Civil defense workers assess the destruction caused by an overnight Israeli bombing in Khiam in southern Lebanon on Jan. 31, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group in Gaza. (Credit: Hassan Fneich/AFP)
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Catch up on yesterday’s LIVE coverage of Day 117 of the Israel-Hamas war here.
Israeli drone strikes killed one Hezbollah member inside their home in Beit Lif, Bint Jbeil and destroyed an ambulance in Blida, Marjayoun. Israel’s deadly attack on a home in Beit Lif is the latest in a series of drone strikes targeting homes in southern Lebanon which on occasion have killed several Hezbollah fighters. The strikes also targeted first responders from the Amal Movement-affiliated al-Risala Scout paramedics, something that Israel has done before as well. Hezbollah executive council member Nabil Qaouq said the party was intensifying upgrades to its technical arsenal as it continued its cross-border attacks on Israel. The US imposed sanctions on one Turkish company and two Lebanese firms for their alleged financing of Hezbollah through the sale of Iranian commodities.
More than 18,000 families displaced from Southern Lebanon are set to receive cash assistance funded by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP), caretaker social affairs minister Hector Hajjar announced. Eligible households will receive $25 per family and an additional $20 per member. Hajjar also announced psychological support mechanisms for displaced residents and the distribution of heating oil. The International Organization for Migration estimates that more than 80,000 people have been displaced from southern Lebanon since Oct. 8. Local government attempts to support displaced people have been hampered by supply limitations. Last November, caretaker Education Minister Abbas Halabi announced the launch of an emergency schooling plan for more than 10,000 students whose studies were interrupted by the border conflicts
Petroleum Importing Companies fearing bankruptcy warned that taxing them over former central bank subsidies could halt fuel imports to Lebanon altogether, as motorists, projecting yet another incoming fuel crisis, scrambled to gas stations for a refill. During a press conference yesterday, Association of Petroleum Importing Companies (APIC) president Maroun Chammas urged Parliament to recall the 2024 budget’s demand for importers to pay $700 million, 10 percent on profits from previously subsidized goods — a sum too steep for some of the union’s members, Chammas warned. Banque du Liban subsidized fuel imports from the onset of the economic crisis in 2019 until 2022 when it finished gradually reducing the amounts it contributed to importers’ bills. The period in between was marked by fuel crises during which hour-long queues formed at gas stations and repeated fears that shortages would return.
At least 26,900 people have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, according to the latest figures from the enclave’s health ministry.
Fighting raged in Khan Younis as Israel continued its unrelenting military campaign, exacerbating the delivery of direly needed supplies to hospitals in the region, according to the World Health Organization.
Hamas reviewed the latest truce proposal which guarantees a weeks-long pause in hostilities and the release of 35 to 40 hostages held in Gaza along with 200 and 300 prisoners in Israeli jails.
Norway issued another call, echoing appeals from several international organizations, for donor countries that suspended funding to the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) to rescind their decisions, describing it as “collective punishment” on millions of people. Major UNRWA donors said they would halt funding amid allegations that former agency members, suspended in light of the news, participated in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.
In case you missed it, here’s our must-read story from yesterday: “Multiple sclerosis patients await the worst in Lebanon”
Compiled by Abbas Mahfouz