5 Revolutionary Guards killed in strike attributed to Israel in Syria; Hezbollah member killed by Israel in southern Lebanon: Israel-Hamas war, day 106

Thank you for following our LIVE coverage of day 106 of the Israel-Hamas war. We will be back tomorrow with more news updates.

The spokesperson for the President of the Palestinian Authority said that the Israeli government is not concerned about peace and stability, and that the time has come for the United States to recognize the Palestinian state, reports the Al Jazeera channel.

The war has taken a heavy toll on Gaza's students, who have been unable to continue their studies due to the Israeli onslaught that has destroyed or damaged almost all universities, reports the Al Jazeera.

"Since the start of the war, my university and other universities in the Gaza Strip have been completely destroyed," Hoda Hijazi, a master's student in translation at the Islamic University of Gaza, told Al Jazeera.

"We don't know how we will continue," she added, believing that the war has "destroyed the future of all students."

Israeli artillery fire targeted the outskirts of Khiam (Marjayoun district), local residents told our correspondent the south.

Iran's president Raisi says Israeli strike that killed five revolutionary guards in Syria will not "go unanswered," according to state media via Reuters.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Uganda that "the right of the Palestinian people to build their own state must be recognized by all" and that any "denial" was "unacceptable."

"The refusal to accept the two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians, and the denial of the Palestinian people's right to a state, are unacceptable," said Guterres, according to AFP.

He continued: "This would prolong indefinitely a conflict that has become a major threat to global peace and security, exacerbating polarization and emboldening extremists around the world."

"The right of the Palestinian people to build their own state must be recognized by all," stressed the UN Secretary-General.

Israeli artillery fire targeted the outskirts of Mohaibib (Marjayoun district) and Aitaroun (Bint Jbeil district), reports our correspondent in south Lebanon.

Displaced Palestinian children walk on a hill facing their makeshift camp in Rafah, on the southern Gaza Strip on border with Egypt, Jan. 19, 2024, amid Israel-Hamas war. (Credit: AFP)

The United States has carried out new strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen, targeting an anti-ship missile that was "ready to launch," the US Middle East Military Command (CENTCOM) said on X.

"At approximately 4 a.m. Sana'a time, US forces conducted airstrikes against a Houthi anti-ship missile that was aimed at the Gulf of Aden and ready to be launched," CENTCOM said.

"The missile posed a threat to merchant ships and US Navy vessels in the region. US forces therefore struck and destroyed it in self-defense," it added.

"This action will make international waters safer and more secure for the US Navy and merchant ships," it concluded.

Moussa Abou Marzouk, a member of the Hamas political bureau, said the group did not wish to keep Israeli prisoners and was seeking a new prisoner exchange agreement with Israel.

"Israel will be forced to conclude an agreement because it has failed, during more than a hundred days of war, to recover prisoners by force," Abu Marzouk told the Russian news agency Sputnik, according to Al Jazeera.

"It will recover them either through an agreement or as corpses," he added.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards say fifth member dies after being wounded in Israeli strike, according Syrian-Iranian state media via Reuters,

Iran accused Israel of carrying out the attack that led to the deaths of four Iranian military officials in Syria, and threatened it with reprisals "at the appropriate time and place," according to an Iranian diplomatic statement quoted by AFP.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani "strongly condemned the Zionist regime's criminal act," which is "a desperate attempt to spread instability and insecurity in the region."

Hezbollah has just announced Hodroj's death in a statement, bringing to 163 the number of Hezbollah fighters killed since Oct. 8, according to our count.

Thousands of people carrying Palestinian flags and chanting anti-Israel slogans marched in Madrid and other Spanish cities today, demanding "an end to the genocide in Palestine," reports AFP.

In Madrid, some 25,000 people, according to the government, marched between Atocha station and Cibeles square, in the center of the capital.

(Credit: Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP)

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has confirmed four if its "military advisers" were killed in an alleged Israeli strike on a residential building in the Syrian capital of Damascus.

The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) identified them as Hojatollah Omidvar, Ali Aghazadeh, Hossein Mohammadi and Saeed Karimi. However, the IRGC has not confirmed this.

Hojatollah Omidvar (also known as Yousef Omidzadeh, Sardar Haj Sadiq Omidzadeh, Abu Sadegh and Haj Sadegh) is believed to be the Deputy intelligence chief of the Quds force in Syria, according to Iran's Nour News, which is thought to be close to the country's intelligence apparatus. He died alongside his deputy known as Hajj Gholam or "Moharram."

The Quds Force is one of five branches of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

In recent weeks, Israel has been accused of intensifying strikes on senior Iranian figures, and their allies, in Syria and Lebanon, raising fears the Israel-Hamas war could expand.

People and rescuers gather in front of a building destroyed in a reported Israeli strike in Damascus today, Jan. 20, 2024.

An Israeli strike on Damascus killed at least 10 people in a building where "Iran-aligned leaders" were meeting on Jan. 20, a war monitor said, as regional tensions soar over the Israel-Hamas war. (Credit: Louai Beshara/AFP)

The Israeli strike on Damascus today killed at least 10 people, a war monitor said giving a new toll, including the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Syria spy chief and his deputy, according to AFP.

Mohammad Hodroj, a Hezbollah official from Bazourieh in southern Lebanon (Sour district), was one of two victims of an Israeli strike targeting a vehicle today, several security sources told our correspondent in the region.

These sources added that an Israeli drone was behind the shot that targeted his vehicle between Bazourieh and Burj al-Shemali. The party has not yet released any information on the victims of this strike.

The Israeli army says in the last few hours it has targeted Hezbollah "terrorist infrastructure" and a reconnaissance site in the Adaisseh area in southern Lebanon.

Writing on X, the Arabic-speaking spokesperson for the Israeli army, Avichay Adraee, says last night an Israeli tank "conducted a threat removal operation" in the Jabal Rous area (Mount Dov).

It added that this afternoon, two shells were fired from Lebanon towards Israeli territory without causing casualties and that its army responded to this attack.

⚡ Two people have been killed in an Israeli attack on a car near the city of Sour in southern Lebanon, according to medical sources speaking to L'Orient Today and Reuters, citing three security sources.

Reuters says that the two individuals killed were members of Hamas. The Palestinian movement has not responded to our correspondent's requests for confirmation.

Residents and a security source also suggest that a drone strike targeted the vehicle on a road connecting the village of Bazouriyeh to Burj al-Shemali (Sour district).

The Palestinian group Islamic Jihad has condemned "the vile Zionist aggression that took place this morning in the Mazzeh district of Damascus."

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) confirmed earlier that "four military advisors were killed" in an "Israeli attack" in the Syrian capital.

Islamic Jihad claimed that the attack "targeted leaders of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps" and was part of "the entity's [Israel's] attempts to export its military failure on the ground by expanding its zone of aggression in the region," a statement from the group said.

Here's what's been happening at the Lebanon-Israel border in the last 20 minutes:

 * An Israeli interceptor missile exploded over Houla (Marjayoun district), residents told our correspondent in south Lebanon.

 * Israeli artillery shelling targeted Wadi Sluqi, located between the three villages of Houla, Majdal Selm (Marjayoun district), and Shakra (Bint Jbeil district).

 * Residents of Kfar Kila (Marjayoun) reported that they heard siren sounds coming from the Israeli village of Metula.

* A security source told L'Orient Today that missiles were fired from Lebanon towards Israeli sites.

⚡BREAKING: Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps confirms four military advisers have been assassinated in an Israeli strike in Damascus, Iran's Press TV reports.

Some details on where the strike in Damascus happened:

* The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told AFP that "Iran-aligned leaders" were meeting in the building where the strike happened. "They were for sure targeting senior members" of those groups, Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.

* The strike flattened the building in the high-security neighborhood of Mazzeh, which is home to the United Nations' headquarters and some embassies.

Latest update on the strike on a residential building in Damascus:

* Reuters says four members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have been killed in what Syria's national news agency has described as an "Israeli strike" on a multi-story residential building. Reuters adds that the head of the IRGC’s information unit is among the dead.

* Right now, we have varying reports on the number of dead. Iran's semi-official Mehr News Agency, citing an "informed source," says two senior IRGC advisors have died. AFP, citing the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), says up to five people have been killed, but has not confirmed if IRGC members are among the dead.

* There has been no immediate comment from Israel.

Israeli warplanes have fired missiles at the outskirts of Odaisseh (Marjayoun district), eyewitnesses told our correspondent in south Lebanon.

Meanwhile, we were informed by residents that two Israeli artillery shells fell on the outskirts of Alma al-Shaab and Dhayra (Sour district) at 10:30 a.m.

Image: The outskirts of Kfar Kila targeted by an Israeli strike on Jan. 20, 2023. (Credit: image sent by our correspondent)

Update on the strike on a residential building in Damascus:

* At least one member of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has been killed in what Syria's national news agency and Reuters have described as a "Israeli strike" on a multi-story residential building.

* Right now we have varying reports on the number of dead. AFP says up to five people have been killed, but has not confirmed if IRGC members are among the dead. Iran's Mehr News Agency, citing an "informed source," says two IRGC advisors have died.

* Reuters is reporting that three people have been wounded, receiving hospital treatment.

* There was no immediate comment from Israel.

* The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told AFP that "Iran-aligned leaders" were meeting in the building. "They were for sure targeting senior members" of those groups, said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.

* The targeted building in the Mazzeh area has been flattened. This neighborhood is known to be a high-security zone as it is home to the United Nations' headquarters, embassies and restaurants.

* A spokesman for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad told Reuters that no members of their group were wounded in the strike, following reports that some were at the bombed-out building.

Here's what's been happening at the Lebanon-Israel border in the last 30 minutes:

- Hezbollah says it hit a group of Israeli soldiers with missiles in the vicinity of the Hunin castle at 10:25 a.m. This location faces the Lebanese border villages of Markaba and Houla.

- Israeli artillery shelling has targeted the outskirts of Tayr Harfa and Jibbaun, Yarine and Chihine (Sour district), residents tell our correspondent in the south.

The Health Ministry in Gaza says the war death toll now stands at 24,927, AFP repors.

An Israeli strike on Syria's capital, Damascus, this morning killed a member of Iran's Revolutionary Guards and wounded others, a source in the regional pro-Syria alliance tells Reuters.

The source reportedly says the multi-storey building was used by Iranian advisers supporting Syria's government and that it was entirely flattened.

Israeli artillery shelling has targeted the outskirts of Tayr Harfa and Jibbayn (Sour district), residents tell our correspondent in south Lebanon.

Earlier this morning, Israeli media outlet Haaretz reported that rocket alarms sounded on the Israel-Lebanon border. No side in Lebanon has yet claimed an attack.

 "An attack led by Israel has targeted a residential building in the Mazze neighbourhood in Damascus," Syrian state media agency, SANA, has reported.

Reports are coming through that there has been an attack on a residential building in Damascus, Syria, according to Reuters, citing Syrian state media and Al Jazeera.

More details to follow, as soon as we get them.

Security sources tell L'Orient Today that an unusual calm prevailed at the Lebanon-Israel border last night.

However, after 6 a.m., Israeli artillery shelling targeted the outskirts of Houla (Marjayoun district) and the northeastern outskirts of Aitaroun (Bint Jbeil), according to security sources relayed by our correspondent in the south.

Residents also tell L'Orient Today that after 8 a.m., Israeli artillery shells fell on the plain of Khiam (Marjayoun), the outskirts of the village, the hill of Hamames, which is located south of the village, and on the outskirts of Houla.

On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quoted by AFP as saying, "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." 

Yesterday, Netanyahu spoke by telephone with US President Joe Biden about the future of the "two-state" solution, with a viable Palestinian state alongside Israel.

The US president "still believes in the prospect and possibility" of a Palestinian state, but "recognizes that it will take a lot of work to get there," said White House spokesman John Kirby after the first Biden-Netanyahu phone call since Dec. 23.

Witnesses say Israeli bombardment again focused overnight on Khan Younis, the largest city in Gaza's south, although Palestinian media also reported intense fire around Jabalia in the north early this morning, AFP reports. Click here to catch up on the latest.

Good morning, 

Thank you for joining us as we bring you all the latest news and developments from Gaza, Israel, southern Lebanon and the region on day 106 of the Israel-Hamas war.