Algeria Finalizes Preparations for Arab Summit

Algiers completes logistical and security preparations to host the Arab summit. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Algiers completes logistical and security preparations to host the Arab summit. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Algeria Finalizes Preparations for Arab Summit

Algiers completes logistical and security preparations to host the Arab summit. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Algiers completes logistical and security preparations to host the Arab summit. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Algerian officials announced the completion of arrangements for the upcoming 31st Arab Summit, which will be held in Algiers on Nov. 1-2.

The country’s official news agency (APS) published a video on the preparations, describing the event “the most important in the history of the Arab summits,” especially, according to the agency, after the success of Algeria’s effort to gather the Palestinian factions to sign a reconciliation agreement on Oct. 13.

Media outlets launched a major promotion campaign for Algeria’s preparation for the Arab meeting, under the slogan, “Uniting the Arab League” raised by Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.

The campaign highlighted the president’s efforts to persuade Arab leaders, including kings and heads of states, to participate in the summit, during visits he made to many Arab capitals over the past months.

In recent remarks, Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra said his country “wants the Arabs to unite on the occasion of this summit, just as the Palestinian ranks were unified.”

In an interview with a local newspaper last month, Tebboune said: “Our keenness to organize the Arab summit in our country stems from our determination to make it a unifying event... It will be, God willing, a new start for the Arab world that is suffering from rupture...”

Prime Minister Aymen Benabderrahmane said on Saturday that the Arab meeting would be an occasion “to reaffirm support for the Palestinian cause, as a central Arab cause, by emphasizing the common Arab position represented in the Arab Peace Initiative, which is the framework that guarantees the protection of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.”

On Wednesday, Interior Minister Ebrahim Murad gathered security officials to “discuss the arrangements related to the important Arab event,” according to a statement by the ministry.



Israeli Commander Calls for Occupying Parts of Southern Lebanon to Form Buffer Zone

A smoke plume billows during Israeli bombardment on the village of Kfar Shouba in south Lebanon near the border with Israel on September 16, 2024 amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. (AFP)
A smoke plume billows during Israeli bombardment on the village of Kfar Shouba in south Lebanon near the border with Israel on September 16, 2024 amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. (AFP)
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Israeli Commander Calls for Occupying Parts of Southern Lebanon to Form Buffer Zone

A smoke plume billows during Israeli bombardment on the village of Kfar Shouba in south Lebanon near the border with Israel on September 16, 2024 amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. (AFP)
A smoke plume billows during Israeli bombardment on the village of Kfar Shouba in south Lebanon near the border with Israel on September 16, 2024 amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. (AFP)

Commander of Israel’s Northern Command Major General Ori Gordin called on Monday for occupying part of southern Lebanon to turn it into a buffer zone that would prevent Hezbollah from launching attacks on northern Israel, thereby allowing displaced residents of the North to return to their homes.

Gordin submitted his recommendation to Israel’s chief of staff, reported Israel’s Israel Hayom daily.

It quoted sources as saying that Gordin believes that the conditions are appropriate and the army could create the buffer zone in a short time.

They explained that Israel has killed several members of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan unit that is deployed along the Lebanese-Israeli border. Several of the members have also fled the area.

Only 20 percent of the Lebanese population remains in the South with the rest fleeing the attacks between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel. Hezbollah had started launching attacks against Israel in support of Hamas in wake of the October 7 attack.

The sources noted that the low number of civilians in the region would make the Israeli military’s operation “simple and much faster.”

The purpose of the operation would be to eliminate the Hezbollah threat and force it to remove its fighters from the border areas so that they can no longer pose a risk to northern Israel, said Gordin.

Moreover, the occupation of some southern regions would gain Israel a bargaining chip in talks over a permanent settlement, which Hezbollah would have to agree to in exchange for the withdrawal of the Israeli army, he added.

Israel Hayom reported that some forces in the army expressed their reservations over the plan because it would pave the way for a wide-scale battle with Hezbollah. They warned that it remains unclear if such a fight could be contained to prevent it from turning into a long battle that may turn into a broad regional conflict.

Israel on Tuesday expanded its stated goals of the war in Gaza to include enabling residents to return to communities in northern Israel that have been evacuated due to attacks by Hezbollah.

The decision was approved during an overnight meeting of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet, Netanyahu's office said.

Israel Hayom said that the majority of political and military leaderships in Israel were not keen on waging a war on Lebanon. They believe that Israel can deal Hezbollah a fatal blow, but it would incur heavy losses in the process.