Israel to evacuate several settlements near Lebanese border
Israel’s Ministry of Defense announced it would implement a plan to evacuate residents of northern Israel living up to 2 kilometers (1.24 miles) from the Lebanese border to state-funded guesthouses.
The evacuation would involve 28 communities and will be overseen by the heads of local municipalities, the Ministry of Interior and the National Emergency Management Authority, according to a statement published by the Israel Defense Forces on social media.
The order comes after Israel last week exchanged fire on multiple occasions with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which has stated its readiness to intervene in Israel’s conflict with Palestinian militant group Hamas.
On Sunday, Hezbollah-affiliated news outlet Al Manar said that the militant group launched strikes at the Israeli settlement of Shtula near the Lebanese border — one of the areas that Israel plans to evacuate. Hezbollah attributed the strikes to “retaliation for the aggression on Lebanon which killed three Lebanese in the last two days.”
— Ruxandra Iordache
China, Russia foreign ministers meet, urge cease-fire
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his visiting Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Beijing and exchanged views on the ongoing war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, China’s foreign ministry said, according to a Google translation.
China reiterated its condemnation of harm to civilians, with Wang Yi saying “the top priority is to cease fire and end the war, push both sides to return to the negotiating table, establish emergency humanitarian relief channels, and prevent greater humanitarian disasters,” according to the ministry.
China supports a two-state solution to the conflict between Israeli and Palestinian people, which would create an independent state of Palestine alongside that of Israel.
Both China and Russia have previously advocated a cease-fire of hostilities and denounced violence, without explicitly…
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