A woman holds up images of the Hezbollah fighters who have died since the start of the war with Israel and a photo of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah during his annual Martyrs Day speech on Nov. 11, 2023. (Credit: Joao Souza/ L'Orient Today)
Here’s what happened yesterday and what to expect today, Monday, Nov. 13
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Catch up on our LIVE coverage of Day 35, Day 36 and Day 37 of the Israel-Hamas war.
Israel and Hezbollah's border clashes between Friday and yesterday struck a hospital in southern Lebanon, injured a United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) peacekeeper and reportedly wounded soldiers and civilians in northern Israel. Israeli shelling and airstrikes continued to target southern Lebanon, striking homes in Yaroun and a coffee shop in Kfar Kila. Hezbollah continued to announce attacks on military targets in northern Israel. An emergency doctor at Mais al-Jabal Governmental Hospital suffered a minor injury in his leg caused by a shard of glass, the hospital’s director, Doctor Hussein Yassin, told L'Orient Today. The bombing damaged medical equipment in the emergency room, shattered many of the hospital's windows and created a hole in one of the building's walls, Yassin added. A UNIFIL peacekeeper underwent surgery overnight Saturday to Sunday after having been struck by a bullet of "unknown" origin in al-Qawzah. Hezbollah announced the death of three more of its fighters, increasing the number of party members killed since Oct. 7 to 75, by our count. The Israeli military said several civilians were wounded in separate anti-tank missile and artillery shell attacks on northern Israel. The Israeli army’s Arabic-speaking spokesperson Avichay Adraee and Hezbollah-affiliated TV channel Al-Manar offered conflicting reports on the strike on Doviv. Israel claimed civilians were hit by Hezbollah’s strike while the party said it targeted an Israeli army bulldozer. Al-Manar claimed seven soldiers were wounded in an attack on Manara. Israeli newspaper Haaretz claimed 18 Israeli soldiers and civilians were wounded in both incidents. AFP, however, reported that 10 people, including an octogenarian, were wounded yesterday by an anti-tank missile.
In his second speech since Oct. 7, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah on Saturday said cross-border clashes with Israel will continue until the end of "the aggression on Gaza." The Lebanese southern border "will remain a front of pressure," Nasrallah said, saying Hezbollah ramped up operations quantitatively and qualitatively. Internal dissent to Hezbollah's border operations is limited, Nasrallah claimed. On Friday, more than 30 Lebanese MPs issued an appeal ahead of the Saturday Arab League summit urging it to avoid attempts to drag Lebanon into the war. They expressed concern that the Lebanese state's decision-making process was "being sullied by an illegitimate armed force serving a regional axis, jeopardizing strategic interests, security and stability." Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Sunday told Al-Jazeera that "Hezbollah is showing a lot of patriotism," adding that he is reassured by the party's "wisdom." Mikati also called on Arab countries to exert pressure on Israel to stop its "provocations" on southern Lebanon. Nasrallah called on Arab leaders to direct pressure on the US to stop the aggression on Gaza "because it is the one holding the decision." The Hezbollah chief pointed to changing global attitudes regarding Israel, citing pro-Palestinian protests across the world, which he said was in the interest of the resistance.
The cabinet is scheduled to convene tomorrow with a 16-item agenda including telecoms contingency measures and a revision of the cancer medicine subsidy mechanism. One of the items includes the Telecoms Ministry's request for a subscription to satellite internet service from Starlink to ensure continuous coverage in the event of war. Public mobile telecoms providers, Alfa and Touch, and fixed telephone and internet company Ogero all announced a series of measures to maintain coverage and the functioning of vital services in wartime. Another is a Health Ministry request to revise the cancer subsidy mechanism. While the state continues to subsidize cancer drugs, shortages have interfered with treatments. The cabinet last met on Oct. 20 to discuss a 231-page plan detailing the measures the Lebanese authorities plan to take in the event of a conflict with Israel.
The Lebanese Army announced it intervened in two separate irregular sea migration attempts on Friday and Saturday in Tripoli, North Lebanon. The Army said 47 people were "rescued" from the sinking makeshift boats. The Army has regularly announced foiling irregular migration attempts from Lebanese shores and the arrest of human smugglers. Informal sea crossings are fraught with perils, including interception by authorities, becoming stranded, kidnapping and deadly sinkings. Despite the dangers, irregular sea migration attempts from Lebanon more than doubled in 2022 amid increasingly dire living conditions.
At least three newborn babies in incubators died due to a power failure at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, Palestinian officials said. At least 11,078 people have died in Gaza since the start of relentless Israeli shelling on Oct. 7, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry. The Israeli army surrounded the hospital Saturday, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said, after it was reportedly shelled Friday. Israel denied attacking the hospital, claiming there were clashes with Hamas in its vicinity. Hamas said it was suspending negotiations to release hostages due to the attack on the hospital, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, “the forced evacuations of the al-Nasr and al-Rantisi pediatric hospitals have left patients in the streets without care," Mohammed Zaqout, director of hospitals in the Gaza Strip, told AFP yesterday. A World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson told Reuters 20 hospitals were no longer operational in Gaza. Approximately 500 foreigners and dual nationals, as well as wounded Palestinians, were evacuated on Sunday from Gaza to Egypt through the Rafah crossing point, according to information from both sides of the border, reported AFP.
In case you missed it, here’s our must-read story from Friday: “Threat of war brings higher rent in Beirut’s ‘safer’ mountain outskirts”
Compiled by Abbas Mahfouz