Thanks for following our live updates on the Gaza war and its impact on the region, particularly Lebanon.
Stay tuned for more coverage starting tomorrow morning.
More information on the Israeli strike that killed three Syrian Kurdish children in Umm al-Tout, South Lebanon:
The three children were named Mohammad Jerkes, Jean Jerkes and Khalil Khalil.
They were playing in front of their house, located near a farm where their parents work, according to local sources quoted by our correspondent.
Updates from the South Lebanon-Israel border & the deadly strike on Umm al-Tout:
- At least seven Israeli interceptor missiles exploded over Houla and Mais el-Jabal (Marjayoun) in South Lebanon, our correspondent in South Lebanon reports, citing a security source. These missiles attempted to intercept projectiles launched by Hezbollah.
- Israeli artillery fire targeted Blida (Bint Jbeil).
- Hezbollah announced that it “shelled the settlement of Kiryat Shmona with dozens of Katyusha rockets.”
- Haaretz reported that sirens sounded in Kiryat Shmona, Kfar Giladi, Tel Hai, Beit Hillel and others.
⚡ The Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese village of Umm al-Tout (Sour district) killed three Syrian Kurdish children, residents told our correspondent.
The attack targeted the home of a family working in the village's watermelon fields. The children killed were all under the age of 12.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Israeli army must “step up the pressure” on Hamas, after nine months of war in Gaza, reported AFP.
In a speech at an official ceremony on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, Netanyahu declared that the Israeli army has "hurt" Hamas by eliminating top commanders and "thousands" of its operatives.
Updates from the South Lebanon-Israeli:
- An Israeli drone targeted Yarin and the neighboring locality of Umm al-Tout, both in the Sour district.
- Missiles were fired from Lebanon on Israeli positions, security sources reported. Residents reported seeing Israeli interception rockets exploding above the Lebanese localities of Mais al-Jabal and Houla, both in the Marjayoun district, according to our correspondent.
- Rocket sirens sound in northern Israel twice in 10 minutes, reported Haaretz.
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Half of Hamas' military-wing leadership has been eliminated with approximately 14,000 fighters killed or captured since the start of the Gaza war, reported Reuters citing a statement from the Israeli military released today.
The army added that it eliminated senior commanders including brigade commanders, battalion and company commanders, and it destroyed thousands of militant targets.

(Credit: Residents of the area provided the photo to our correspondent)
Israeli phosphorous artillery shelling targeted Kfar Kila (Marjayoun), reported our correspondent in South Lebanon
The two people killed in the Israeli drone attack on a motorcycle in Arnoun have been identified as Abdelmoutaleb Nanis and Hamza Merhej Chaaban, two Syrian nationals, a security source told our correspondent in South Lebanon.
This incident raises the tally of civilians killed by Israel in Lebanon to 87 since October 8, reported our correspondent. Among them, nine are Syrians.

Civil Defense members from the al-Rissala Scouts, affiliated with the Amal movement, reported assisting in transferring the injured from the Israeli drone strike in Arnoun to local hospitals. (Credit: al-Rissala Scouts)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly using every means possible to prevent the Israeli army from recording his security cabinet and defense-related meetings, reported Haaretz.
Netanyahu ordered that the recording system in the command center at troop headquarters be switched off as soon as the war began on Oct. 7, 2023, added the Israeli newspaper on its website in an exclusive.
For more details about the measures taken by Netanyahu, press here.
The health ministry in Gaza and the Palestinian Red Crescent have announced that 22 people were killed in two separate Israeli strikes in the central and southern Gaza Strip, with one of the attacks targeting a school, AFP reports.
Five people were killed in a strike on the UN-run al-Razi school in the Nuseirat refugee camp, according to the Red Crescent, which initially reported eight dead.
Seventeen others were killed in a strike on a gas station in Al-Mawasi, according to the Ministry of Health.
Israel used a US-guided bomb with a heavy payload in its strike on Saturday in al-Mawasi, which the Gaza health ministry claims killed dozens of people in a camp for displaced civilians and designated as a "safe zone" in South Gaza, according to two weapons experts quoted by AFP.
Hamas announced that it held Washington “morally and legally” responsible for the attack.
According to the health ministry in Gaza, 92 Palestinians were killed in this Israeli strike on al-Mawasi, near Khan Yunis (southern Gaza Strip), an area declared a “safe zone” by Israel, and where displaced civilians had been invited to gather.
To learn more about what we know about the bombs used in al-Mawasi, press here.
A security source told our correspondent that the two people killed in the Israeli drone attack on a motorcycle in Arnoun (Nabatiyeh) are not Lebanese, had no identity papers and may be Syrian nationals. But, this information has not yet been confirmed.
⚡ Two people were killed in an Israeli drone attack on a motorcycle in Arnoun, in the Nabatiyeh district near the al-Khardali bridge, medical and security sources confirmed to our correspondent.
The Lebanese army's intelligence unit is working to identify the victims.
An update on the situation in southern Lebanon:
- An Israeli drone targeted a motorcycle at the Arnoun town junction on the road to al-Khardali bridge (Nabatieh). Two people were injured and were taken to a hospital, according to residents.
- Israeli artillery shelling targeted the town of Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil), according to residents
The Health Ministry in Gaza announced a new death toll of 38,713 in the Palestinian territory since the start of the war with Israel, which has entered its tenth month.
At least 49 people have been killed in the past 24 hours, it said in a statement, adding that 89,166 people had been injured in the Gaza Strip since the war began on October 7.
"These recent events are worsening the humanitarian catastrophe," warned Doctors Without Borders, which, along with other NGOs, denounced "the systematic obstruction of aid by Israel and its attacks on aid operations."
In a report published on Monday, 13 NGOs warned of the "deterioration" of access to humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip, with the intensification of Israeli operations.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed to two senior Israeli officials the "deep concern" of the United States following the deadly Israeli strikes in recent days, according to his spokesperson.
This morning, at dawn, four bodies and three wounded were removed from the rubble of a house targeted by an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent, which also reported one dead and several wounded in a house in Nusseirat (center) targeted by an Israeli plane.
During the night, witnesses reported strikes and artillery fire from the Israeli army from the north to the south of the Palestinian territory, reports AFP.
In Gaza City, ambulance services reported finding one dead and two injured in a targeted apartment.
The Civil Defense of the Palestinian territory reported that an Israeli strike on a house in Zawaida left two dead and several wounded.
The night was also marked by a series of Israeli bombings on southern Lebanon:
- Around 10 p.m., artillery fire targeted Blida (Bint Jbeil).
- At 11 p.m., Israeli artillery shells fell on Deir Mimas, near residential areas, and in the Khiam plain (Marjayoun).
- Thirty minutes later, Israeli artillery struck Wadi Slouqi and the outskirts of Deir Mimas, near the Litani, as well as the outskirts of Bani Hayyan (Marjayoun).
- At midnight, Israeli jets bombed a house in the center of Bani Hayyan, while white phosphorus shells targeted the outskirts of Deir Mimas once again. A fire broke out in the area with the Civil Defense being unable to reach it as Israeli artillery continued to pound the surrounding area.
- At 1 a.m., an Israeli drone targeted a house in Houla (Marjayoun), without causing any casualties.
Yesterday evening, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a strike with "dozens of Falaq and Katyusha missiles" on the Israeli village of Kiryat Shmona, in response to a strike on Bint Jbeil that killed three people.
The Israeli army, quoted by Haaretz, reports that of "at least 20 missiles fired in two salvos within minutes" from Lebanon, one of them hit a shopping center in Kiryat Shmona. "Israeli air defense systems intercepted the rockets and another barrage was fired ten minutes later on the same area," the media adds, stressing that the shots did not cause any injuries.
The Israeli strike on Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon killed three people from the same family: A man, Amer Dagher, claimed by Hezbollah as one of its members, and his two sisters, Taghrid and Faouzieh. All were in their sixties.
The Israeli army said it had targeted a Hezbollah "weapons warehouse" with the strike.
Be sure to read the Morning Brief so you are caught up with what has been happening.
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