Parliament Speaker and leader of the Amal Movement Nabih Berri, in Beirut, on Aug. 31, 2023. (Credit: AFP/File photo)
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Catch up on yesterday's LIVE coverage of Day 55 of the Israel-Hamas war here.
Israel allegedly fired retaliatory strikes at southern Lebanon yesterday after its interceptor missiles deployed in response to a suspected aerial infiltration, a Lebanese Army source told L'Orient Today. Israel fired five artillery shells at Marwahine (Sour) security sources and residents told L’Orient Today’s correspondent in the south. Hezbollah said they had no additional information on the incident. This is the first time shelling resumed in southern Lebanon since the start of the Hamas-Israel truce, which was extended at the last minute for its seventh day yesterday. Although largely respected, Israeli violations of the truce in southern Lebanon were noted, including gunfire near Lebanese Army troops and UN Peacekeepers, as well as resident reports of the sound of drones and military aircraft.
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said he would convene Parliament before Dec. 15 to discuss extending Lebanese Army Commander Gen. Joseph Aoun's term ahead of his expected retirement. Berri told Al-Joumhouriya that the session would be preceded by a Parliament bureau meeting and would also discuss "several bills from the government alongside numerous urgent draft laws." The Lebanese Forces and the Maronite Patriarch back the extension of Aoun's term, via a law raising the age of retirement to 61, while Berri and the Free Patriotic Movement oppose it. During his fourth visit to Beirut, which began Wednesday, French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian met with several party leaders and officials in an attempt to overcome the impasse. In his interview with Al-Joumhouriya, Berri also rejected a modification to UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and emphasized the need for its implementation amid "thousands" of Israeli violations.
Private generator tariffs for non-mountainous regions fell for the first time in five months, reaching 34,863 ($0.39) per kilowatt hour (kWh). The Energy Ministry set the price 5.3 percent lower than October’s peak for areas below 700 meters in altitude. Areas above the threshold will have to pay an increased rate of 38,319 per kWh. The new prices result from a 6.7 percent drop in the ministry-set fuel price and a slight increase in the exchange rate. Gaps in public electricity supplier Electricité du Liban’s (EDL) coverage force residents across Lebanon to rely on costly private generator subscriptions, which can consume up to 88 percent of the poorest households' monthly income, according to a March report from Human Rights Watch (HRW).
Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said the Israeli incursion in Gaza will continue for “more than a few weeks,” on the seventh and final day of the Hamas-Israel truce. The truce was extended shortly before its expiration yesterday. Hamas released two additional hostages yesterday, culminating seven days of hostage releases — mostly women and children — for Palestinian women and children under 19 who were detained in Israeli prisons. Israeli President Isaac Herzog estimated that 150 hostages remain in Gaza. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated that the assault on Gaza would continue until all hostages are released and Hamas is "eliminated." Hamas claimed responsibility for a shooting in the West Bank yesterday that killed three people and injured six others. Read a full summary of yesterday's events from the war here.
In case you missed it, here’s our must-read story from yesterday: “How Hezbollah helps its constituency rebuild after conflict”
Compiled by Abbas Mahfouz