UNIFIL and Lebanese Army patrol comes under fire in south Lebanon; no injuries were reported: Day 155

Thank you for following our LIVE coverage of day 155 of the Gaza war. We will be back tomorrow with more news updates.

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for an attack carried out at 8:30 p.m. on an Israeli military convoy as it entered the Israeli site of Malkiya, opposite the Lebanese town of Aitaroun (Bint Jbeil district).

The Israeli army claims to have attacked three Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon during the day, said its Arabic-speaking spokesman Avichay Adraee on X.

"We will continue to accelerate our preparations for war, should it ever come to us," he added, asserting that the army "is ready to launch broader attacks if necessary."

"We will continue to strike Hezbollah's military organizations, the headquarters of its leaders, its warehouses," he also warned.

⚡️"There will be no solutions until the truce is effective," said Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, quoted by local channel Al Jadeed.

"Once there is a truce, Hochstein will have a role. So far, there's nothing," he said, referring to the recent visit of US envoy Amos Hochstein to Lebanon on Monday, after which the diplomat made proposals for a de-escalation between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

"Hochstein presented us with many ideas. Some are positive, others give rise to reservations," he added, indicating that Qatar had "encouraged discussion" around the emissary's proposals.

The US military carried out its fifth airdrop of humanitarian aid to Gaza today, consisting of over 41,000 meals, according to the Pentagon.

The United States, which has been pressing Israel to let in more aid by land without success so far, has since Mar. 2 been moving in by air and is preparing deliveries by sea.

A military transport plane dropped "the equivalent of 41,400 meals and 23,000 bottles of water into the northern Gaza Strip," according to the US Middle East Command (CENTCOM).

Five people were killed on Friday and ten others injured when humanitarian aid packages were dropped by planes on Gaza City, an official from al-Shifa hospital told AFP. The US command said that the packages were not dropped by the US command.

US military and coalition forces shot down at least 28 drones over the Red Sea today, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement relayed by Reuters.

The Israeli government has accused Canada and Sweden of making a "serious mistake" by resuming aid to the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), which Israel accuses of employing "more than 450 terrorists" in Gaza, reports AFP.

"The decision by Canada and Sweden to resume funding UNRWA ... is a serious mistake," wrote Lior Haiat, spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, in a message posted on X, accusing the two countries of "continuing to ignore the involvement of UNRWA employees in terrorist activities."

"The resumption of UNRWA funding will not change the fact that this organization is part of the problem and will not be part of the solution in the Gaza Strip," he added.

Latest developments in southern Lebanon

• Israeli artillery targeted the village of Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil district), as well as Yaroun in the same district, residents report to our correspondent.

• Hezbollah claimed responsibility for two attacks on Israeli soldiers on Mount Nezer, opposite the Lebanese town of Mais al-Jabal (Marjayoun), and on the "Karantina heights" opposite Yaroun.

Mossad chief David Barnea met with his CIA counterpart Bill Burns to discuss progress in hostage exchange negotiations, Haaretz reports.

Mossad reported that Hamas is "entrenched in its position as the party that does not want an agreement" and that the organization is "striving to inflame the region during Ramadan at the expense of the Palestinian residents of Gaza."

They also said that mediated talks are continuing, with the aim of "minimizing gaps and reaching agreements."

According to reports by AP News, a senior US Treasury official who was in Beirut this week urged Lebanese authorities to stop money from going to Hamas through Lebanon.

Lebanese politicians and financial industry representatives met with Jesse Baker, deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury for Asia and the Middle East in the Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes, on Thursday and Friday.

His visit coincided with what appears to be a deadlock in the talks between Israel and Hamas for a cease-fire in Gaza. Many anticipate a regional escalation, particularly in Lebanon, should the fighting continue during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which might begin late Sunday.

UK Defense Minister Grant Shapps said a British warship had shot down two Houthi attack drones, joining American and French forces in acting to protect shipping lanes in the Red Sea.

"Last night, HMS Richmond used its Sea Ceptor missiles to shoot down two attack drones — successfully repelling yet another illegal attack by the Iranian-backed Houthis," Shapps said in a post on X today.

"The UK and our allies will continue to take the action necessary to save lives and protect freedom of navigation," he added.

⚡️ A joint United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and Lebanese Army patrol came under fire this morning in the vicinity of Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil district), UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti told L'Orient-Le Jour.

The shots were small-arms fire and came "from south of the Blue Line," the line that demarcates the border between Lebanon and Israel.

"A Lebanese Army vehicle was hit, but fortunately no one was injured," said Tenenti. "We are currently investigating whether the patrol was targeted," he added.

Hezbollah reports that it forced an Israeli drone to withdraw in southern Lebanon, near the Israeli border, at 4 p.m., without specifying the location of the incident.

Concerning the Israeli strikes on Dhairah (Sour district), these targeted a village dwelling with two missiles but did not explode, residents told our correspondent. However, loud bangs were heard.

The strike on Mais al-Jabal (Marjayoun) targeted a house and destroyed it, according to residents. Other parts of the village were also targeted by artillery fire, they added.

Latest developments in south Lebanon

• A security source reports that the locality of Dhairah (Sour district) and Mais al-Jabal (Marjayoun) were targeted by Israeli aircraft.

• Hezbollah claimed responsibility for two new attacks, carried out at 4 p.m. and 4:05 p.m. The first targeted Roueisat al-Qorn and the second Zebdin. Both areas are located in the Shebaa farms.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced today that he would propose that Parliament vote in favor of recognizing the Palestinian state by the end of his term in 2027, according to AFP.

"During this legislature, I will propose to Parliament the recognition of the Palestinian state by Spain," said Sanchez at an event organized by the Socialist Party in Bilbao (north).

"We will do so out of moral conviction because it is a just cause, but also because it is the only way that two states, Israel and Palestine, can coexist in peace and security," he explained.

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a missile strike carried out at 3:05 p.m. against Israeli soldiers stationed near the fortress of Hounin, opposite the Lebanese village of Houla in the Marjayoun district. This was the second strike announced today by the party.

The Crusaders built the Hounin fortress in the 12th century.

The funeral of two Hezbollah fighters killed in recent Israeli strikes was held in Blida (Marjayoun).

Crowds lined the village streets, chanting anti-Israel and anti-US slogans during the ceremony.

(Credit: Hezbollah's press office)

Recent developments in south Lebanon

• After a drone strike on Aita al-Shaab, its outskirts were also bombed by Israeli aircraft, according to residents.

• Kafra, a village in Bint Jbeil, was hit by Israeli aviation. A house in the neighborhood was targeted and ambulances were dispatched to the scene.

The United Nations Palestinian refugee agency is at "risk of death," UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini says, AFP reports.

"The agency is at risk of death; it is risking dismantlement," Lazzarini told Swiss broadcaster RTS in an interview aired today.

"What is at stake is the fate of the Palestinians today in Gaza in the short term, who are going through an absolutely unprecedented humanitarian crisis," he added.

UNRWA has faced a string of donors suspending their funding over Israeli allegations that some of the agency's staff took part in the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas in southern Israel.

Update on the situation on the Lebanese-Israeli border:

* Israeli artillery fire targeted a house in Dhairah (Sour), which caught fire. The Civil Defense "al-Rissala" scouts, who are affiliated with the Amal Movement, attended the scene to put out the fire.

* An Israeli drone carried out a raid on Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil).

Here's some information on the residential building targeted by the Israeli army in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, according to Reuters:

It is one of the tallest residential towers in the city, which has become the last refuge for more than a million displaced people. The 12-story tower was located 500 meters from the border with Egypt. Dozens of families are now homeless following its destruction, but no fatalities have been reported.

According to one resident, Israel gave residents 30 minutes to evacuate during the night. "People were surprised, they ran down the stairs, some fell, it was chaos. People abandoned their belongings and their money," said Mohammad al-Nabris, one of the residents, adding that among those who stumbled down the stairs during the panicked evacuation was the pregnant wife of a friend.

This strike further increases the pressure on Rafah, which has not yet been invaded by Israeli troops but is regularly bombarded.

Image: Palestinians gather in front of a residential building hit in an overnight Israeli airstrike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on March 9, 2023. (Credit: Said Khatib/AFP)

At a ceremony in Deir Zahrani in memory of a Hezbollah ambulance driver killed last week in an Israeli strike, Hezbollah MP Ali Fayad said that "the people of southern Lebanon, especially in the border regions, are paying the price of defending the nation."

"Future generations will remember with pride their historic national and Arab positions," Fayad added.

According to him, "the resistance's decision to confront the occupation and Israeli attacks cannot in any way be seen as serving sectarian or regional interests, but it does a service to all components of the Lebanese nation."

"Our struggle will result in national gains, linked to sovereignty, the border and territory," he added.

Image: MP Ali Fayad at a party ceremony. (Photo sent by the Hezbollah press office)

A French warship and fighter jets destroyed four combat drones that were heading towards a European naval mission in the Gulf of Aden today, the French military has said, according to AFP.

"This defensive action directly contributed to the protection of the cargo ship True Confidence, under the Barbados flag, which was struck on March 6 and is being towed, as well as other commercial vessels transiting in the area," the army reportedly said in a statement

Update from southern Lebanon:

Relative calm has prevailed in southern Lebanon in recent hours, with the exception of a bombardment on the outskirts of Majdal Zoun (Sour), which was targeted twice by Israeli military aircraft, according to a security source.

The strikes targeted a house and cars, according to local residents, who reported that ambulances were heading towards the scene of the attack. No information has yet been made available about any casualties.

"The US plan for a temporary pier in Gaza to increase the flow of humanitarian aid is a glaring distraction from the real problem: Israel’s indiscriminate and disproportionate military campaign and punishing siege," Doctors without Borders (MSF) says.

In a post on X, MSF USA's executive director, Avril Benoit, added, "The food, water, and medical supplies so desperately needed by people in Gaza are sitting just across the border. Israel needs to facilitate rather than block the flow of supplies."

"This is not a logistics problem; it is a political problem."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a speech in Istanbul that Turkey "stands firmly" behind the leaders of Hamas.

"No one can lead us to describe Hamas as a terrorist organisation. Turkey is the country that talks openly about everything with the leaders of Hamas and stands firmly behind them," the Turkish head of state said.

In Gaza, there has been no let-up in the Israeli strikes: the bodies of 70 people killed in overnight raids across the Gaza Strip have been taken to hospitals, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health, quoted by AFP.

The Hamas government media office reported more than 30 strikes during the night, including one against a residential building in the town of Rafah, where some 200 people had taken refuge.

In addition to these deaths in the bombardments, there is now a count of Palestinians who have died of hunger and thirst in the enclave. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, quoted by AFP, at least 23 civilians have died of malnutrition and dehydration in Gaza, following the deaths of three more children.

The war in Gaza has shattered "any sense of shared humanity," the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross says, calling for a cessation of hostilities, the release of hostages and access to Palestinian detainees.

After five months of war between Israel and Hamas, "the situation in the Gaza Strip is deteriorating by the hour. There is nowhere safe to go. The death toll among civilians and the detention of hostages are shocking and  unacceptable," ICRC president Mirjana Spoljaric said in a statement.

Gaza casualty toll update: The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says at least 30,960 people have been killed in the territory during more than five months of war between Israel and Palestinian militants, AFP reports.

The latest toll includes 82 fatalities over the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that 72,524 people have been wounded in Gaza since the war began on Oct. 7 when Hamas militants attacked Israel.

The Israeli army claimed responsibility for attacks against "Hezbollah targets in Lebanon" today, according to Haaretz. The Israeli newspaper adds that a missile launched from Lebanon fell in an area of wasteland in the upper Galilee.

A US charity says it is loading aid for Gaza onto a ship in Cyprus, the first shipment destined for the war-torn territory via a sea corridor that the European Commission hopes will open this weekend. The Spanish-flagged Open Arms ship docked three weeks ago in the port of Larnaca in southern Cyprus, the closest EU country to the Gaza Strip.

"World Central Kitchen teams are in Cyprus to load pallets of humanitarian aid onto a boat bound for the north of the Gaza Strip," the NGO said in a statement yesterday.

➡️ More details here.

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis this morning claimed an attack that targeted the US bulk carrier Propel Fortune in the Gulf of Aden, Reuters reports.

According to the news agency, the group's military spokesman, Yahya Sarea, claimed the attack in a televised speech early this morning.

Sarea also said they targeted "a number of US war destroyers at the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden with 37 drones."

The Houthis say they have been attacking shipping lanes in solidarity with the Palestinians in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

The UN secretary-general has met with families of Israeli hostages still held by Hamas, according to a message posted on X in which he calls for the "unconditional release of all hostages."

"I have been deeply moved by the heartbreaking stories of a hostage who has been freed and of the families of others kidnapped by Hamas," Antonio Guterres wrote on his official account. "I reiterate my urgent call for the unconditional release of all hostages NOW."

During the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, around 250 people were kidnapped and taken to Gaza. Some 130 hostages are still being held, 31 of whom Israel says are dead.

Last night, Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder gave more details about the temporary port the US plans to build in Gaza for aid deliveries.

The US will "establish a temporary offshore jetty that will allow cargo ships to transfer cargo to smaller boats for transport and unloading along a temporary causeway to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza," Ryder told reporters. "It will take more than 1,000 US troops" to set up the port and "up to 60 days to deploy and build the causeway and jetty," he added.

It "could provide more than two million meals a day to the citizens of Gaza," he said, adding that "there will be no American soldiers on the ground in Gaza" as part of this operation, for which Washington "will work with regional partners."

The situation on Lebanon-Israel border this morning:

* Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a strike launched at 6.30 a.m. against the "Baghdadi" position, opposite the Lebanese village of Mais al-Jabal (Marjayoun), using a Burkan missile. This type of missile can carry huge explosive charges.

* At around 8 a.m., a missile fired by an Israeli drone hit an empty house in Blida (Marjsyoun), according to local residents.

In southern Lebanon, several incidents took place during the night, according to security sources:

Between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m.:

* Machine-gun fire targeted an area between Kfar Kila and Adaisseh (Marjayoun). The fire came from the direction of Metula, in northern Israel.

* Machine-gun fire also targeted woods on the outskirts of Dhairah (Sour).

Between 11 p.m, and midnight:

* The outskirts of Labbouneh, south of Naqoura (Sour), were bombed by Israeli warplanes. The town was again targeted by a raid shortly after midnight.

Meanwhile, in the Red Sea, the US military shot down 15 drones launched by the Houthis in Yemen early this morning, Reuters reports, citing a statement from the US Middle East Command (CENTCOM).

The US military returned fire in response to a large-scale attack "launched by Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists" between 4 a.m. and 6.30 a.m. local time, CENTCOM added. The drones posed "an imminent threat to merchant ships, the US Navy and coalition ships in the region," it added.

Both the Jordanian and US militaries have said their aircraft were not responsible for the tragedy.

"We extend our deepest sympathy to the families of those killed," the US Middle East Command (Centcom) said in a statement yesterday. "Contrary to some reports, this is not the result of American airdrops."

Belgium, Egypt, France and the Netherlands are also airdropping aid into the territory.

Yesterday, the effort to get aid to the starving population of Gaza brought tragedy: packages of humanitarian aid dropped by planes on Gaza City killed five people and injured 10 others, according to a hospital source.

"When the planes started dropping the cargo, me and my brother went to the area in the hope of recovering a bag of flour," said Mohammed al-Ghoul, a 50-year-old man living in the al-Shati refugee camp where the accident took place, told AFP. "But the parachute didn't open and the cargo fell like a rocket onto the roof of one of the houses," he explained.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, meanwhile, says it is up to Hamas to accept a truce with Israel. However, the armed wing of the group says Hamas will make "no compromise" on its demands for a definitive cease-fire and the withdrawal of Israeli troops in exchange for any agreement on the release of the hostages it captured on Oct. 7.

While negotiations in Cairo on a truce involving the mediating countries — Egypt, Qatar and the United States — are due to resume next week, after four days of fruitless talks this week, US President Joe Biden said last night that it will be "difficult" to achieve a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip before Ramadan, which is expected to begin early next week.

Good morning,
We're back with you with live updates from Gaza, southern Lebanon and the wider Middle East on day 155 of the Gaza war.