A picture taken in the southern Lebanese village of Mais al-Jabal, near the border with Israel, shows the rubble of a destroyed building following Israeli bombardment on Dec. 26, 2023, amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza. (Credit: AFP)
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Catch up on yesterday’s LIVE coverage of Day 80 of the Israel-Hamas war here.
An Israeli strike killed two people and critically injured a third as they were driving in Qlaileh, Sour district, medical sources told L’Orient Today’s correspondent in the south. Their car was directly hit by the missile and it burst into flames, security sources said. The strike came amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israel and Hezbollah. In northern Israel, nine soldiers were injured by a Hezbollah strike as they were rescuing a civilian wounded in an earlier attack. During the night, an Israeli airstrike on Bint Jbeil killed three people when it struck a residential home in the area.
Hezbollah announced the death of two of its fighters, raising the number of Hezbollah members killed since Oct. 8 to 128. Photos by AFP of Mais al-Jabal show homes reduced to rubble, as Israeli attacks continue to target border villages. Approximately 200 Israeli protesters decried their government’s “poor treatment of Israel's northern residents bordering Lebanon” and called for the removal of Hezbollah from the border, Israeli news source Haaretz reported.
Companies supplying food to Lebanese prisons threatened to cut deliveries by the end of the year, citing the government’s unpaid bills from the last three years. Six food suppliers for the Roumieh, Zahle, and Tripoli prisons, as well as the Baabda women's prison, said they would cut deliveries by Dec. 31. According to their letter to Internal Security Forces, the contract has ended and there are overdue payments going back to 2020. The companies issued a similar ultimatum in March. An August report from Human Rights Watch flagged a serious deterioration in access to food for detainees since 2019.
Licenses to carry weapons will be suspended from Thursday until further notice, a defense ministry statement reported ahead of New Year’s celebrations typically rife with dangerous and sometimes deadly celebratory gunfire. Those who have a diplomatic or official permit to carry weapons as well as those who accompany ministers, current and former MPs, heads of political parties and sects are exempted from this decision. Authorities have regularly clamped down on the rampant, and often unregulated, presence of firearms during holidays. Stray bullets have led to deaths, injuries and disruptions to air traffic at the Beirut International Airport.
The Lebanese Army announced the rescue of 54 would-be migrants from a boat sinking off the coast of Arida, in northern Lebanon, after a failed attempt to reach Cyprus, a security source told L’Orient Today. The Lebanese Army stopped a similar irregular migration attempt earlier this month. The United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported in June that irregular migration attempts departing from Lebanon accounted for nearly half of the 378 deaths on the Eastern Mediterranean route in 2022.
Three power cuts between Sunday and Tuesday forced Beirut International Airport to rely on its generators amid electricity rationing in an attempt by Electricité du Liban (EDL) to adjust to fuel shortages, caretaker Public Works Minister Ali Hamiyeh denounced. “[EDL] is supposed to supply the airport with electricity 24 hours a day,” Hamiyeh said. An earlier statement from EDL explained it would ration its remaining fuel stocks to prioritize keeping vital institutions and infrastructure, including the airport, operational. The shortage results from a lack of bids to provide EDL with fuel compatible with its power plants in exchange for Iraqi fuel — which Lebanon has received via a barter deal.
The number of people killed in Gaza rose to 20,915, according to the enclave’s health ministry as Israeli bombardment continues “unabated,” AFP reported. Internet and telephone services were completely interrupted in Gaza for a fourth time yesterday, said Palestinian telecoms provider Paltel. Israeli defense and military officials reiterated their intention to continue fighting in Gaza despite repeated calls for a cease-fire and the protection of civilians.
In case you missed it, here’s our must-read story from over the weekend: “Archbishop Hage criticized for meeting with Israeli president”
Compiled by Abbas Mahfouz.