Thank you for following our LIVE coverage from day 79 of the Hamas-Israel war.
We are (exceptionally) suspending our coverage at this point today, on the occasion of Christmas Eve.
We'll be back with more live news updates on Tuesday morning, or earlier if there are any major developments, right here at L'Orient Today.
Hezbollah announces that it targeted an infantry position of Israeli soldiers in the Hunin castle, located opposite of the Lebanese border villages of Markaba and Houla, at 3:35 p.m.
An Israeli artillery shell hit the balcony of a house in Markaba, a resident tells L'Orient Today's correspondent in the south, Muntasser Abdallah.
Three Israeli shells have fallen on the town of Aita al-Shaab, according to residents there.
Hezbollah announces an attack at 2:50 p.m. on the Israeli village of Avivim, near the Lebanese border, claiming to have targeted a residential dwelling and inflicted "sure casualties."
A delegation from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which holds some of the Israeli captives in Gaza, arrives in Cairo for talks with Egyptian security officials, Reuters reports, citing members of the group. The talks will focus on "ways to put an end to the Israeli aggression against our people."
Last week, Hamas senior political leader Ismail Haniyeh went to Cairo for talks with intelligence officials and left declaring the group would not begin hostage negotiations until a cease-fire was underway.
The outskirts of the village of Dhayra, Sour district, southern Lebanon, are being subjected to Israeli bombing, a resident tells our correspondent there.
Moreover, five Israeli artillery shells have fallen on the outskirts of Yaroun and Maroun al-Rass, Bint Jbeil district, according to residents.
Israeli warplanes have targeted a house located between the towns of Taybeh and Rab al-Thalathine, residents tell our correspondent in the south Lebanon.
Three missiles were launched on the house and its surroundings, they said.
Moreover, Israel's artillery targeted the outskirts of Rab al-Thalathine with four shells, according to the same sources.
French President Emmanuel Macron has expressed "great concern" about a Catholic parish in war-torn Gaza with the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, his office says.
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said on Dec. 16 that an Israeli soldier shot dead "in cold blood" a Christian mother and daughter on the grounds of the Gaza Strip's only Catholic church. Click here for more.
French President Emmanuel Macron has expressed "great concern" about a Catholic parish in war-torn Gaza with the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, his office says.
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said on Dec. 16 that an Israeli soldier shot dead "in cold blood" a Christian mother and daughter on the grounds of the Gaza Strip's only Catholic church. Click here for more.
An Israeli shell has fallen near a "Hbeish al-Jdideh" school building in the town of Taybeh, but no damage has been caused, a resident of the town tells our correspondent in the south Lebanon.
An Israeli shell has fallen near a "Hbeish al-Jdideh" school building in the town of Taybeh, but no damage has been caused, a resident of the town tells our correspondent in the south Lebanon.
At least 166 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 20,424 Palestinians killed in the enclave since Oct. 7, Reuters reports, citing the Gaza Heath Ministry.
Sirens were activated in the northern Israeli villages of Yir'on and Avivim, shortly after the Israeli army reported completing an "extensive" attack on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, according to Haaretz.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed reports that the United States had convinced Israel not to expand its military activity, Reuters reports.
"Israel is a sovereign nation," Netanyahu said during a weekly cabinet meeting today. "Our military decisions are based upon our own calculations."
Netanyahu's remarks follow a long call between the prime minister and US President Joe Biden yesterday. More details here.
Hezbollah central council member Nabil Qaouk has stressed that there will be no toleration or compromise with any regional or international mediation effort when civilians are being targeted.
"Targeting civilians is a red line for [Hezbollah], and its decision is to make [Israel] pay the painful price for any crossing of this line," Qaouk said during a "honorary celebration" held by the party in the town of Aita al-Jabal (Bint Jbeil district) for Hezbollah member Wissam Murtada, who was recently killed by Israel.
"We in the resistance have not and will not delay in responding more severely to any targeting of civilians, and this is what the northern Israeli settlements are witnessing," Kaouk added.
BREAKING: Israeli military aircraft and artillery are currently targeting the outskirts of Labbouneh in southern Lebanon, according to a security source quoted by our correspondent.
Image: An injured Palestinian woman looks on in the aftermath of Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Dec. 24, 2023. (Credit:Said Khatib/AFP)
"I wish I could go back to the life I had before, the one I didn't like" — women who have been displaced in Gaza recount the hardships and challenges they've faced since Israel began bombarding the enclave more than 11 weeks ago. Click here to read the full article.
BREAKING: Israeli bombardments are targeting the outskirts of Yaroun, Maroun al-Ras and Aitaroun, according to a security source quoted by our correspondent in the area. These attacks come about two hours after Hezbollah attacked an Israeli military post on the border.
Image: A Christmas installation of a grotto with figures standing amid rubble surrounded by a razor wire is displayed outside the Church of the Nativity, in support of Gaza, on Manger Square in Bethlehem on Christmas Eve, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Dec. 24, 2023. (Credit: Yosri Aljamal/Reuters)
Eight more Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza, according to a statement communicated by the army's spokesperson, Daniel Hagari, via the social media platform X.
This now brings the total number of Israeli soliders killed since the start of the Israeli ground operation in the Palestinian enclave on Oct. 20 to more than 150; however, there is some discrepancy in the exact count: Reuters reports that 154 have died, while AFP places the toll at 152.
The displacement of people from towns subjected to daily Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon towards safe areas has increased, according to the natural disaster management unit at the union of Sour region municipalities, the state-run National News Agency reports.
Displaced people are mostly heading to Sour, where public schools are being used to shelter them. Half of Sour's schools are being used for the displaced, and the other half for education, according to the NNA.
In the Red Sea, Houthi attacks against maritime traffic continue in support of Gaza, according to the Yemeni rebels.
Yesterday evening, an American warship located in the Red Sea shot down four drones targeting it, launched from “areas controlled by the Houthis,” according to the Pentagon. A little earlier, it had reported a Japanese chemical tanker hit off the coast of India by an “attack drone fired from Iran," according to AFP.
Bombings and artillery fire continue in several areas of Gaza.
In Deir al-Balah (center), a strike yesterday left people dead and many injured, including several women and children, AFP reports.
Yesterday, the Israeli army claimed to have captured "more than 200 terrorists" during the week and "more than 700" since the start of the conflict. Israel also sought to assure that a strike carried out on Rafah on Friday, which killed four members of the same family, including a little girl, according to Hamas, targeted an official of the Palestinian group who was responsible for the supply of weapons.
The Gaza Strip is sinking into a humanitarian catastrophe: most hospitals there are out of service, and 1.9 million people have had to flee their homes, or 85 percent of the population, according to the UN.
In the next six weeks, all 2.4 million inhabitants of this small territory of 362 km2 risk experiencing a high level of food insecurity, which could go as far as famine, the United Nations warns.
In Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of refugees are sheltering in makeshift camps, the population is rushing for food rations, which are insufficient to satisfy everyone's needs, AFP reports.
In Gaza, the threat of famine persists, and the humanitarian situation remains disastrous; however, according to Israeli officials, their Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "made it clear," during a long phone call in which US President Joe Biden yesterday, "that Israel would continue the war until all of its goals have been achieved," AFP reports. Israel's repeated stated objectives are the elimination of Hamas and the return of Israeli hostages held in Gaza. The White House had sought in the call to underline "the crucial need to protect the civilian population," but Biden clarified that he stopped short of asking "for a cease-fire."
Here's what you need to know this morning:
Overnight, Hezbollah announced the death of another of its fighters: Hussein Ibrahim Salameh, originally from Aitaroun in south Lebanon. Salameh is the 124th Hezbollah fighter to be killed since the start of operations by Hassan Nasrallah's party against Israel on Oct. 8.
Hezbollah also announced this morning that it had targeted the Israeli military position of Daychoun, located on the border with south Lebanon, with rockets. The party says it struck its target.
Good morning,
We are with you live this Christmas Eve to cover the 79th day of the war between Hamas and Israel, and as tensions remain high in south Lebanon.
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