The Lebanese Army announced today, Tuesday, the rescue of more than twenty people off the coast of the north of the country after their boat broke down during an irregular smuggling attempt, according to Agence France-Presse.
The army stated, in a statement, that its navy, with the participation of the Civil Defense and the Red Cross, rescued “22 people during an attempt to smuggle them illegally on board a boat after it broke down off the coast of the city of Tripoli,” the capital of northern Lebanon.
He indicated that work would continue to “rescue the rest of the passengers,” without specifying their number.
The official National News Agency reported that more than twenty of the boat’s passengers were Syrians and the others were Lebanese.
Migrants and asylum seekers who leave Lebanon by boat search for a better life in Europe, and often head to the island of Cyprus, located in the eastern Mediterranean, less than 200 kilometers from the Lebanese coast.
The conflict that broke out in Syria in 2011 after the government suppressed peaceful protests against the rule of Bashar al-Assad, led to the death of more than half a million people and the displacement of about half of the population.
Despite the return of relative stability after the overthrow of Assad in late 2024, about 1.12 million Syrians remain refugees in Lebanon, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
UNHCR estimates that about 400,000 Syrians will return from Lebanon in 2025.
In Lebanon, the economic collapse in late 2019 and the deterioration of living conditions prompted many Lebanese to choose the path of irregular migration.
Over the past years, the Lebanese army announced that it thwarted several attempts to smuggle migrants across the sea.
While Israel was waiting for British-French decisions against the settlements, it was confronted by a coalition of 12 countries that confirmed their intention to impose restrictions on “trade in goods with settlements that are illegal under international law.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar announced on Tuesday that Israel would close the British Consulate in Jerusalem. In response to the sanctions imposed by the United Kingdom on settlements in the West Bank.
Sa'ar's announcement came as part of a series of countermeasures against the United Kingdom, due to its decision to ban trade with Israeli settlements.
In a statement, Sa'ar said that Israel will also expel UK representatives from a joint military center concerned with monitoring the ceasefire in Gaza, and will end British training programs for the security forces of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.
In addition, Israel will deny entry to 12 British elected officials, along with other British citizens whom Saar said were “involved in anti-Semitic and anti-Israel activities.”
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced before the House of Commons on Tuesday that his country would impose “a ban on the import of products coming from illegal settlements in the occupied territories,” explaining that the step comes within the framework of coordinated action with other countries.
Miliband accompanied his announcement of the ban with accusing the Israeli government of “turning a blind eye” to “ethnic cleansing” carried out by settlers in the West Bank. He said, “The British government acknowledges that ethnic cleansing is underway in the West Bank, carried out by terrorist settlers.”
He added: “The Israeli government has often turned a blind eye to this situation, and what is worse is that some of its members have made statements and taken actions aimed at supporting the forced displacement of Palestinians.”
He stressed that “the official position of the British government is that the occupation is illegal,” adding: “I do not think that the British people want us to support the occupation by accepting in our stores and consumer shops products originating from the settlements.”
The Israeli Foreign Minister said: “The accusations made by the Foreign Minister in the British Parliament are reprehensible and false.”
A broad movement that includes 12 countries
Although Tel Aviv knew that London was leading efforts to include the largest number of countries in the decision to impose restrictions and sanctions on trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank; But what looked like surprise appeared in the Israeli reactions.
In addition to Britain, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot confirmed that “Paris will end its trade relations with the Israeli settlements,” before Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden joined the British initiative.
The 12 countries issued a joint statement in which they said that the countries “confirm their intention to impose restrictions on trade in goods with illegal settlements under international law.”
The countries attacked “the Israeli government’s actions in the West Bank,” saying that they “undermine the possibility of achieving a two-state solution,” warning that the situation “is deteriorating rapidly in light of unprecedented levels of settler violence and the expansion of settlements, including the decision to launch tenders for the settlement project in the E1 area.”
The countries called on the Israeli government to “immediately stop the expansion of settlements and expand administrative powers in the West Bank, ensure that those responsible for settler violence are held accountable, and investigate allegations directed against Israeli security forces.”
The countries' statement stressed that this decision came as a result of "unprecedented levels of settler violence and settlement expansion."
The countries' decisions came despite prior warnings in Israel, which expected only France and Canada to join the British, before being surprised by the size of the European front alongside Canada.
A severe Israeli attack
Before the British declaration against the settlements, Israeli President Isaac Herzog tried to curb the issue, saying that any such measure would be considered interference in the upcoming Israeli elections.
Herzog said: “This is a grave mistake, biased towards the wrong side of history, and represents blatant interference in the democratic elections of a sovereign state. This interference will not serve anyone, but will directly harm the Palestinians, unfortunately, as it will deprive them of job and trade opportunities.” Ultimately, it will undermine the interests and security of freedom-loving countries.”
He continued: “Sanctions are not a solution, but dialogue is the solution.” I say to all foreign governments: Stop! “Away from the dead-end path of sanctions and boycott, and move towards constructive dialogue and cooperation.”
Herzog's comments came at an award ceremony "to celebrate 30 years of Israel's participation in the European Union research and innovation programme, Horizon Europe."
Israel knew that Britain was working to persuade other countries to join it and impose sanctions on Israel, with the aim of provoking a violent reaction and preventing Israel from responding forcefully.
Israeli media said: Among them, Yedioth and Kan, before the announcement, said that France and Canada are expected to join, and that estimates indicate that the European Union is less enthusiastic about imposing sanctions before the elections, believing that this step will be in the interest of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
But after the big announcement from 12 countries, Yedioth said that this represented a diplomatic collapse.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir came out and said that he asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to respond to Britain’s audacity by closing “the British consulate in Jerusalem that works for the Palestinian Authority,” as he described it.
Ben Gvir had also proposed that Israel recognize Argentina's sovereignty over the disputed Falkland Islands, and impose sanctions on Great Britain as long as the occupation of the islands continues.
Ben Gvir accused London of “stealing” the islands and “stealing the money of the Argentine people.”
Along with Ben Gvir, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for the expulsion of the British ambassador from Israel, and said: “We will not be a doormat for an anti-Semitic government,” adding: “The British mandate over Israel has ended.”
Palestinian and Arab welcome... and American disavowal
In a statement, the Palestinian presidency welcomed the decision to impose sanctions on trade, describing it as an “important” step to confront the settlement system and hold Israeli officials accountable. The Palestinian presidency considered the decision “an important step to confront the settlement system,” stressing “the necessity of taking practical and concrete steps to hold accountable those responsible for settlement crimes and the violence of the colonizers.”
Egypt also welcomed the British decision, and its Foreign Ministry confirmed that it is “an important step that reflects commitment to the provisions of international law and international legitimacy resolutions, and contributes to confronting illegal settlement activities and attempts to impose a new reality on the ground in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.”
The statement explained that Egypt affirms “that the continuation of settlement expansion undermines the unity of the Palestinian territories and the possibility of establishing an independent and viable Palestinian state, and reaffirms that achieving just and lasting peace requires ending the Israeli occupation and embodying the independent Palestinian state along the lines of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with the relevant international legitimacy resolutions.”
For his part, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on Tuesday, refrained from directly commenting or condemning the decision of the 12 countries, and merely condemned the “tensions” taking place in the West Bank.
Rubio stressed that Washington will not join Western countries led by Britain that decided to impose sanctions on Israeli settlements. Rubio told reporters, before leaving his country on a visit to Latin America: “Naturally, we will not do what the United Kingdom did.” He added: “But we share the goal of stability. We do not want to see anything currently destabilizing or leading to increased tensions in the West Bank, at a time when the region is witnessing many events.”
Although the fragile ceasefire announced in October 2025 in Gaza included allowing the continuous entry of food goods and aid, the people of the Strip suffer from a difficult humanitarian reality in terms of the availability of food supplies, in addition to the continuing health deterioration.
In a press statement on Tuesday, the government media office of the Hamas government in Gaza accused Israel of practicing what it called a “silent starvation policy” against civilians in the Gaza Strip by implementing “starvation engineering” by preventing the entry of aid or allowing it to enter partially and in very small proportions that do not meet the minimum needs of the deteriorating population.
He explained that more than 95 percent of the citizens in Gaza have become completely and exclusively dependent on aid, while more than 90 percent of them have completely lost their purchasing power and cannot buy food, which makes them “dependent on the subsidies that come in to meet their subsistence and their minimum food needs.”
He stated that Israel is deliberately preventing the entry of hundreds of thousands of trucks in a clear and systematic method of starvation, as what is allowed to enter does not exceed only 35 percent of what was agreed upon, indicating that over the course of 330 days since the signing of the ceasefire agreement, it has allowed only 69,387 aid and food trucks to pass, out of 198,000 trucks that were supposed to enter the Gaza Strip according to the agreement.
The office held Israel and all countries and parties supporting it responsible for this “systematic starvation,” calling on international institutions and organizations to clarify the truth of this “heinous crime” to world public opinion and reveal the dimensions of the disaster.
The government media office called on the international community, the Security Council, mediators, and sponsors of the ceasefire agreement to exert immediate and real pressure on Israel to force it to abandon its “starvation policy” and adhere to what was signed to ensure the flow of food trucks and aid in general.
High prices
In this context, the Director of Public Relations and Media at the Gaza Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Khalil Atallah, confirmed that the Gaza Strip is still suffering from fragile economic conditions as a result of the continued imposition of restrictions on the private sector and the movement of crossings and individuals, indicating that the current economic scene represents an attempt to survive and not a natural economy, as many sectors have become completely destroyed as a result of preventing the entry of production and operating requirements necessary for work.
Atallah indicated in statements to the official Palestinian radio, on Tuesday, that the consumer price index witnessed unprecedented increases of more than 200 percent compared to pre-war levels, accompanied by unemployment rates reaching about 80 percent. He added: “The high costs of living and limited income opportunities have negatively affected the ability of commercial establishments to continue and the general movement of the market.”
Regarding the causes of the crisis, Atallah explained that restricting import operations to a very limited number of merchants, ranging between 10 and 13 merchants, after it included about 2,000 importers before the war, created an environment encouraging monopoly and raising prices, pointing out that 95 percent of the materials allowed to enter are limited to consumer and food goods, while strict restrictions on production inputs and raw materials continue.
He indicated that there are attempts by some private sector establishments to withstand and restore part of their activities despite the scarcity of capabilities, but they are constantly confronted with restrictions and high operating costs, which has recently led to a decline in some economic activities and the closure of a number of establishments and restaurants due to their inability to bear the financial burdens.
Health reality
Health-wise, the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip said that the war left a large number of complex injuries, including about 5,000 amputations, in addition to 300 cases of nerve and spinal injuries, noting that there are about 10,000 injured people in need of intensive and long-term rehabilitation programs.
She indicated that the targeting of health institutions and the withdrawal of most specialized rehabilitation centers from service, in addition to the acute shortage of medical supplies, prosthetic devices, and prosthetic limbs, threaten the lives of patients and those with serious complications, at a time when restrictions imposed on travel hinder receiving specialized treatment outside the Gaza Strip.
All of this comes in the wake of the continued field escalation in Gaza, where an elderly man was killed as a result of gunfire from Israeli vehicles south of Khan Yunis, while a liberated prisoner was declared dead from his wounds after being wounded in a raid that targeted him last Friday in Khan Yunis.
Four citizens were injured after warplanes destroyed a house that asked its residents to evacuate in the Batn al-Sameen area, south of Khan Yunis, while another house was destroyed in the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip after it was also asked to evacuate. Meanwhile, a citizen was injured by the bombing of the roof of a house in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, north of Gaza City, without prior warning, and agricultural land was bombed near camps for the displaced in the vicinity of Street 10 in the Sheikh Ajlin neighborhood, southwest of the city.
The bombing of the two houses in Khan Yunis and Al-Bureij caused major destruction to other nearby houses. Meanwhile, the Hebrew Channel 12 quoted military sources claiming that these targets were “weapon depots and locations where missiles are located.”
