Succession of Israeli strikes targets south Lebanon: Gaza war, day 309

This concludes our live updates for today. We'll be back tomorrow morning with all the latest news.

Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party has also issued a statement following the deadly Israeli strike on the al-Tabieen school in Gaza, condemning "all the atrocities committed by the Israeli enemy, which continues its systematic and organized war of extermination against the Palestinian people, the latest of which is the blatant attack on the Aa-Tabieen school in Gaza."

The party expressed its "full solidarity with the Palestinians in the face of the crimes against humanity they are enduring."

Hezbollah has announced that it attacked, around 5:30 p.m., Israeli positions in the disputed Shebaa Farms and Kfar Shuaba Hills.

Hezbollah has also announced an attack "with Katyusha missiles" on the Israeli position of Eilon, which is opposite the southern Lebanese village of Dhaira (Sour). The party says the attack is in response to strikes on southern Lebanese villages, particularly the topws of Tayr Harfa and Aita al-Shaab.

Here's an update from south Lebanon:

* Hezbollah announced that they attacked at 5:05 p.m. the Maskaf Am Israeli position, which is located opposite the Lebanese village of Markaba (Marjayoun)

* The Israeli army shelled the outskirts of the areas of Naqoura (Sour) and Rashaya Fawqar and Kfar Hammam (Hasbaya), residents of the areas told L'Orient-Le Jour

From Baabda, our reporter Wael Taleb observed the vapour trail left by at least one Israeli aircraft.

According to our correspondent in south Lebanon, Muntasser Abdallah, the sound was heard over Iqlim al-Kharroub (Chouf), as well as in other areas of south Lebanon, including Saida, Nabatieh and Zahrani.

⚡ Israeli aircraft have once again broken the sound barrier over Beirut. A loud bang, followed by the sound of a fighter jet in flight, was heard over the Lebanese capital.

Iran, for its part, condemned a "war crime" committed by the Israeli army after this morning's deadly strikes on a school in Gaza, calling on the international community to support the Palestinian people.

The attack "proved once again that Israel's apartheid regime does not respect any of the rules and regulations of international law or moral and human principles," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said in a statement.

Hezbollah also reacted to the deadly Israeli strike on the school and mosque in Gaza, saying it "strengthens the Palestinian resistance and supporting fronts in their choice of armed struggle to stop this killing and prevent the enemy from achieving its objectives, whether declared or secret."

"The enemy's government proves once again that it is pursuing its policy of genocide against the Palestinian people, and that all proposals for a ceasef-ire and deadlines for negotiations are lies and deception," the party added in its statement.

France has added its voice to those denouncing Israel's strike this morning on a school in Gaza.

Condemning the strike "in the strongest possible terms"  the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement, "For several weeks now, school buildings have been repeatedly targeted, with an intolerable number of civilian casualties," adding "that Israel must respect international humanitarian law."

(Credit: Mohamad Yassine/OLJ)

Attendees of the funeral of Hamas commander Samer al-Hage, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike in Saida yesterday, hold his coffin aloft. The coffin is draped with both a Palestinian and a Hamas flag. 

Ali Fadlallah, a high-profile Shiite religious figure in Lebanon, condemned has "the horrific massacre committed by the Zionist enemy against civilians performing dawn prayers at al-Tabieen school in Gaza City, which left dozens martyred and wounded."

"We strongly condemn this heinous and horrible crime that targeted displaced people from Gaza, considering it a flagrant violation of all humanitarian, legal and international conventions," he added.

Fadlallah also stressed that "the enemy aims, through its policy of killing and destruction, to completely eliminate the Palestinian people and their just cause, thus undermining all efforts to end this organized genocide against the Gaza Strip."

Ali Fadlallah is the son of Mohamad Hussein Fadlallah, one of the three main referents followed by Lebanese Shiites, along with Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iraqi cleric Ali al-Sistani.

UK Foreign Minister David Lammy says Britain is "appalled" at Israel's deadly airstrike on a school in Gaza. Lammy also called for "an immediate cease-fire."

"Appalled by the Israeli Military strike on al-Tabeen school and the tragic loss of life," Lammy wrote on X, adding: "We need an immediate ceasefire to protect civilians, free all hostages, and end restrictions on aid."

Here's the latest update from southern Lebanon:

* The Public Health Emergency Operations Center of the Public Health Ministry has issued a statement announcing that a second Israeli airstrike today on the town of Majdal Selm (Marjayoun) resulted in injuries to a civilian and an emergency responder from the Amal-affiliated medical association, al-Risala Scouts. The injured were transported to Tebnine Governmental Hospital for treatment.

Local sources also said an emergency responder from al-Risala Scouts was injured in the airstrikes targeting Majdal Selm and was taken to a local hospital. The ambulance vehicle belonging to the organization also sustained damage, the sources added.

* The Central Operations Room of the Civil Defense, issued the following statement: "Civil Defense personnel participated in firefighting operations following the airstrike on the town of Tayr Harfa (Sour district)"

⚡ Turkey has denounced Israel's strike on a school in Gaza at dawn this morning as a "new crime against humanity," according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

"Israel has committed a new crime against humanity by massacring more than a hundred civilians who had taken refuge in a school," wrote the ministry, which also denounced "once again" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's desire "to sabotage negotiations on a cease-fire".

European Union foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell has said he was "horrified" by the deadly Israeli strike on a school in Gaza.

"Horrified by the images of a Gaza school being used as a shelter, hit by an Israeli strike, which reportedly killed dozens of Palestinians. At least 10 schools have been targeted in recent weeks. There is no justification for these massacres," Borrell wrote on X.

(Credit: Mohammed Yassine/L'Orient Today)

A crowd gathered this afternoon in the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp to attend the funeral of Samer al-Hage, the head of Hamas security in the camp.

Hage was killed yesterday by an Israeli strike in Saida (southern Lebanon).

Gaza casualty toll update: At least 39,790 Palestinians have been killed and 91,702 have been injured in Israel's military offensive in Gaza since Oct. 7, Reuters reports, citing a Gaza Health Ministry statement.

Also in south Lebanon:

* The Lebanese Health Ministry says a "citizen" had been hospitalized following an Israeli white phosphorus attack on Kfar Kila (Marjsyoun) yesterday.

* Hezbollah has issued its first statement of the day, announcing an attack on the Israeli site of Ramia, opposite the Lebanese village of Ramaya (Marjayoun).

* Hezbollah then reported a second attack that successfully targeted the Israeli site of Malikiya, located opposite Aitaroun (Bint Jbeil) with artillery fire at 12.50 p.m. 

⚡ Qatar has called for an "urgent international investigation" following yesterday's deadly strike on a school in Gaza, AFP reports.

Also in south Lebanon:

* An Israeli drone fired two missiles at Wadi al-Kayssiyyeh, near Majdal Selm (Marjayoun).

New update on the situation in south Lebanon:

* According to residents, Israeli artillery shelled Aitaroun (Bint Jbeil).

* The strike that earlier targeted Tayr Harfa (Sour) destroyed a building without causing any injuries, according to local residents.

Former Hezbollah minister Mohammad Fneish says the U.S. is trying to renegotiate a cease-fire in Gaza, but whether these efforts are serious or not, they "will not change the decision of the resistance."

Speaking at a ceremony organized by Hezbollah in the southern village of Jibsheet (Nabatieh) in honor of slain fighter Hassan Mansour Mansour, Fneish accused the United States of engaging in diplomatic maneuvers aimed at blaming the resistance for the failure of the cease-fire and thus exonerating Israel of any responsibility.

He stressed that "the resistance in Lebanon will not cease its support for Gaza" as long as "the criminal war against the people of Palestine continues."

⚡ The Lebanese Foreign Affairs Ministry has condemned "in the strongest possible terms" the Israeli strike that targeted a school in the Gaza Strip on last night, which killed more than 100 people and wounded dozens of others.

"The ministry condemns in the strongest terms the fact that the Israeli occupying forces targeted [this school], which hosts unarmed displaced Palestinians in eastern Gaza City, by firing three missiles," the statement reads.

"The Israeli occupation army's systematic and indiscriminate bombardment and killing of children and civilians is a clear indication of the Israeli government's disregard for the provisions of international law and international humanitarian law," the ministry continued.

Echoing the Egyptian position expressed earlier in the day, the ministry added that it "considers the continuation of crimes against Palestinians and the deliberate killing of so many unarmed civilians, at a time when efforts by international mediators are intensifying to try to reach a cease-fire formula in Gaza, to be clear evidence of Israel's intention to prolong and expand the war."

An update on the situation in south Lebanon:

* Israeli aircraft bombed Houla (Marjayoun) shortly after the locality came under artillery fire, according to local residents.

* The Israeli air force also targeted Tayr Harfa (Sour), according to residents, who reported that two missiles were fired.

The death toll from last night's Israeli strike on a school in Gaza City has risen to over 100, with dozens more injured, according to the Hamas government, quoted by Reuters.

An Israeli artillery strike on the locality of Houla (Marjayoun caza) has broken the relative quiet along Lebanon's southern border that had prevailed since yesterday evening, our correspondent in the area reports. No further details are available at present.

⚡ Egypt says that Israel's "deliberate killing" of unarmed Palestinians shows that it lacked the political will to end the war in Gaza.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry's statement came after more than 100 Palestinians were killed and dozens more wounded in an Israeli strike on a Gaza school housing displaced people, according to the official Palestinian news agency. The Israeli army said it had struck a Hamas command center.

Hazem Khader Badie, head of the municipality of Saida (south Lebanon), has denounced in a statement the Israeli strike that killed Samer al-Hage, a Hamas security official, yesterday.

Pointing out that the strike targeted the official's vehicle "in the middle of a crowded street" and wounded two civilians who were nearby, Badie "firmly denounced Israel's ongoing violations of Lebanon's sovereignty in defiance of international norms and conventions."

He also called for "the utmost vigilance" in the face of the potential "repercussions of this attack."

In south Lebanon, where Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging cross-border fire since Oct. 8, 2023, an uneasy calm has prevailed since last night, according to security sources contacted by our correspondent Muntasser Abdallah. Our correspondent adds that Israeli warplanes and helicopters are constantly flying over various areas of the region.

Hamas has announced in a press release that the funeral of Samer al-Hage, the Hamas security chief in the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp who was killed yesterday evening in Saida (south Lebanon) by an Israeli strike, will be held in the Ain al-Hilweh camp.

According to the announcement, Hage's body will be received at 1 p.m. at the entrance to the camp at the Al-Hesba checkpoint after the afternoon prayer. The funeral will take place in the Khaled Ben al-Walid mosque before the body is buried in the camp's "new cemetery."

According to Hamas, the war has claimed nearly 40,000 lives in Gaza, where almost all the 2.4 million inhabitants have been displaced. The war has exacerbated tensions between Iran and its allies, notably Hamas and Hezbollah, on the one hand, and Israel on the other.

Fears of a conflagration redoubled after the assassination in Teheran on July 31 of Ismail Haniyeh, attributed by Iran to Israel, and the assassination the day before of the military chief of the Lebanese Hezbollah, Fouad Shoukur, killed in an Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs.

Iran and Hezbollah have promised reprisals, and the international community is doing its utmost to avoid escalation. On Thursday, the three mediating countries — Qatar, the United States and Egypt — called for the resumption of indirect truce talks on Aug. 15, stating that a framework agreement was "now on the table, with only the details of its implementation missing."

Israel has agreed to send a delegation of negotiators to the agreed location, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced.

"Any agreement accepted by Hamas will also be recognized by us", said the Iranian mission to the U.N. today, claiming however that a cease-fire in Gaza has "nothing to do" with Tehran's promised response to Haniyeh's assassination. Hamas had no immediate comment on the announcement of the resumption of negotiations.

This morning, Egypt said Israel's "deliberate killing" of unarmed Palestinians shows that it lacks a political will to end the war in Gaza.

Hamas has denounced "a dangerous escalation" in the war waged by the Israeli army in Palestinian territory. "The massacre at the al-Tabieen school … is a horrific crime that represents a dangerous escalation," the Palestinian movement said in a statement.

AFP footage shows rescue workers collecting bloodied bodies from a destroyed building and then transporting them in ambulances. "People in the school were praying dawn prayers" at the time of the strike, said a rescue worker who preferred not to give his name.

"When we got here, we were surprised by the scale of the massacre. We saw bodies piled on top of each other, human remains …," he added.

On Thursday, Israeli strikes on two schools in Gaza City killed 18 people, according to the Gaza Civil Defense. The Israeli army also claimed that the schools were Hamas command centers.

We start with an update from the Gaza Strip:

Even as the leaders of Qatar, Egypt and the United States called on Israel and Hamas to resume talks on Aug. 15, the Israeli army bombed another school in the besieged enclave last night.

The Civil Defense agency in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip claimed that at least 90 people were killed in what it denounced an "atrocious massacre." The Israeli army claimed that the school was being used as a command center by "terrorists," a justification that recurs almost every time a deadly strike is carried out.

Located in the center of Gaza City, the al-Tabieen school was being used as a shelter for around 250 displaced persons, most of whom were women and children, according to Hamas media sources.

The strike, the death toll of which cannot be independently verified, was one of the deadliest since the start of the war in Gaza on Oct. 7.

Hello,

This is day 309 of the war in the Gaza Strip. It is also the 308th day since Hezbollah opened a "solidarity" front in southern Lebanon.

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