War in Gaza: Meeting between Biden and Netanyahu announced, tensions on the Lebanese border increase

Exchange of fire on the Lebanese-Israeli border

On July 6, Hezbollah announced it had launched “explosive drones against a military base” in Beit Hillel in northern Israel. Alarm sirens sounded and the military reported the “interception of a suspicious aerial target” and the downing of “enemy equipment” in Beit Hillel. The Israeli Air Force bombed “Hezbollah terror targets” in southern Lebanon. A new escalation has been underway since the death of a senior Hezbollah leader on July 3.

The day before its attack, Hezbollah said it had fired “salvos of Katyusha rockets” at the farming village of Margaliot and two military border positions in retaliation for “enemy attacks on villages and houses in the south.” The Israeli army said in a press release that two of its soldiers were lightly wounded “by missiles fired at the border town of Kiryat Shmona” and taken to hospital. It said it had retaliated by hitting “the source of the launches” and shelling several regions in southern Lebanon with artillery.

Efforts to achieve a ceasefire continue

Against this backdrop, which is fuelling fears of a flare-up of conflict in the Middle East, new efforts are underway to broker a ceasefire in Gaza a few weeks before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the United States. After talks led by Israeli Mossad chief David Barnea in Qatar ended on July 5, Netanyahu’s office announced that a team would continue negotiations there “next week.”

He mentioned that there are still “gaps” with Hamas, which has announced new “ideas.” For several months, mediation efforts led by Qatar, the United States and Egypt have been faced with demands from both sides: Netanyahu insisted on continuing the war until Hamas was destroyed and all hostages released, while Hamas demanded a permanent ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza before an agreement could be reached.

Biden and Netanyahu “likely to meet” at the end of July

US President Joe Biden and Netanyahu “will likely meet when the prime minister” is in Washington in late July, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said on July 5, without giving further details. The Israeli president has been invited to address the US Congress on July 24. The two men, whose relationship is notoriously complicated, had a phone conversation on July 4 to discuss ongoing ceasefire negotiations in Gaza that involve the release of hostages.

Biden has pledged full political and military support to Israel following Hamas’ unprecedented attack on October 7 and during the ensuing war in the Palestinian territories. However, he has publicly expressed some reservations about how Netanyahu is conducting the military offensive as the civilian death toll in Gaza continues to rise and the territory faces a severe humanitarian crisis.

Gaza authorities report 38,098 dead

The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza announced a new death toll in the Palestinian territory on July 6: 38,098 since the war with Israel began almost nine months ago. An estimated 87,705 people were injured.

At least 87 people have died in the past 48 hours in the small strip of land where some 2.4 million people are besieged by Israel in conditions the United Nations calls “catastrophic.” Water and food are scarce, 80 percent of the population has been displaced and several people, including children, have died of malnutrition, according to the United Nations.