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Israeli military Merkava main battle tanks are seen along the western entrance to the town of Khiam in Nabatieh governorate, southern Lebanon, on September 22, 2026. [Ramiz Dallah – Anadolu Agency]
The Israeli army is preparing to enter a new phase of fighting in southern Lebanon in the coming days, Israeli media reported on Friday.
The report comes as the army continues its attacks in southern Lebanon, in violation of a US-brokered framework deal signed with Beirut in June.
The army will reorganize its forces in what it called the “yellow zone,” including reducing and redeploying troops stationed along the line, Israel’s Channel 12 said.
In April, Tel Aviv announced it established what it calls the “yellow line” in southern Lebanon. It is an imaginary line separating an Israeli-occupied “buffer zone” from the rest of Lebanese territory, extending up to 10 km (around 6.2 miles) into Lebanon in certain sections.
Israel considers the area between the “yellow line” and the border a “security buffer zone,” while Lebanon rejects the continued presence of Israeli forces on its territory and insists on their withdrawal.
According to the outlet, the army is preparing to remain in the area for an extended period by establishing and completing a new line of forward positions.
The preparations also include continuing operations against what Israeli officials claim are Hezbollah members, the report said.
The Israeli offensive in Lebanon has killed at least 4,386 people, wounded 12,407 and displaced more than 1 million others since March 2, according to Lebanese authorities.
The attack comes despite the June framework deal that provides for a gradual Israeli withdrawal from occupied Lebanese territory in exchange for the deployment of the Lebanese army there and the disarmament of Hezbollah.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham admits to blatently lying and engaging in deception to become leader of the UK Labour Party and Prime Minister.Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel. New Labour UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham continues Labour party policy of active support and complicity in Israel’s genocide.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham admits to blatently lying and engaging in deception to become leader of the UK Labour Party and Prime Minister.Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel. New Labour UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham continues Labour party policy of active support and complicity in Israel’s genocide.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds up a pager as he speaks during the 81st United Nations General Assembly at UN Headquarters in New York on September 24, 2026. (Photo by Timothy Clary/AFP via Getty Images)
“No lie can change the fact that he remains the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity,” New York City’s mayor said of the Israeli prime minister
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani hit back Thursday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to the United Nations General Assembly podium to accuse him of supporting Hamas and making Jewish New Yorkers feel unsafe—remarks that came after delegates from scores of countries walked out of the chamber to protest the far-right fugitive’s presence.
Refuting allegations that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza—where Israeli forces have killed more than 73,000 Palestinians, including more than 21,500 children, since the Hamas-led attack of October 2023—Netanyahu said, “To all those spreading these lies about my country and about our brave soldiers, whether they sit in this hall or in the office of the antisemitic mayor of New York City, I say this: Shame on you.”
“Mr. Mamdani, since you were elected mayor of this city, many Jews no longer feel safe in New York,” the prime minister claimed. “It’s no wonder… You falsely and repeatedly accuse Israel of genocide. Israel didn’t commit genocide. Israel prevented genocide. And that’s exactly what Mr. Mamdani’s Hamas buddies would have done to us had we not stopped them. They would have killed every last one of us.”
Mr. Netanyahu, you do not speak for New York’s Jewish community.
Your government arrests hundreds of innocent yeshiva students each week, while we in New York practice our faith and live freely and safely.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani is a friend and ally to our community
Mamdani issued a statement later Thursday saying: “As he has done time and again, Prime Minister Netanyahu used his speech to repeat baseless lies meant to sanitize his genocide of Palestinians. Yet no lie can change the fact that he remains the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, his former defense minister, are fugitives from the International Criminal Court, where they are accused of murder and forced starvation of Palestinians in Gaza. The ICC also issued arrest warrants for three Hamas leaders, but Israel assassinated them.
While neither Israel nor the United States is a party to the Rome Statute governing the ICC, the treaty states that people from nonsignatory states who commit alleged crimes in states that are party to the treaty—as Palestine is—can be arrested in third countries and subsequently tried by the court.
Mamdani has said that Netanyahu should be arrested and brought before the Hague-based tribunal for trial, but that he lacks the legal authority to apprehend the prime minister in New York.
The International Court of Justice—also located in The Hague, Netherlands—is currently processing a genocide case filed against Israel by South Africa and formally supported by nearly 20 nations. The case is based on what the ICJ called the plausibility that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. The court has issued a series of provisional orders for Israel to adhere to the Genocide Convention—orders that critics say Israel has simply ignored.
Last year, an independent UN commission of inquiry found that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza, a conclusion shared by the International Association of Genocide Scholars and other experts including many Israeli and diaspora Jewish academics, jurists, human rights campaigners, and others.
As Netanyahu prepared to deliver his UN speech Thursday, delegates from a reported 77 nations walked out of the chamber in protest.
“If there are any other moral cowards who haven’t yet left this hall—please do so now,” the prime minister said. “Thank you very much.”
While some observers applauded the display of solidarity with Palestinians, others expressed disgust that Netanyahu was allowed to address the world body and that he has not yet been brought to justice.
“The head of the genocidal Israeli apartheid regime, a fugitive indicted for crimes against humanity, was allowed to enter the US and to address the UNGA today, without arrest,” said Craig Mokhiber, a former senior UN official who resigned in protest of what he described as the world body’s failure to stop Israel’s genocidal war.
“Netanyahu insulted delegations, openly celebrated the regime’s many crimes, bragged about its terrorist pager attacks on Lebanon, repeated the regime’s debunked genocide propaganda, defended the illegal occupation of Palestine and Syria, lied incessantly, called violent, racist, illegal Zionist settlers ‘peaceful’ and ‘honorable people,’ labeled human rights defenders as ‘antisemites,’ even arrogantly attacked American citizens and officials for speaking out against the regime’s crimes,” he continued.
“This violent psychopath cannot hide behind [US President Donald] Trump’s skirts forever,” Mokhiber added. “He (and his collaborators) must be captured and brought to justice. And the UN must finally act to isolate the regime and hold it accountable. ”
Referring to Netanyahu’s address and Trump’s threat on Tuesday to “annihilate” Iran during his rambling, lie-laden General Assembly speech, University of Colorado Law School associate professor Maryam Jamshidi said on social media, “Between Trump threatening Iran w/annihilation and Netanyahu bragging about Israel’s pager attacks, the UN podium has become a venue for promoting genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.”
Meanwhile, people took to the streets of New York to protest Netayahu’s presence in the city, US complicity in Israeli crimes, and to show solidarity with Palestinians.
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside UN headquarters in Turtle Bay for a sit-in demonstration led by Jewish Voice for Peace. Demonstrators blocked roads while chanting slogans including, “Netanyahu you can’t hide, you are wanted for genocide!”
As Common Dreams reported earlier Thursday, more than 100 demonstrators were arrested.
THEY’RE PUTTING THEM IN THE BUS! Susan Sarandon Chelsea Manning, and MANY OTHER CELEBS ARRESTED at UN protest ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address! 👀
The 79-year-old actress – who has previously said she's been blacklisted over pro-Palestinian comments… pic.twitter.com/pvzuRGwGG4
Among those reportedly arrested were progressive congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier; actors Susan Sarandon, Hannah Einbinder, and Cynthia Nixon; New York state Assemblymember Emily Gallagher (D-50); Democratic New York City Councilmembers Chi Ossé and Alexa Avilés; former Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning; and Palestinian American political activist Linda Sarsour.
“I will never, ever be silent,” Sarsour said on Facebook. “I will never just accept the world as it is. I want history to record for future generations of Palestinians that we fought. At every turn. In every way. When it was easy and when it was hard.”
“I want Palestinian girls in Gaza to see me in my hijab and my unapologetic Palestinian blood fighting for them to live FREE,” she added. “This is bigger than all of us. Netanyahu is a war criminal and belongs in The Hague, not the United Nations.”
Climate science denier Donald Trump confirms that he knows nothing about democracy and that more liquid gold is being secured according to his policy of global privateering.Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes’ concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country’s economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
United States President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hold a joint press conference in the East Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., United States on February 04, 2025. [Celal Güneş – Anadolu Agency]
Israeli analysts and figures criticized the global standing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel as he visits New York this week to address the UN General Assembly, saying he will hold few meetings during his short stay, as he is now internationally shunned, Anadolu reports.
One analyst said US President Donald Trump – a longtime ally of the Israeli leader – would rather not meet with Netanyahu.
Barak Seri, an Israeli military intelligence analyst and former officer, said Netanyahu’s visit to New York was “very unusual, very short, and almost devoid of meetings.”
“Netanyahu is now ostracized, and Trump does not want to meet him,” Seri told local radio station 103 FM.
Eli Ohana, a former soccer star and former president of Israeli club Beitar Jerusalem, said the situation in Israel is “not ideal,” adding that he avoids revealing his nationality while on foreign soil.
“The situation in Israel is not ideal, and we did not reveal our Israeli identity outside our country. When I was on vacation in Greece, I hid my identity,” Ohana told the same radio station.
“Today, we are going through an abnormal period,” he added.
Dan Shapiro, the former US ambassador to Tel Aviv, said Israel’s standing is facing an “unprecedented decline” in the US and that Netanyahu “is not part of the solution.”
Israeli radio station Reshet Bet quoted Shapiro, who served as ambassador from 2011 to 2017, as saying: “There is an unprecedented decline in Israel’s standing in the United States.”
He added that the decline is “unprecedented even among Republicans” – members of Trump’s party, who also tend to be pro-Israel – and that “it is difficult to see Netanyahu as part of the solution to this situation.”
“Trump may also reach the conclusion that it would be easier to deal with another government in Israel,” Shapiro added, with the Oct. 27 Israeli elections currently too close to call.
Netanyahu has headed the current government since late December 2022, a government described as the most right-wing in Israel’s history.
– Under a legal cloud
Netanyahu is scheduled to address the 81st session of the UN General Assembly at 2 pm New York time (1800GMT) Thursday.
Netanyahu’s current schedule in New York does not include a meeting with Trump, despite previous Israeli efforts to arrange a meeting between them, according to Israeli media reports.
The visit comes amid expectations of protests against Netanyahu in New York, in condemnation of Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip and attacks in the occupied West Bank.
Israel has been waging an extermination war in Gaza since Oct. 8, 2023, killing nearly 74,000 Palestinians and injuring over 175,000, most of them children and women.
In addition to the casualties, Israel has destroyed around 90% of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, with the UN estimating the cost of reconstruction at about $70 billion.
Alongside its genocidal war in Gaza, attacks by the Israeli army and occupiers against Palestinians and their property in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have intensified, drawing growing international condemnation.
Israel is scheduled to hold general elections on Oct. 27.
Netanyahu also faces charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust in three separate corruption cases. Critics in Israel and elsewhere say he has prolonged Israel’s military offensives to be able to continue delaying his court hearings.
Separately, in November 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu, accusing him of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Climate science denier Donald Trump confirms that he knows nothing about democracy and that more liquid gold is being secured according to his policy of global privateering.Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes’ concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country’s economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.
