Thank you for following our live coverage of the Gaza war and its implications on the region, particularly Lebanon.
We will continue reporting tomorrow morning.
Hezbollah claimed to have targeted the Israeli Rowaissat al-Alam site in the disputed Kfar Shuba Hills (Hasbaya) at 5.20 pm.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has postponed his trip to the Middle East, delaying his scheduled departure on Tuesday, Axios reported, citing Reuters, ahead of this week's scheduled cease-fire negotiations in Gaza.
The top U.S. diplomat's trip was postponed due to "the uncertainty of the situation", Axios said, citing two unnamed sources.
According to the New York Times, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has quietly added new conditions to the cease-fire negotiations with Hamas in Gaza, which could complicate the conclusion of an agreement.
Documents consulted by the American daily reveal that Netanyahu tightened Israeli demands in July, notably insisting on Israeli control of Gaza's borders and complicating the return of displaced Palestinians.
These new conditions, added against the advice of some members of his negotiating team, threatened to derail the talks, when an agreement seemed within reach, added the New York Times.
Netanyahu's office, which did not dispute the authenticity of the documents, denied that he had added any new conditions and said that the Prime Minister had instead sought to clarify ambiguities in Israel's latest proposal.
The EU condemned "provocations" by Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir after he prayed at the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Israeli-occupied east Jerusalem.
"The EU strongly condemns the provocations by Israeli Min. Ben Gvir who, during his visit to the Holy Sites, advocated for the violation of the status quo," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell wrote on X.
Earlier this morning, Ben Gvir and some 2,250 other Israelis walked through the compound in groups, singing Jewish hymns, under the protection of Israeli police, an official from the Waqf, the Jordanian body that is the custodian of the site, told AFP.
The United Nations also denounced Israel's far-right national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir for leading prayers at the al-Aqsa mosque compound, calling the move "unduly provocative."
"We are against any efforts to change the status quo within the holy sites," said deputy spokesman Farhan Haq.
"Al-Aqsa mosque, like the other holy sites in Jerusalem, should be left to themselves and should be controlled by the existing religious authorities for the sites. This sort of behavior is unhelpful and it is unduly provocative."
The United States criticized Israel's far-right national security minister for leading prayers at the al-Aqsa mosque compound, describing it as "unacceptable" and saying he had hurt efforts for talks toward a Gaza cease-fire.
"The United States stands firmly for the preservation of the historic status quo with respect to the holy sites of Jerusalem and any unilateral action, which this would be..., that jeopardizes such a status quo is unacceptable," State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.
"Not only is it unacceptable, it detracts from what we think is a vital time, as we are working to get this cease-fire deal across the finish line," he said, referring to a U.S.-led push for talks Thursday to stop the Gaza war.
Itamar Ben Gvir, one of the far-right ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition, led hundreds of Israelis into the al-Aqsa mosque compound earlier today to mark a Jewish holiday.
The visit defied rules in Israeli-occupied east Jerusalem that allowed Jews and other non-Muslims to visit the mosque compound but not to pray or display religious symbols.
An Israeli airstrike targeted an area between the villages of Mansouri, Aaziyyeh and Zebqin, in the Sour district, reported our correspondent in South Lebanon
Here are the latest developments from South Lebanon:
- Again, Israeli artillery fire targeted Khiam and the outskirts of Wazzani (Marjayoun), according to residents.
- Israeli shelling was also reported on the outskirts of Naqoura (Sour), Rashaf and Aitaa al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil).
Two Hezbollah members belonging to the party's command in southern Lebanon were killed in an air force attack, the Israeli army announced, according to Haaretz, without specifying the location of the strike.
The army also claimed to have attacked Hezbollah military buildings, an anti-tank missile launching position in southern Lebanon and an observation post in the Mount Dov region, near the Lebanese border.
Hezbollah announced the death of another fighter, Fadi Mohammad Shehab, born in 1980 and originally from Baraasheet in southern Lebanon.
According to our correspondent, the victim was killed earlier in the day in an Israeli drone strike on his car on the Beit Yahoun-Baraasheet (Bint Jbeil) road.
Another fighter was reportedly killed in the strike earlier in the day.
Hezbollah, which has been exchanging fire with Israel since Oct. 8, 2023, has lost 409 men in Lebanon and Syria, including 367 in Lebanon.
The residents of North Israel must be "returned safely to their homes after we make Hezbollah withdraw north of the Litani River," Haaretz cited Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who spoke at a security assessment meeting at an intelligence base in northern Israel.
(Photo sent by the civil defense to L'Orient Today
Members of the Civil Defense, in the Islamic Scouts Association affiliated with Amal Movement participating in rescue operations following the Israeli drone strike on the town of Baraasheet (Bint Jbeil district.)
(Credit: Gavriil Grigorov/Sputnik/Kremlin via Reuters)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (left) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) walking at the end of their meeting outside Moscow, Russia on August 13, 2024.
Hezbollah has announced the death of one of its fighters, Ibrahim Jamil al-Ashi, born in 1987 and originally from Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon.
According to our correspondent, the victim was killed earlier in the day in an Israeli drone strike on his car on the Beit Yahoun-Baraasheet road (Bint Jbeil).
Another individual, whose identity remains unknown, was killed in the strike.
Hezbollah, which has been exchanging fire with Israel since October 8, 2023, has lost 408 members in Lebanon and Syria, including 366 in Lebanon.
Here are the latest updates from South Lebanon:
- Three were injured in an Israeli strike against Shihine (Sour district), according to a security source and the Public Health Emergency Operations Center of the Health Ministry.
- Israeli artillery targeted Alma al-Shaab (Sour district), according to residents.
American envoy Amos Hochstein will arrive in Beirut tomorrow, L'Orient Today learned.
The trip comes as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to visit Qatar, Egypt and Israel today for talks, according to Axios.
Israeli artillery shelling targeted Khiam (Marjayon district) and the outskirts of Wazzani (Hasbaya), according to residents.
Speculation about the timing and nature of the Iranian and Hezbollah "response" to the successive assassinations of Fouad Shukur and Ismail Haniyeh nearly two weeks ago continues to agitate Western and Israeli diplomatic circles.
"Contrary to many reports, so far no preparations have been detected on the ground in Iran for an attack on Israel," wrote Nir Dvori, a journalist and analyst for Israeli channel N12.
This information is contradicted by Barak Ravid, a journalist for the Axios news website, who claims to know from "high-ranking American and Israeli" sources that "preparations" are underway on Iranian territory for an attack. "Iranian preparations are almost complete," he wrote on X, adding that Hezbollah's preparations were completed "a few days ago."
"The Iranian leader has not yet given a definitive order to execute," he concluded on X.
The foreign ministries of Palestine, Egypt, Jordan and Qatar have condemned the storming of al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli mobs, including two far-right ministers.
In its statement, Qatari diplomacy said the march on the mosque — one of Islam's holiest sites — was an attempt to "undermine its religious and historical status."
It was "not only an attack on Palestinians but also on millions of Muslims around the world," the ministry added.
It concluded that these "violations" could jeopardize efforts to achieve a cease-fire in Gaza and called on the international community to "act urgently to put an end to these attacks."
Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, announced that it had "fired two M90 rockets at Tel Aviv and its suburbs" from the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army claimed that "an identified projectile from the Gaza Strip fell in the maritime area of central Israel," approximately 70 kilometers from the enclave.
(Credit Eyad Baba/AFP)
Only a cease-fire agreement in Gaza — resulting from talks expected to begin on Thursday — would prevent Iran from retaliating directly against Israel for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July, three senior Iranian officials told Reuters.
To read more about what the senior Iranian officials had to say, press here
The Lebanese Ministry of Health's emergency operations center confirmed the death toll from the Israeli drone strike on the car traveling along the Yahoun-Baraasheet (Bint Jbeil) road, reporting two fatalities.
⚡ Hamas claimed responsibility for firing rockets from Gaza at Tel Aviv, AFP reported.
According to Reuters, alarm sirens sounded in Tel Aviv. A film crew from the agency said that rockets had been intercepted.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service said that several points in southern Tel Aviv had been hit, but no casualties were reported immediately.
Hamas last fired rockets at Tel Aviv more than two months ago.
The car targeted by the Israeli drone strike in South Lebanon in the Bint Jbeil district. (Credit: Photo sent by resident to our correspondent Muntasser Abdalla)
⚡ An Israeli drone targeted a car on the Yahoun-Baraasheet road (Bint Jbeil), a security source told L'Orient Today.
According to a photo relayed by our correspondent, the vehicle caught fire. Ambulances were dispatched to the scene.
Two individuals were critically injured and transported to a nearby hospital, residents reported to our correspondent in the region.
Here's an update on the situation on the Lebanese-Israeli border:
- At 1:45 pm, Hezbollah announced that it targeted Israeli soldiers gathered at the Israeli Samaka site in the disputed hills of Kfar Shuba (Hasbaya).
- Israeli artillery fire targeted the outskirts of the villages of Zebqin and Tayr Harfa (Tyre), according to local residents.
- Israeli artillery fire targeted the outskirts of Kfar Hammam and Rashaya al-Foukhar (Hasbaya), residents told our correspondent.
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati spoke by phone with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who had visited Beirut earlier this month amid heightened regional tensions.
“This is a critical moment for stability in the Middle East. Mikati and I once again discussed the urgent and immediate need for all parties to de-escalate,” the British official stated on X. “The deadline cannot be postponed any longer; the fighting must stop now,” he added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who was visiting Moscow, on Tuesday that he was "concerned" about the deaths of Palestinian civilians in Israeli military strikes on Gaza.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid condemned National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's participation in a far-right march at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
In a statement on X, Lapid said Ben-Gvir was "endangering" the security of Israeli citizens and security forces with his "campaign" at the mosque. "This group of irresponsible extremists within the government is actively trying to drag Israel into a large-scale regional war. These people are unfit to govern the country," he added.
The Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported that after a "long period of difficulties," the new Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar, is now issuing directives through messages or phone calls in preparation for a new cycle of negotiations that may take place between Israel and Hamas soon.
Hamas sources in Gaza told the Saudi media that "no one within the movement knows exactly where Sinwar is, whether inside or outside Gaza." The new strongman of the Palestinian movement reportedly has a "small trusted group" aware of his whereabouts and serving as a link between him and the leadership when needed.
"These few people ensure that his needs are met and facilitate his communication with the leadership inside and outside Gaza using complex methods," the sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.
A high-level source confirmed that after setting up security measures, Sinwar has managed to make phone calls, although setting them up required "considerable effort," while the Israeli army recently announced through its spokesperson, Herzi Halevi, that it has "intensified efforts to capture him," as evidenced by recent operations in Khan Younis, his hometown, where he is suspected of hiding.
The Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip announced on Tuesday a new death toll of 39,929 in the Palestinian territory since the war with Israel began, now in its eleventh month.
The ministry reported that at least 32 people were killed in the past 24 hours, adding that 92,240 people have been injured in Gaza since Oct. 7.
The Israeli army claims that its air defenses destroyed "two drones" that allegedly took off from southern Lebanon around 10 a.m. this morning.
One was shot down while still in Lebanese airspace, while the other was intercepted over Israeli territory, according to an Israeli army statement on X, noting that neither incident resulted in casualties.
On Sunday night, Hezbollah fired nearly thirty rockets at the Nahariya region, north of Acre, prompting a significant mobilization of the Israeli Iron Dome, again without causing casualties.
Several local media outlets, including MTV, Al-Liwa’ and Al Diyar, have reported the imminent visit of U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein to Beirut on Wednesday.
The visit, which would also involve Tel Aviv, aims to "find a compromise regarding the conflict on the Lebanese-Israeli border" between Hezbollah and Israel, according to Al-Liwa’.
Al Diyar notes that "the details of the mission have not been revealed," mentioning "the resumption of efforts to ease tensions on Israel's northern borders."
Contacted by L'Orient Today, the U.S. embassy has not yet confirmed or denied this information.
Hezbollah MP Ali Fayyad speaking in Harouf, Nabatieh district. (Courtesy of Muntasser Abdallah/L'Orient Today)
During a memorial ceremony for killed Hezbollah member Mehdi Mahmoud Qosaybani in Harouf (Nabatieh district,) Hezbollah MP Ali Fayyad criticized the U.S. for its "contradictory actions." He questioned how the "U.S. could call for a cease-fire and criticize Netanyahu while simultaneously providing him with $3.5 billion in aid to purchase weapons."
Fayyad argued that "this financial support encourages further aggression by Netanyahu and exacerbates the suffering in Gaza." He condemned the "U.S. for its hypocrisy and complicity in the ongoing atrocities against the Palestinian people."
Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir, a member of the radical far-right, and Minister for the Negev, Galilee and National Resilience, Yitzhak Wasserlauf, visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound overlooking Jerusalem's Old City today to pray, accompanied by Jewish worshippers and a significant security presence.
Haaretz comments that "the initiative is intended as a challenge to the status quo." The Palestinian news agency Wafa, on the other hand, has described the move as an "assault" on the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Called the Temple Mount by Jews, the site is the holiest in Judaism. For Muslims, however, the Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) is the third holiest site in Islam, after Mecca and Medina.
Here's an update on the latest events in southern Lebanon this morning:
- Israeli artillery fire targeted the towns of Kfar Kila (Marjayoun) and Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil) around 10 a.m.
- Around 11:30 a.m., Hezbollah issued its first statement of the day, claiming to have destroyed espionage equipment installed at the "Maskaf Am" site, located across from the Lebanese village of Markaba (Marjayoun).
- Additionally, Israeli reconnaissance aircraft have been observed over the Bekaa Valley, according to local sources contacted by our correspondent in the region. Since 6 a.m., the aircraft has been circling above the mountain range, flying over the towns of Rayak, Nabi Sheet, Haour Taala, Brital, Taybeh and up to the outskirts of Baalbek.
The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to meet today to discuss the Israeli strike on al-Tabi'een School in Gaza City last Saturday, which killed at least 92 according to Gaza's Civil Defense estimates, reports The National.
The meeting was convened at Algeria's initiative, with support from other council members. Survivors described horrific scenes, including blood and body parts scattered around the remnants of the school, which was sheltering over 2,000 people, many of whom were displaced.
Israel claimed that the attack killed several dozen "Hamas militants," a statement that has been contested by civilians and Palestinian authorities.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to visit the Middle East on Tuesday amid heightened regional tensions, Axios journalist Barak Ravid reported on social media, citing a source.
Blinken plans to travel to Qatar, Egypt and Israel, Ravid added.
During the night, Fitch Ratings downgraded Israel's long-term foreign credit rating from "A+" to "A," according to a statement from the American rating agency.
➡️ More details here.
⚡ Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday urged Canadians to leave Lebanon "immediately," citing the "extremely dangerous situation" in the region, according to AFP.
There are 20,000 Canadians in Lebanon, according to authorities. The Canadian military has set up emergency resources in Cyprus to evacuate its citizens from the region if commercial flights are disrupted.
On June 25, the Canadian government had already called on its citizens to leave Lebanon as soon as possible.
Here's an update on the latest events in southern Lebanon, where the fragile calm that prevailed this morning was broken around 7:30 a.m. by two Israeli artillery strikes targeting the locality of Abbasieh (Sour district).
During the night, security sources cited by our correspondent in the region reported the following:
- After 9 p.m., a statement by the al-Rissala Scout Association, affiliated with the Amal Movement, declared that Civil Defense teams participated in firefighting operations following an Israeli air raid on the locality of Maroun al-Ras (Bint Jbeil).
- After 9:30 p.m., Israeli military aircraft conducted a raid targeting the vicinity of Jabal Blat (Sour district), followed by another an hour later, which struck a house in the al-Jabal neighborhood, north of the locality of Mais al-Jabal (Marjayoun). The house was destroyed, and fires broke out in the area.
- After midnight, Israeli artillery targeted the locality of Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil). Additionally, the artillery also targeted Jibbayn (Sour) and Tayr Harfa (Sour), where illuminating bombs were also launched.
- Finally, at least one Israeli warplane flew at low altitude over several areas in southern Lebanon, reaching as far as Saida, which is located several dozen kilometers from the border with northern Israel.
In Gaza, where Israel continues its bombings and operations, the spokesperson for Hamas' armed wing announced on Monday that its fighters had "killed a hostage" and "injured two female hostages" in "two separate incidents" within the Gaza Strip, where 111 Israelis are still held captive, with 39 confirmed dead, according to the Israeli army.
In the north, the identification of bodies continues after the Israeli strike on a school that killed 93 Palestinians, according to Civil Defense, on Saturday in Gaza City. The Israeli army, which claimed the school was being used by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, stated that its strike "eliminated" 31 fighters from both Palestinian armed groups.
The risk of escalating tensions was discussed in a Monday conversation between President Joe Biden and the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom. In a joint statement released afterward, they all urged Iran to "stand down" from any attack, warning of "serious consequences" for regional security.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer both called for de-escalation in phone calls with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. Pezeshkian responded, stating that "Iran will never bow to pressure, sanctions, or coercion but reserves the right to respond to aggressors in accordance with international norms," according to a statement by Iran's official news agency, Irna, following his conversation with Scholz.
The White House acknowledged that if an Iranian attack occurs, "it could certainly impact" the discussions scheduled for Thursday on a cease-fire in Gaza, which would include the release of Israeli hostages held there.
In a call with the Iraqi Prime Minister, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated on Monday "the importance of Iraq's responsibility to protect the international coalition from attacks by Iranian-backed militias."
The United States warned yesterday night of a "significant" Iranian attack on Israel as soon as this week, joining several European countries in urging Tehran to "stand down." John Kirby, spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council, stated that the U.S. shares Israel's concerns about an imminent attack from Iran and its allied groups in the region.
Washington, which has recently increased its military presence in the Middle East, anticipates a "series of significant attacks" from Iran and allied armed groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon, possibly occurring as soon as "this week."
Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian, in a phone call with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, asserted that Iran has the "right to respond" to any aggression against it, while Scholz urged him to avoid escalation.
Make sure to read today's Morning Brief to stay up to date with yesterday's key events.
Good morning! Thank you for joining us on today's live coverage of the Gaza war and its regional impacts.
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