Israeli army announces end of daily humanitarian pause in Gaza City
A French peacekeeper of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) sits atop a stopped armored vehicle during a patrol in the village of Kfar Kila in southern Lebanon near the border with northern Israel on August 27, 2025.Credit: AFP/ANWAR AMRO
France's President Emmanuel Macron issued a statement Friday commending the renewal of the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon.
Macron said he spoke with the President of Lebanon Joseph Aoun and the Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, and complimented their "courageous decisions to restore the state's monopoly on the use of force." He also called on the Lebanese government to adopt a plan facilitating that purpose.
In his statement posted on X, Macron also called for "the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon and an end to all violations of Lebanese sovereignty," saying they are essential conditions for implementation of the plan.
"France has consistently stated its readiness to play a role in the handover of the remaining positions still occupied by Israel," he added.
On Thursday, the UN Security Council voted unanimously to terminate the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon at the end of 2026 after nearly five decades, bowing to demands from the United States and its close ally Israel.
The resolution would terminate UNIFIL's mandate and halt its operations at the end of 2026.
Israel's Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara stated that law enforcement measures should be taken against ultra-Orthodox men who are subject by law to military service, seeking to travel abroad to Uman, Ukraine in the annual mass pilgrimage of some 40,000 Bratslav Hasidim to Rabbi Nachman's grave on Rosh HaShanah.
"A plan whose purpose is to avoid exercising enforcement powers of the law against draft evaders who are violating their obligation, at the airport or at border crossings, is contrary to the law," reads a letter sent Thursday by Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon.
"Such an avoidance contradicts the state's duty to enforce the mandatory draft equally," he wrote.
"Furthermore, under the law, neither the government nor any of its minister has the authority to formulate an arrangement that, in effect, interferes with law enforcement activities as described, and instructs the enforcement authorities to refrain from exercising their powers," the deputy AG added.
This statement follows a directive approved earlier this week, allowing a budget of 10 million shekels (about $2.7 million) to cover costs tied to transit through Moldova.
On Tuesday, Israel Porush, son of United Torah Judaism lawmaker Meir Porush and a member of the Elad city council, threatened that if Haredi draft dodgers are detained at Ben-Gurion Airport during the High Holidays, ultra-Orthodox groups will bring the airport to a standstill.