2 dead, including a Hezbollah member, in a deep Israeli strike in Jadra, north of Saida: Israel-Hamas war, day 127

Thank you for following our LIVE coverage of day 127 of the Israel-Hamas war. We will be back tomorrow with more news updates.

The Israeli military claimed today that they had discovered a Hamas tunnel under the Gaza City headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), according to AFP.

UNRWA said in response that it had not operated from the base since Oct. 12 — five days after Hamas fighters attacked southern Israel — and called for an independent investigation.

Air defense systems operated by US-led coalition troops based in eastern Syria halted six drone attacks targeting their base at the Conoco oil field today, a security source told Reuters.

At 5:45 p.m., Hezbollah announced that it successfully targeted a military installation at the Israeli site of "Kiryat Shmona," opposite the Lebanese village of Houla (Marjayoun district).

At 6:15 p.m., Hezbollah announced that it targeted Israeli artillery emplacements in the Daychoun military position with Katyusha rockets.

It also attacked the Israeli base of Khirbet Maer with Falaq missiles at 6:20 p.m.

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for two attacks late this afternoon:

• In a first statement, it claimed to have successfully targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers at 5:15 p.m. near the "Hadab Aita" position, located opposite the Lebanese locality of Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil district).

• It also claimed responsibility for an attack on a building housing Israeli soldiers in the Manara kibbutz at 5:45 p.m., in retaliation for "Zionist attacks on south Lebanese villages and civilian homes."

Late afternoon update on the situation in southern Lebanon

• Israeli artillery fire targeted the outskirts of Houla (Marjayoun district) and parts of the village, residents told our correspondent in south Lebanon. Houses near the village mosque were damaged. According to our correspondent, quoting village residents, one person was killed and four others were wounded.

• The outskirts of Wadi Slouqi (Marjayoun district) and Aitaroun (Bint Jbeil district) were hit by Israeli artillery fire.

• According to a security source, Israeli bombardments targeted the outskirts of Ain al-Zarqa, Alma Shaab, Dhairah and Tayr Harfa.

• Missiles were fired from southern Lebanon at Israeli sites in the Upper Galilee, a security source told our publication. According to Haaretz, ten rockets were launched from Lebanon towards northern Israel.

The Israeli air force killed two Hamas operatives today in Rafah, a city on the Gaza Strip's southern border with Egypt where hundreds of thousands of war-displaced Palestinians are sheltering, the Israeli military said, according to Reuters.

The Iranian foreign minister said today his country had exchanged messages with the United States throughout the war since Hamas' attack against Israel on Oct. 7, including about the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, according to Reuters.

The Iranian foreign minister said during a visit to Lebanon today that a political solution was the only way to end the war, and that Tehran was in talks with Riyadh on the issue, according to Reuters.

Hezbollah announced in a statement the death of another of its fighters, Imad Ahmad Melhem, from Naqoura (southern Lebanon).

A total of 188 members of the party have been killed in Lebanon and Syria since Oct. 8, according to our count.

The Iranian foreign minister said today that neither Iran nor Lebanon had sought to expand hostilities in the region, four months after Hamas' attack on Israel set off a series of flare-ups across the Middle East, according to Reuters.

Houthi officials and mourners perform prayers in front of the coffins of Houthi fighters killed in US-led strikes, during their funeral in Sanaa, Yemen Feb. 10, 2024. (Credit: Khaled Abdullah/Reuters)

Yemen's Houthi rebels held a funeral today for at least 17 militants killed during joint US-British air strikes, the Saba news agency said, according to Reuters. 

In the photo, Houthi policemen ride on the back of a patrol pick-up truck during the funeral of Houthi fighters killed by recent US-led strikes, in Sanaa, Yemen Feb. 10, 2024. (Credit: Khaled Abdullah/Reuters)

Members of the Lebanese Army gather near a damaged vehicle in the aftermath of what security sources said was an Israeli strike, in Jadra, Lebanon, Feb. 10, 2024. (Credit: Aziz Taher/Reuters)

BREAKING: Update on the Israeli drone strike in Jadra

• Hezbollah says one of its members, Khalil Fares, has been killed. It is widely believed that he died in the Israeli strike that targeted a car in the town of Jadra, which is north of Saida. He originally came from the village of Aitaroun (Bint Jbeil district), according to a statement by the group. It marks the second deepest strike by Israel since the killing of Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut's southern Suburbs.

• Another Syrian civilian died from the strike.

• Three people have been injured as a result of the strike. The administration of the Labib Medical Center in Saida told our correspondent in the south that they are currently in the hospital, and their injuries are "severe."

• Reuters and AFP are reporting that a Hamas operative escaped the strike.

Latest developments in the skirmishes between Hezbollah and Israel (last 30 minutes)

• Hezbollah announced in a statement that it seized "an Israeli Skylark drone, which was in good technical condition." The party rarely carries out such operations. In its statement, Hezbollah did not specify the location and date of the incident.

• Israeli warplanes carried out two raids on the outskirts of Naqoura (Sour district). One of the raids targeted a house, residents told our correspondent in the south.

• An Israeli warplane struck the eastern neighborhood of the village of Khiam (Marjayoun district), according to residents.

• Two people have died, and three people have been injured in an Israeli drone strike in Jadra, a town north of Saida, in Lebanon. AFP and Reuters report that a Hamas official escaped the strike.

Gaza's Ministry of Health announced today that 28,064 people were killed, mostly women, children and teenagers, in the Gaza Strip since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, according to AFP.

It reported a total of 117 dead in the last 24 hours, and 67,611 wounded since the start of the war on Oct. 7.

Some more details on the two people killed in an Israeli drone strike in Jadra, Lebanon:

A security source tells our correspondent in the south that the two people killed were a Lebanese citizen and a Syrian. Earlier reports claimed that the two people killed were two Lebanese brothers.

Gaza death toll update: The Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip says that at least 28,064 people have been killed in the besieged territory since Oct. 7, AFP reports.

The latest toll includes 117 deaths over the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, while a total of 67,611 people have been wounded in Gaza since the war broke, it added.

Update on the Israeli drone strike in Jadra, Lebanon:

* L'Orient Today has confirmed that two people have died. However, Reuters is reporting that "at least three" have been killed, citing security sources. We cannot yet confirm this.

* This is the second deepest strike inside Lebanon and the first attack in the Chouf district since the beginning of the hostilities on Oct. 8.

* Reuters is also reporting that a Palestinian figure close to Hamas has survived the attack.

* Three people have been injured as a result of the strike. The administration of the Labib Medical Center in Saida has told our correspondent in the South that they are currently in the hospital, and their injuries are "severe."

Here's what has been happening at the Lebanese-Israeli border during the past two hours, apart from the strike that targeted a car in Jadra:

*Seven Israeli artillery shells fell on the outskirts of Hanine (Bint Jbeil district), residents told our correspondent in the south.

* Israeli army fighter jets attacked a military structure near Bint Jbeil and a surveillance post near Markaba in southern Lebanon, Haaretz reports.

* Hezbollah announced that it targeted the Biranit barracks (facing the Lebanese border village of Rmaish in the Bint Jbeil district) with missiles at 12:40 p.m.

⚡ BREAKING: In a significant escalation, an Israeli drone strike on a car in the town of Jadra (Chouf district), Lebanon, has killed two people, the head of Jadra's municipality, Joseph al-Azzi, and a military source told our correspondent in the south. The town is situated between Saida and Beirut.

It is the second deepest strike inside Lebanon and the first attack in the Chouf district since the beginning of the hostilities on Oct. 8.

According to our correspondent, Muntassar Abdallah, two Lebanese brothers were killed. A Syrian person who was driving a motorcycle near the targeted car was injured, he added. We are also getting unconfirmed reports from another security source that the drone targeted a Hezbollah official.

Hind Rajab, a 6-year-old Palestinian girl who had been missing for two weeks in the middle of the battles in Gaza City, has been found dead with other members of her family, Hamas and her family have confirmed. They have accused Israeli forces of killing them.

Their bodies were found in a car near a petrol station after Israeli tanks withdrew from the zone this morning, AFP reports.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has also announced that two of its members who were sent to rescue the little girl were found dead today in a bombed ambulance. Youssef Zaino and Ahmed al-Madhoun, had been missing for 12 days. The PRCS claims Israel "deliberately targeted" the Red Crescent crew "despite prior coordination to allow the ambulance to arrive at the scene to rescue the child Hind," the organization added.

Here's what's been happening at the Lebanese-Israeli border during the past 45 minutes:

* According to information from a security source relayed by our correspondent in south Lebanon, Israeli warplanes targeted a house located in a valley in the village of Kunin (Bint Jbeil district). Ambulances headed to the targeted house.

* Israeli warplanes completely destroyed a house located between the villages of Markaba and Rab al-Thalathine (Marjayoun), residents told L'Orient Today. No casualties have been reported so far. Ambulances headed to the targeted house, according to eyewitnesses.

* Israeli artillery shelling targeted the outskirts of Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil), residents told our correspondent in the south.

* Missiles were fired from southern Lebanon towards Israeli sites in the Upper Galilee, a security source told L'Orient Today.

Hamas has warned that any Israeli military operation in Rafah could lead to "tens of thousands" of dead and injured.

In a statement, the group warned of catastrophic repercussions of going into the southern Gazan city, where more than one million civilians have fled to escape Israeli bombardment elsewhere in the enclave.

Yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to prepare to evacuate civilians from the city.

Image: A Palestinian man checks debris in the aftermath of Israeli bombardment on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Feb. 10, 2024. (Credit: Said Khatib/AFP)

Image: A Palestinian man checks debris in the aftermath of Israeli bombardment on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Feb. 10, 2024. (Credit: Said Khatib/AFP)

US President Joe Biden's top foreign policy adviser, Jon Finer, has "acknowledged mistakes in the administration’s response to the war in Gaza," according to a report published by The New York Times.

Finer expressed that he "did not have any confidence that Israel’s government was willing to take meaningful steps toward Palestinian statehood," according to the American newspaper.

"We have left a very damaging impression based on what has been a wholly inadequate public accounting for how much the president, the administration and the country values the lives of Palestinians," Finer said.

These comments were made in a meeting with Arab American political leaders in Michigan on Thursday.

Iran's football federation says it has asked FIFA to suspend Israel's football federation over the country's war in Gaza, AFP reports.

In an announcement posted on the Iranian football federation's website, Iran asked world football's governing body to "completely suspend" the Israeli federation "from all activities related to football."

The request also asks for "immediate and serious measures" by FIFA and its member associations "to prevent the continuation" of the Israeli "crimes and provide food, drinking water, medicinal and medical supplies to innocent people and civilians." More details here.

Here's what's been happening at the Lebanese-Israeli border during the past 80 minutes:

* An Israeli drone targeted the outskirts of Khiam (Marjayoun district) leaving three people injured, residents in the village told our correspondent in the south. The residents added that the injured people, who are believed to be Syrian, were cleaning a house when the drone fired a missile towards them. According to a medical source, one was moderately injured and two were lightly injured.

* Israeli artillery shelling targeted the area of "Maslakh al-Jadid" in Khiam, residents told L'Orient Today.

An update on the Israeli strike this morning in Damascus:

UK-based monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights is reporting that three people were killed in the Israeli airstrikes that targeted a building in an upmarket area which hosts "villas for top military and officials." near the Syrian capital Damascus, AFP reports.

Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Observatory, could not immediately confirm whether the dead were fighters. Click here for more.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah has held talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in the presence of Iranian Ambassador Mojtaba Amani, according to the Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA).

The NNA does not specify the time of the meeting. However, according to the statement relayed by the agency, the talks focused "on the latest political and security developments in the region, particularly in the Gaza Strip and South Lebanon, as well as on other Resistance fronts."

"The discussion focused on the near future and the situation in Lebanon and the region," the text continues.

The Iranian minister has been visiting Lebanon since Friday and is due to meet Lebanese officials today.

"We have been saying it since the beginning of this crisis: war is not the solution," he said upon his arrival in Beirut.

The United Nations is “extremely worried” about civilians in Rafah ahead of an expected Israeli ground invasion, Al-Jazeera reports, citing spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.

Yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to prepare to evacuate civilians from the southern Gazan city, where some 1.5 million Palestinians are seeking refuge.

Dujarric said the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has warned that the “unprecedented density of Rafah’s population makes it nearly impossible to protect civilians in the event of ground attacks.”

Syrian air defenses shot down Israeli missiles launched at the Damascus countryside in the early hours of this morning, the Syrian army said, in the second such attack in less than a day, Reuters reports. More details here.

Here's what else happened at the Lebanese-Israeli border last night:

. Between 9:30 p.m. and 11:15 p.m.: Israeli warplanes raided the outskirts of Houla (Marjayoun district), security sources told our correspondent in the south.

. At 11:15 p.m.: Israeli warplanes fired two missiles on an empty building in an area between the villages of Harouf, Jibshit and Doueir, west of the city of Nabatieh. No casualties were reported. It is the first time that this area has been targeted since the beginning of the hostilities.

. At 3 a.m.: Three Israeli artillery shells fell on the outskirts of Tayr Harfa (Sour district), residents in the village told L'Orient Today.

Hezbollah has announced the death of another of its fighters, Hassan Khalife from the village of Sarafand (Saida district). In a statement issued last night, the party said he was killed "on the path to Jerusalem" — a term the group uses to describe members killed in Israeli strikes.

Some 186 Hezbollah members have now been killed in Lebanon and Syria since the beginning of the fighting between Hezbollah and Israel on Oct. 8.

Good morning, 
As ever, we are here with live updates on events related to the Hamas-Israel war in Gaza, Israel, south Lebanon, Syria and the wider region.