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Israel Reaches Understanding with Cyprus on Gaza Port Plan

Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman. Reuters
Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman. Reuters
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Israel Reaches Understanding with Cyprus on Gaza Port Plan

Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman. Reuters
Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman. Reuters

Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman has reached an understanding with the Cypriot government on the establishment of a special pier for the Gaza Strip in Cyprus.

Lieberman struck the agreement with Cypriot officials during his visit to the island, but stressed that the project’s implementation requires “Hamas” to hand over Israel’s soldiers, who have been held by the Qassam Brigades, the group's military wing, a source close to Lieberman said.

The source noted that the Israeli defense minister has received a preliminary approval from the Cypriot president, whom he met two days ago.

Under the plan, a special pier would be constructed for cargo ships carrying goods bound for Gaza, around 400 kilometers from Cyprus.

Any Cyprus idea would involve an Israeli monitoring system to ensure that weapons were not smuggled into Gaza.

On the other hand, Israel has approved a plan to build a solar field in Israel to pump power into the Gaza Strip and ease the electricity crisis in the Palestinian enclave.

The panels would be set up near the Erez crossing between Gaza and Israel as a unilateral measure, without the involvement of “Hamas”, according to unnamed sources in Israel’s defense ministry.

The step could change the situation in the power-starved territory, the sources said, adding that it was discussed this week with visiting US envoys Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt, who toured the Middle East ahead of the unveiling of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan.

The original plan was to put the field in the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, but Cairo rejected the initiative.

Officials in Israel and elsewhere have been scrambling to find ways to ease the humanitarian situation in the Strip and possibly fund new infrastructure projects, seen as a key to reducing violence in the beleaguered enclave.

Another reported plan to ease Gaza economic woes was to allow 6,000 residents to work in Israeli communities near the enclave.

However, that plan was said to have been shot down by Shin Bet security agency, which regards workers exiting Gaza as a security threat.

It said such a measure could provide “Hamas” with intelligence and be used to smuggle money into the Strip for “terror” purposes.

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Hezbollah Fires about 250 Rockets, Other Projectiles into Israel in Heaviest Barrage in Weeks

Members of the Israeli forces inspect a site following a rocket fired from Lebanon hit an area in Rinatya, outskirts of Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
Members of the Israeli forces inspect a site following a rocket fired from Lebanon hit an area in Rinatya, outskirts of Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
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Hezbollah Fires about 250 Rockets, Other Projectiles into Israel in Heaviest Barrage in Weeks

Members of the Israeli forces inspect a site following a rocket fired from Lebanon hit an area in Rinatya, outskirts of Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
Members of the Israeli forces inspect a site following a rocket fired from Lebanon hit an area in Rinatya, outskirts of Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)

Hezbollah fired about 250 rockets and other projectiles into Israel on Sunday, wounding seven people in one of the group's heaviest barrages in months, in response to deadly Israeli strikes in Beirut while negotiators pressed on with ceasefire efforts to halt the all-out war.

Some of the rockets reached the Tel Aviv area in the heart of Israel.

Meanwhile, an Israeli strike on an army center killed a Lebanese soldier and wounded 18 others in the southwest between Tyre and Naqoura, Lebanon's military said.  

The Israeli military expressed regret, saying that the strike occurred in an area of combat against Hezbollah and that the military's operations are directed solely against the fighters.

Israeli strikes have killed over 40 Lebanese troops since the start of the war between Israel and Hezbollah, even as Lebanon's military has largely kept to the sidelines.

Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned the latest strike as an assault on US-led ceasefire efforts, calling it a “direct, bloody message rejecting all efforts and ongoing contacts” to end the war.

Hezbollah fires rockets after strikes on Beirut  

Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and drones into Israel after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of the Gaza Strip ignited the war there. Hezbollah has portrayed the attacks as an act of solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas. Iran supports both armed groups.

Israel launched retaliatory airstrikes at Hezbollah, and in September the low-level conflict erupted into all-out war as Israel launched waves of airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon and killed Hezbollah's top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and several top commanders.

The Israeli military said about 250 projectiles were fired Sunday, with some intercepted.

Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said it treated seven people, including a 60-year old man in severe condition from rocket fire on northern Israel, a 23-year-old man who was lightly wounded by a blast in the central city of Petah Tikva, near Tel Aviv, and a 70-year-old woman who suffered smoke inhalation from a car that caught fire there.  

In Haifa, a rocket hit a residential building that police said was in danger of collapsing.

The Palestine Red Crescent reported 13 injuries it said were caused by an interceptor missile that struck several homes in Tulkarem in the West Bank. It was unclear whether the injuries and damage elsewhere were caused by rockets or interceptors.

Sirens wailed again in central and northern Israel hours later.

Israeli airstrikes without warning on Saturday pounded central Beirut, killing at least 29 people and wounding 67, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.

Smoke billowed above Beirut again Sunday with new strikes. Israel's military said it targeted Hezbollah command centers in the southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, where the group has a strong presence.

Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,700 people in Lebanon, according to the Health Ministry. The fighting has displaced about 1.2 million people, or a quarter of Lebanon’s population.

On the Israeli side, about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed by bombardment in northern Israel and in battle following Israel's ground invasion in early October. Around 60,000 Israelis have been displaced from the country's north.

EU envoy calls for pressure to reach a truce  

The Biden administration has spent months trying to broker a ceasefire, and US envoy Amos Hochstein was in the region last week.

The European Union’s top diplomat called Sunday for more pressure on Israel and Hezbollah to reach a deal, saying one was "pending with a final agreement from the Israeli government.”

Josep Borrell spoke after meeting with Mikati and Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally who has been mediating with the group.

Borrell said the EU is ready to allocate 200 million euros ($208 million) to assist the Lebanese military, which would deploy additional forces to the south.

The emerging agreement would pave the way for the withdrawal of Hezbollah and Israeli troops from southern Lebanon below the Litani River in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution that ended the monthlong 2006 war. Lebanese troops would patrol with the presence of UN peacekeepers.