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Hezbollah Chief Says Indirect Talks on Ceasefire Possible Only if Israel Stops Attacks

Image grab from the pre-recorded televised address of Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem
Image grab from the pre-recorded televised address of Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem
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Hezbollah Chief Says Indirect Talks on Ceasefire Possible Only if Israel Stops Attacks

Image grab from the pre-recorded televised address of Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem
Image grab from the pre-recorded televised address of Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said on Wednesday that only developments on the battlefield, not political moves, would bring an end to the hostilities between the Lebanese armed group and the Israeli military.
"I will tell you very clearly, our conviction is that only one thing can stop this war of aggression, and that is the battlefield," said Qassem, who was elected as Hezbollah's secretary general following the killing of his predecessor Hassan Nasrallah in Israeli strikes in September.
He said that he did not believe that "political action" would bring about an end to the more than year-long conflict, playing out in parallel with Israel's war in Gaza.
In a pre-recorded televised address, Qassem said there would be a road to indirect negotiations through the Lebanese state only if Israel decided to stop its attacks on Lebanon, Reuters reported.
"When the enemy decides to stop the aggression, there is a path for negotiations that we have clearly defined - indirect negotiations through the Lebanese state and Speaker (of parliament Nabih) Berri," said Qassem.
He said those talks could only proceed if they guaranteed "the protection of Lebanese sovereignty in full, without anything missing," but did not provide further details.
Israel says it aims to return residents displaced from northern Israel to their homes and ensure that Iran-backed Hezbollah will no longer pose a threat to Israel's security.
Last week, Israeli public broadcaster Kan published a draft US proposal on a 60-day truce that included a "side letter" between the US and Israel, granting Israel the right to take action against imminent threats to its security in Lebanon.
Lebanese officials told Reuters that Israel's insistence on "direct enforcement" of a deal would breach state sovereignty.

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Israeli Rights Group Accuses Prison Authority of Failing Palestinian Prisoners after Scabies Outbreak

Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir attends a discussion called on by the opposition on the release of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas, at the Knesset in Jerusalem, Israel, 18 November 2024. (EPA)
Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir attends a discussion called on by the opposition on the release of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas, at the Knesset in Jerusalem, Israel, 18 November 2024. (EPA)
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Israeli Rights Group Accuses Prison Authority of Failing Palestinian Prisoners after Scabies Outbreak

Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir attends a discussion called on by the opposition on the release of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas, at the Knesset in Jerusalem, Israel, 18 November 2024. (EPA)
Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir attends a discussion called on by the opposition on the release of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas, at the Knesset in Jerusalem, Israel, 18 November 2024. (EPA)

An Israeli rights group said Monday that more than a quarter of all Palestinian prisoners currently held by Israel had contracted scabies since an outbreak was identified in May, and accused the prison authority of improper care and prevention.

Physicians for Human Rights-Israel said that more than 2,800 prisoners had caught the rash-like infection, with more than 1,700 still actively infected. The outbreak was seen in five different detention facilities, the group said. It was citing figures it said came from the Israel Prison Service.

The group said it filed a legal petition calling on the prison service “to eradicate the scabies epidemic,” accusing the authorities of failing “to implement widely recognized medical interventions necessary to contain the outbreak.”

It said that it halted the legal proceedings after it received a commitment from the prison service to address the outbreak. The prison service said the court had cancelled the petition because the prisons had shown they were dealing with the outbreak in a “systematic and thorough” way.

Nadav Davidovich, an Israeli public health expert who wrote a medical analysis for the group’s court proceedings, said the outbreak was a result of overcrowding in prisons and apparent neglect from prison authorities. He said such outbreaks could be prevented if prisoners were held “in more reasonable conditions.” If the first infections were treated as needed, such an outbreak could have been avoided, he said.

Physicians for Human Rights-Israel also said that the Israel Prison Service had cited scabies as a reason for postponing lawyers' visits and court appearances for prisoners. It said those steps “violate prisoners’ rights and serve as punitive measures rather than public health responses.”

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the prisons, has boasted about hardening conditions to the bare minimum required by law.