A man works next to a destroyed home after rockets struck in Katzrin, in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, on August 21, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Lebanon’s Hezbollah has launched more than 50 rockets, hitting a number of private homes in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.

The attack on Wednesday (August 21, 2024) came a day after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar as he pressed ahead with the latest diplomatic mission to secure a cease-fire in the war in Gaza, even as Hamas and Israel signalled that challenges remain.

Hamas in a new statement called the latest proposal presented to it a “reversal” of what it agreed to previously and accused the U.S. of acquiescing to what it called “new conditions” from Israel. There was no immediate U.S. response.

First responders in Golan Heights said they treated a 30-year-old man who was moderately wounded with shrapnel injuries in Wednesday’s (August 21, 2024) attack. One house was engulfed in flames, and firefighters said they prevented a bigger tragedy by stopping a gas leak.

Hezbollah said the attack was in response to an Israeli strike deep into Lebanon on Tuesday (August 20, 2024) night that killed one and injured 19. On Tuesday (August 20, 2024), Hezbollah launched more than 200 projectiles toward Israel, after Israel targeted a Hezbollah weapons depot some 80km from the border, a significant increase in the daily skirmishes.

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Israel and Hezbollah have traded near-daily strikes for more than 10 months against the backdrop of Israel’s war against Hezbollah’s ally, Hamas, in Gaza. The exchanges have killed more than 500 people in Lebanon — mostly militants but also including around 100 civilians and non-combatants — and 23 soldiers and 26 civilians in Israel.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed it, saying it needs the strategic plateau for its security. The United States is the only country to recognize Israel’s annexation, while the rest of the international community considers the Golan to be occupied Syrian territory.

Members of Kibbutz Nir Oz and Israeli officials hold a conference calling on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government to secure a deal to return the hostages kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas, in Kibbutz Nir Oz, southern Israel, on August 18, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Israel’s Prime Minister on Sunday (August 18, 2024) accused Hamas of being an obstacle in negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire deal and called for more pressure on the Palestinian militants ahead of a new round of talks later this week.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments came with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken set to arrive in Israel later on Sunday (August 18, 2024) to push for a deal that could help avert a wider conflagration.

“Hamas, up to this moment, remains obstinate. It did not even send a representative to the talks in Doha. Therefore, the pressure should be directed at Hamas and (Yahya) Sinwar, not at the Israeli government,” Mr. Netanyahu said at a Cabinet meeting, referring to the newly appointed Hamas chief.

Western ally Jordan, hostage supporters protesting in Israel, and Hamas itself have called for pressure on Mr. Netanyahu in order that an agreement be reached.

On Thursday (August 15, 2024), Hamas official Osama Hamdan told AFP the movement informed mediators it would participate in the Doha talks, which took place Thursday (August 15, 2024) and Friday (August 16, 2024), if they were “to set a timetable for the implementation” of what Hamas had already agreed to.

Hamas also announced its opposition to what it called “new conditions” from Israel.

Mr. Netanyahu, however, told Cabinet that, “We are conducting negotiations and not a scenario in which we just give and give. There are things we can be flexible on and there are things that we cannot be flexible on, which we will insist on.”

He said “enormous efforts” are being made to bring home the hostages.

“We firmly stand by the principles we have set, which are essential for Israel’s security,” Mr. Netanyahu said, calling for “strong military pressure and strong diplomatic pressure” on Hamas to reach a deal.

Making his ninth trip to the Middle East since the Gaza war began with Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, Mr. Blinken is due to meet Mr. Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders on Monday (August 19, 2024) before truce talks resume in Cairo later in the week.

A woman and her children walk past a wall with photographs of hostages who were kidnapped during the Oct. 7 Hamas cross-border attack in Israel in Jerusalem, on February 26, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on March 26 vowed to press ahead with Israel’s offensive and blasted a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a pause in the fighting, saying it had emboldened Hamas to reject a separate proposal for a cease-fire and hostage release.

As the war in Gaza grinds through a sixth month, each side has publicly insisted that its own idea of victory is in reach and rejected international efforts to stem the bloodshed.

Mr. Netanyahu has said Israel can achieve its aims of dismantling Hamas and returning scores of hostages if it expands its ground offensive to the southern city of Rafah, where over half of Gaza’s population has sought refuge, many in crowded tent camps.

Hamas has said it will hold onto the hostages until Israel agrees to a more permanent cease-fire, withdraws its forces from Gaza and releases hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including top militants. It said late on March 25 that it has rejected a recent proposal that fell short of those demands — which, if fulfilled, would allow it to claim an extremely costly victory.

Mr. Netanyahu said in a statement that the announcement “proved clearly that Hamas is not interested in continuing negotiations toward a deal and served as unfortunate testimony to the damage of the Security Council decision.”

“Israel will not surrender to Hamas’ delusional demands and will continue to act to achieve all the goals of the war: releasing all the hostages, destroying Hamas’ military and governing capabilities and ensuring that Gaza will never again be a threat to Israel.”

The war has killed over 32,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally but says women and children make up about two-thirds of those killed. The fighting has left much of the Gaza Strip in ruins, displaced most its residents and driven a third of its population of 2.3 million to the brink of famine.

An Israeli strike late on March 25 on a residential building in Rafah where three displaced families were sheltering killed at least 16 people, including nine children and four women, according to hospital records and relatives of the deceased. An Associated Press reporter saw the bodies arrive at a hospital.

On March 25, the Security Council finally managed to pass a resolution calling for a cease-fire as the United States abstained instead of vetoing the measure, angering Israel in a major escalation of tensions between the two close allies. The resolution calls for the release of all hostages held in Gaza but did not condition the cease-fire on it.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz told Army Radio on March 26 that the resolution had emboldened Hamas by signalling that international pressure would end the war without it having to make any concessions.

“The message delivered to Hamas yesterday … is that you don’t have to hurry,” Mr. Katz said.

The war began on October 7, when Hamas-led militants stormed across the border and attacked communities in southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250 others. It is still believed to be holding about 100 hostages and the remains of 30 others, after most of the rest were freed in November in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners.

The United States, Qatar and Egypt have spent several weeks trying to negotiate another cease-fire and hostage release, but those efforts appeared to have stalled. Hamas has informed the mediators it will stick to an earlier position, it said in its statement late on March 25.

Hamas said Israel has not responded to its core demands of a “comprehensive cease-fire, an (Israeli) withdrawal from the Strip, the return of displaced people and a real prisoner exchange.”

Hamas has previously proposed a phased process in which it would release all the remaining hostages in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the opening of its borders for aid and reconstruction, and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including top militants serving life sentences.

Mr. Netanyahu has vowed to resume Israel’s offensive after any hostage release and keep fighting until Hamas is destroyed, saying it’s the only way to prevent a repeat of the October 7 attack. But he has provided few details about what would follow any such victory and has largely rejected a post-war vision outlined by the U.S.

That approach has brought him into increasingly open conflict with President Joe Biden’s administration, which has expressed mounting concern over civilian casualties while supplying Israel with crucial military aid and backing Israel’s aim of destroying Hamas. The U.S. had vetoed previous U.N. resolutions calling for a cease-fire.

The White House has urged Israel not to undertake a major ground operation in Rafah, warning that it could cause a humanitarian catastrophe. The administration was set to brief visiting Israeli officials on an alternative approach, but Netanyahu called off their visit in response to the U.S. abstention at the U.N.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant is in Washington on a separate trip, however, and is to meet with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on March 26.

On March 25, Mr. Gallant vowed to continue the offensive until Israel’s aims are met.

“We will operate against Hamas everywhere — including in places where we have not yet been,” he said. “We have no moral right to stop the war while there are still hostages held in Gaza.”