Israeli shelling continues on Lebanon, Hezbollah remains a ‘pressure front,’ Israel storms Al-Shifa hospital: Everything you need to know to start your Thursday

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Catch up on yesterday’s LIVE coverage of the Israel-Hamas war here.

Israeli shelling on southern Lebanon, which began overnight on Tuesday, continued intermittently yesterday and intensified in the evening while Hezbollah persisted in its cross-border attacks. Two more houses in Tayr Harfa were struck by Israeli shelling, raising the total number of dwellings hit in the village since yesterday to five. Hezbollah announced five separate strikes on northern Israel. Israel said cross-border shells landed in open areas, contradicting Hezbollah’s claims of direct hits, and said it retaliated towards the launch sites in southern Lebanon. Israeli shelling landed near the southern Lebanese areas of Aita al-Shaab, Boustan, Burj al-Mlouk, Khiam, Markaba, Marwahine, Yarine, Odaisseh, Houla, Rab al-Thalathine, and Tell en Nhas.

Hezbollah was not informed beforehand about Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel and has refused requests from the group to strike deeper into Israeli-controlled territory, Reuters reported. Three sources close to Hezbollah told Reuters that the group was taken by surprise by the “Al-Aqsa Flood.” According to Iranian and Hamas officials also speaking to Reuters, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called on Hamas to suppress requests for Hezbollah to broaden its involvement. These sources said Hamas wanted Hezbollah to strike deeper into Israel with its massive arsenal of rockets but that Hezbollah refused, arguing it would not impede the assault on Gaza. In his second address since Oct. 7, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah said cross-border attacks from southern Lebanon would continue as a “pressure front” until the end of Israel’s assault on Gaza.

Israeli forces stormed al-Shifa hospital yesterday, drawing concern from several international leaders and organizations. At least seven newborns had died prior to the raid due to power outages and a damaged oxygen station preventing the use of incubators. Those sheltering in the besieged hospital were forced to bury 179 people in a mass grave in the courtyard, fearing deteriorating sanitary conditions and the inability to leave the compound. Reuters reported that the Israeli army delivered incubators, medicine, and baby food to the hospital, which was the site of intense fighting over the weekend, but a doctor at the hospital told Al-Jazeera that he had not seen any of the supplies that Israel said it brought into the hospital. The Israeli military claimed to have found evidence that Hamas used the hospital for military ends, which the group denied. You can read our full summary of yesterday’s events at the hospital here.

The number of hospital beds in Gaza has more than halved since Oct. 7, World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told Reuters. ”No water, no electricity, only bombing, bombing, bombing,” a WHO member in al-Shifa said before the organization lost contact with its staff there on Saturday. France’s foreign ministry called on Israel to comply with “international humanitarian law,” emphasizing the protection of hospitals. “There is no place in Gaza" that Israel "will not reach,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, describing the rescue of hostages held by Hamas and the destruction of the organization as “sacred missions.” Around two-thirds of the enclave’s hospitals have shut down. Reuters reported that the Qatari-mediated deal proposes Hamas release around 50 hostages in exchange for a three-day ceasefire and the release of an unspecified number of female and child Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. Israel and Hamas’s views on the deal were not reported although Hamas is believed to have agreed with the framework of the proposal. 24,000 liters of fuel intended for the UN entered Gaza yesterday, in the first such shipment since the blockade on Oct. 7 interrupted vital services — including the functioning of hospitals, bakeries and UN missions — to the enclave. The UN said that the fuel received yesterday in Gaza is "not at all sufficient," according to AFP.

In case you missed it, here’s our must-read story from yesterday: “Marwan Barghouti, a potential post-war leader for Palestine?”

Compiled by Abbas Mahfouz