Communication systems gradually return in Gaza; Biden and Netanyahu speak for first time in 3 weeks: Day 105 of Hamas-Israel war

Thank you for following our LIVE coverage from day 105 of the Hamas-Israel war.

We'll be back tomorrow with more news updates and analysis, right here at L'Orient Today.

According to reports from Israeli news outlet Haaretz, the sirens that sounded in the northern Israeli city of Haifa earlier were due to the Israeli army's attempts to intercept "a suspicious target" that had crossed into Israel from Lebanon.

An Israeli army spokesperson, cited by Haaretz, said the rocket siren was activated following the launch of the interceptor.

Israel has one of the highest rates of journalists detained in its prisons, according to the annual survey published Thursday by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

"Amidst a months-long war, Israel emerged for the first time as one of the world’s leading jailers of journalists, with 17 recorded behind bars as of Dec. 1, 2023," reads the press release published by CPJ along with the survey's results. Israel shares sixth place with Iran, who also has 17 journalists currently detained in its prisons.

The results from the latest survey show the highest number of Palestinians held in Israeli jails since CPJ first started conducting the survey in 1992.

👉 Read more here.

Hezbollah will deliver "a real slap in the face" to Israel if the country expands its "aggression" at the Israel-Lebanon border, says the party's deputy leader, according to a report from AFP.

Naim Kassem also reiterated that the restoration of stability at the border — and in the region — relies on the "end of aggression in Gaza."

The leader of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc, Mohammed Raad, told the state-run National News Agency: "The Israeli enemy is not prepared ... facing what the Islamic resistance in Lebanon has in store for it."

👉 Read more here.

From today's White House briefing:

• The White House says it is "seriously concerned" about reports that a Palestinian-American teenager had been killed by Israeli fire in the occupied West Bank earlier today, AFP reports.

"The information is scant at this time, we don't have perfect context about exactly what happened," said National Security Council spokesman John Kirby during the press briefing.

• Kirby also told reporters that US President Joe Biden still believes in the promise and possibility of a two-state solution in the Middle East, according to a Reuters report. Biden also welcoms Israel's decision to permit the shipment of flour to Gaza, Kirby said.

• The US military carried out another round of strikes against Yemen's Houthi rebels today targeting missile launchers that were preparing for attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, according to the White House, cited by AFP.

"This morning, US forces conducted three successful self-defense strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen." Kirby said.

• The United States still opposes a general ceasefire in Gaza, believing it will help Hamas militants, Reuters reports Kirby as saying.

"We do support humanitarian pauses, as I said, to try to get hostages out and more aid in, but we don't support a ceasefire at this time. I think it's important to remember that there was cease-fire in place on the sixth of October."

Here are the latest updates from southern Lebanon:

• Israeli shelling targeted the outskirts of the town of Houla in Marjayoun district, local residents reported.

• The area of Wadi al-Jamal, between the towns of Houla and Mais al-Jabal, both located in the Marjayoun district, was targeted by Israel, local residents told L'Orient Today.

• Israeli artillery has targeted the Aziyyeh hill, southwest of Deir Mimas in the Marjayoun district, as reported by residents, who say the area was struck with five shells.

Alarm sirens are sounding in Haifa, the Israeli army says. This is the second time since the start of the Hamas-Israel war that the alarm system has been activated in Haifa, The Times of Israel reports.

Haifa is Israel's third largest city and is located approximately 44 kilometers from the Lebanon-Israel border.

We will bring you more updates as we get them.

Internet services are starting to return to the besieged Gaza Strip after a week-long blackout, reports AFP, citing an announcement from telecom operator Paltel.

"We announce the gradual return of communication services in various areas of the Gaza Strip," the firm said in a statement.

Paltel, short for Palestine Telecommunications Company, is the largest telecom provider for the territory. Earlier we reported that Gaza was experiencing the longest yet communications blackout since the war began, with today being the seventh day without service.

Joe Biden spoke with Benjamin Netanyahu on the phone, their first conversation since Dec. 23, and which comes at a time of friction between the United States and Israel, reports AFP, citing a statement from the White House.

The US president and the Israeli prime minister, whose personal relationship is notoriously difficult, discussed "the latest events in Gaza and Israel." No further details were immediately disclosed, but the White House said it would issue a fuller statement later today.

Biden's call with Netanyahu came as Red Crescent officials reported "intense gunfire from the Israeli drones targeting citizens at al-Amal Hospital" in Khan Yunis, the main city in the southern part of Gaza, Reuters reports.

Israel launched a major new advance in Khan Younis this week to capture the city, which it says is now the primary base of the Hamas fighters. Earlier this week, the Israeli army withdrew some troops from the north, saying it would follow a "more targeted" approach. However, since then, tanks have returned to the areas they withdrew from and fighting has intensified once again.

The Palestine Red Crescent says that its teams are working to clean up al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City, located in the north of the enclave, in a post on X. The hospital, which suffered heavy damage from Israeli army strikes, ceased operations in November after it was attacked by the Israeli army. Israel had claimed that the hospital was being used by Hamas for military purposes.

“For several days, Palestine Red Crescent teams have been cleaning up the aftermath of the extensive destruction caused by the Israeli occupation forces at al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City,” the PRC said.

“The hospital suffered a fire, and a destruction of all its medical equipment and contents," the post said.

Here's the latest update from southern Lebanon:

• Two interceptor missiles exploded over residential areas near the southern Lebanese town of Aita al-Shaab in the Marjayoun district, local residents who saw and heard the attack unfold told L'Orient Today's correspondent.

• Israeli artillery shelling targeted the Hamames Hill, south of Khiam, and the outskirts of Mais al-Jabal, both located in the Marjayoun district. The area was hit with six shells in total.

• A number of rockets were launched from southern Lebanon towards Israeli positions, security sources told L'Orient Today.

Gaza residents have been largely without internet and telephone services for a week now, AFP reports, citing an internet monitor. This communications blackout has become the longest outage since the Hamas-Israel war started.

UN humanitarian agency OCHA warns that the lack of communication system is worsening an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis. "The blackout of telecommunications prevents people in Gaza from accessing lifesaving information or calling for first responders."

👉 Read more here.  

Pakistan and Iran "agreed to de-escalate" tensions today, Islamabad said, after trading deadly air strikes on militant targets in each other's territory this week, according to a report from AFP.

"The two foreign ministers agreed that working-level cooperation and close coordination on counter-terrorism and other aspects of mutual concern should be strengthened," said a summary of a phone call between Islamabad and Tehran's top diplomats, issued by Pakistan's foreign office.

Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of the UN refugee agency for Palestinians, has warned that the occupied West Bank is witnessing its highest levels of violence yet, in what he described as “a tragic cycle of pain and suffering.”

In a post on X, he said that since Oct. 7, the numbers, duration and intensity of the Israeli army’s operations “have significantly increased especially in refugee camps.”

This week the Israeli army carried out a two-day raid in Tulkarem, killing six Palestinians, as reported by AFP. On Wednesday, an Israeli airstrike in Tulkarem killed five people, which the army claimed were "terrorists." Thursday, a 27-year-old man was shot dead in Nur Shams refugee camp, also in Tulkarem. The man was described by a local official as a civilian not involved in fighting. Videos published in the Palestinian media show bulldozers uprooting trees and destroying civilian infrastructure.

Five Palestinian militants were also killed Wednesday near Nablus, also in the occupied West Bank, in an Israeli strike on a car in Balata refugee camp, AFP reported.

(Photo: Zain Jaafar/AFP)

An update on Hezbollah strikes against northern Israel:

• Hezbollah announced that around 4:15 p.m., it targeted a deployment of Israeli soldiers in the vicinity of the Israeli Khirbet Maar military base “with a Burkan rocket, causing direct injuries.”

• At 4 p.m. it targeted a group of Israeli soldiers at the Israeli site of Jabal Nazer, which faces the southern Lebanese town of Mais al-Jabal in the Marjayoun district. Sirens were heard in northern Israel at around the same time, Haaretz reports.

Here’s what has been happening in southern Lebanon over the past hour:

• An Israeli aircraft targeted Wadi Hamul, south of Naqoura, Sour district, as well as the outskirts of Tyr Harfa, also Sour district,  according to reports from local residents.

• Security sources reported Israeli artillery shelling on the outskirts of Rashaya al-Foukhar, Hasbaya district.

• Intermittent shelling on Kfar Kila, Marjayoun district, was accompanied by heavy machine gun fire coming from the Israeli town of Metula, located opposite Kfar Kila, security sources reported.

The European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says the state of Israel financed the creation of  Hamas in a bid to weaken the Palestinian Authority, Reuters reports.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied accusations by his opponents in Israel and some global media that his government spent years actively boosting Hamas in Gaza.

Reports on the financial relationship between Netanyahu's government and Hamas have been published by outlets such as The New York Times, Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Haaretz, and The Times of Israel.

"Yes, Hamas was financed by the government of Israel in an attempt to weaken the Palestinian Authority led by Fatah," Borrell said in a speech in the University of Valladolid, without elaborating further on such alleged financing.

Around two hundred people gathered outside the South African consulate in Beirut today to thank the country for taking Israel to the International Court of Justice.

Last Thursday, in The Hague, Netherlands, South Africa's legal team  presented an 84-page filing accusing Israel of carrying out genocide in Gaza and demanded that the UN's top court order an emergency suspension of Israel's devastating military campaign in the Palestinian enclave. Israel rejected the accusations of genocide as false and baseless and said South Africa was speaking on behalf of Hamas — which South Africa denies.

L'Orient Today's reporter Stephanie Becharra spoke to Abdel Malek Sukkaria, Secretary-General (amin serr) of the International Campaign for the Return to Palestine. He said that the gathering outside the South African consulate is ⁠"a symbolic stand to thank South Africa for its historic stand, because it’s the first time a case is made internationally against the Zionist [Israeli] state, by documenting and providing evidence of the genocide that’s currently being committed.”

Protester raises a sign outside the South African Embassy in Beirut, Jan. 19, 2024. (Credit: Joao Sousa/L'Orient Today)

Some cruise operators have cancelled or adjusted their itineraries to avoid the Red Sea due to Houthi attacks on ships, Reuters reports, but the overall impact on the multi-billion dollar industry is not expected to be significant.

Royal Caribbean is based in Florida and is the largest cruise line company by revenue in the world. It announced in a statement today that it had cancelled two voyages so far: One from Muscat to Dubai was meant to take place Jan. 16-26, and another from Dubai to Mumbai was scheduled for Jan. 26-Feb. 11.

It also amended last week the itinerary of a cruise between Aqaba and Muscat to disembark guests in a port city near Athens.

Swiss-Italian operator MSC Cruises said on Wednesday it had cancelled three trips in April from South Africa and the United Arab Emirates to Europe due to the Red Sea crisis.

A delegation from Hamas has visited Russia for the second time since the war began in October, Reuters reports, citing the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

During meetings, the Russian side emphasized the importance of releasing Israeli captives, the ministry says.  It also condemned the “catastrophic” humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas and Russia have maintained a relationship for more than 17 years, since Hamas leaders were first invited to Moscow in March 2006, shortly after taking power in Gaza, according to the Washington-based Middle East Institute.

A Hamas delegation, which included senior official Abu Marzouk, was last in Russia on Oct. 26, 2023.

Here are the latest updates from southern Lebanon:

• Israeli artillery shelling on the outskirts of Beit Lif, Bint Jbeil district, and the outskirts of Rashaya al-Fakhar and al-Fardis in the Hasbaya district. a security source told L’Orient Today.

• Several missiles were fired from southern Lebanon, targeting Israeli positions in the occupied Lebanese Shebaa Farms, a security source told L’Orient Today.

• Eyewitnesses report that Israeli warplanes carried out an airstrike between Kfar Kila and al-Adaisseh, both located in the Marjayoun district.

• The outskirts of the town of Bint Jbeil were targeted by Israeli artillery shelling, according to local residents.

• Israeli airstrikes targeted the area between Bint Jbeil and Aitaroun, also in Bint Jbeil district.

• Airstrikes this morning on Kfar Kila, Marjayoun district, resulted in the destruction of three houses in the town, according to residents there.

Photo shows smoke rising following a strike on al-Adaisseh earlier today. (Credit: Rabih Daher/AFP)

Belgium will provide a ship to an EU mission aimed at protecting ships against attacks by Houthi militias in the Red Sea, Belgian television channel VRT reported on Friday, citing government sources.

Many commercial carriers have diverted their ships to other routes following attacks in the Red Sea by Houthi militants, who control much of Yemen and say they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians, while Israel and Hamas are waging a war in Gaza.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he had urged his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu to "radically" reduce the level of violence against Palestinians and immediately halt fighting to allow more aid to flow into the besieged Gaza Strip.

“Israel needs to let in a lot more relief material, a lot faster,” Rutte said after a phone call with Netanyahu, reported by Reuters. “We discussed concrete steps to achieve this.”

The Israeli army said it had “intercepted” a drone coming from Lebanon and struck Hezbollah “infrastructure” in southern Lebanon. On the border with Syria, its tanks "targeted Syrian army infrastructure," reports AFP.

Earlier, Haaretz reported that a drone fired from Lebanon was shot down over the Mediterranean Sea in Israeli airspace, near the city of Acre.

A UN human rights official has accused Israel of mistreating Palestinian detainees in Gaza, saying he met men who described being held for weeks, beaten and blindfolded, with some having been released with diapers.

Ajith Sunghay, a UN human rights official in Gaza, told reporters that it was not possible to know exactly how many men had been detained by Israel since the start of its military operation in Gaza. Gaza in response to deadly Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, but he said the number was in the thousands.

“These are men who were detained by Israeli security forces in unknown locations for 30 to 55 days,” Sunghay told reporters in Geneva via video link from Gaza.

Criminal complaints were filed in Switzerland against Israeli President Isaac Herzog who was at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos on Thursday, the Attorney General's Office told AFP on Friday.

The complaints requested the establishment of "in-depth criminal proceedings" in Switzerland against the Israeli president for "genocide and crimes against humanity."

The people who filed the complaints published a press release, obtained by AFP entitled "Legal Action Against Crimes Against Humanity." It says that “several people,” whose names are not given, have filed these complaints.

Read the full story here.

A drone fired from Lebanon was shot down over the Mediterranean Sea in Israeli airspace, near the city of Acre, reports Haaretz.

“The Israeli enemy is not prepared for a war against the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon, which will show its bravery and move on,” warned MP Mohammad Raad, who chairs the Hezbollah parliamentary group.

The elected official spoke from the town of Sarafand (Saida), on the occasion of a ceremony organized in honor of Youssef Ismaïl, a party fighter who died at the border where there have been increased exchanges of fire since Oct. 8.

Regarding the Lebanese front, he also added that the Israeli army was "forced to retreat" because it was "tired by resistance that it did not expect," referring to the partial withdrawal of the Israeli troops from the enclave almost three months after the start of its ground offensive.

(Photo distributed by Hezbollah with the press release repeating the MP's speech)

The Gazan health ministry says that 24,762 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war on Oct. 7, according to AFP.

An additional 62,108 have been injured since the fighting began. In the last 24 hours, 142 people have been killed.

Israeli artillery targeted the surroundings of the town of Braasheet (Bint Jbeil), according to statements from residents of the region to our correspondent in southern Lebanon. The surroundings of Houla (Marjayoun) were also targeted, near Khallet al-Rekhmeh, according to residents.

Israeli artillery also hit an area between Aita al-Shaab and Ramieh (Bint Jbeil), as well as the surroundings of Marwahine and Jabal al-Blat, according to residents.

A security source also said that several missiles were fired from southern Lebanon towards Western Galilee, in northern Israel. No one has claimed responsibility for such shootings so far.

After a visit to Gaza, Ted Chaiban, deputy director general of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), warned that children in the enclave face hunger, saying they live in the worst conditions that he had ever seen.

“The little food available does not meet the unique nutritional needs of children. As a result, thousands are suffering from malnutrition and illness,” he lamented in a statement. “If this decline persists, we could see deaths from indiscriminate conflict added to deaths from disease and hunger,” warned Chaiban.

Iran said on Friday it had successfully carried out an air defense exercise using drones designed to intercept hostile targets in an area stretching from its southwest to its southeast coast, Reuters reports.

“Iranian forces have successfully launched a new air defense method that uses drones to intercept and target hostile targets,” state-run Press TV quoted an Iranian military spokesperson as saying.

The two-day exercises, which began on Thursday, cover an area from Abadan, in southwestern Khuzestan province, to Shahbahar, in southeastern Sistan and Baluchistan province, to the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pakistan launched airstrikes against what it said were separatist militants inside Iran on Thursday, in a retaliatory attack two days after Tehran struck the bases of another group inside Iran. inside Pakistani territory.

Gadi Eisenkot, Israeli war cabinet minister and former chief of staff, criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's handling of the Gaza war, according to Haaretz.

He also believed that, contrary to Netanyahu's directives to continue shelling Gaza until the captives were freed, the only way to secure their release was to reach a deal with Hamas. “We must courageously say that it is not possible to return the hostages alive in the short term without an agreement,” he stressed, castigating “all those who try to sell fantasies to the public.”

Eisenkot also said that on Oct. 11, Israel was about to strike Hezbollah, but that he and Minister Benny Gantz managed to convince war cabinet officials to wait. “I think our presence there prevented Israel from making a serious strategic error,” Eisenkot said.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says he has held talks with his US counterpart Lloyd Austin and adds that Israel "is committed to the safe return of northerners to their homes and is approaching a decision on the issue," Haaretz reports.

According to a statement from Gallant's press office, Israel prefers to act diplomatically "but is also prepared to use military force." The two men also discussed the fighting and its progress in the Gaza Strip.

Nearly 80 Palestinians were killed this Friday in Israeli strikes on Gaza, reports AFP.

(Thick smoke rises above the Gaza Strip during an Israeli bombardment. Credit: Jack Guez/AFP)

Israeli planes carried out a strike on the outskirts of the village of Kfar Kila (Marjayoun), reports our correspondent in southern Lebanon, citing residents of the region.

A second strike targeted the area between the villages of Adaisseh and Kfar Kila.

Three Israeli missiles also hit the outskirts of Mais al-Jabal (Marjayoun).

China calls for an end to "harassment" of civilian ships in the Red Sea after attacks by Houthi rebels in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, reports AFP.

“The waters of the Red Sea constitute an important international trade route for goods and energy,” said Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Friday.

Two Israeli artillery shells fell near Khiam (Marjayoun), according to statements from residents to our correspondent in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli army spokesperson announced that the Air Force assassinated the deputy head of Islamic Jihad's "propaganda unit," Wael Abou Fanouna, according to Haaretz.

Fanouna was responsible for “documenting the hostages as well as distributing their videos and videos showing Islamic Jihad operatives shooting at Israel and Israeli soldiers,” the army added.

The leader of the Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea, denounced the fact that the caretaker government of Najib Mikati "left decision-making to one group and gave it the possibility of transforming the country into a battlefield" in a barely veiled allusion to Hezbollah.

“We could have avoided what is happening today by electing a President of the Republic,” he added during an interview with the Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Lebanon, Hamish Cowell, according to comments reported by the National Information Agency.

His statements come as Lebanon has been plagued by a vacancy in the supreme office for more than fifteen months.

Israeli warplanes fired at least 11 missiles at an area located between Ramieh and Marwahine (Sour) in southern Lebanon, reports our correspondent in the region, citing a security source.

Furthermore, the surroundings of Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil) were targeted by three Israeli missiles, according to a security source.

(Photo sent by our correspondent)

Twenty-four cases of hepatitis A have been detected among the population of Gaza with no deaths having been reported so far, said the Director-General of the WHO (World Health Organization), Tedros Ghebreyesus, on x.

Several thousand people suffer from jaundice, probably due to hepatitis A, he added. Ghebreyesus also regretted the fact that “ the capacity to diagnose diseases remains extremely limited "in the absence of an “operational laboratory."

The head of the WHO finally deplored that the "inhumane living conditions"  in the Palestinian enclave will allow hepatitis A to "spread further."

The Israeli army announced this morning the death of another of its soldiers, according to Haaretz and the Times of Israel.

According to the count published by the latter, his death brings the number of Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza to 194 and 530 since Oct. 7.

A few sporadic incidents took place during the night, according to security sources contacted by our correspondent in South Lebanon:

* After 9:30 p.m., Israeli artillery bombarded the eastern outskirts of Mais al-Jabal (Marjayoun).

* Around 10 p.m., the surroundings of the Khiam plain (Marjayoun) and the Hamamis hill, south of Khiam, were targeted by artillery fire.

*After 10:30 p.m., Israeli artillery bombarded the surroundings of Tal al-Nahhas, Kfar Kila and Deir Mimas (Marjayoun). Low-flying drones were also heard over the Rashaya al-Wadi (Rachaya) area and along the western slope of Mount Hermon.

* After 1 a.m., the impact caused by three shells was heard near Mais al-Jabal.

At around 8:30 a.m., two Israeli shells fell near the town of Kfar Kila (Marjayoun), according to our correspondent in southern Lebanon.

Calm has still not returned to the Red Sea:

Early Friday, the Houthis claimed responsibility for shooting at an American tanker, the Chem Ranger, traveling in the Gulf of Aden, in "solidarity" with Gaza.

According to the specialist site Marine Traffic, the Chem Ranger is an oil tanker flying the flag of the Marshall Islands which has been off the coast of Yemen in recent days.

The American military command in the Middle East (Centcom) confirmed that the Houthis had indeed targeted the Chem Ranger, but without reaching it as the rebels claim. The crew “saw the missiles hit the water near the ship,” Centcom said, assuring that there was no damage or injuries.

During the night, the Israeli army also carried out raids in different sectors of the occupied West Bank, notably in Tulkarem where the Ministry of Health of the Palestinian Authority has counted at least six deaths since Wednesday.

While the humanitarian situation in Gaza is critical, with around 80 percent of the population displaced by raids or fighting, Israel and the US disagree on how to manage the conflict.

"We will not be satisfied with anything less than total victory, which means the elimination of terrorist leaders, the destruction of Hamas's operational and military capabilities, the return of our hostages home, the demilitarization of Gaza with controlled total security of Israel and on everything that enters" this Palestinian territory, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Thursday.

“Victory will take many months,” he insisted. He added: "Israel must have security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River. This is a necessary condition, which contradicts the idea of ​​[Palestinian] sovereignty."

The United States, Israel's main ally and key supporter in its operation against Hamas, repeated, for its part, that the creation and recognition of a viable Palestinian state is necessary to envisage "real security."

The situation in Gaza this morning:

According to AFP, the Israeli army is intensely bombing the southern part of the enclave.

In the early hours of Friday, witnesses reported shooting and airstrikes in Khan Younis where, according to Israel, many members of the local Hamas leadership are hiding.

The Palestinian Red Crescent deplored "intense" artillery fire "in the vicinity" of the local al-Amal Hospital, with the Gazan Ministry of Health reporting 77 deaths in nighttime strikes including in Khan Younis, now the epicenter of the fighting.

The Israeli army claims to have reached the "southernmost" sector of Gaza since the start of its ground deployment which began in the very north of the Palestinian territory.

Before starting, take a look at today's Morning Brief to ensure that you are caught up with what has been happening.

Morning Brief

White phosphorus in southern Lebanon, teacher's strike, preventing drug smuggling: Everything you need to know to start your Friday

Good morning!

Thank you for joining us for our live coverage of the war between Hamas and Israel in Gaza.