Hezbollah announces series of strikes on northern Israel in 1 hour: Israel-Hamas war, day 135

Thank you for following our LIVE coverage of day 135 of the Israel-Hamas war. We will be back tomorrow with more news updates.

The chairman of Hezbollah's executive council, Hashem Safieddine, said today that "there is no longer anything called the international community, and that all the slogans in defense of human rights and international laws have fallen, which proves that the slogans are false and that they serve the United States," at a partisan event in the Bekaa, reports our correspondent in the region.

"All that the Israelis sought [to execute] has not been achieved, the resistance has remained in Gaza and will remain there and spread throughout the region," he added.

Today, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (FDLP) organized a Lebanese-Palestinian meeting and sit-in in support of Gaza in the Ain al-Hilweh camp, near Saida, according to our correspondent in south Lebanon.

Participants reiterated their "rejection of the offensive on Gaza and [their] support for the enclave and its resistance."

A ninth attack was claimed by Hezbollah today. The group said in a statement that it had attacked an Israeli army position at 5:45 p.m. in the Ramim forest.

Iranian officials have warned Hezbollah not to give "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a reason to launch a wider war in Lebanon or elsewhere," a Hezbollah member told the Washington Post today.

"Netanyahu has his back against the wall. Don't give him a way out," the Hezbollah member was quoted as saying. "Let's not give him the advantage of launching a wider war, because that would make him a winner," the text continues.

According to the report, Iranian officials also reportedly urged Hezbollah to "show restraint toward US forces" at a meeting in February. The Washington Post adds that US officials said that "on Saturday, Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria had not attacked US forces for more than 13 days, an unusual lull since the start of the Gaza war in October."

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said today that Hamas is "looking for a replacement for [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar ... there is a bid for who will be the ruling actor," according to Haaretz.

Gallant said that Hamas doesn't have confidence in its Gaza commanders, saying "The external leadership is looking for internal leadership."

The defense minister said that Hamas's Khan Younis brigade "has been overpowered and does not function as a military actor in any way," adding that 200 terrorists have surrendered at Nasser Hospital alongside dozens at al-Amal Hospital.

Gallant said that Hamas is left with "fringes in the [central Gaza] camps and with the Rafah brigade," saying that "what stands between them and total collapse as a military system is" the Israeli army, declaring that it would disband Hamas's remaining six battalions. "Nobody is coming to help them – not the Iranians, not international aid," he continued.

Gallant added that military pressure would ultimately "bring the hostages" back to Israel and said that "we have no right to stop as long as 134 hostages remain [in Gaza]."

The United States conducted five self-defense strikes in areas of Yemen controlled by the Houthi rebels, US Central Command said today, according to Reuters.

Hezbollah announced its eighth attack against the Israeli army in southern Lebanon today. In a statement, the party said it had struck the Roueissate el-Alam site in the occupied Shebaa Farms at 3:50 p.m., using a Burkan (Volcano) missile.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah announced on Friday that his group had used this type of missile for the first time in recent days, "which can carry explosive charges of 300 to 500 kilos."

A source in the European Union reported to Haaretz that "[they] assisted in bringing medications for the hostages into the Gaza Strip and informed the Israeli authorities."

Medications with the names of hostages written on them were located on Friday in Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis by the Israeli army.

The EU source said, "we can confirm that the EU provided logistical support for the transport of medical equipment – especially that sent from Europe – to the hostages through the Rafah border crossing."

"The EU will continue to work tirelessly to bring about the release of the remaining hostages, to protect all citizens in Gaza, to [work towards] a humanitarian approach in Gaza, and for an extended cease-fire that will allow the parties to find a way out of the current crisis," the source added.

The Ministry of Education has called for a "sit-in of solidarity" on Monday between 12 and 1 p.m. in all Lebanese schools, in memory of the Lebanese pupils killed by Israeli strikes in the south of the country, and in support of the displaced.

In a statement, the press office of outgoing Education Minister Abbas Halabi denounced "the continuous attacks, over the past four and a half months, targeting civilian infrastructure and schools in southern villages, displacing pupils and killing them in aerial bombardments," including "the massacre of children, young people and civilians in Nabatieh and Souaneh."

On Wednesday afternoon, three civilians, including two children aged thirteen and two, were killed in a strike on a house in Souaneh, in the Bint Jbeil district.

In the evening, a bombardment in Nabatieh killed seven people, including a child. Another three-year-old boy was rescued alive from the rubble.

Click here for full details of the ministry's press release. 

Latest developments at the Lebanese-Israeli borders since 2:45 p.m.

• Hezbollah announced that it launched five attacks against Israel:

1) At 2:45 p.m.: The Israeli soldiers' position in the village of Even Menachem (facing Ramaya in Lebanon, in the Bint Jbeil district) was targeted, "leaving casualties."

2) The Israeli soldiers' position in the village of Shomera (facing the Lebanese border village of Marwahine, in Sour district) was hit.

3) At 2:50 p.m.: The Israeli soldiers' position at the al-Taihat triangle, facing the Lebanese village of Mais al-Jabal (Marjayoun), was targeted.

4) At 3: 15 p.m.: A building in which Israeli soldiers were positioned in the village of Yir'on (facing Yaroun, Bint Jbeil district) was hit.

5) The Israeli position of Sammaqa, in the occupied Shebaa farms, was hit twice, at 3:35 and 3:45 p.m.

• The Israeli army announced that an anti-tank missile was fired at "a town in Northern Israel," causing light property damage but without causing injuries, according to Haaretz.

• Three Israeli artillery shells fell on the Kfar Shuba hills (Hasbaya district), residents told our correspondent in the south.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday he would summon Brazil's ambassador for a reprimand over remarks made by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has been harshly critical of the conduct of the war, according to Reuters.

British Labor leader Keir Starmer said today that there should be a lasting ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, setting out his stance before parliament is expected to debate a conflict that has caused division in the opposition party, according to Reuters.

Read more here.

In the photo, British opposition Labor Party Leader Keir Starmer delivers a speech during the 'Labor and Civil Society Summit' in London, Britain, Jan. 22, 2024. (Credit: Suzanne Plunkett/File Photo/Reuters)

Israeli forces killed two Palestinian men during a raid in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank today, the Palestinian health ministry said, according to AFP.

Read more here.

Latest developments at the Lebanese-Israeli border since 2 p.m.

Hezbollah announced that it hit a group of Israeli soldiers with guided missiles in the vicinity of the "Baghdadi" Israeli position, facing Mais al-Jabal (Marjayoun district) at 2 p.m.

Israeli warplanes raided an area between Adaisseh and Owaida (Marjayoun district), residents told our correspondent in the south.

A security source told our correspondent in the south that Israeli artillery shelling targeted the outskirts of Yarin, Tayr Harfa, Jibbayn and Shihine (Sour).

The same security source added that three Israeli artillery shells fell on an area between Marwahine (Sour) and Ramaya (Bint Jbeil).

Thousands participated in a funeral ceremony held by the Amal Movement in the city of Nabatieh for three of its members, Ali Issa, Mohammad Saeed and Kassem Berro, who were killed in an Israeli strike in Qantara (Marjayoun district) on Thursday night. Eleven Amal members have been killed since the war in Gaza began to spill over into southern Lebanon.

During the funeral, Amal Movement MP Hani Kobeissy said that the party "will not be stingy with any sacrifice in order to protect Lebanon."

He added that "the state has the responsibility of strengthening the [Lebanese] army in numbers and equipment, and strengthening the steadfastness of the people of the south."

Image: People carry the coffins of three Amal members killed in an Israeli airstrike. (Credit: Photo sent by Amal Movement's media office to our correspondent in south Lebanon).

The EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has warned that the situation in the Israel-occupied West Bank is at "boiling" point, Reuters reports.

"The West Bank is the real obstacle for the two-state solution," Borrell said at the Munich Security Conference. "The West Bank is at boiling … we could be on the eve of a greater explosion," he added. Click here for more.

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

* Israeli warplanes raided the Abou Laban neighborhood of Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil district), residents told our correspondent in the south.

* According to a security source who spoke to by our correspondent in the south, Israeli warplanes also raided the villages of Aitaroun and Yaroun (Bint Jbeil). Yaroun had already been hit by three raids this morning.

* Israeli artillery shelling targeted Wadi Hamul on the outskirts of Naqoura (Sour), residents told L'Orient Today. Residents had previously told us that they heard the sound of an Israeli interceptor missile in the area.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his government will vote on a "declaratory decision" regarding Israel's opposition to any unilateral imposition of Palestinian statehood, Reuters reports.

Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting that the move comes after "recent talk in the international community about an attempt to unilaterally impose on Israel a Palestinian state."

The formal statement, he said, would reflect that, "Israel rejects outright international dictates regarding a permanent arrangement with the Palestinians. Such an arrangement can only be reached in direct negotiations between the sides, without preconditions."

An Israeli army spokesperson commented on an earlier strike on Yaroun (Bint Jbeil), claiming its warplanes targeted "Hezbollah infrastructure in the village of Yaroun."

Our correspondent in south Lebanon earlier reported that these strikes targeted three houses in the village.

The situation in south Lebanon over the past two hours:

* The sound of an Israeli interceptive missile was heard in Wadi Hamul, Naqoura (Sour district), residents told our correspondent in the south around an hour ago. Meanwhile, the Israeli army, cited by Haaretz, said that a false alarm in northern Israel "triggered an interceptor missile to be launched near Nahariya" on the coast, facing Naqoura.

* Citing an Israeli army spokesman, Haaretz also reported the Israeli army used its artillery to "eliminate a threat detected in the areas of Alma al-Shaab and Dhairah (Sour)" without saying exactly when this happened. L'Orient Today could not independently verify these claims, and until now, no incidents were reported in that area.

At least 28,985 people have been killed and 68,883 wounded since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, the Health Ministry in the enclave has announced, according to AFP.

It also reported a total of 127 deaths in the last 24 hours.

The US administration is currently looking for ways to provide financial assistance to the crisis-stricken Palestinian Authority so that it will be able to administer the Gaza Strip after the end of the war between Israel and Hamas, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing US officials. These measures are aimed at circumventing a law preventing the Biden administration from directly funding the PA, which has warned that it is at risk of running out of funds to pay salaries and provide essential government services by the end of the month.

In addition to enabling it to ensure the governance of Gaza after the end of the war, funding would also help the PA launch reforms deemed essential by Washington to gain Israel's support and the endorsement of Palestinian public opinion. The PA's current financial crisis is due to a reduction in US aid since Donald Trump held the US presidency, and the suspension of Israeli tax payments since Oct. 7. Tel Aviv normally makes monthly payments to Ramallah based on the taxes collected.

Full details of this American project can be found here, in the WSJ article.

Russia has invited Palestinian factions to meet in Moscow on Feb. 26, the Palestinian Authority prime minister says, Reuters reports.

"Russia has invited all Palestinian factions who will be meeting on the 26 of this month in Moscow. We will see if Hamas is ready to come to the ground with us," Mohammad Shtayyeh is quoted as saying at the Munich Security Conference.

"We are ready to engage. If Hamas is not then that's a different story. We need Palestinian unity," he reportedly said, adding that to be part of that unity Hamas needs to meet certain prerequisites. 

We have received more details on the strikes that targeted the village of Yaroun (Bint Jbeil district) this morning:

According to residents' testimonies reported by our correspondent in south Lebanon, Israeli warplanes targeted a house in the al-Bayader neighborhood and a second one in the public square of the village. In addition, an Israeli drone struck a third house adjacent to the second one. It is not yet clear whether or not there are casualties resulting from these three airstrikes.

Gaza's second-largest hospital, Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, is "completely out of service," Reuters reports, citing a spokesperson for the Gaza Health Ministry.

The head of the World Health Organization meanwhile writes on X that "Nasser hospital in #Gaza is not functional anymore, after a weeklong siege followed by the ongoing raid."

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus adds that WHO teams were not permitted yesterday or Friday to enter the premises to assess the medical needs of the around 200 patients still at the facility, 20 of whom he says need urgent care.

The head of Hezbollah’s Loyalty to Resistance parliamentary bloc, MP Mohammed Raad, has said his party wants to "send [Israel] a "strong message on the field to tell [it] that [its] madness will be of no use if [it] turns its attention to the [Lebanese] front" as Hezbollah "is waiting" for Israel.

"After the increase in the number of martyrs, some are trying to create frustration among the people, but [this number] ... which is close to 200, pays for the thousands and hundreds of thousands of victims that might have occurred if the aggression had been able to underestimate our capabilities,"  Raad added during a ceremony held by the party in Adsheet (Nabatieh district) for Hezbollah member Hassan Najem, who was killed in a Israeli strike on Wednesday.

Moreover, Raad said that the ongoing "battle "is not an easy battle … because its calculations are very precise and the scales of victory in it are very sensitive." He added that Israel is still "deterred by [the resistance]."

The Israeli army says it killed dozens of Palestinian militants and seized a significant cache of weapons during clashes in the Gaza Strip yesterday, Reuters reports.

The focus of Israel's military campaign has been the town of Khan Younis, in the south of the Palestinian enclave.

In an official statement, the Israeli army said, "Over the past day, dozens of terrorists have been eliminated, and large quantities of weapons have been seized."

Additionally, Israeli special forces remain active in operations both within and around Nasser Hospital.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Red Crescent reported this morning that Israeli artillery fire targeted the third floor of al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis. 

A visit by the commander of Iran's elite Quds Force to Baghdad has led to a pause in attacks on US troops by Iran-aligned groups in Iraq, Reuters reports, citing multiple Iranian and Iraqi sources. Read the full report here.

And in several major cities around the world, demonstrations of solidarity with the Palestinians were organized yesterday, such as in Rome, London, Stockholm, Istanbul and Mexico.

Image: A demonstartor holds up a placard during a "Protest for Palestine" in front of the Italian national television headquarter RAI, in central Rome on Feb. 17, 2024. (Credit: Filippo Monteforte/AFP)

In Tel Aviv, thousands of Israelis demonstrated yesterday evening against the Netanyahu government and called on it to reach an agreement to free the hostages, according to AFP.

“I beg the prime minister and the government to negotiate … Do not sentence my husband to death,” Sharon Aloni-Cunio, a hostage who was released with her twins while her husband is still held in Gaza, said at the rally.

"I don't want to fuss over getting a dead body," said Adi Angrest, the sister of another hostage, Matan Angrest. “I ask you to return my brother to me now.”

Find here our reporter Ghadir Hamadi's article on how the families of Israeli hostages are putting pressure on Netanyahu.

Image: People raise flags and placards during an anti-government demonstration in Tel Aviv, on Feb. 17, 2024. (Credit: Jack Guez/AFP)

This morning, Israeli warplanes raided the village of Yaroun (Bint Jbeil) twice, according to residents. No other incidents have yet been reported.

Here's what happened at the Lebanese-Israeli border last night and this morning, according to security sources who spoke to our correspondent in south Lebanon:

* Between 11:30 p.m. and 12 a.m.: An Israeli drone fired two missiles at the al-Tarash neighborhood, southwest of the town of Mays al-Jabal (Marjayoun district), without causing casualties.

* Israeli drones and reconnaissance aircraft were a constant presence over many parts of Lebanon last night, including over Iqlim al-Tuffah, Nabatieh and its suburbs, Qabrikha, Touline, Wadi Slouqi, Souaneh (Marjayoun) and Saida.

The US has signaled that it will veto the latest push for a UN Security Council resolution, AFP reports.

"The United States does not support action on this draft resolution," US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in a statement. "Should it come up for a vote as drafted, it will not be adopted."

Algeria's draft resolution seeks an immediate humanitarian cease-fire, but Thomas-Greenfield said the United States instead supports a truce-for-hostages deal that would pause fighting for six weeks.  More details here.

Good morning, 

Thank you for joining us as we bring you live updates on day 135 of Israel's war on Gaza.