May to meet Merkel, Macron ahead of crucial Brexit summit
London: British Prime Minister Theresa May on Monday started a last-minute flurry of European diplomacy that includes visits to Paris and Berlin as she prepares for a make-or-break Brexit summit.
Still struggling to get her EU divorce deal through parliament, May is hoping European leaders will agree on Wednesday to delay Brexit for a second time to stop Britain crashing out of the bloc two days later.
After putting her request in a letter to European Council president Donald Tusk last week, she had phone calls on Monday with him and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker.
May is also visit German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday, in what her spokeswoman said was an attempt to set out "the rationale" for a further short delay.
Faced with political deadlock in London, the EU agreed last month to postpone Brexit from March 29 to April 12, and May will ask at a special summit on Wednesday for it to be pushed back again to June 30.
All other 27 EU leaders must agree and most seem ready to accept the idea of another delay to avoid a harmful "no deal" Brexit, but likely for a much longer period than Britain has asked for.
In anticipation of this, May's government on Monday reluctantly laid the legal order needed to hold European Parliament elections on May 23.
But she is hoping that EU leaders might agree to a flexible delay proposed by Tusk, whereby Britain could leave earlier if it agrees a divorce deal, and never hold the elections.
"It does not make these elections inevitable as leaving the EU before the date of election automatically removes our obligation to take part," a spokeswoman said.
European leaders have also asked May to come up with a reason for a delay, with France in particular warning that it does not want simply to prolong the uncertainty.
After MPs rejected her divorce deal for a third time, May last week approached main opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to try to find a compromise.
But Corbyn said Monday that he was still waiting for her to alter her approach.
"Talks have to mean a movement and so far there has been no change in those red lines," he said, adding that his team would speak to her ministers on Tuesday.
May says she is determined to implement the 2016 referendum vote for Brexit, but that Britain should only sever ties with its largest trading partner once it has new arrangements in place.
Her decision to meet with Corbyn has sparked fury in her own Conservative party, with former foreign minister and leading Brexit supporter Boris Johnson warning against any "surrender".
Labour wants a new customs union with the EU, something May has previously rejected as it would stop Britain striking its own global trade deals.
But in a video-message on Sunday, she said: "The longer this takes, the greater the risk of the UK never leaving at all." In Dublin, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar expressed optimism about the cross-party process as he met with the EU's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier.
"We're open to extending the deadline to allow these discussions to run their course," he said.
But Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who also spoke to May on Monday, said it was "crucial to know when and on what basis the UK will ratify the withdrawal agreement".
He tweeted that any Brexit delay would require "assurances from the UK on sincere cooperation".
May used that phrase in her letter to Tusk, saying Britain would continue to act as a "constructive and responsible" member state while it remained part of the bloc.
Labour is pressing for changes to a political declaration on Britain's future relationship with the EU, which accompanies the withdrawal deal.
Barnier repeated that this could be reworked "extremely quickly".
Corbyn said May's government had been open to the idea, "but they haven't said in which way".
He added: "We are looking for movement. We do not want to see a crashing out of the EU with no deal." The EU has by contrast refused to renegotiate the withdrawal agreement itself, which includes controversial plans to keep open the Irish border.
Barnier repeated his warning to hardline Brexiteers that, in the case of a no-deal Brexit, the EU would not start trade talks until the Irish issue was resolved.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
