We're closing our live coverage for today of the Gaza war and its repercussions in Lebanon and the region. Thanks for joining us. We'll be back tomorrow with more news updates and analysis. Goodnight!
(Photo provided by Hezbollah press office)
The funeral in Zaboud, Bekaa, of Ali Ibrahim Nasreddine, a Hezbollah fighter killed earlier this week in a strike in Boukamal, eastern Syria, which left around 15 people dead.
The head of the regional council of Upper Galilee, the area in northern Israel deserted by its inhabitants since the start of cross-border fighting with Hezbollah, has called on the Israeli government to "end the war by May," at which point, he asserts, residents intend to return to their homes.
Upper Galilee Regional Council Chair Giora Zaltz said he and his fellow residents insist on being back in their homes by July, according to remarks shared in a Haaretz report. July is the current expiry date for the government's evacuation order.
"We will start the next school year here in the North," Zaltz said. "The government must ensure that the escalation ends before the end of May and that the region is safe enough for us to return."
Towards the end of the day, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for two new strikes:
• The first, at an unspecified time, struck Metula, an Israeli town located opposite the Lebanese border town of Kfar Kila, in Marjayoun district.
• The second was launched at 6:10 p.m. "using missiles" against the "Samaka" site in the disputed Kfar Shuba heights.
The Israeli army reported, via posts made on X by its Arabic-speaking spokesperson Avichay Adraee, that it had attacked several Hezbollah "military infrastructures" in southern Lebanon, including "a structure in which a terrorist was identified in the Mais al-Jabal area."
Other strikes were carried out, according to this source, on "a military building near Aita al-Shaab, as well as against a rocket launcher used earlier in the day to launch a strike on Biranit," in northern Israel. "Military infrastructure near Kfar Shuba" was also targeted, according to the army.
Strikes on these three areas were reported earlier in the day by local residents.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says the Israeli army will broaden its offensive against Hezbollah at the northern border, increasing its attacks.
On a tour of northern Israel, Gallant declared that the army would "pursue Hezbollah wherever it operates and increase the pressure and pace of its attacks until we achieve the set objective: to change the security situation along the border and allow the safe return of the inhabitants," of northern Israel.
In two posts on X, Gallant said he had visited the Israeli army's Northern Command "to closely follow the assassination of a Hezbollah commander and to take stock of preparations for further eliminations and actions, in Lebanon, Syria and beyond."
A statement released by the minister's office said that Israel is "becoming offensive rather than defensive, and we will get to any place where Hezbollah is. Beirut, Baalbeck, Sour, Saida and the border's whole length — and places even further, like Damascus."
Israeli strikes in Aleppo and Damascus in Syria today killed another six Hezbollah members. The statement said the minister has been informed of preparations for further assassinations on the northern front.
Two strikes were claimed by Hezbollah since 3:30 this afternoon:
• The first, using mortar shells, was launched at 3:50 p.m. against a patrol of Israeli soldiers near Hadab Yaroun, located opposite the Lebanese village of Yaroun, in Bint Jbeil district.
• The second strike, using Falaq missiles, was launched at 4 p.m. against the "Jal al-Alam" site and a deployment of soldiers near this position, opposite the Lebanese town of Labouneh, in Sour district.
Haaretz reports that alarm sirens sounded in several Israeli border areas around the time of these attacks.
Updates from southern Lebanon, since 3:30 p.m.:
• The outskirts of Khiam, in Marjayoun district, have again been hit by Israeli artillery, according to residents.
• The raid reported earlier on Aita al-Shaab targeted an uninhabited dwelling, according to residents.
• A house in the central square of Mais al-Jabal, in Marjayoun, was hit with an airstrike.
• Kfar Kila, also Marjayoun, was targeted by artillery fire, according to residents.
Israeli police forcefully dispersed an anti-war demonstration held by Israelis in Jerusalem, arresting four protesters, Haaretz reports.
Several dozen people were gathered in Paris Square in Jerusalem to protest against Israel's war on Gaza and the humanitarian crisis imposed by the conflict. Protests for various causes have been gaining steam in Israel, including those calling for the return of hostages, those calling for the conscription of Orthodox Jews into the army, and those, albeit smaller but still noteworthy, protesting the war itself.
Haaretz reports that over the last few weeks, Israeli police have been arresting protestors and confiscating their signs during the peaceful demonstrations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved sending another delegation of intelligence officials to Doha and Cairo to continue cease-fire and hostage exchange negotiations with Hamas, Haaretz reports.
Earlier this week, in the wake of a UN Security Council resolution calling for an "immediate cease-fire," — a significant dialing-up of international pressure on Israel — several Israeli officials tolds news outlets that the talks in Doha had hit a "dead end" and the team had left the table.
Now Haaretz is reporting that Netanyahu spoke to the Shin Bet (domestic security) and Mossad (national intelligence agency) chiefs to organize the return of an Israeli delegation to the Egypt and Qatar.
According to Times of Israel, the delegation is expected to depart “in the coming days,” and will have “room to operate” in the negotiations, citing a statement from Netanyahu's office.
Hezbollah has announced two attacks on Israel in the last couple hours:
• The first one was launched, according to a statement, at 12:40 p.m., in response to Israeli attacks on Damascus and Aleppo, in Syria. The attack targeted the headquarters of the 91st division at the Israeli site in Biranit, facing the Lebanese village of Marwahine in Sour district, using Burkan missiles. The Israeli army said that two missiles were launched toward the Biranit base in northern Israel with no casualties being reported.
• The second one, at 1:00 p.m., targeted an Israeli brigade near Hunin Castle with artillery fire. Hunin Castle faces the Lebanese border towns of Hula and Markaba, in Marjayoun district. The Israeli army, cited by Haaretz, said that rocket alarms were heard around that time in Metula and Margaliot. Margaliot is located close to Hunin Castle.
Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon over the last two hours:
• The Israeli army launched artillery attacks against shepherds tending to flocks of sheep in Khiam Valley in Marjayoun district which resulted in some sheep being injured, residents of the village told L'Orient Today.
• The Israeli army shelled the outskirts of Kfar Kila, in Marjayoun district, our correspondent reports, citing residents of the village.
• Aita al-Shaab, in Bint Jbeil district, was raided by an Israeli war plane.
Hezbollah announced the death of a seventh fighter killed today: Ali Bakka, born in 1994, originally from Saida and resident in Qennarit, southern Lebanon.
According to information from our correspondent in the South, Ali Bakka is the sixth member of the party to be killed in Israeli strikes on the Aleppo region in Syria this morning, which, according to the OSHR, killed a total of 42 people.
As a reminder, Hezbollah had already announced the death of five of its members, killed in Syria: Moustapha Nassif (born in 1991, originally from Hafir, in Baalbeck), Ali al-Haf (1984, Halloussieh, southern Lebanon), Ibrahim al-Zein (1982, Shour, southern Lebanon), Moustapha Makkeh (1983, Tebnine, southern Lebanon) and Ahmad Sheheimy (1964, Markaba, southern Lebanon).
In addition to these deaths, Ali Naim was killed in a drone strike on his car as he was driving east of Sour this morning morning.
Since Oct. 8, 264 Hezbollah members have been killed in Israeli strikes in Syria and Lebanon, according to our count.
The Israeli army attacked the Sky News office building yesterday in Gaza, the Arabic news outlet announced, cited by Haaretz. The army responded by saying that civilians had been evacuated from the building – which it claims was not in use.
Sky News reported that there were no casualties in the attack on the building, which housed its offices and those of other media outlets, and was is located in the northern Gaza Strip.
The army said that as part ofits "activity in al-Shifa Hospital ... a fighter jet attacked a building in the Rimal neighborhood earlier this week, which posed a threat to our forces operating in the area."
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported earlier that six Hezbollah fighters had been killed in Israeli strikes on the region of Aleppo this morning, and now Hezbollah has announced that five of its members fell "as martyrs on the road to Jerusalem."
They are Moustapha Nassif (born in 1991, originally from Hafir, in Baalbeck), Ali al-Haf (1984, Halloussieh, southern Lebanon), Ibrahim al-Zein (1982, Shour, southern Lebanon), Moustapha Makkeh (1983, Tebnine, southern Lebanon) and Ahmad Sheheimy (1964, Markaba, southern Lebanon).
These fighters died alongside 36 Syrian soldiers, according to the SOHR. Since Oct. 8, 263 Hezbollah members have been killed in Israeli strikes on Syria and Lebanon. Six were killed today.
The situation along the border between Lebanon and Israel as of this morning:
• Israeli soldiers fired into the air to frighten away farm workers on the outskirts of Wazzani, Marjayoun district, without causing any injuries, according to local residents.
• Israeli artillery fire targeted the outskirts of Khiam, Marjayoun district, as well as Kfar Shuba, Hasbaya district, according to local residents.
• Israeli warplanes bombed the outskirts of Shebaa, in Hasbaya district, with several missiles, according to local residents.
Hezbollah announced the death of one of its fighters, Ali Abd al-Hassan Naim, born in 1974 and originally from Selaa in southern Lebanon. The party simply said, as usual, that he "fell as a martyr on the road to Jerusalem."
However, according to information obtained from security sources by our correspondent in the South, this is the person killed in the targeted strike on a car near Bazourieh this morning, east of Sour.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) warned yesterday of the disappearance of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan, last seen on March 19 in Gaza City. This morning, she posted a message on her X account in the morning, saying only: "I survived."
On Instagram, the young woman, followed by almost 300,000 people on her social networks, posted a photo of herself with the message "Alive."
Prior to her disappearance of around ten days, the journalist was in the area of al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza, which has been under attack from the Israeli army since March 18, for the second time since the war on Gaza began.
The last message sent by the journalist on her X account was published on on that same day, March 18, the day before her disappearance. Her message on that day read: "Israeli forces just murdered my only brother in front of my eyes."
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for two strikes launched against the Israeli "Zebdine" barracks in the disputed Shebaa Farms. The first, at 8 a.m., was launched using missiles. The second, at 9.45 a.m., was carried out using specifically Falaq missiles, the party said in a statement.
The Israeli army reported, according to Haaretz, that it had "intercepted a suspicious aerial object that entered Israeli territory from Lebanon." Warning sirens sounded in several localities, including Kiryat Shmona, Tel Hai, Beit Hillel and Ma'ayan Baruch, according to the Israeli newspaper.
Israeli air strikes on Syria's Aleppo province early this morning killed at least 42 people, including 36 Syrian soldiers, the deadliest toll for the army since the Gaza war began, AFP reports.
⚡ Six members of Hezbollah were also killed in the strikes.
Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes in Syria since civil war there broke out in 2011, targeting army positions as well as Iran-backed forces including Hezbollah, an ally of Damascus and Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The strikes have increased since Israel's war on Gaza began on Oct. 7, and Friday's was the second such attack in 24 hours. One of Israel's aims in attacking Syria is to cut off Hezbollah supply routes into neighboring Lebanon.
Regarding the catastrophic conditions in a besieged enclave under almost six months of constant shelling, the International Court of Justice yesterday ordered Israel to provide "urgently needed humanitarian aid" into Gaza.
In a unanimous decision, the court's judges declared that Israel must ensure "without restriction and on a large scale, the provision by all interested parties of urgently required basic services and humanitarian assistance" in Gaza.
In January, in a case opened by South Africa, the court ordered Israel to do its utmost to prevent genocide in the Palestinian territory. Israel continued its relentless bombing of Gaza, deeming such accusations "outrageous."
What do we know so far about the strike between Bazourieh and Wadi Jilo:
• The strike targeted a car on the road between the two southern Lebanese towns, located east of Sour.
• One person in the vehicle was killed, according to a medical source. He was alone in the car.
• Security sources indicated that the victim was a member of Hezbollah. However, the party has not yet confirmed the identity of the victim.
• This is the second time that Israel has launched a targeted strike in the vicinity of Bazourieh, the hometown of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. On Jan. 20, 2024, an Israeli drone fired on two cars, killing a Hezbollah executive, Ali Hodroj, a computer and telecommunications expert, Mohammad Bakr Diab, and two other people.
⚡ The calm was broken at 8:30 a.m. with a targeted strike carried out by an Israeli drone on a car driving along the road linking Bazourieh to Wadi Jilo, in southern Lebanon. Residents reported that ambulances were dispatched to the site of the strike, while drones continued to fly over the area at low altitude.
The strike left one passenger dead, who was extracted from the vehicle by rescue workers, according to a medical source.
The night was particularly quiet in southern Lebanon, marked only by Israeli artillery fire on the outskirts of Wazzani, while Hezbollah announced that it had targeted Israeli "vehicles" entering the Israeli "Malikieh" site with artillery shells at 11:35 p.m. yesterday.
Welcome to today's live coverage of the Gaza war and it's impact on the region, notably in southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging cross-border fire since the day after Hamas' Oct. 7 al-Aqsa Flood operation on southern Israel.
You have reached your article limit
Now is not the time to stop reading!
Get unlimited access to L'Orient Today for $1 only.
You have reached an article that is only available to L’Orient Today subscribers.
Already have an account? Log in