![Israel must continue to be able to deter Hezbollah, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar stressed on Wednesday, speaking amid efforts to reach a ceasefire with Iran's Lebanese terrorist proxy. "We need to keep the freedom to act if there will be violations. And we will have to act in time, before the problem will grow," the minister told a gathering of nearly 100 foreign ambassadors in Jerusalem, the Times of Israel reported. A deal to end more than a year of fighting on the northern border must be durable, Sa'ar said, saying Jerusalem “would like to reach an agreement that will stand the test of time." He added that a ceasefire would be an "opportunity" for Lebanon to regain its sovereignty after the Israeli military severely degraded the Iranian-backed group in recent months. He called for the Lebanese Armed Forces to be strengthened and urged the international community to invest more in the economically devastated country, which is drowning in debt following years of mismanagement and corruption. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz also emphasized on Wednesday the necessity for Jerusalem to be able to act against any Hezbollah threats that may arise after a ceasefire deal is implemented. “The condition for any political settlement in Lebanon is the preservation of the intelligence capability and the preservation of the [IDF’s] right to act and protect the citizens of Israel from Hezbollah,” Katz said. Meanwhile, U.S. special envoy Amos Hochstein remained in Beirut for a second day on Wednesday to discuss "technical details" of an American ceasefire proposal with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who heads the Hezbollah-allied Amal movement. President Joe Biden's point man in the Land of the Cedars announced he would travel to Israel on Wednesday night, speaking after he made "additional progress" in a second meeting with Berri. Hochstein was scheduled to meet with Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer shortly after his arrival, followed by a tête-à-tête with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the following day. “The meeting today built on the meeting yesterday, and made additional progress,” Hochstein said. “So I will travel from here in a couple hours to Israel to try to bring this to a close if we can.” The Biden envoy added that he will work with the incoming Trump administration on ceasefire efforts, saying that he has kept the president-elect's transition team informed of progress. Hochstein described as "very productive" his meetings with Lebanese officials on Tuesday. “We have a real opportunity to end the conflict, and now is the moment to decide. We are committed to doing everything we can to work with Lebanon and Israel to end this conflict,” Hochstein said at a press conference on Tuesday. Hochstein also met on Tuesday with Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, and he was scheduled to meet with Lebanese Armed Forces commander Gen. Joseph Aoun. Mikati emphasized that Lebanon’s primary objectives are achieving a ceasefire and safeguarding its sovereignty. He highlighted the need to implement international resolutions and bolster the Lebanese Armed Forces in the southern part of the country. Lebanon delivered its written response to the latest U.S. proposal on Monday. According to Ali Hassan Khalil, an aide to Berri, the response included “comments” that were “presented in a positive atmosphere.” He did not provide details on the nature of the comments, saying only that they “affirm the precise adherence to [U.N. Security Council] Resolution 1701 with all its provisions,” according to Reuters. Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said in a speech on Wednesday that the terrorist group had "read the ceasefire proposal. "We have our comments, and Nabih Berri has comments, and ours and the Lebanese government's comments are, Inshallah ['God willing'], identical," Qassem said. "We have decided not to discuss these ceasefire proposals or our comments in the media. All I will say is that Israeli is trying to obtain through negotiations what it couldn't through war." The terrorist leader vowed to “continue our efforts on the ground, whether the negotiations succeed or not. “We are confronting a savage enemy, and we will remain on the ground, no matter the cost, as we will also increase the cost for the enemy. We are facing Israeli human monsters supported by American human monsters,” threatened Qassem. Disarm and retreat Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War, stipulated that Hezbollah must disarm and retreat north of the Litani River, but was never enforced. The Litani lies some 20 miles from the Israel-Lebanon border. Its enforcement, along with Israeli freedom of operation in Lebanon should Hezbollah violate the terms of a ceasefire agreement, are the key sticking points in the current negotiations. Netanyahu emphasized during a speech in the Knesset plenum on Monday that Israel will not allow Hezbollah to “return to the state it was in on Oct. 6, 2023. “We will be required, in order to ensure our security in the north, to systematically carry out operations—not only against Hezbollah’s attacks, which could come. Even if there is a ceasefire, nobody can guarantee it will hold. So it’s not only our reaction, a preventive reaction, a reaction in the wake of attack but also the capacity to prevent Hezbollah from strengthening,” he said. Hezbollah has launched some 16,000 rockets, missiles and drones from Lebanon at Israel since joining the war in support of Hamas on Oct. 8, 2023, a day after the Gaza-based terrorist group’s massacre in southern Israel. More than 60,000 residents of northern Israel remain internally displaced due to the ongoing rocket and drone attacks from Lebanon. Seventy-six people in northern Israel have been killed by Hezbollah cross-border rocket, missile and drone attacks since the start of the war, including 31 soldiers and six foreign citizens, according to the latest data provided by the Prime Minister’s Office, updated on Sunday. In addition, 729 people have been wounded, including 497 civilians and 232 soldiers. Of these, 29 civilians and 37 soldiers were severely injured; 63 civilians and 38 soldiers were moderately injured and 405 civilians and 157 soldiers were lightly injured. Hezbollah’s leadership has been left in tatters following a series of targeted killings by Israel, including that of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut on Sept. 27. This was preceded by Israeli sabotage of Hezbollah communication devices that killed 39 people and wounded more than 3,400 members of the terrorist group. Israel has been waging a devastating aerial campaign against Hezbollah throughout Lebanon, including its stronghold of Dahieh south of Beirut. According to Israeli estimates, the terrorist group has lost most of its arsenal to the ongoing strikes. Then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in late October that Hezbollah had lost an estimated 80%-plus of its long-range rockets since the start of the war. Israel also continues to battle Hamas terrorists in Gaza. The terrorist group still holds 101 hostages in the Strip, 97 of whom were kidnapped on Oct. 7. Many of the captives are believed to be dead. Brazil summit Meanwhile, G20 leaders gathered in Rio de Janeiro for a summit put out a joint statement on Monday calling for “comprehensive” ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon. The leaders of the world’s biggest economies called for U.S. proposals to end fighting in Gaza and free the hostages, and one for Lebanon “that enables citizens to return safely to their homes on both sides of the Blue Line.” The 13-point U.S. proposal presented to Lebanese officials on Nov. 14 includes a 60-day truce, during which Lebanon would redeploy its troops along the border. The proposal also calls for Moscow to prevent Hezbollah from resupplying itself via Syrian land routes. Hezbollah would retreat north of the Litani River, with the border area then being under control of the Lebanese Armed Forces, overseen by the United States and Britain. Israeli officials are emphasizing, however, that the Israel Defense Forces must retain freedom of operation in Lebanon to thwart attempts by Hezbollah to violate the agreement and rearm and reestablish itself. A senior Israeli diplomatic official told Israel Hayom on Saturday that the IDF will retain operational freedom to respond to any security threats from across the northern border, regardless of any diplomatic arrangements. However, a source close to Hezbollah told The Washington Post that the group’s “condition for progress remains clear: Israel must be prohibited from conducting operations within Lebanese territory.” Berri emphasized at the time that any ceasefire agreement must not include the ability for Israel to attack by land, sea or air, Channel 12 reported. “Otherwise, what’s the purpose of an agreement?” he remarked. Another sticking point is Lebanon’s objection to the United Kingdom and Germany monitoring the implementation of U.N. Resolution 1701. Beirut reportedly favors the United States and France. If the ceasefire efforts fail, there are plans in the works to expand ground operations in Lebanon, an Israeli military official told the Post. Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer discussed the proposal with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump during a visit to his Florida estate earlier this month, as well as with senior Biden administration officials in Washington. Dermer also traveled to Russia to discuss the ceasefire proposal. Tehran is telling its Lebanese terrorist proxy Hezbollah that it supports ending the war against Israel, The New York Times reported over the weekend. Ali Larijani, senior adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, met with senior Lebanese officials in Beirut on Nov. 15 to discuss the matter. Two Iranians affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps told the Times that Larijani conveyed messages to Hezbollah from Khamenei that he supported the end of the war and that the regime would assist with rebuilding the terrorist group’s forces and recovering from the war.](https://jewishwebsite.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Gideon-Saar-1320x880-2-218x150.jpg "Sa’ar: Israel must be free to act against Hezbollah truce violations")
Israel’s Sovereignty Movement, headed by Nadia Matar and Yehudit Katzover, organized a tour of the Negev Desert on Dec. 28 for journalists, think-tank professionals and influencers to get a glimpse into the lives of the 300,000 Bedouin who live in that region.
About half of the Negev Bedouin, who constitute 12 percent of Israel’s Arab population, reside in seven authorized cities and 11 villages. The other half live in more than 35 illegal villages with new illegal housing units going up throughout the region on an almost daily basis in areas referred to the pazurah (or “dispersion”).
Outlooks differed in terms of how to build a better future for the residents of the Negev and to deal with the prevalent issues of the day, including rampant illegal construction, widespread lawlessness and violence, drugs and human trafficking, and other challenges. All parties agreed that Israel’s elected officials must do more to combat the erosion of governance in the area.
Israeli courts over the years ruled that no land rights were ever acquired in any of those claims, and the lands in question belong to the state.
Nevertheless, Israel still offered those claimants financial compensation along with land swaps—legal housing options within the recognized cities and villages in exchange for their relinquishing claims on state lands both within the established communities and in the illegal areas.
Deutsch explained that based on this arrangement, “every Bedouin over the age of 18 has the right to plots of free land provided by the state” in one of the recognized towns. However, “if someone else [a family from another clan, for example] has an ownership claim over that land, if you try to move onto that property, you might be murdered by a member of the claimant’s family.”
That explains why a town like Lakiya has the infrastructure for 35,000 residents, and yet only 12,000 Bedouin live there since people aren’t willing to risk their lives, preferring to live off the grid.
Naomi Kahn, director of Regavim’s international division, told JNS that in many cases, those who claim to be landowners accept the state’s compensation package but continue to squat on unrecognized lands while threatening those who would try to move onto land they claim is theirs within the legal communities.
She said “others haven’t accepted compensation or relocation offers because each time they refuse, they get a better offer. That’s called de-incentivizing.”
Regavim would like the government to enforce all dismissed ownership claims to allow individuals who want to live in recognized villages to do so without fear of retribution.
At the same time, the group believes that the state must do more to enhance the quality of life within the recognized communities and meet their needs as citizens of Israel towards a better future.
‘All they want is to get a plot of land’
Lakiya Regional Council Head Achmed Al-Asad offered his views on the situation, explaining that some of the residents of his town have been living in the area since the 1970s but the government has “forgotten about them.”
“There are people living here in substandard conditions. They don’t have running water, electricity or sewage,” he added.
Al-Asad took issue with those who stereotype the Bedouin as all being involved in crime. He said residents “treat you in all of the area hospitals in the south and in the clinics, and HMOs. They work as lawyers. All they want is to get a plot of land in order to build a house legally.”
He also believed that it was the responsibility of the government to intervene and provide his residents with basic services, and find solutions for those within his jurisdiction who don’t have proper housing, as well as for those living in the “dispersion.” He also called on Israel’s police to handle any violence emanating from the area.
Al-Asad invited several members of his town into the meeting who backed his position that it’s the responsibility of the state to find solutions for their needs.
In an effort to improve living conditions for the Bedouin, the Israeli government several weeks ago approved plans for a new Bedouin city and three new Bedouin villages, all of which are intended for resettlement of residents of illegal communities. The idea is to offer a legal, planned alternative in permanent communities. The plan was pushed by Ra’am Party leader Mansour Abbas as part of a campaign promise in Israel’s last election.
Regavim released a statement with cautious optimism in regard to the proposal.
“This new plan, like those that preceded it, is based on carrots and sticks, and the government will have to prove that it intends to see the process through, including the evacuation of the squatters’ camps and the reclamation of the state land they were occupying.”
The statement added: “The government has to shake off the bad habits of its predecessors who simply allotted more and more land for Bedouin settlement—building new communities while allowing the squatters’ camps to stay put. If the government’s plan is implemented in full—both the carrots and the sticks—it will be the first real progress toward a better future for the Negev, and for the return of public land to state control.”
The final speaker on the tour, Pini Badash, the head of Omer Regional Council—a mainly Jewish community just outside of Beersheva—stressed that the area was facing difficult times as a result of a lack of governance.
He blamed social media for having a negative influence over Bedouin youth leading to crime and violence in the area. He also said that the Negev suffered from a lack of law enforcement by the Israeli police, and that Israeli judges living in the south are afraid of retribution; hence, they issue light sentences for those convicted of crimes. Badash claimed that only 5 percent of convicted criminals are actually given jail time.
He also stated that for Israel to reclaim control of the area, there will need to be “a necessary combination of law enforcement, deterrence by punishment and effective policing.”