Thank you for following our LIVE coverage of day 101 of the Israel-Hamas war. We will be back tomorrow with more news updates.
The intensive phase of the war "will soon come to an end" in the south of the Gaza Strip, where Israeli strikes are currently heaviest, Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant announced today, according to AFP.
"We made it clear that the intensive phase of operations would last approximately three months ... in the south, we'll get there and it will end soon," said Gallant, according to whom, "the time will come when we'll enter the next phase" of the war in Gaza.
Houthis claim responsibility for attack on US ship off Aden, according to AFP.
The leader of French left-wing political party La France Insoumise (LFI), Jean-Luc Mélenchon, is traveling to Lebanon on Tuesday to show his "solidarity" with the Lebanese and call once again for the "restoration of peace in the region," after more than 100 days of the Israel-Hamas war.
Palestinians will "govern" the Gaza Strip after the war, when Hamas "no longer threatens" Israel, defense minister of Israel Yoav Gallant said today.
"Palestinians live" in the Gaza Strip, "so Palestinians will govern it in the future. The future government of Gaza must emanate from the Gaza Strip and must be based on forces that do not threaten the state of Israel," he stated.
Freezing in makeshift tents, Gazans burn plastic to survive, according to AFP.
"We light the fire with plastic, [and] choke on the fumes," one mother from Gaza said.
Freezing in makeshift tents, Gazans burn plastic to survive, according to AFP.
"We light the fire with plastic, [and] choke on the fumes," one mother from Gaza said.
Hamas released a new video today stating that two of the Israeli hostages taken to Gaza on Oct. 7 were killed by "the Zionist army's bombing," according to AFP.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres today called for an "immediate humanitarian ceasefire" in the Gaza Strip after more than 100 days of war between Israel and Hamas, according to AFP.
"We continue to call for rapid, safe, unhindered, expanded and continuous humanitarian access into and through Gaza," Guterres said in a speech to the press.
In the past hour, artillery shelling targeted the outskirts of Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil district), local residents tell L'Orient Today.
Firefighters from the al-Risala Association extinguished a fire that broke out due to the Israeli airstrike targeting a house in the town of Rabb Thalathin (Marjayoun district) earlier in the afternoon, the association said in a statement.
Israeli artillery fired three shells at the Ras al-Daher area, east of the town of Mais al-Jabal (Marjayoun), according to reports from local residents.
A ship has been hit by a missile off the coast of Yemen, the UK Maritime Safety Agency (UKMTO) said today, the day after Yemeni Houthi rebels fired a cruise missile at a US destroyer.
The ship "was hit from above by a missile," UKMTO reported, specifying that the incident had occurred southeast of the city of Aden.
No information on the origin or ownership of the vessel was released.
A 79-year-old Israeli woman was killed, and 18 people were wounded today in a ramming and stabbing attack in three different scenes in the central Israeli city of Ra'anana, according to Haaretz.
According to Magen David Adom emergency services, two people, one of whom is a teenager, are in a serious condition and 15 people, including six children, are in light and moderate condition.
According to the Israeli Police, a 44-year-old Palestinian worker from the Palestinian town of Bani Na'im in the West Bank, was arrested after ramming civilians with three different vehicles. The police have also captured the suspect's nephew, another worker from the Hebron area, who was in the car and had later fled the scene.
Israeli artillery shelling targeted the outskirts of Kfar Kila and Adaisseh (Marjayoun district), local residents told L'Orient Today.
Israeli artillery targeted the outskirts of Naqoura (Sour district), according to local residents.
On Sunday night, the Israeli army and police arrested several students at al-Najah University in Nablus, in the occupied West Bank, Israeli and Palestinian sources told AFP.
The Israeli army said "nine wanted persons" were "hiding" inside the university, referring to "members of Hamas student cells."
A general strike was observed today in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared, North Lebanon, on the call of Palestinian factions, clerics, social movements and students, reports our correspondent.
A march was organized in support of Operation al-Aqsa Flood, launched by Hamas on Oct. 7.
A general strike in schools and shops was also observed in the Beddaoui camp, near Tripoli, according to the National News Agency (NNA). A march in support of Gaza also took place in the camp.
Israeli strikes in Rab al-Thalathine (Marjayoun) sparked off a fire in a house in the village, according to residents quoted by our correspondent.
After claiming responsibility for an attack at 1:40 p.m. against the Israeli site of Metulla (opposite Kfar Kila, in the Marjayoun district), Hezbollah clarified, in a correction to its first press release, that this strike targeted "surveillance equipment" located near Metulla.
The party also claimed to have struck, at 2 p.m., soldiers gathered near the Ramim barracks, located opposite the Lebanese border localities of Markaba and Houla (Marjayoun).
Three Israeli artillery shells fell on the outskirts of Rab al-Thalathine and Markaba, both in the Marjayoun district, residents told L'Orient Today.
Hezbollah claimed, in two statements, two strikes at the start of the afternoon with the first carried out at 1:40 p.m. against the Israeli site of Metulla (opposite Kfar Kila, in the Marjayoun district), and the second against the position of Birket Richa, located opposite the Lebanese village of Boustan (Sour), at 1:50 p.m.
This is the second time that the Birket Richa position has been struck today by Hezbollah. It was carried out, according to the party, using Burkan missiles, which can carry large explosive payloads.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said the United States "cannot call for restraint while supporting Israel's war in Gaza," urging Washington "not to link security and national interests of the United States to the fate of the Israeli Prime Minister who is falling." During a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart, the Iranian minister also called, according to Reuters, for a diplomatic solution to the war.
Israeli artillery fire targeted the surroundings of Umm al-Tout (Sour) for the second time today, as well as the outskirts of Markaba (Marjayoun) and the neighborhood of Khallet al-Ballout, in Houla (Marjayoun), residents reported to our correspondent.
According to al-Jazeera, "fierce fighting is underway between Palestinian fighters and Israeli troops in southern Khan Younis city." The Palestinian press agency Wafa reports that Israeli tanks are firing near the Bureij and Maghazi refugee camps in central Gaza.
Three United Nations agencies have asked Israel to allow access to its port of Ashdod to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip where Palestinians suffer significant food insecurity.
Access to this port is “absolutely necessary for humanitarian agencies,” officials from the World Food Program (WFP), UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) stressed in a joint statement.
Read the full story here.
For the second time today, missiles were fired from southern Lebanon at Israeli positions, a security source told our correspondent in southern Lebanon.
Caretaker Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib expressed satisfaction at a meeting with US Ambassador Lisa Johnson that the US is "ready to mediate a de-escalation and a return to calm in southern Lebanon." "We are in an open and positive dialogue with the Americans to find lasting solutions to protect Lebanon's sovereignty," added Bou Habib, according to a statement from his office.
The American envoy Amos Hochstein was in Beirut last Thursday to continue his negotiations, notably on the delimitation of the land borders between Lebanon and Israel, the election of a president, the formation of a government and the start of economic recovery, so that the latter can contribute to maintaining stability in southern Lebanon and security in the region.
Hezbollah announced that, at 12:55 p.m., it had struck the Israeli Birket Richa position (opposite the Lebanese village of Boustan in the Sour district).
The Israeli army said – in a statement reported by Haaretz – that "two rockets fell in an open area near Matat, in northern Israel, near the Lebanese border" and that warning sirens had sounded in northern Israel around 11 a.m.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for firing rockets towards Matat at the same time.
Several rockets were fired from southern Lebanon toward Israeli sites in northern Israel, a security source told our correspondent in southern Lebanon.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan asked his country’s officials to skip this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, which started today, over the organizers’ stance on Israel’s war against Hamas, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter.
Turkish Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek was planning to attend the annual gathering until Erdogan reversed the decision, the sources said.
Klaus Schwab, the forum’s founder and executive chairman, had previously condemned “Hamas’ terrorist attacks against Israel” while referring to the group's Oct. 7 surprise attack.
Today marks 100 days since fighting began on the Lebanese-Israeli border.
During this time, Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged near-daily fire that has progressively increased in intensity.
Read here a breakdown of the key facts of the 100 days of fighting in southern Lebanon.
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers, which had been loaded in Qatar, were stranded over the weekend due to US and British airstrikes on Yemen, Reuters and Bloomberg report.
Reuters reported that three ships were loaded at Ras Laffan in Qatar and were supposed to head to the Suez Canal, but stopped off the coast of Oman on Jan. 14, according to ship tracking data from the London Stock Exchange. A source familiar with these events told Reuters that this is a "pause" on the journey, time to assess its safety and that "if the passage [via the] Red Sea remains dangerous," the ships will detour via "the Cape [of Good Hope]."
Israeli artillery targeted the outskirts of Hanine (Bint Jbeil), residents of the town told our correspondent in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah announced that it targeted a group of Israeli soldiers in the vicinity of the Matat barracks (opposite the Lebanese town of Rmaish, in the Bint Jbeil district) with rockets at 11 a.m.
The Gazan Ministry of Health announces a new death toll of 24,100 in the Israeli offensive in Gaza with another 60,834 injured.
Israeli artillery shelling targeted an area near a mosque in Dhairah (Sour), residents of the town told our correspondent in southern Lebanon.
Israeli strikes on South Lebanon over the last thirty minutes:
Israeli artillery targeted the surroundings of Umm al-Tout, Boustan, Jibbain and Shihine, towns in the district of Sour, residents told our correspondent in southern Lebanon.
In an interview with CBS, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the United States had discussed with Israel "a transition to lower-intensity operations" in Gaza.
"We think it's the right time for this transition, and we're talking to them about it," he said on Face the Nation. According to him, Israel is already starting to take "preliminary steps to try to achieve this goal. They are withdrawing some troops, they are relying a little less on airstrikes." He added: "We are not saying that we should completely ease the pressure and not continue to attack Hamas. It is still a viable threat. They have every right and responsibility to tackle it. We just think the time has come, very soon, to move to a lower intensity phase."
In an article published on Sunday evening, Sky News Arabia provided more details about the Israeli spy airship known as "Sky Dew," which was reportedly launched over Lebanon on Jan. 7.
The director of the Center for Middle East Studies and Public Relations, Hicham Jaber, told Sky News Arabia that the "Sky Dew" is "currently carrying out espionage missions in the region after Hezbollah destroyed the spy cameras installed by Israel." Furthermore, according to writer and political analyst Ali Hamadeh, this airship "is the largest launched by Israel in the history of the Israeli-Arab wars."
Here you will find information about Sky Dew.
Since 8 a.m., four Israeli artillery shells fell in the vicinity of Toufa, southeast of the village of Mais al-Jabal (Marjayoun) and in the Tarash area, southwest of the same village, residents told our correspondent in the South.
In addition, two Israeli artillery shells fell on Ruwaisat Hill on the outskirts of the village of Houla (Marjayoun).
The situation in South Lebanon last night:
- After 9 p.m., Israeli artillery fired on the outskirts of the towns of Houla and Mais al-Jabal (Marjayoun).
- After 10 p.m., two Israeli shells fell around Mhaibib (Marjayoun)
- After 11 p.m., the Israeli army fired machine guns on the outskirts of Houla.
- After midnight, an Israeli rocket fell on Labbouneh, south of Naqoura (Sour).
In Gaza:
More than 60 Palestinians were killed across the enclave in "intense" Israeli bombardments carried out overnight from Sunday to Monday, according to a statement from the Gazan government. “More than 60 martyrs and dozens of wounded in new massacres committed last night and at dawn by the occupying forces,” wrote the enclave's press office. According to the text, the strikes and artillery bombardments targeted the towns of Khan Younis and Rafah, where the Israeli army is now concentrating its offensive, as well as other areas of the besieged territory.
In the Red Sea, the American military announced Sunday evening that it had shot down a cruise missile targeting an American destroyer, fired from an area of Yemen controlled by the Houthis.
On Sunday, at around 4:45 p.m. local time (1:45 p.m. GMT), "an anti-ship cruise missile fired from areas (controlled by) Iran-backed Houthi militants towards the USS Laboon," an American destroyer operating in the southern Red Sea, communicated the American military Command in the Middle East (Centcom). “The missile was shot down in the vicinity of the coast of Hodeida (in western Yemen, editor's note) by an American fighter plane,” added Centcom, indicating that there were no injuries or damage.
Hamas's military wing then released a video showing three living Israeli hostages, two men and a woman. This video gives no indication of when it was filmed. The three hostages ask the Israeli authorities in Hebrew to act for their release.
Israelis expressed their solidarity in Tel Aviv on Sunday with the hostages held in Gaza by Hamas and its allies to mark 100 days of their detention and support the mobilization of their families. But the spokesperson for the military branch of Hamas, Abu Obeida, affirmed in the evening that many of the hostages were "probably killed" recently with the others being in "great danger," which he deemed as the "complete responsibility" of Israel.
A 28-year-old Palestinian video journalist from the Arab television channel Al-Ghad, based in Cairo, was killed on Sunday "in the north of Gaza" with his death being attributed to an Israeli strike.
In Gaza, Israeli bombings continue, while the population of the Palestinian enclave is experiencing a major humanitarian crisis. According to reports, more than 100 people were killed in nighttime Israeli bombings, notably in Khan Younis. The Israeli army says it is now focusing its operations on this town where hundreds of thousands of civilians displaced by the fighting are massed.
Make sure you read the Morning Brief to make sure that you are caught up with everything that has been going on.
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