A picture taken on Oct. 23, 2023, shows a border post between northern Israel and southern Lebanon. (Credit: Yuri Cortez/AFP)
Catch up on our LIVE coverage of Day 17 of the Hamas-Israel war here.
Hezbollah held funerals for four of its fighters who were killed by Israeli retaliatory strikes in southern Lebanon. At least 10 Hezbollah members were killed during clashes with Israel at the southern Lebanese border between Sunday and yesterday. The Israeli military said it intercepted “a suspicious target” infiltrated from Lebanon, and later confirmed it neutralized two drones crossing the border. Israel bombarded the Lebanese border village of Rmaish in alleged retaliation for an earlier attack. Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that two people in northern Israel were injured in a rocket strike. American Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea said in a speech yesterday that the US rejects the threat of dragging Lebanon into a new war. Meanwhile, the increase in incidents at the border has pushed 19,646 people to move within Lebanon, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), caretaker Social Affairs Minister Hector Hajjar has called on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to set up camps clost to the Lebanese-Syrian border to accommodate displaced Syrians “in the event of an urgent security event.”
Middle East Airlines announced its modified flight schedule for yesterday, today and tomorrow to accommodate the grounding of half its fleet in the wake of insurance changes. This comes amid several countries updating their statements to citizens, which advised them against travel to Lebanon. The US published a form allowing its citizens to request financial assistance for the cost of flights departing from Lebanon. The United States Bureau of Consular Affairs statement cited the “unpredictability of security conditions.” The French Consulate advised its citizens to either leave Lebanon, or should they choose to stay, to stock up on food, keep cash on hand and to have identity documents readily available.
The US vowed an uninterrupted flow of aid into Gaza from the recently reopened Rafah crossing, after 14 new trucks carrying supplies entered the enclave. European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called for quicker aid deliveries that ensure water and electricity supplies are available to Palestinians in Gaza. Israel has said it will not allow fuel to enter Gaza. Medical staff in the enclave and international organizations deemed the aid insufficient, describing it as a fraction of what entered Gaza daily before the war, and urged for fuel delivery to keep hospitals operational.
The Gaza Health Ministry said 436 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes between Sunday and yesterday, including 182 children. The death toll in Gaza since Oct. 7 has risen to 5,087 people, the Hamas-run ministry in the enclave added. Most recent airstrike victims have been in southern Gaza, the ministry claimed. Israel has repeatedly called on Palestinians to evacuate from the north to the south of Gaza while intensifying its airstrikes — reportedly in preparation for a ground invasion. Israeli army Arabic-speaking spokesperson Avichay Adraee said yesterday that the military had attacked more than 320 targets in the past 24 hours in various regions of the Gaza Strip. Two people were killed during an Israeli raid on the Jalazone Palestinian refugee camp near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.
In case you missed it, here’s our must-read story from yesterday: “Conflict escalates in southern Lebanon: Is the situation still under control?”
Compiled by Abbas Mahfouz
Humanitarian convoy reaches Rmeish, Ain Ibl, Dibil despite obstacles