Hezbollah Rocket Attack On Kiryat Shmona Kills Couple Walking Their Dogs

A barrage of rockets fired by Hezbollah at the northern Israeli community of Kiryat Shmona killed a couple in their 40s who were out walking their dogs Wednesday afternoon. Hezbollah claims that they were shooting at a “gathering of Israeli enemy forces” in the city. Fire and rescue services reported that the rockets also set several buildings in Kiryat Shmona on fire. It is unclear what effect this attack might have on the ceasefire talks ongoing between Iran, the US and regional Arab states.

News of the talks was broken by Israel's Channel 12 news portal on Tuesday. The report added details that the goal of these back channel talks is to bring about a cease-fire between Israel and all the enemies on all the fronts where Iran is pushing its proxies to attack the Jewish State, despite Iran's repeated statements that they're not in control of these groups, especially the Houthis in Yemen.

“We are currently in a position of power, a ceasefire will be on our terms, including a [Hezbollah] withdrawal beyond the Litani [River] and the dismantling of all military Hezbollah sites in areas near the border,” a senior Israeli official was quoted as saying.

Recently, Hezbollah has dropped its demand that a cease-fire with Israel be accompanied by Israel agreeing to the terms Hamas has set for a cease-fire in Gaza, which essentially add up to Israel agreeing to unilaterally lose the war in exchange for the return of the remaining hostages. Naim Qassem, one of the only surviving members of Hezbollah's senior leadership, appeared on TV Tuesday evening and declared his readiness to compromise on this point, even as he repeated his pledge to continue standing shoulder to shoulder with Hamas against Isael.

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters that despite this announcement, and other similar statements by more junior Hezbollah officials, Hamas is still “confident in Hezbollah’s stance linking any agreement with a halt to the war in Gaza.”

However, other factions within Lebanon itself are also calling for a seperate peace with Israel that will leave Hamas to face the consequences of the October 7th attack by itself.

“We will not tie our fate to the fate of Gaza,” veteran Lebanese Druze figure Walid Jumblatt said on Monday.

Lebanese Christian politician Suleiman Frangieh, who has long been aligned with Hezbollah's political faction, also told reporters on Monday that it is time for Lebanon to take care of itself and let Hamas do the same.

However, diplomats familiar with the situation say Hezbollah has played this card too late, as Israel has military momentum and is on the verge of annihilating the group which has long been a threat to its northern border.

“Hezbollah is playing politics… But that’s not enough for the Israelis. It doesn’t work that way,” said one analyst.

“For a year, you had the world calling for this ceasefire, you had Hezbollah refusing to agree to one, and now that Hezbollah is on the back foot and is getting battered, suddenly they’ve changed their tune and want a ceasefire,” US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said during a press briefing.

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