Thank you for joining us for today's live coverage of the Gaza war. Make sure to tune in tomorrow for the latest updates.
Here are the latest developments on the Lebanese-Israeli border:
- Israeli fighter jets again raided Maroun el-Ras (Marjayoun), according to local residents. Ambulances were dispatched to the scene.
- Rockets were fired from Lebanon towards Israeli positions, according to a security source. According to Haaretz, alarm sirens "sounded in northern Israel after nine rockets were fired from Lebanon."
Hamas has accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of obstructing truce negotiations in Gaza.
"At a time when Hamas is showing flexibility and positivity to facilitate the conclusion of an agreement Netanyahu continues to put new obstacles in front of the negotiations," the movement said in a statement. Israel is "stepping up its aggression and multiplying its attempts at forced displacement to thwart all efforts," Hamas asserted, calling on "mediators to intervene to put an end to Netanyahu's tricks and crimes."
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for three new attacks against Israel:
- The party claimed to have attacked a building used by Israeli soldiers in the settlement of Al-Manara and another in the settlement of Metula, in retaliation for the Israeli strike on Houla.
- It also claimed to have targeted the Hagosharim settlement with Katyusha rockets in response to Israeli attacks on Kfar Houne.
Update on the situation on the Lebanese-Israeli border:
- Israeli fighter jets carried out two raids on the village of Maroun al-Ras (Marjayoun district), in the vicinity of the Garden of Iran, residents told our correspondent.
- Israeli warplanes also raided a house in the village of Houla (Marjayoun district). Ambulances were dispatched to the scene. Another Israeli raid targeted Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil district).
Hezbollah announced that it attacked "with artillery shots" at 6 p.m. the Israeli position of al-Rahib facing the Lebanese southern village of Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil district).
Israeli Knesset member Avigdor Liberman has urged French Jews, following a strong performance by the far-left in France's parliamentary elections, to "leave France and immigrate to the State of Israel," emphasizing the urgency of the situation, according to The Times of Israel.
No party secured a majority in Sunday's second round of elections for the National Assembly, where all 577 seats were contested. As reported by Le Monde, the left-wing New Popular Front alliance secured 182 seats, while the centrist Ensemble, supported by President Emmanuel Macron, won 168 seats.
After the election, French left-wing politician Jean-Luc Melenchon vowed to "recognize the State of Palestine."
Hezbollah announced in its first statement of the day that it attacked at 5:05 p.m. the Israeli position of Zibdin in the disputed Shebaa Farms.
The Israeli Prime Minister's Office announced the departure of an Israeli delegation to Doha for hostage deal negotiations. Israel's "red lines" include continuing the war until all goals are met, preventing weapon smuggling from Egypt to Gaza, and maximizing the number of live hostages returned, according to the Israeli channel N12.
Unexpected new demands, such as preventing the return of armed terrorists to northern Gaza and addressing security on the Philadelphia axis, raised doubts about the negotiations as Netanyahu released them after several officials had already left for Qatar.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that the cease-fire and hostage release agreement under discussion to end the war in Gaza would be a defeat for Israel and that he wanted no part of it, Reuters reports.
"This agreement is a defeat and a humiliation for Israel," Smotrich told a meeting of the party he heads, which is part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling coalition.
"Mr. Prime Minister, this is not an absolute victory. It is a total failure. We will not take part in any agreement to surrender to Hamas", he added.
The leader of Israel's largest opposition party, Yair Lapid, said he would support Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in parliament to keep him in office if members of the ruling coalition resigned over a cease-fire agreement, Reuters reports.
Lapid, leader of the Yesh Atid party, told a meeting of his parliamentary faction, "There is a hostage agreement on the table. It's not true that Netanyahu has to choose between the hostage agreement and continuing as prime minister."
"Let him conclude the deal. I promised him a safety net and I will keep that promise," he added, referring to a scenario in which Netanyahu's coalition partners would resign.
Netanyahu has authorized his officials to resume negotiations for a possible agreement with the Palestinian militant group Hamas to end the fighting in Gaza and free the Israeli hostages seized on Oct. 7.
Some of his far-right coalition partners have said they will resign if the war ends before Israel has eradicated Hamas and freed the hostages, which could bring down Netanyahu's government.
The Israeli army claimed responsibility for this morning's attack on Qlaileh, which killed Hezbollah fighter Mustafa Hassan Salman. According to a message posted on X by the Israeli army's Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, Salman was a member of the party's "rockets and missiles unit."
The Lebanese Ministry of Agriculture strongly condemned the Israeli strike that targeted the livestock farms of Jabal Toura (Jezzine) and killed "hundreds" of animals.
"This is a flagrant violation of international law and Lebanese sovereignty," the ministry added in a statement. It also called on the international community and international human rights organizations " to intervene immediately to condemn this attack, make those responsible pay and provide aid to farmers and herders affected by repeated Israeli aggressions."
The health ministry in Gaza announced a new death toll of 38,193 in the Palestinian territory since the start of the war with Israel, which has entered its tenth month, reports AFP.
At least 40 people have been killed in the past 24 hours, he said in a statement, adding that 87,903 people had been injured in the Gaza Strip since October 7.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office responded to Hamas's offer by saying that "any agreement would allow Israel to fight until all the objectives of the war are achieved," namely the destruction of Hamas and the release of all hostages, AFP reported. He had previously said that Israeli envoys would return to Doha in the coming days for talks.
"Netanyahu's intentions have become clear. Every time there is a breakthrough towards an agreement, he blocks everything and intensifies the aggression against our people," a Hamas official commented on condition of anonymity.
To increase pressure for an agreement, further demonstrations are planned in Israel later today.
Israeli soldiers in tanks stormed and shelled several neighborhoods in Gaza City, forcing thousands of Palestinians to flee again, AFP reported, informed by witnesses and the Palestinian Civil Defense. The latter stated that it had received information about "dozens of martyrs and wounded" in some neighborhoods, but said it could not reach them due to the intensity of the shooting. "Dozens of families are surrounded by Israeli troops," it said.
Tanks have taken up positions in several neighborhoods and others continue to advance, aided by airstrikes and drones, the witnesses added.
Update on Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon since the start of the day:
- Artillery fire targeted the surroundings of Rmaish and Baraasheet (Bint Jbeil), according to local residents.
- The outskirts of Houla and Wadi Slouqi (Marjayoun) were also targeted by mortar shells, according to residents.
After this morning's strike on a livestock farm in the Jezzine caza, a source within the Civil Defense told L'Orient Today that the shepherd, who had been missing until now, had been found alive and well. According to this source, he had been able to flee the scene at the time of the strike and take shelter. The state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported that "more than 700 goats" were killed in the strike.
In a speech delivered on the occasion of an "Ashoura council," with a mainly religious connotation, yesterday evening, the Secretary General of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, said that the commemorations organized this year are taking place "in the heart of the flood of al-Aqsa," the Hamas operation of Oct. 7, 2023, "with martyrs and wounded almost every day."
The commemoration of Ashoura marks the Battle of Karbala, in the 7th century, and the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and third imam of Shiism. "The fighting casts a shadow on the South," which risks impacting the organization of processions and events normally planned, stated the party leader, adding that "the calendar will therefore be confirmed on a day-to-day basis."
Hezbollah announced the death of one of its members, Mustafa Salman, "on the road to Jerusalem." He was born in 1991 and was originally from Qlaileh. According to information from L'Orient Today's correspondent, he is the victim who succumbed to his injuries after a drone strike on a motorcycle in Qlaileh.
The death brings to 367 the number of Hezbollah members killed by Israel since Oct. 8, according to L'Orient Today's count.
According to security sources contacted by L'Orient Today's local correspondent:
- Around 10 p.m., artillery fire targeted Naqoura, Alma el-Chaab and Jibbain (Sour).
- At 11 p.m., Israeli drones struck Talloussa, Rab el-Talatine and Qabrikha (Marjayoun) without causing any injuries. In Qabrikha, a missile fell near a house in which a family was, but did not explode. At the same time, guided missiles were fired by Israel towards Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil).
- At midnight, a drone bombed a house in Houla (Marjeyoun), without causing any injuries.
- Around 2 a.m., a drone fired two missiles at a motorbike that was traveling in Qlaileh (Sour). Two people were hospitalized after this strike, which damaged several nearby cars. In the morning, a medical source confirmed to L'Orient Today that one of the two injured succumbed to his injuries. His identity was not immediately known.
- Also at 2 a.m., artillery fire targeted Kfar Kila (Marjayoun), damaging houses.
In the morning, residents reported that an Israeli strike targeted a sheep farm in Jabal Toura, a few kilometers south of Jezzine. A video obtained by L'Orient Today's correspondent shows a severely damaged building and dozens of livestock killed. The shepherd who was at the scene at the time of the strike is still missing, and the search continues.
Lebanon was also violently attacked by Israel during the night, in the hours following an unprecedented strike by Hezbollah on Mount Hermon. This attack targeted a "reconnaissance center," according to the party, which declared that the launch of "consecutive squadrons of drones" on this infrastructure was "its most important operation since Oct. 8."
According to the senior Hamas official, the movement informed the mediators that it wanted to see three steps to achieve a cease-fire, including the entry into Gaza of 400 aid trucks per day and the withdrawal of the Israeli army from the "Philadelphia corridor and the Rafah crossing point," which are located between southern Gaza and Egypt. "The ball is in the Israelis' court," the source said, estimating that the discussions could take "two to three weeks," "if Israel does not block the negotiations."
After nine months of war, Israeli troops are still battling in several areas that the army had previously said it controlled, such as Shujaiya, an eastern neighborhood of Gaza City. Also in Gaza City, the Israeli army yesterday issued new evacuation orders, which concern residents and displaced people from three neighborhoods, calling on them to move westward near the coast.
Hamas said last night that four people had been killed in an Israeli strike on a Gaza City school sheltering displaced people, a day after 16 people were reported killed in an Israeli airstrike on a U.N.-run school in the center of the territory.
Pending a possible agreement, the Israeli offensive continues in Gaza.
Yesterday, the Palestinian Red Crescent reported six people killed in their homes in Zawaida (central Gaza) and nine other Palestinians were killed in strikes on buildings in Gaza City, according to the Gaza Civil Defense.
Hamas said yesterday it was willing to negotiate the release of hostages still held in the Gaza Strip in the absence of a permanent cease-fire with Israel, as mediation efforts were stepped up to secure an agreement in the tenth month of the war.
For several months, Qatar, the United States and Egypt, the mediating countries between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement, have been clashing with the demands of both camps.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has consistently said he wants to continue the war until Hamas is destroyed and all hostages taken to the Gaza Strip during the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian movement on Israeli soil that triggered the war on Oct. 7 are released. Hamas has demanded a definitive cease-fire and an Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian territory before any agreement.
But, yesterday, a senior member of the movement announced to AFP that this first "point had been overcome." The mediators had "committed themselves to the fact that, as long as the negotiations are ongoing," a "cease-fire would remain in force," he explained.
Netanyahu's office said Israeli envoys would return to Doha in the coming days for talks, and discussions with U.S. mediators are also taking place in Egypt, according to Egyptian media outlet Al-Qahera News.
Make sure to read the Morning Brief so you are caught up with what has been happening.
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