Lapid, Gantz: Gaza Operation will Continue as Long as Necessary

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Gantz (Israeli Media)
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Gantz (Israeli Media)
TT

Lapid, Gantz: Gaza Operation will Continue as Long as Necessary

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Gantz (Israeli Media)
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Gantz (Israeli Media)

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Gantz said the ongoing operation in Gaza will continue "as long as necessary."

In a joint statement, the Israeli officials said the army will continue "to strike terrorist targets and operatives, and to thwart rocket-launching squads," DPA reported.

Lapid hailed the cooperation between the army, intelligence and ISA.

"This was an operational and intelligence effort, and is an extraordinary achievement."

Also, Gantza said the Israeli security forces will continue to operate against Islamic Jihad until they restore quiet.

For its part, the Palestinian Presidency condemned what it described as the dangerous Israeli escalation against Gaza, saying it crosses all red lines and represents an attempt to push the situation into more tension.

Spokesman for President Mahmoud Abbas Nabil Abu Rudeineh urged the international community, especially the US administration, to intervene immediately to stop this Israeli aggression “before it is too late”, WAFA news agency reported.



Lebanon's New President Says to Ensure State Has Exclusive Right to Carry Arms

This handout photo released by the Lebanese parliament shows Newly elected Lebanese president Joseph Aoun delivering a speech after his election in Beirut, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by LEBANESE PARLIAMENT / AFP)
This handout photo released by the Lebanese parliament shows Newly elected Lebanese president Joseph Aoun delivering a speech after his election in Beirut, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by LEBANESE PARLIAMENT / AFP)
TT

Lebanon's New President Says to Ensure State Has Exclusive Right to Carry Arms

This handout photo released by the Lebanese parliament shows Newly elected Lebanese president Joseph Aoun delivering a speech after his election in Beirut, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by LEBANESE PARLIAMENT / AFP)
This handout photo released by the Lebanese parliament shows Newly elected Lebanese president Joseph Aoun delivering a speech after his election in Beirut, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by LEBANESE PARLIAMENT / AFP)

Lebanon's newly elected President Joseph Aoun told lawmakers on Thursday that he will work to ensure the state has the exclusive right to carry arms, in his first speech at parliament after he was elected.

His comments were seen partly as a reference to Hezbollah's arsenal, which he had not commented on publicly as the former army commander.

In a first round of voting Thursday, Aoun received 71 out of 128 votes but fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to win outright. Of the rest, 37 lawmakers cast blank ballots and 14 voted for “sovereignty and the constitution.”
In the second round, he received 99 votes.

In his speech in parliament, Aoun also pledged to carry out reforms to the judicial system and fight corruption.

He promised to control the country’s borders and “ensure the activation of the security services and to discuss a strategic defense policy that will enable the Lebanese state to remove the Israeli occupation from all Lebanese territories” in southern Lebanon, where the Israeli military has not yet withdrawn from dozens of villages.

He also vowed to reconstruct “what the Israeli army destroyed in the south, east and (Beirut’s southern) suburbs.”

Thursday’s vote came weeks after a tenuous ceasefire agreement halted a 14-month conflict between Israel and Hezbollah and at a time when Lebanon’s leaders are seeking international assistance for reconstruction.

Aoun said he would call for parliamentary consultations as soon as possible on naming a new prime minister.