Hezbollah second-in-command warns of 'dangerous developments in the region' if Israeli aggression in Gaza continues: Day 33 of Hamas-Israel war

Thank you for following our LIVE coverage of Day 33 of the Hamas-Israel war.

We'll be back tomorrow with more news updates and analysis, right here at L'Orient Today.

Haaretz is reporting that Brazilian security forces have foiled an attack on Israeli and Jewish targets "planned by Hezbollah ... under the guidance and funding of Iran," according to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's Office.

Israel’s intelligence wing, Mossad, reportedly thwarted the attack by working with other international security and enforcement agencies.

Brazilian news website, O Glob, says the Federal Police launched an operation against “terrorists” linked to Hezbollah. Two men were reportedly arrested and 11 search and seizure warrants were executed in São Paulo, Minas Gerais and the Federal District. The news site adds that the two detained are Brazilian and there are arrest warrants out for two who are in Lebanon.

A statement from Netanyahu's office commended the Brazilian security forces for the arrest of a "terror cell," they claimed was acting "on behalf of Hezbollah."

White House Spokesman John Kirby says that "more than 80 humanitarian trucks" entered Gaza in the past 24 hours, according to Reuters.

Israel's hypothetical occupation of Gaza is "not a long-term solution to post-conflict governance," he says.

"It could take more than one pause to get all hostages out of Gaza," he says, adding that these pauses "could last hours or days."

Finally, he noted that "roughly 500 to 600 Americans have yet to get out of the Palestinian enclave."

An Israeli military spokesperson announces that "Hamas has lost control of northern Gaza," Reuters reports.

The spokesperson adds that "there will be no ceasefire in Gaza" but "humanitarian pauses," instead.

A still image taken from a video released by Hamas shows what it says are its fighters firing mortar shells at Israeli forces during Israel's ground offensive, in a location given as Gaza, obtained by Reuters on Nov. 7.  (Credit: Hamas Military Wing/REUTERS)

Israeli soldiers sit at the roadside amid the army's ongoing ground operation in the Gaza Strip, in this handout image released by the Israeli army on Nov. 8, 2023. (Credit: IDF/Reuters)

The Rafah border crossing remains shut, the US state department announces, according to Reuters.

The state department added that the reason behind this is a "certain security circumstance."

Finally, the US expects that once security circumstances are resolved, Rafah crossing will be open at regular intervals.

The military spokesman for al-Qassam Brigades Abu Obeida declares in a press conference that Hamas fighters will continue to "fight and confront the enemy on all fronts."

“We documented the complete or partial destruction of 136 Israeli military vehicles by [our fighters],” Abu Obeida adds.

Regarding hostages, Abu Obeida says that the "only path is a comprehensive deal to exchange prisoners in full or part."

Israeli warplanes bombed the heights of Hebbariyeh with three missiles, causing a loud sound that shook the area, the town's mayor told our correspondent in the south. Another airstrike targeted the outskirts of Yater (Bint Jbeil district), a security source told L'Orient Today.

Artillery shelling also targeted Jabal Blat and Marwahin (Sour district), residents told our correspondent in the south. Two other shells fell in the south of Khiam (Marjeyoun district), about two hours ago.

Moreover, flare bombs were seen by residents over Hunin, opposite to Aitaroun (Bint Jbeil district), around an hour ago.

Palestinians inspect the debris at Khaled Ibn al-Walid mosque, after it was hit by Israeli bombardment, in Khan Yunis on Nov. 8, 2023. (Credit: Mahmoud Hams/AFP)

Fires caused by white phosphorus are decimating forests and olive groves on the Lebanese border. The short-term and long-term consequences are serious. Read our coverage here.

Palestinians queue to receive a portion of food at a make-shift charity kitchen in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on Nov. 8, 2023, amid dire food shortages in the besieged enclave. (Credit: Said Khatib/AFP)

The Houthis' air defenses managed to shoot down an American MQ9 aircraft "while it was carrying out hostile, monitoring and spying activities in the airspace of Yemeni territorial waters and within the framework of American military support for the Israeli entity," Houthis' military spokesman Yahya Saree posted on X.

55-year-old civilian Meir Moyal, from Kiryat Shmona, was killed on Tuesday by an anti-tank missile strike on the Lebanese border, according to the Israeli Army Radio.

Talks are underway for the release of a dozen hostages held by Hamas, including six Americans, in return for a three-day humanitarian pause in the Gaza Strip, says a source close to Hamas, AFP reports.

Earlier today Reuters reported that Qatar-mediated negotiations are ongoing to secure the release of 10-15 hostages held by Hamas, in exchange for a one-to-two day humanitarian pause of Israeli hostilities.

Italy will send a hospital ship close to the coast of Gaza to help treat victims of the Hamas-Israel war, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto says, Reuters reports.

The ship is leaving on Wednesday from the western Italian port of Civitavecchia with 170 staff, including 30 people trained for medical emergencies, the minister said, adding that Italy was also working to send a field hospital to Gaza.

Seven vehicles delivering medical supplies to health facilities, including al-Quds hospital, in Gaza have come under fire, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The convoy was said to be carrying lifesaving medical supplies to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, when it was hit - said the ICRC in a statement posted on X. Two trucks were reportedly damaged, and a driver was lightly wounded.

Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau says Canada is calling for a significant humanitarian pause in the fighting in Gaza to allow the release of all hostages, Reuters reports.

Sheikh Naim Qassem, the second-in-command of Hezbollah has told the BBC that “very serious and very dangerous developments could occur in the region, and no-one would be able to stop the repercussions."

Speaking in an interview in Beirut he says Israel’s increasing “aggression against civilians and killing more women and children” could bring “real danger” to the region, insisting that "any escalation would be linked to Israel's actions. "

Hamas accuses the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA)  of "colluding" with Israel in the "forced displacement" of residents of Gaza, AFP reports.

"UNRWA and its officials bear responsibility for this humanitarian catastrophe, in particular the residents of the Gaza [City] area and north of it" who are following Israeli military orders to flee south, said Salama Marouf, head of the media bureau of Hamas.

UN Chief António Guterres announces that 92 UN staff have been killed in the Hamas-Israel war so far.

The outskirts of the town of al-Dhayra were subjected to artillery shelling a short while ago, residents told our correspondent in the south.

The residents also claimed that an attack targeted the Israeli military outpost al-Jardah, which is opposite to the town. They added that the sounds of machine guns and shells are being heard.

The ongoing Israeli bombardment in the vicinity of al-Quds Hospital in Gaza led to the closure of all roads leading to the hospital, the Palestine Red Crescent Society posted on X.

The organization added that "medical teams are unable to leave the hospital to reach the injured persons."

UN Secretary-General António Guterres says "that it is against the interests of Israel to see every day the terrible image of the dramatic humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people. That doesn't help Israel in relation to the global public opinion," Guterres said, according to a Reuters report.

He also stated that when considering the number of civilians killed so far, "there is also something clearly wrong in the way military operations are being done."

Israel has no intention of reoccupying Gaza or controlling it for a long time, according to a senior Israeli official, Reuters reports. 

Two Israeli soldiers have been wounded by an anti-tank missile near the Lebanese border, Haaretz reports, citing the Israeli army.

Gaza's al-Quds hospital is facing an acute shortage of fuel and is expected to run out of fuel today, the Palestinian Red Crescent has posted on its account on social media platform X.

Today, the hospital "curtailed most operations in an attempt to ration fuel use and ensure a minimum level of services over the coming few days," the humanitarian organization added.

Hezbollah has responded to Israeli strikes that targeted an ambulance belonging to the Amal-affiliated Islamic Mission Scouts on Sunday.

In a statement, Hezbollah said this response entailed its fighters attacking "at 2 p.m. on Wednesday … with direct weapons, an Israeli infantry force near the [Israeli] Duviv barracks, resulting in confirmed casualties, including fatalities and wounded."

German defense export approvals to Israel so far this year have risen nearly tenfold from last year, with Berlin treating permit requests as a priority since Oct. 7, a German government source says. Click here for more.

Qatar is negotiating a release of some hostages in exchange for a short cease-fire in Gaza, according to a source close to the discussions, AFP reports. Click here for more.

Israeli artillery shelling is taking place on the outskirts of the southern towns of Aita al-Shaab, Yaroun and Aitaroun, our correspondent in the south, Muntasser Abdallah, reports. Village residents report hearing the sounds of shells and seeing smoke rise from the areas under bombardment, our correspondent adds.

Israeli representatives will not participate at a Thursday "humanitarian conference" for Gaza in Paris organized by French President Emmanuel Macron, his office said. Click here for more.

Around 12 shells were fired by the Israeli army on the surroundings of Mays al-Jabal, Blida and Mhaybib, Mays al-Jabal municipality head Abdel Menim Chkeir told our correspondent. No injuries were reported following these strikes, Chkeir adds.

Take a moment out of the present to consider the past: Our journalist Stephanie Khouri looks at the Irgun, the Stern Group, Haganah and the Palmach, paramilitary groups behind dozens of massacres of Arab civilians between 1930 and 1948, and the building blocks of today’s Israeli army. Click here to read her article.

Image: The Irgun's attack on the King David Hotel, July 22 1946, Jerusalem. (Credit: Wikicommons/Archives British Forces in the Middle East (1945-1947)

Residents of the villages of Mays al-Jabal, Blida and Mhaybib reported witnessing Israeli airstrikes around midday, according to our correspondent in south Lebanon, Muntasser Abdallah.

Hezbollah says in a statement that its fighters targeted, "at 11:15 a.m. … an Israeli infantry force in the vicinity of the [Israeli] Shumera base, with appropriate weapons, and inflicted confirmed casualties."

DEATH TOLL UPDATE: 10,569 Palestinians have been killed, including 4,324 children, in Israeli strikes on Gaza since Oct. 7, Reuters reports, citing the Heath Ministry in the Hamas-run enclave.

Hezbollah is calling for a protest on Thursday at 9:30 a.m., in ESCWA square, in downtown Beirut in "denunciation of the Zionist and American aggression and their commission of massacres against children in Gaza and Lebanon."

The party is organizing the protest under the slogan, "From Ainata to Gaza, children on the road to Jerusalem."

This comes days after three young girls and their grandmother were killed by an Israeli strike as they were traveling by car on the Aitaroun-Ainata road in south Lebanon.

Three Israeli strikes have hit houses in Houla, south Lebanon, our correspondent Muntasser Abdullah reports, citing the town's mayor. According to the mayor, the houses were struck by missiles fired from an Israeli drone. Meanwhile, UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti confirmed to L'Orient Today that Israeli artillery shelling struck locations on the outskirts of the towns of Al Labouneh and Ramieh this morning. Tenenti added that the situation is now calm in the area.

Several Lebanese journalist and photographer unions are calling for a sit-in "in solidarity with journalists and children of Lebanon and Palestine" on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. in downtown Beirut, in front of the Martyrs' statue, the state-run National News Agency reports.

A move towards a peace-loving leadership in Palestine is the most desired outcome in the Israel-Hamas conflict, British Foreign Minister James Cleverly said today, reiterating Britain's support for a two-state solution, Reuters reports.

"In the short term, it is inevitable that Israel, because they have the troops in Gaza, will need to have a security responsibility," Cleverly said at the G7 summit in Japan. "But our view is as soon as practicable, a move towards a peace-loving Palestinian leadership is the most desired outcome." 

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has said Israel must not "re-occupy" Gaza, AFP reports.

At least three Israeli shells have fallen near the town of Helta in south Lebanon, between the Selmiyeh farm and the village of Mari, several residents of the area tell our correspondent Muntasser Abdallah.

Before the war, around 20,000 patients per year sought permits from Israel to leave the Gaza Strip for health care, many of them requiring repeat trips across the border. Israel approved around 63 percent of these medical exit applications in 2022, according to the WHO. Since Oct. 7, most of those patients have been trapped inside Gaza, while others are stuck in hospitals in annexed east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, awaiting news from home. Click here for more. 

Israel's campaign to destroy Hamas pushed into its second month today as its forces battle the Palestinian militants in Gaza City, despite mounting calls for a cease-fire. Click here to read more.

Image: Palestinian Mohammed Hamdan, who lost 35 family members of three generations in an Israeli air strike, rests on a couch near the rubble of his family home that was destroyed in the strike, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Nov. 7, 2023. (Credit: Mohammed Salem/Reuters)

The G7 group of countries says it recognizes Israel's right to defend itself "in accordance with international law," AFP reports. The group added that it supports "humanitarian pauses and corridors" in Gaza, while also urging Iran not to support Hamas and Hezbollah and not to do anything that could "destabilize the Middle East."

Image: People stand in front of a crater formed by an Israeli strike near Khiam, south Lebanon, on Nov. 8, 2023. Photo sent to our correspondent Muntasser Abdallah

In a joint statement issued today, the Israeli army and the Shin Bet security service says that Mahsan Abu-Zina, the head of Hamas' weapons and warfare equipment division, was killed in an Israeli air force attack in Gaza earlier this week, Haaretz reports.

Abu-Zina was among Hamas' leading figures in the production of ammunition and had specialized in strategic weaponry and the manufacture of rockets, the statement claims.

The statement adds that overnight into Wednesday, Israeli forces destroyed a Hamas squad that attempted to launch an anti-tank missile toward them. According to the statement, the forces also killed Hamas militants who allegedly attempted to fire rockets toward Israel overnight.

Image: This handout satellite Shortwave Infrared (SWIR) image courtesy of Maxar Technologies shows a number of active fires burning in Gaza City on Nov. 7, 2023. Vegetation appears in shades of blue, while active fires/thermal hot spots show up as an orange/yellow bloom. (Credit: Satellite image ©2023 Maxar Technologies / AFP)

In case you missed it: In a first-person account, Palestinian journalist Asmaa Alghoul writes about waiting for news from her father and sister in Gaza while pacing the rooms of the home she shares with her mother and other family members in France.

"My heart leaped at the sight of her messages. Seeing the first letter of her name appear on my screen filled me with joy. But that joy quickly turned to concern. What if I sent the message too soon? Before the last bombing? What if I’d received his reply too late? My hands started shaking. What if my sister was dead now, being pulled from the rubble, like hundreds of families every day? Maybe they’ll never find her little girl," Alghoul writes. Click here to read more. 

G7 foreign ministers meeting in Tokyo have sought to hammer out a common line on the Israel-Hamas war. The ministers are expected to issue a joint statement later calling for "humanitarian pauses" in Gaza, while stopping short of urging a cease-fire. Click here for more.

The US House has voted to censure Democratic Representative Rashida Tlaib, Congress's lone Palestinian-American lawmaker, for comments she made regarding Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza. Twenty-two Democrats joined with most Republicans in the chamber to censure Tlaib for allegedly "promoting false narratives" on Hamas' Oct. 7 gun rampage in Israel and "calling for the destruction of the state of Israel." Click here for more.

To catch up on what happened yesterday, click here to read our Morning Brief.

Image: People mourn three Lebanese girls and their grandmother who were killed by an Israeli strike on their car on Sunday, during their funeral in the southern town of Blida on Nov. 7, 2023. (Credit: Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)

Good morning, 

Thank you for joining us on the 33rd day of the war between Israel and Hamas. We'll be here all day with live updates in relation to the conflict from Gaza, Israel, south Lebanon and the wider region.