Israel shells South, schools close, long gas station lines: Everything you need to know to start your Tuesday

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Israeli shelling in South Lebanon killed three Hezbollah members yesterday after armed Islamic Jihad members infiltrated across the border. Israel targeted southern Lebanon with helicopter fire and artillery rounds after killing members of Al-Quds Brigades of the Islamic Jihad. Hezbollah denied involvement in the infiltration. Earlier in the day, after caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib relayed Hezbollah’s “promise” to not interfere, the Lebanese-Israeli border was described to L’Orient Today by UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti as “overall stable although volatile.” Bou Habib told Asharq al-Awsat that “if Israel does not harass us, it will not be harassed in return, and [Hezbollah] will not intervene for the moment.” On the same day, Hezbollah and Palestinian factions held a second rally supporting Palestinians after the party’s executive council president, Hashem Safieddine, expressed their support of the Al-Aqsa flood to 500 demonstrators in Beirut’s southern suburbs. In Hamra, Beirut, tens of protesters gathered outside the American University of Beirut in solidarity with Palestine and burned the Israeli flag. On Sunday, two children were hospitalized in South Lebanon following an Israeli artillery strike retaliating against Hezbollah-fired rockets. Over 1,000 people have been killed in Gaza and Israel-controlled territories since the war broke out, and more than 123,000 people have been internally displaced in Gaza. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced a "total siege of Gaza," where electricity, water and food supplies were cut off. In a message on Telegram, Hamas’s armed wing spokesperson Abu Obeida threatened to execute hostages and “broadcast it through audio and video” in response to operations “targeting [Palestinians] who live peacefully in their homes without prior warning.” Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Eli Cohen estimated that Hamas took more than a 100 hostages.

Public and private schools near Lebanon’s southern border will be closed today over concerns for the safety of students and faculty, caretaker Education Minister Abbas Halabi announced yesterday. Public schools had reopened yesterday after uncertainty over whether the school year would begin. The previous school year was fraught with issues including material and staff shortages, exacerbated by a months-long teachers’ strike to demand improved wages after their salaries were decimated by the lira’s depreciation. Human Rights Watch (HRW) researcher Ramzi Kaiss warned of a catastrophic outcome if the issues affecting the education sector aren’t resolved. HRW cited teachers’ estimates that students’ capabilities fell below their grade level.

Residents across the country told L’Orient Today they fear the Hamas-Israel war might expand to Lebanon, while others dismissed the possibility. A grocer in Baalbeck, describing an influx of shoppers stocking up on essentials, expected Lebanon to be spared from the fighting. A long queue formed at the Baabda Total gas station, with one customer telling L'Orient Today that he was doing so out of fear, while another motorist said he was perplexed by the panic and was only there because his "car is empty [of gas]." Some expressed fears that the scale of a potential conflict involving Lebanon would be unprecedented, while others noted the dire situation the country already finds itself in. The 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel killed 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 157 Israelis, mostly soldiers. Firas Maksad, a researcher at the Middle East Institute in Washington, told L’Orient Today that while Hezbollah “prefers not to get involved” it could not “stand idly by” if Israel launches a ground invasion of Gaza. Israeli press reported that 300,000 reservists were drafted, an all-time-high and indicative of a step preceding an invasion. On Saturday, several Lebanese political figures called for Lebanon to not get embroiled in the fighting.

In case you missed it, here’s our must-read story from yesterday: “Israel - Gaza: Will Hezbollah join the war with Hamas?”

Compiled by Abbas Mahfouz