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Palestinians wait at the Rafah border crossing in Egypt after being evacuated from the Gaza Strip, on Dec. 26, 2023. (Credit: AFP)
Hezbollah announces the death of one of its fighters, Ahmed Hassan al-Derani, who was from the town of Qasarnaba in the Bekaa.
His death raises the total number of Hezbollah members killed since Oct. 8 to 128, according to our count. This is the second announcement from Hezbollah today regarding the death of a fighter.
Earlier we reported an Israeli airstrike killed two people driving near Qlaileh, Sour district. It's not clear whether the incident is related to these latest Hezbollah deaths.
Around 200 people, mostly mothers and children, gathered in Martyrs' Square in Beirut earlier today to show solidarity with the children of Gaza.
The "Christmas Gathering," under the slogan "From Lebanon to Palestine with love," was organized "spontaneously by Lebanese mothers who wanted to teach their children how to stand in solidarity with the children of Gaza, and Palestine in general," during the festive season, Dana Jaber Khatoun, one of the organizers, told L'Orient Today's photographer.
(Photo credit: João Sousa/L'Orient Today)
Hezbollah announces the death of one of its fighters, Hadi Hassan Awala, from the town of Ghobeiri, in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
The statement noted that he was killed "on the path to Jerusalem," without providing further information. The total number of Hezbollah members killed since Oct. 8 is now 127, according to our count.
Israel's war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip will last "for many more months," the Israeli army's chief of staff, Herzi Halevi says, according to an AFP report.
The war "will continue for many more months, and we will work with different methods so that our achievements are preserved for a long time," Halevi said at a televised press conference. "There are no magic solutions, there are no shortcuts," he said, referring to the army's stated goal of dismantling Hamas.
Halevi said the army was concentrating its efforts in the south of the Gaza Strip. Khan Younis and Rafah, the two most southern districts in Gaza are densely packed with people who have fled Israeli military operations elsewhere in the Strip. Around 80 percent of the population of 2.3 million have been displaced by the war, with most having moved south.
A woman walks amid the rubble of a destroyed building in the southern Lebanese village of Mais al-Jabbal, near the border with Israel, following Israeli bombardment earlier today. (Photo credit: AFP)
🔴 BREAKING: Two people have been killed and a third person critically injured by an Israeli airstrike that targeted the car they were driving in through the area around the southern Lebanese town of Qlaileh, Sour district, medical sources told our correspondent in the south.
The car was directly hit by the missile, which caused it to burst into flames, security sources told L'Orient Today.
It has not been confirmed yet whether the casualties are civilian or combatant.
Internet and telephone services were cut again across the war-torn Gaza Strip today, says Palestinian telecommunications company Paltel, according to reports from AFP.
"We regret to announce a complete breakdown of fixed telecommunications and internet services in the Gaza Strip due to the ongoing offensive," the company said, announcing the fourth such breakdown since the war began on October 7.
Two Israeli drones targeted the plains of the southern Lebanese border town of Qlaileh, Sour district, security sources tell L'Orient Today.
The two strikes were followed by Israeli aerial bombardment, according to our correspondent in the south, Muntasser Abdallah.
The main road running through the towns of Qaaqaait al-Jisr, Wadi al-Hujeir, Bint Jbeil and Marjayoun has been closed by the Lebanese Army after an unexploded missile was found, our correspondent reports, citing security sources.
Israeli warplanes carried out an airstrike targeting the Maaliyeh plains near Qlaileh, Sour district, following three raids conducted by drones in the area and on Wadi al-Azziyeh, also Sour district.
This picture taken from a position along the border in northern Israel today shows smoke billowing in the southern Lebanese village of Marwahine following Israeli bombardment (Photo by Jalaa Marey/AFP)
Hezbollah says its fighters targeted a "newly established [Israeli] command center" in the area around the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona at 3:30 p.m.
An Israeli warplane targeted the southern Lebanese village of Mais al-Jabal, Marjeyoun district, following an earlier drone strike that targeted the Kanissah and Kroom al-Marah areas, southwest and northeast of the town respectively, residents in the area tell our correspondent.
In a separate attack, Israeli artillery shelling targeted the outskirts of the southern Lebanese town of Naqoura, Sour district, residents from the area say.
There was an explosion reported outside the Israeli embassy in New Delhi, according to Reuters and Haaretz, citing the Israeli Foreign Ministry. No staff were harmed in the blast and the cause is still unknown.
"We can confirm that around 5:20 [p.m.] there was a blast at close proximity to the embassy," Israeli Embassy spokesperson Guy Nir told Reuters. Israeli authorities are working with their Indian counterparts to investigate the cause of the explosion.
An Israeli shell fell between the southern Lebanese towns of Qaaqaaiyet al-Jisr and Wadi al-Hujair, residents in the town of Kfar Sir, Nabatieh district, tell L'Orient Today's correspondent in the south.
The Israeli army says that 874 soldiers have been wounded since it began its ground operation into the Gaza Strip on Oct. 20 — an increase of 40 wounded soldiers since yesterday (Monday), in a statement released today.
According to the army's statement, five soldiers are in serious condition and seven were lightly wounded during the last 24 hours.
In the last hour:
• Hezbollah fighters targeted the Israeli Zabdeen Barracks, located in the occupied Lebanese Shebaa Farms, at 2:50 p.m. This is the second attack against this position announced today.
• Israeli warplanes struck the outskirts of the southern Lebanese town of Marwahine, Sour district, eyewitnesses from the town tell our correspondent in the south, Muntasser Abdallah.
• A second attack on the outskirts of Marwahine struck Bilat mountain, local residents say.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will meet his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan for talks likely to focus on the situations in Gaza and Syria as well as bilateral ties, Reuters reports, citing a Turkish official. The meeting will take place in Ankara on Jan. 4.
A planned visit by Raisi in late November was postponed due to the conflicting schedules of the two regional powers' foreign ministers, the official also said. At the time, Turkey's foreign minister was in New York as part of a "contact group" of Muslim countries on Gaza.
The Israeli army says it has arrested senior Palestinian politician Khalida Jarrar in the occupied West Bank, along with other activists of her leftist party. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said Israel’s army launched a “vast campaign on Tuesday morning to arrest leaders” of the group in the occupied West Bank.
Read the full story here.
A rocket launched earlier by an Israeli drone on the village of Touline fell in front of the village cooperative, slightly injuring two civilians, local residents told our correspondent in southern Lebanon.
Three rockets also fell on the outskirts of Rashaya (Hasbaya), our correspondent added.
The British maritime safety agency UKMTO announced on X that it had received a new report of an incident approximately 60 nautical miles from Hodeida, Yemen. An explosion was heard and missiles were seen 4 nautical miles from the position.
The agency said the ship and crew were safe.
Hezbollah announced that it targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers at the Raheb site at 1:45 p.m., causing casualties.
Hezbollah said that it targeted the leadership of the 91st Division in the Pranit barracks at 01:45 pm.
Meanwhile, a security source told our correspondent in southern Lebanon that two missiles were launched from southern Lebanon towards Israeli sites. Moreover, the source added that three Israeli shells have fallen on the outskirts of Naqoura (Sour).
An Israeli drone carried out an airstrike on the area of al-Tamriyah between the towns of Touline and al-Majdal (Marjayoun district) resulting in two minor injuries, residents in Touline told our correspondent in the South.
A team from al-Risala scouts (Amal Movement-affiliated first-aid workers) transferred the injured people to a hospital in the area
20,915 people have been killed in Gaza and 54,918 injured in Israeli strikes since Oct. 7, Gaza's health ministry said, according to Reuters.
Hezbollah announced that it had targeted, at 12:10 p.m., a gathering of Israeli soldiers near the Dovev Barracks, located opposite the Lebanese towns of Rmaish and Yaroun (Nabatieh), causing “deaths and injuries.”
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told a Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee hearing that Israel was “in a multi-arena war,” according to Haaretz.
“From the beginning (of the conflict), we were attacked on seven fronts: Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Iraq, Yemen and Iran. We have already reacted and acted on six of these fronts, and I say it here in the most explicit way: anyone who acts against us is a potential target, there is no immunity for anyone,” he said. added.
Mr. Gallant said the war in Gaza is "more justifiable than ever." “We were attacked in such a brutal and barbaric way that people were discouraged from living here...Anyone who undertakes such action is condemned. Whether it takes months or years, this matter must be brought to an end,” he concluded.
Israeli bombardment of Gaza continues unabated. Thirty bodies have been transported in the last 24 hours to the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, according to the Gazan Ministry of Health quoted by AFP.
The Israeli army has announced that it has struck over 100 Hamas targets in the last 24 hours, including tunnel entrances and military sites, notably in Jabalia and Khan Younis.
Hezbollah announced that, at noon, it targeted an Israeli monitoring station near the Shomera Barracks, claiming that the attack caused "fatalities and injuries."
Israeli artillery also struck the area between Jibsheet and Choukine (Nabatieh), local residents told out correspondent in southern Lebanon.
The site targeted by these strikes is some 30 kilometers from the border and further north than the vast majority of Israeli bombardments in southern Lebanon, which are generally concentrated on border villages.
In a statement, Hezbollah took credit for an attack on a group of soldiers gathered near the Ramieh site along the Lebanese-Israeli border at 11:40 a.m. using "suitable weapons" and that there were "direct hits."
The Israeli army attacked Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in response to firing near the Har Dov, the Hebrew name given for the Shebaa Farms, and Shomera region in northern Israel, the military said in a statement published on X.
On Tuesday morning, an Israeli fighter jet hit Hezbollah "infrastructure" and a tank fired at a "target to eliminate a threat from Lebanon," the army said.
It also reported that a surface-to-air missile had been launched earlier from Lebanese territory at an Israeli aircraft operating in the region. The plane was not hit and successfully completed its mission, the army added.
Israeli shells landed in the outskirts of Aita al-Shaab and Beit Lif (Bint Jbeil), local residents told our correspondent in southern Lebanon.
An Israeli military raid on the Fawwar Refugee Camp south of Hebron left two people dead, the Palestinian health ministry said according to AFP.
The two people, aged 17 and 31, were shot and killed in the camp when Israeli forces raided the area.
According to one resident of the camp, the first person was killed in the initial raid while the second was killed during the clashes that followed.
British maritime authorities received today two reports of sightings of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) followed by two explosions near a vessel about 50 miles west of Yemen's Port of Hodeidah, according to Reuters.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said that the vessel was in communication with coalition forces operating in the area and reported itself and its crew as safe.
UKMTO said in a subsequent advisory it received confirmation from the vessel that it is continuing its voyage.
Palestinians inspect the damage at home following Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Dec. 26, 2023, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (Credit: Said Khatib/AFP)
The Indian Navy has announced the deployment of three warships and a reconnaissance aircraft to the Arabian Sea to "maintain a deterrent presence," following a series of attacks targeting merchant vessels. Three destroyers and a P8I maritime patrol aircraft were sent to the area in response to the "recent wave of attacks in the Arabian Sea," said the statement issued on Monday night and reported by AFP.
A chemical tanker was hit on Saturday off the coast of India by a drone, which the United States claims was fired from Iran. Teheran denied any involvement.
The move follows a series of drone and missile attacks in the Red Sea in recent weeks by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, against the backdrop of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
More than 200 people demonstrated at the Ami'ad intersection in the Upper Galilee to protest the government's "poor treatment of Israel's northern residents bordering Lebanon" and for the removal of Hezbollah from the border, according to Haaretz.
Among other things, the demonstrators held signs that read "He who abandoned the South will not save the North," "The government has lost the North," "We are all refugees," and "This is where the line of lawlessness passes."
Many of the protesters are residents who were evacuated from their homes in the north.
Adir Koren, who was evacuated from his home in the village of Sasa, said he came to protest against the residents' continued uncertainty. "We feel there is a crisis of trust between the government and the people, both in the north and in the south. We are protesting so that the government will make sure that we have a long-term solution, that there won't be some band-aid that will bring us back in a few months to the same situation," he said.
Israeli shells have fallen on Wata al-Khiam (Marjayoun), residents told our correspondent in southern Lebanon.
In a statement, Hezbollah says that it targeted the Zibdine site in the Shebaa Farms at 9:45 a.m. using "suitable weapons."
Artillery shelling has targeted the upper floors of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society headquarters in Khan Younis, Gaza, causing several injuries among the displaced individuals, as thousands of IDPs are sheltering in the building, according to a post published by the organization on X (formerly Twitter).
L'Orient Today could not independently verify this claim.
Three Israeli rockets targeted the outskirts of the village of Aitaroun (Bint Jbeil), reports our correspondent in southern Lebanon, citing residents of the region.
Israeli artillery also targeted the southeastern outskirts of Mais al-Jabal (Marjayoun), they added.
The Japanese government will freeze assets and impose sanctions on payments and capital transactions on three senior Hamas members, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said today, according to Reuters.
The three individuals were believed to be involved in the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, the top Japanese government spokesperson said.
Israeli artillery targeted the outskirts of Mais al-Jabal (Marjayoun), in the Tarash area, local residents told our correspondent.
The Arab-Israeli community in northern Israel says they are facing a lack of Israeli government assistance to keep them safe and that they are “constantly looking at the sky in fear” as exchanges of fire continue between Hezbollah and the Israeli army, Haaretz reports.
The National Committee of Arab Local Authorities estimates that 40 to 50 percent of residents of Arab towns in Israel have no access to protected spaces. In the northern Christian village of Fassuta, 3.5 kilometers from the Lebanese border, life has been put on hold, according to the Israeli newspaper. “We're paralyzed right now – no schools, no work, booms every day,” says village engineer Khalil Basal.
In the nearby town of Deir al-Asad, some of the 3,500 residents are worried about reliving the trauma of 2006 when a mother and her 5-year-old son were killed by a Katyusha rocket in the courtyard of their home. "A similar situation could happen now, and the dead could number in the thousands," says the head of the town, Qasem Asadi. “Hezbollah's rocket technology has improved, but nothing has changed in the town” in terms of protection he adds.
An interceptor missile launched by the Iron Dome exploded shortly after 9 p.m. over Labbouneh, south of Naqoura (Sour). After 9.30 p.m., Israeli rockets repeatedly targeted the outskirts of Labbouneh, Tayr Harfa and Jibbain. Flares were launched between Aita al-Shaab and Rmaish (Bint Jbeil caza).
- According to our correspondent, Israeli attacks hit 25 targets in southern Lebanon on Monday. For its part, Hezbollah carried out eight operations against Israel. In particular, it hit the Avivim site and buildings in Meskav Am in response to Israeli strikes against homes and civilians in southern Lebanon.
- Finally, in a statement, Hezbollah mourned the death of Razi Moussavi, one of the Revolutionary Guards' most experienced advisors, who was killed on Monday in an Israeli attack in Syria.
An update on the situation in southern Lebanon:
- An Israeli jet targeted the village of Mais al-Jabal twice at 7 a.m. on Monday, local residents told our correspondent.
- According to eyewitnesses, a rocket was fired before 7 a.m. at a drone flying over the villages of Srifa, Arzoun and Froun, east of Sour.
- Several Israeli attacks were reported on Monday evening in southern Lebanon, security sources told our correspondent in the South.
Britain's maritime safety agency UKMTO received a report of an incident about 50 nautical miles west of the port of Hodeida in Yemen, according to a briefing note issued on Tuesday and reported by Reuters.
Attacks targeting commercial ships have increased in the Red Sea since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on Oct. 7 and have prompted major shipping companies to redirect their ships toward the southern tip of Africa, despite fuel costs higher for much longer trips.
The Houthis, who control entire swaths of Yemeni territory including the capital Sanaa, repeat that they will continue their attacks as long as food and medicine do not return in sufficient quantities to the Gaza Strip, which is besieged and bombarded by Israel. The Houthis are "part of the axis of resistance" against Israel, which includes other groups supported by Iran, such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
The Israeli army announced Tuesday morning the death of two Israeli soldiers. A total of 158 soldiers have been killed in combat since the start of its ground offensive in Gaza on Oct. 27, around twenty days after the first bombings.
After visiting Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that peace will only be achieved if Gaza is "demilitarized" and "deradicalized," after announcing an intensification of fighting against Hamas in the Palestinian territory.
“We are not stopping...we are intensifying the fighting in the days to come. It will be a long war,” he insisted, according to comments cited by AFP.
Make sure to read the Morning Brief to ensure that you are caught up on what has been happening.
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