Hamas reports no progress in talks with Israel on ceasefire’s second phase

BEIRUT: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun was briefed by Jordan’s King Abdullah on Wednesday on the results of investigations into a missile manufacturing cell uncovered in Jordan, two members of which had been sent to Lebanon for training.

According to his media office, Aoun expressed Lebanon’s “full readiness for coordination and cooperation” between the two countries and instructed Justice Minister Adel Nassar to work with his Jordanian counterpart, in cooperation with the security and judicial agencies, on the investigations and the exchange of information.

A judicial source told Arab News that Lebanese army intelligence was “following up on the case of the terrorist cell and we do not yet know whether any Lebanese individuals are involved.”

“This agency has requested Jordan to provide it with information regarding the investigations, to rely on the Lebanese investigations and in the event any Lebanese involvement is proven, the matter will then be referred to the Lebanese judiciary,” the person said.

In a parallel development, Lebanon’s army intelligence said it had arrested two Palestinians in the southern city of Sidon for “trading in and smuggling military weapons across the Lebanese-Syrian border and seized several weapons and military ammunition in their possession.”

The army command said the detainees were being investigated under the supervision of the judiciary.

Media reports said the pair were members of the security apparatus of the Hamas movement in Sidon.

No official security agency has confirmed a link between the arrests and the Jordanian cell.

The Jordan News Agency on Tuesday quoted intelligence officials as saying that “a series of plots targeting the country’s national security were thwarted and 16 individuals suspected of planning acts of chaos and sabotage were arrested.”

The plans involved the production of missiles using local materials and imported components. Explosives and firearms were discovered, along with a concealed missile that was ready for use, the report said.

The 16 suspects are thought to have been engaged in efforts to develop drones, recruit and train individuals domestically and send others abroad for further training.

According to the suspects’ statements, two members of the cell — Abdullah Hisham and Muath Al-Ghanem — were sent to Lebanon to coordinate with a prominent figure in the organization and receive training.

In December, the Lebanese army initiated a process to disarm Palestinian factions located outside Palestinian refugee camps. The factions were loyal to the former Syrian regime and mostly based in the Bekaa region along the border with Syria and the southern region.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam expressed Lebanon’s “full solidarity with Jordan in confronting schemes that threaten its security and stability” and its “readiness to cooperate with Jordanian authorities as necessary regarding information that some of those involved in these plots received training in Lebanon,” according to his media office.

At the launch of the Beirut Airport Road Rehabilitation Project, Salam said that security issues on the airport road were “being worked on with Defense Minister Michel Menassa and Interior Minister Ahmed Hajjar.”

In the past 48 hours, the Beirut Municipality has undertaken efforts to remove party flags and images of politicians and party leaders, particularly those associated with Hezbollah, from the streets of the capital.

JERUSALEM: Israel said Wednesday it would keep blocking humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, where a relentless military offensive has turned the Palestinian territory into a “mass grave,” a medical charity reported.
Air and ground attacks resumed across the Gaza Strip on March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire with Hamas that had largely halted hostilities in the territory.
However, Israel has halted the entry of aid into Gaza since March 2, as the humanitarian crisis continues to grow amid ongoing military assaults which rescuers said killed at least 11 people Wednesday.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel would continue preventing aid from entering the besieged territory of 2.4 million people.
“Israel’s policy is clear: no humanitarian aid will enter Gaza, and blocking this aid is one of the main pressure levers preventing Hamas from using it as a tool with the population,” Katz said in a statement Wednesday.
“No one is currently planning to allow any humanitarian aid into Gaza, and there are no preparations to enable such aid.”
Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have cited military pressure as the only way to secure the release of the 58 hostages held in Gaza.
“Hamas will continue to suffer blow after blow. We insist that they release our hostages, and we insist on achieving all of our war objectives,” Netanyahu told troops in northern Gaza Tuesday.
The Ramallah-based Palestinian foreign ministry denounced his Gaza visit, calling it a “provocative intrusion intended to prolong and intensify the crimes of genocide and forced displacement” of Gazans.
Medical aid agency Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Israeli military operations and the blockage of aid had transformed Gaza into a graveyard for Palestinians and those who help them.
“Gaza has been turned into a mass grave of Palestinians and those coming to their assistance,” said MSF coordinator Amande Bazerolle.
“With nowhere safe for Palestinians or those trying to help them, the humanitarian response is severely struggling under the weight of insecurity and critical supply shortages, leaving people with few, if any, options for accessing care,” she said.
The UN had warned on Monday that Gaza is facing its most severe humanitarian crisis since the war began in October 2023.
“The humanitarian situation is now likely the worst it has been in the 18 months since the outbreak of hostilities,” said the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
In a statement, OCHA said no supplies had reached the territory for a month and a half, and medical supplies, fuel, water and other essentials are in short supply.
Israel firmly controls the entry of vital international aid to Gaza.
On April 28, the International Court of Justice is set to open hearings on Israel’s humanitarian obligations toward Palestinians.
The UN General Assembly approved a resolution in December requesting that The Hague-based top court give an advisory opinion on the matter.
It calls on the ICJ to clarify what Israel is required to do to “ensure and facilitate the unhindered provision of urgently needed supplies essential to the survival of the Palestinian civilian population.”
Although ICJ decisions are legally binding, the court has no concrete way of enforcing them. They increase the diplomatic pressure, however.
Israel continued to pound Gaza on Wednesday.
A pre-dawn air strike in Gaza City killed 11 people, including women and children, the civil defense agency said.
The renewed assault has so far killed at least 1,652 people in Gaza, the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory reported.
The Gaza war erupted after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Since then at least 51,025 people, the majority of them civilians, have been killed in Gaza in the Israeli offensive, the territory’s health ministry said.
The military also announced it had killed a Hezbollah militant in south Lebanon, despite a ceasefire between the two sides.