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Netanyahu Says Israel has ‘Surprising’ Plans for Lebanon

HANDOUT - 23 May 2024, Israel, Safed: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits Israel's Northern Command Headquarters. Photo: Ma'ayan Toaf/GPO/dpa
HANDOUT - 23 May 2024, Israel, Safed: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits Israel's Northern Command Headquarters. Photo: Ma'ayan Toaf/GPO/dpa
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Netanyahu Says Israel has ‘Surprising’ Plans for Lebanon

HANDOUT - 23 May 2024, Israel, Safed: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits Israel's Northern Command Headquarters. Photo: Ma'ayan Toaf/GPO/dpa
HANDOUT - 23 May 2024, Israel, Safed: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits Israel's Northern Command Headquarters. Photo: Ma'ayan Toaf/GPO/dpa

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he has “surprising” military plans for Lebanon, adding that Israel has been able to eliminate “hundreds” of Hezbollah militants.
"We are constantly in action on the northern front. As of now we have eliminated hundreds of Hezbollah militants and we are still poised – even today”, said Netanyahu as he visited the Israeli army Northern Command Headquarters.
“I just received a briefing from the head of Northern Command and I also spoke with the division commanders. We have detailed, important, and even surprising plans”, he added.
Netanyahu stated that he “will not share these plans – which are designed to do two things, 1) to restore security to the north, and 2) to restore the residents safely to their homes... We are determined to achieve both of them together”.
Hezbollah has exchanged near-daily cross-border fire with the Israeli army since Hamas gunmen launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7 triggering war in Gaza.
On Thursday, Lebanese school children on a minibus had a narrow escape when an Israeli drone strike killed a Hezbollah fighter in the car ahead, blowing out the windscreen of their vehicle and wounding three pupils.

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US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
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US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)

The United States is deferring the removal of certain Lebanese citizens from the country, President Joe Biden said on Friday, citing humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon amid tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.

The deferred designation, which lasts 18 months, allows Lebanese citizens to remain in the country with the right to work, according to a memorandum Biden sent to the Department of Homeland Security.

"Humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon have significantly deteriorated due to tensions between Hezbollah and Israel," Biden said in the memo.

"While I remain focused on de-escalating the situation and improving humanitarian conditions, many civilians remain in danger; therefore, I am directing the deferral of removal of certain Lebanese nationals who are present in the United States."

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have been trading fire since Hezbollah announced a "support front" with Palestinians shortly after its ally Hamas attacked southern Israeli border communities on Oct. 7, triggering Israel's military assault in Gaza.

The fighting in Lebanon has killed more than 100 civilians and more than 300 Hezbollah fighters, according to a Reuters tally, and led to levels of destruction in Lebanese border towns and villages not seen since the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.

On the Israeli side, 10 Israeli civilians, a foreign agricultural worker and 20 Israeli soldiers have been killed. Tens of thousands have been evacuated from both sides of the border.