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Abbas Stresses Need for Multiple Mediations to Achieve Peace

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, left, meets with the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in the West Bank Town of Ramallah, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. (Atef Safadi/Pool Photo via AP)
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, left, meets with the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in the West Bank Town of Ramallah, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. (Atef Safadi/Pool Photo via AP)
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Abbas Stresses Need for Multiple Mediations to Achieve Peace

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, left, meets with the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in the West Bank Town of Ramallah, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. (Atef Safadi/Pool Photo via AP)
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, left, meets with the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in the West Bank Town of Ramallah, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. (Atef Safadi/Pool Photo via AP)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that any new mediation to achieve peace must be multilateral, and must include the International Quartet and a number of Arab and European countries.

He added that he was relying on the German and French roles in the European Union, along with the United States, to achieve peace in the region.

Abbas’ remarks came during a joint news conference with German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel on Wednesday in Ramallah.

He noted that the political process aimed at achieving peace was currently in “a severe predicament”, adding that he was committed to a culture of peace.

“We are committed to the culture of peace, despite the pressures we are facing, such as the issue of Jerusalem and the UNRWA funding; we reaffirm our fight against terrorism everywhere,” he stated.

Abbas renewed his adherence to the two-state solution and to the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital based on the 1967 borders, “so that Palestine and Israel can live in security and stability.”

“We count on the role of Germany and France through the European Union, and with the United States to reach a lasting and just peace in the region,” he said, addressing the German foreign minister.

“Mediation to achieve peace must be multiple from the quartet and a number of Arab and European countries,” he added.

Gabriel, for his part, said that the political process in the Middle East was going through a difficult stage.

“The decision of the United States on the city of Jerusalem was made out of the peace negotiations and this gives the impression that we are moving away from everything that was agreed upon in Oslo agreement,” he said.

Gabriel emphasized his country’s support for the two-state solution to ensure the establishment of peace in the region, adding: “There is no practical or other political option to reach peace.”

He also criticized the US decision to cut its aid to United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

“It’s a bad thing, because we have to try to ensure that the conditions of refugees in the region do not worsen,” he said.

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Israeli Reports: Hezbollah Uses Less Rockets, More Drones to Target Israel

Smoke rises, following an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, after the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning for the area on June 5, 2025. EPA 
Smoke rises, following an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, after the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning for the area on June 5, 2025. EPA 
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Israeli Reports: Hezbollah Uses Less Rockets, More Drones to Target Israel

Smoke rises, following an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, after the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning for the area on June 5, 2025. EPA 
Smoke rises, following an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, after the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning for the area on June 5, 2025. EPA 

Lebanon’s Hezbollah has ramped up drone production, an easier and cheaper alternative to rockets and missiles, Hebrew newspapers reported on Monday.

The Israeli Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said on Monday that the Israeli airstrike carried out on June 5 against what it said were Hezbollah targets in Beirut’s Southern Suburbs, was an attempt to dismantle five Hezbollah drone manufacturing sites.

It added that the operation, months in the making, was approved despite internal debate among Israeli leadership.

“Inspired by the Ukraine-Russia war and facing disruptions to Iranian supply chains, Hezbollah has ramped up its domestic production of drones,” the newspaper wrote.

Why Drones?

Yedioth Ahronoth said Hezbollah is now focusing on the production of drones as an easier and cheaper alternative to rockets and missiles.

According to the Israeli Army intelligence, Hezbollah has shifted its rehabilitation budget in 2025 toward developing explosive-laden UAVs and attack or reconnaissance drones, investing less in precision missiles and rockets.

It noted that drone assembly is simpler, faster and cheaper than missile production and often uses civilian parts ordered online.

“Drones are harder for Israeli air defense systems to immediately detect and classify, can be launched from hidden locations like ravines and fly in unpredictable paths. Hezbollah has drawn tactical inspiration from the effectiveness of drones in Ukraine,” the newspaper said.

Operational Meetings

Yedioth Ahronoth said Israeli Air Force commander Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar has held frequent operational meetings to tighten pressure on Hezbollah’s drone unit and prevent its resurgence.

It said despite Israeli advances in detection and interception—including a new laser defense system that has already downed about 40 Hezbollah drones—the Israeli Army has yet to face a mass swarm attack combining drones with a barrage of rockets, especially from nearby southern Lebanon.

“That’s why Israel continues to prioritize preemptive strikes,” it wrote.

The newspaper then quoted an Air Force officer overseeing efforts against Hezbollah’s covert UAV Unit 127, as saying that the Thursday strike was a continuation of last year's interception operation, during which Israel reportedly destroyed 70% of Hezbollah’s drone arsenal and killed senior figures in the unit.

“We precisely hit underground workshops and storage sites without collapsing nearby buildings,” he said. “We’ll strike again when more sites are identified.”

The officer also said that Hezbollah is aiming for greater self-sufficiency and less reliance on Iran.

Unit 127

Hezbollah’s aerial Unit 127, which is responsible to produce UAVs, is again the focus of the Israeli intelligence particularly after the Israeli Army spokesperson noted that the Lebanese party is trying to regain its activity and recover from attacks it has suffered from during the recent war on Lebanon.

On June 5, the Israeli military carried out attacks on alleged Hezbollah targets in Beirut's southern suburb, the stronghold of the Lebanese party.

Prior to the strike, the Israeli army issued an evacuation warning, announcing that it would hit eight buildings at four locations.

The warning prompted panic on the eve of the Eid al-Adha holiday. The Israeli army said that Hezbollah was “working to produce thousands of drones under the guidance and financing of Iranian terrorist groups.”

After the strikes, the army said Hezbollah tried to rebuild an “arms production site” after the war, adding that “this dangerous activity constitutes a flagrant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon under the ceasefire agreement.”

Hezbollah's Unit 127 was founded in 2012 by Hassan al-Laqis, who was assassinated near his Beirut home in 2013.