery is shelling the northern areas of Al-Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, an Israeli aircraft launched a raid northeast of Khan Younis, coinciding with heavy artillery bombardment east of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. Again on the morning of December 15, Israeli helicopters opened fire on occupation-controlled areas behind the yellow line east of the city of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. Israeli vehicles are opening fire intensively north of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.
Buses of settlers, accompanied by military vehicles, stormed the town of Awarta, south of Nablus, to hold Talmudic prayers at the Al-Ezir shrine. On December 15, Israeli forces stormed the city of Hebron, to the north.
Israeli sources reported that the IDF opened fire on a Palestinian near the settlement of “Kedumim,” between Qalqilya and Nablus, presumably in an attempted stabbing. It was later learned that the man was an Israeli, a young, mentally ill man, who approached the soldiers with a knife.
Antonio Albanese e Graziella Giangiulio
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