HEADLINESFrance backs Lebanese army to disarm HezbollahPalestinians reunite in Gaza as Rafah reopensBank of Palestine defies closing terror accountsThe time is now 10:01 AM in New York, I'm Noa Levi and this is the latest Israel Today: Ongoing War Report.In the conflict with Iran and its Regional Proxies, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Friday that Lebanon's army must be given the means to disarm militant group Hezbollah and replace a United Nations peacekeeping force after its mandate ends this year. On the final stop of a regional tour that has taken him to Syria and Iraq, Barrot was meeting senior officials in Beirut, with discussions expected to address preparations for a March conference in Paris in support of the Lebanese army. France's vision for Lebanon is that of a strong, sovereign state holding a monopoly on arms, and the first step to fulfil this mission is to give the Lebanese Armed Forces the means to continue the work of disarming Hezbollah. The Iran-backed group emerged weakened from its latest war with Israel, which ended in a November 2024 ceasefire agreement. A French diplomatic source said the regional context makes the issue of Hezbollah's disarmament particularly sensitive, adding that there is a window for progress on this matter given the weakened state of the Iranian regime. Iran and the United States held talks in Oman that were seen as a critical chance to avert any new escalation between the two countries. Separately, former Vice-Admiral Robert Harward, a retired deputy commander of CENTCOM, told The Jerusalem Post that Iran's regime is near collapse, citing protests and what he described as Tehran's brutal crackdown on dissent. He said the recent aggression appears to be a repeat of a long-standing pattern, noting that the United States shot down an Iranian drone near the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea and that Iranian gunboats approached a US-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, with Iran later claiming to have seized two vessels near Farsi Island. The threats come amid allegations of international interference and Tehran’s mass crackdown on protesters. CENTCOM commander Admiral Brad Cooper is part of the US negotiating team with the Iranians in Muscat, Oman.In the Disputed Territories (Gaza, Judea and Samaria, East Jerusalem), Palestinians returning to Gaza share a bittersweet reunion after years of displacement. Eatedal Rayyan, 29, waited for nearly two years to be reunited with her husband in Gaza, describing a longing for family and homeland despite widespread destruction from the enclave’s two-year war. Rayyan left Gaza with her mother and three children after a leg injury required medical care she feared would lead to amputation if untreated, and she was among tens of thousands who fled to Egypt in the conflict’s early months. After months of treatment in Egypt, she was able to walk again, and on Thursday she and her family were among a small number of Palestinians allowed to return to Gaza after Israel reopened the Rafah border crossing. Rayyan spoke of returning to a homeland she hopes to rebuild, even as she expects to live in a tent and as she travels back from the Egyptian town of El-Arish, where many refugees have gathered. The broader scene remains marked by destruction from the war and by the challenges of resettlement.Also in Gaza, the Bank of Palestine has refused a request from Israel’s Finance Ministry to close 3,400 accounts reportedly used to distribute payments to released terrorists and to families of those killed in attacks. The bank’s management said it was “unable to act,” a claim seen by others as reflecting instructions from senior Palestinian Authority officials not to comply. Israel had previously secured the closure of 1,700 accounts in the West Bank and Gaza, and the Finance Ministry warned that failure to close the accounts could prompt Bezalel Smotrich to block Israeli banks from cooperating with the bank. The accounts are tied to the PA’s pay-for-slay program, which provides monthly stipends to those imprisoned for carrying out terrorist acts, as well as to families of those killed.In counterterrorism operations across the West Bank, the IDF arrested approximately 60 wanted individuals and seized six firearms, ten airsoft weapons, and dozens of other weapons. In the Menashe Regional Brigade area, 15 of those arrested were Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists involved in explosive devices; the forces also seized M16 rifles, weapon parts, and other military equipment. In Etzion, troops destroyed the house of a terrorist responsible for the killing of Shalev Zevoluni last July. Separately, a terrorist opened fire on IDF soldiers operating near the Yellow Line in northern Gaza, prompting a response tree of strikes on terror infrastructure in the region. In Khan Yunis, south Gaza, forces carried out precise strikes on terrorist infrastructure overnight in response to a ceasefire violation two ...
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