Josep Borrell: ‘…No Force Can Stop Netanyahu…’

The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, Friday, lamented no force, including that of the United States, can stop Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his war on Gaza and Lebanon.

“What we are doing is putting all the diplomatic pressure to stop the fire, but no one seems to have the power to stop Netanyahu, neither in Gaza nor in the West Bank,” Borrell told reporters while attending the UN General Assembly.

Borrell backed a French and US initiative for a 21-day ceasefire in Lebanon that Israel has ignored as it intensifies its strikes on Hezbollah targets.

Borrell said Netanyahu had been clear that the Israelis would not stop until Hezbollah was destroyed, just as they have been in the nearly year-long war in Gaza against Hamas.

“If the interpretation of destruction is the same as what happened with Hamas, then we are going to a long war,” Borrell added.

US failure

The outgoing EU foreign policy chief again called for diversifying diplomatic efforts away from the United States, which has unsuccessfully tried to reach a truce in Gaza that would include the release of detainees.

He added that the United States cannot be relied upon alone to reach a ceasefire, as it has tried several times and failed to do so.

“I do not see that it is ready to start a new negotiation process that could lead to another Camp David,” he said, referring to the talks held at the US presidential resort in 2000, in which former President Bill Clinton unsuccessfully sought to broker a historic agreement to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Netanyahu pledged in a speech to the United Nations on Friday to achieve Israel’s goals against Hezbollah, which began launching attacks on Israel following Hamas’s attack on October 7.

Since Monday, the Israeli army has launched the most violent and extensive attack on Lebanon since the beginning of the confrontations with Hezbollah about a year ago, killing 726 people and wounding 2,173 others, while its war on Gaza has continued since October 7, leaving more than 137,000 Palestinians dead and wounded.

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    CrossFireArabia

    Dr. Marwan Asmar holds a PhD from Leeds University and is a freelance writer specializing on the Middle East. He has worked as a journalist since the early 1990s in Jordan and the Gulf countries, and been widely published, including at Albawaba, Gulf News, Al Ghad, World Press Review and others.

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    Israel Fears Hamas Ambushes in Gaza

    The Palestinian resistance has begun to translate into reality the warnings issued by the Israeli occupation army, a few days ago, of the possible escalation of operations against its forces inside the Gaza Strip, according to military expert Major-General Fayez al-Duwairi.

    Al-Duwairi explained on Al Jazeera the military operations in al-Tuffah area, east of Gaza City, the “Breaking the Sword” ambush east of Beit Hanoun, followed by another ambush in the same location falls within the context of these warnings.

    He said the resistance is still able to survive because of the method of battle it is waging and adapting to the movements of the Israeli army. He noted the resistance forces “are not operationally offensive, but rather tactically offensive…”

    Al-Duwairi’s statement comes after the Hamas al-Qassam Brigades, announced, Sunday, it detonated an anti-personnel bomb targeting a number of Israeli soldiers, confirming they were killed and wounded east of the al-Tuffah neighborhood.

    As the Qassam Brigades announced the targeting of an Israeli Merkava 4 tank with an Al-Yassin 105 missile east of Tuffah, the Al-Quds Brigades of Islamic Jihad targeted a military barracks and a number of Israeli soldiers in a house with a guided missile.

    The military expert emphasized the resistance factions maintain a high level of preparedness, “albeit varying from one battalion to another,” in his comment on the intensification of operations against the Israeli army.

    According to Al-Duwairi, the new Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir came up with exaggerated expectations and an approximation of “zero losses,” based on the deployment of forces in the buffer zone and then a cautious and gradual advance under intense fire.

    But, the resistance began targeting Israeli forces and vehicles with ambushes and anti-personnel and anti-tank missiles as the Israeli army began to deepen its incursion into built-up areas and their rubble.

    A few days ago, the Israeli Walla news website quoted military sources as saying the Israeli army reinforced its defenses at its military positions in the area.

    According to these sources, the army warns of a possible escalation of Hamas operations against its forces, as the movement’s militants are expected to launch guerrilla-style operations.

    The Israeli army estimates, according to Walla, that Hamas is likely to launch targeted sniper attacks, ambushes, and other complex operations.

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    Killed by The Israeli Army

    Noor Naim writes:

    Killed by the Israeli army.

    They had names.

    They had families. They had hopes.

    They had dreams. They loved life like anyone else in this unfair world. Stop the bloodshed of children in #Gaza now

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