Hamas calls for Arab mobalization, Hezbollah drone shot down, complaint filed with UN: Everything you need to know to start your Friday

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Catch up on yesterday’s live coverage of Day 6 of the Hamas-Israel war here.

Israel shot down a drone Hezbollah launched from South Lebanon hours after firing artillery shots at Lebanon’s Wata al-Khyam area. Earlier the same day, Hezbollah dispatched engineers to assess the damages caused by Israeli strikes on the villages of al-Dhaira, Marwahine, and Yarin “in preparation for compensating affected property owners, marking the initial step in the reconstruction process.” Since Sunday, crossfire between Hezbollah and the Israeli army at the southern Lebanese border has caused casualties on both sides, including two children injured by shattered glass in South Lebanon on Sunday. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has repeatedly engaged in de-escalation efforts during these incidents, while warning of a precarious calm at the border. Follow today's live coverage of the Hamas-Israel conflict here.

Lebanon “supports the rights of the Palestinians to live and to face Israeli oppression,” caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said yesterday, while calling on “all political forces in Lebanon … to exercise restraint.” Lebanon will lodge an urgent complaint to the United Nations Security Council, Mikati added after the first government meeting since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, claiming that “what is currently happening in South Lebanon is the consequence of repeated Israeli provocations and repeated Israeli violations of Resolution 1701.” The past year has been fraught with incidents on the southern Lebanese border, for which Lebanon and Israel filed reciprocal complaints to the UN. The incidents include the Israeli annexation of a territory placed within Lebanon by the Blue Line, border crossfire and the use of non-lethal weapons that led to the injury of Hezbollah members.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned that hospitals in Gaza are turning into “graveyards” amid the Israeli-imposed power cut and blockade. “Gaza has been in complete blackout since Wednesday,” Gaza-based photographer Omar Al-Qatta told L’Orient Today, adding that hundreds of thousands are sheltering in UNRWA schools while outside aid has been completely cut off. The Gaza Health Ministry reports that 1,417 Palestinians have been killed and 6,268 wounded in Israeli strikes since Saturday, according to Reuters. “No electrical switch will be turned on, no water tap will be opened, and no fuel truck will enter until kidnapped Israelis return home,” Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz said in a statement reported by AFP. Hamas officials earlier stated they refuse to negotiate the release of hostages until the end of the war and warned they would broadcast the execution of hostages, the number of whom reportedly exceeds 100, in retaliation to Israeli strikes executed without prior warning. Israel bombed the Rafah crossing from Gaza to Egypt as Palestinians attempted to flee through the only non-Israeli controlled access point.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hussein Amir Abdollahian is scheduled to visit Beirut as part of a regional tour, the spokesperson for the Iranian Embassy in Beirut confirmed to L’Orient Today, as US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken arrived in Israel. Abdollahian accused Israel of seeking “genocide” by “besieging [Gaza], cutting off water and electricity, and denying entry of medicine and food.” Blinken, for his part, expressed perpetual support to Israel from the US, affirming that no conditions were placed on the use of the military aid given. Blinken is scheduled to visit Qatar today and will also visit Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE, according to AFP. Reuters reported that the UK will send two Royal Navy ships to the Eastern Mediterranean and begin surveillance flights over Israel in a show of military support days after the US deployed the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, and accompanying warships to support Israel.

Hezbollah echoed Hamas’ call for a “solidarity rally with Palestine” in the Imam al-Moujataba complex in Hadath today, while Hamas has called for “a general mobilization ... in Lebanon and the Palestinian camps.” Hezbollah deputy leader Naim Qassem is scheduled to speak during the rally in Beirut’s southern suburbs. A march is scheduled to depart from the Mar Elias Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut, while several sit-ins are scheduled in South Lebanon, in Nabatieh, Qana, Sour, Machghara, Jebchi and in Baalbeck. Several protests have been held in support of Gaza since the start of Hamas’s Al-Aqsa Flood operation.

In case you missed it, here’s our must-read story from yesterday: “Iron Dome: How does it work?”

Compiled by Abbas Mahfouz