US and Israeli Officials Discuss Tensions at the Israel-Lebanon Border

 This picture taken from a position in northern Israel bordering Lebanon shows smoke billowing during Israeli bombardment of a southern Lebanese area on September 4, 2024. (AFP)
This picture taken from a position in northern Israel bordering Lebanon shows smoke billowing during Israeli bombardment of a southern Lebanese area on September 4, 2024. (AFP)
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US and Israeli Officials Discuss Tensions at the Israel-Lebanon Border

 This picture taken from a position in northern Israel bordering Lebanon shows smoke billowing during Israeli bombardment of a southern Lebanese area on September 4, 2024. (AFP)
This picture taken from a position in northern Israel bordering Lebanon shows smoke billowing during Israeli bombardment of a southern Lebanese area on September 4, 2024. (AFP)

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer held a virtual meeting Wednesday to discuss the ongoing tensions at the Israel-Lebanon border, according to a US official familiar with the matter.
The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly, said that senior White House national security officials Brett McGurk and Amos Hochstein also took part in the discussions about concerns that the tensions with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah could cause the war in Gaza to spread into a regional conflict.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said White House officials on Wednesday continued conversations with Israeli officials in hopes of sealing a cease-fire deal.
US officials also spoke with Egyptian and Qatari officials, who have served as intermediaries for Hamas. But Kirby declined to confirm that Sullivan and other senior White House officials spoke with Dermer on Wednesday.



Palestinian Prime Minister Says Palestinian Authority Should Run Gaza in Future

Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammed Mustafa and Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide attend a meeting of the Global Alliance for the implementation of the two-State Solution at Oslo City Hall in Oslo, Norway, January 15, 2025. (Heiko Junge/NTB/via Reuters)
Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammed Mustafa and Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide attend a meeting of the Global Alliance for the implementation of the two-State Solution at Oslo City Hall in Oslo, Norway, January 15, 2025. (Heiko Junge/NTB/via Reuters)
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Palestinian Prime Minister Says Palestinian Authority Should Run Gaza in Future

Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammed Mustafa and Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide attend a meeting of the Global Alliance for the implementation of the two-State Solution at Oslo City Hall in Oslo, Norway, January 15, 2025. (Heiko Junge/NTB/via Reuters)
Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammed Mustafa and Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide attend a meeting of the Global Alliance for the implementation of the two-State Solution at Oslo City Hall in Oslo, Norway, January 15, 2025. (Heiko Junge/NTB/via Reuters)

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said it “will not be acceptable” for any entity other than the Palestinian Authority to run the Gaza Strip in the future.

Mustafa made the comments on Wednesday as he visited Norway, one of three European countries that formally recognized a Palestinian state in May.

Hamas seized power in Gaza in 2007, confining the Palestinian Authority’s limited self-rule to parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The US has called for a revitalized Palestinian Authority to govern both the West Bank and Gaza ahead of eventual statehood, which the Israeli government opposes.

“While we’re waiting for the ceasefire, it’s important to stress that it will not be acceptable for any entity to govern Gaza Strip but the legitimate Palestinian leadership and the government of the State of Palestine," Mustafa said.

He added that “any attempt to consolidate the separation between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, or creating transitional entities, will be rejected.”

Mustafa stressed that “we should not leave Gaza to vacuum ... We are the government of Palestine, ready to hold our responsibilities in the Gaza Strip as we did before.”