At least two dead in two Israeli strikes on Dhaira: Day 319 of the Gaza war

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Hezbollah announced in separate statements that its fighters targeted "the Shomera barracks," opposite Marwahin (Sour), and " a deployment of enemy soldiers in its vicinity with a series of Katyusha rockets."

The party also claims to have targeted “the Metat barracks and the deployment of enemy soldiers in its vicinity with Katyusha rockets.”

Israeli artillery fire targeted the outskirts of Hanin and the area between the towns of Ramieh and Beit Lif (Bint Jbeil), a security source reported to L'Orient Today's correspondent.

Hezbollah said it carried out an airstrike with squadrons of one-way drones on the headquarters of the 7th Armored Brigade of the 210th Golan Division in the Katsavia barracks, targeting the positions of its officers.

Three rescue workers from the Civil Defense of the Islamic Health Committee, a Hezbollah rescue organization, were injured in an Israeli drone strike near their ambulance, a source within the organization told our correspondent.

They were on board the vehicle to transport wounded people who were in Wadi Hamoul, near Naqoura.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Doha to push for a truce between Israel and Hamas, AFP reports.

The American diplomat is to meet with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, as part of a tour that has taken him to Israel and Egypt.

Hezbollah said it targeted the Israeli site of Ramieh, located opposite the Lebanese town of Ramieh (Bint Jbeil), at 7:40 p.m. with artillery shells.

According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, at least two people were killed in the two Israeli strikes on Dhaira.

Here are the latest developments on the Lebanese-Israeli border:

- An Israeli drone carried out a strike on Wadi Hamoul, near Naqoura, reported L'Orient Today's correspondent.

- Israeli artillery fire targeted the outskirts of Kfar Shouba (Hasbaya).

Caretaker Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad met with the Saida health crisis unit and more than twenty local and international health associations responsible for providing services to displaced people throughout the territory, his press office reported.

According to the statement, Abiad stressed "the importance of coordination and exchange of information between associations and crisis cells in the regions with the Emergency Operations Center of the Ministry of Health in order to ensure the proper use of resources and the distribution of tasks according to needs between primary health care centers and hospitals that have been equipped with medical equipment to treat war wounded."

He also called for providing health services to displaced persons through health centers and mobile clinics. The minister also stressed the need to ensure "epidemiological surveillance in communities to prevent the spread of infectious diseases among displaced persons."

He finally recalled that displaced persons can contact 1787 to inquire about the services that the ministry provides. 

The Israeli army announced on Monday that one of its soldiers had "fallen in combat in northern Israel," reports AFP.

Israeli government spokesman David Mencer reported in a press briefing that there had been a "drone attack by Hezbollah terrorists" in the north. However, he did not provide details on possible casualties in the attack.

The soldier, a career military man, was a 45-year-old Bedouin, according to an army statement, which said that another soldier had been seriously injured in the incident.

This death brings to 23 the number of Israeli soldiers killed since Oct. 7 in northern Israel and on the occupied and annexed Syrian Golan Heights, to which must be added 26 civilians, according to a report from the Israeli authorities relayed by AFP, in rocket and missile fire from Lebanon by Hezbollah.

More details on the Israeli strikes that targeted the village of Dhaira (Sour):

According to L'Orient Today's correspondent in south Lebanon, the strikes, which targeted two houses, left at least one dead and three injured, one of whom is in critical condition. 

An Israeli drone targeted a motorcycle between Bafliyeh and Shehabitieh, east of Sour, residents told L'Orient Today's correspondent.

According to eyewitnesses, the driver managed to escape the two missiles fired at him. No injuries have been reported so far.

Here are the latest developments on the Lebanese-Israeli border:

- The Civil Defense affiliated with the Amal movement, the al-Rissala scouts, claimed in a statement that they had participated in operations to fight a fire started by a phosphorus bombardment in Wadi Slouki and Qabrikha (Marjayoun).

- Another Israeli airstrike targeted the village of Dhaira (Nabatieh), residents told L'Orient Today's correspondent. The strike destroyed a house. Ambulances were dispatched to the scene.

- Two Israeli artillery rounds targeted the outskirts of Deir Mimas (Marjayoun), residents told L'Orient Today's correspondent.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that Israel's "center of gravity" is gradually shifting from the Gaza Strip to the northern front, according to comments reported by The Times of Israel's military correspondent.

"Our center of gravity is moving from the south to the north. We are in a gradual change and have more tasks in the south. We have hostages, we have to bring them back, we are negotiating about this and I think we will achieve results, this is a very important thing," Gallant said during a visit to the army's 36th Division in northern Israel.

"We want to bring the (displaced) residents back to the north safely. If it is possible to do so within the framework of an agreement, we will do so," he added, warning that Israel could act otherwise.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid lashed out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling for an immediate deal before the hostages "all die."

“Enough with the briefings, enough with the publications about X,” Lapid stressed. “All of Netanyahu’s attempts to sabotage the negotiations must stop,” he added, arguing in favor of an imminent agreement.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid slams Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling for an immediate deal before the hostages “all die.”

“Enough with the briefings, enough with the tweets,” Lapid states. “All of Netanyahu’s attempts to sabotage the negotiations should stop. A deal now, before they all die,” reported The Times of Israel. 

Israeli airstrikes targeted the village of Dhaira, in southern Lebanon's Nabatieh district, residents told our correspondent.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi in al-Alamein today and thanked him for Egypt's partnership in mediating the cease-fire talks and allowing a surge of humanitarian assistance to Gaza, according to a statement released by State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel.

Blinken also "stressed the importance of continuing to work together to prevent regional escalation in this critical time," according to the statement.

Update on the situation on the Lebanese-Israeli border:

- Israeli artillery fire targeted the area of ​​Wadi Houjeir and Wadi Slouqi (Marjayoun), residents told L'Orient Today's correspondent.

- Hezbollah claimed to have targeted and destroyed, at 3:15 p.m., surveillance equipment at the Israeli site of Jal al-Alam, opposite the Lebanese village of Naqoura.

- The party also targeted the position of Al-Marj, opposite the Lebanese village of Markaba (Marjayoun).

Outgoing Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Gilad Erdan said the United Nations building in New York is “unnecessary” and “should be closed and wiped off the face of the earth," as reported by The Times of Israel.

“I’m coming out with a feeling of satisfaction, on the one hand, of my battle and work here, but on the other hand with great distress and frustration with the fact that this building, which may look nice from the outside, is actually twisted and distorted," Erdan added in a snippet from an upcoming interview with i24News.

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations decided in June to end his term in New York after four years. According to Israeli media reports, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered him the position of Israel's ambassador to Washington, but he declined, citing family considerations.

The waiting period for Iranian retaliation against Israel could be long, the spokesman for Iran's Revolutionary Guards said, Reuters reported, citing Iranian state media.

The Middle East is bracing for Iranian retaliation following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement in the assassination.

Hezbollah organized a media tour today of sites struck by Israel last night in Hellanieh, Sarain and the heights of Nabi Sheet and Tamnin in the Bekaa.

In a statement, the party said it had shown journalists the damage caused to houses near the Nabi Sheet strike. The media present also visited affected agricultural fields in Sarain, Hellanieh and Tamnin.

The Gaza Civil Defense reported at least 12 deaths following an Israeli airstrike on a school in Gaza City that was sheltering thousands of displaced people, stating that there are still "others missing" under the rubble, according to AFP.

Earlier, their spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal told AFP that at least "two children" were among the dead at the Mustafa Hafiz school after "an Israeli plane dropped a bomb on the building's second floor, which was housing thousands of displaced people."

AFP has not been able to independently verify this death toll. The Israeli military, for its part, claimed it had carried out "a precision strike on terrorists operating in a Hamas control center (...) hidden in the Mustafa Hafiz school."

"Lebanese front will remain active as long as the aggression against Gaza continues," assured Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah during a speech in Jmeyjmeh, in the Bint Jbeil district, honoring a Hezbollah fighter recently killed in the clashes in southern Lebanon.

He added that "what the Palestinian resistance accepts will also be accepted by other factions of the Axis of Resistance," referring to the talks revived last Thursday by Qatar, Egypt and the United States to try to broker a cease-fire in Gaza between Hamas and Israel.

Hezbollah has claimed responsibility in a statement for the rocket attack using Katyusha rockets on the headquarters of the 146th Division of the Israeli Army, located at the military site of Ja’atun, in response to the death of its fighter Hussein Ali Hussein, who was killed in an Israeli raid on the town of Deir Qanoun Ras al-Ain.

The latest Israeli strike on a school in Gaza has resulted in at least ten deaths, according to Gaza's civil defense, as reported by Reuters.

Update on the situation in southern Lebanon:

- Israeli warplanes and drones have flown at low and medium altitudes over various areas of southern Lebanon, including above Saida and Palestinian refugee camps in the region, according to local witnesses.

- Haaretz reports that alert sirens, which activate in case of detected rockets, went off twice in northern Israel near the Lebanese border. At the same time, rockets were fired from Lebanon toward Israeli positions in the western sector, according to a security source.

- Israeli fighter jets have targeted Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil district), according to local residents.

The Gaza Civil Defense announced Tuesday that, in an initial assessment, it had recovered "seven bodies," including five men and two children, from the rubble of a school in Gaza City that was housing thousands of displaced people after an Israeli strike, according to AFP.

"We are continuing to search for bodies under the rubble of Mustafa Hafiz School," said spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal to AFP. The Israeli army claimed it carried out "a precision strike on terrorists operating in a Hamas control center...hidden in the school."

Hezbollah claimed in a statement that at 10:15 a.m., it targeted the Israeli military base at Biranit (opposite Rmeish, in southern Lebanon) with "appropriate weapons," hitting it "directly."

Member of the Israeli Knesset Gadi Eizenkot stated in a radio interview that the recovery of hostage bodies is a reminder that time is running out for the 109 Israelis still held captive by Hamas, as reported by Haaretz.

Eizenkot said the security establishment and most ministers pushed for a hostage release deal under an "all for all" framework, but Prime Minister Netanyahu opposed this, insisting on a slower, phased process of one hostage per day instead of the previous deal of 10 per day. Eizenkot warned that Netanyahu's approach means the soldiers and fallen Israelis cannot be brought back.

The Lebanese Health Ministry has revised its count of the three Israeli strikes on Monday evening, west of Nabi Sheet (Baalbeck district), increasing the number of injured to 11, two more than reported earlier in the day.

Among the injured are six Lebanese and three Syrian nationals, including a 5-year-old girl and a 15-year-old teenager.

⚡ The Gaza Health Ministry announced on Tuesday a new toll of 40,173 deaths in the Palestinian territory since the start of the war with Israel, now in its eleventh month.

At least 34 people have been killed in the past 24 hours, the ministry said in a statement, adding that 92,857 people have been injured in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israel "will continue to do everything in its power to bring all our hostages back, whether alive or deceased," following the army's recovery of the bodies of six hostages killed in captivity in Gaza, reports Haaretz.

"Our hearts are all broken by this terrible loss," Netanyahu added, extending his condolences and those of his wife, Sara, to the victims' families.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Egypt, according to AFP.

The Israeli military has reported identifying "about 55 projectiles" fired from Lebanon at northern Israel and the occupied Golan Heights, following Hezbollah's announcement of a series of rocket attacks on Israeli military positions, according to AFP.

"Some projectiles were intercepted while others fell in uninhabited areas. No injuries have been reported," stated the Israeli military in a press release.

Hezbollah clarified that its fighters launched "intense rocket barrages" against two military positions on the Golan "in response to the Israeli enemy's attack on the Bekaa region."

A senior Hamas official, Osama Hamdan, criticized U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's proposal on Gaza on Monday, which claimed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had accepted an updated proposal. Hamdan argued that the proposal "raises many ambiguities" as it is "not what was presented to us or what we agreed upon."

In an interview with Reuters, Hamdan stated that Hamas had already confirmed to mediators "that there is no need for new negotiations for a cease-fire in Gaza; we need to agree on an implementation mechanism."

Hamdan added that the new Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar, has always been involved in the decision-making process of the negotiations. "Due to security conditions, communication with Sinwar has established tools and mechanisms, and they are functioning without issues," he said.

⚡ The Israeli army announces it has recovered six bodies of deceased hostages in Gaza, according to AFP.

According to Haaretz, the hostages were found in a tunnel in Khan Younis, a city in the southern Gaza Strip that was recently bombarded by the Israeli army.

The night was quieter than the previous ones:

- At around 10 p.m., Israeli artillery shelled the areas around the towns of Dhaira and Alma al-Shaab (Sour district) and fired flares into the sky over Dhaira, while Israeli aircraft flew over the south at low and medium altitudes.

- From 10:30 p.m., an Israeli raid on the town of Mansouri (Sour district) resulted in two Palestinian girls being injured.

- At 4 a.m., rockets were launched from Lebanon in various directions. In a statement, Hezbollah announced that it had heavily bombarded the Nafah barracks, home to the headquarters of the 210th Division of the Golan, and the Yarden barracks, where the artillery regiment and armored brigade of the 210th Division are based. This action was described as "support for the Palestinian people in Gaza and a response to the Israeli aggression in the Bekaa" that occurred on Monday evening.

Update on the situation in South Lebanon this morning, according to our correspondent, informed by security sources and residents:

This Morning:

- At 8 a.m., rockets were launched from Lebanon towards the Syrian Golan while Israeli aircraft were flying over South Lebanon.

- Israeli artillery bombarded the town of Tallousa (Marjayoun district), according to residents.

- Two artillery shells were fired at the entrance of Khiam (Marjayoun district) in an area called Bab Thania, injuring a Syrian national, who was transported to the hospital.

- Bombardments on the outskirts of Kfar Shuba (Hasbaya district) were also reported.

This morning, Hezbollah announced the death of another of its fighters, Hussein Ali Hussein Sleiman, who was killed on Monday in an Israeli raid on the locality of Deir Kanoun al-Ain (Sour district).

He is the third Hezbollah fighter to have died that day and the 418th to be killed in Lebanon and Syria since the beginning of the exchanges of fire on Oct. 8, 2023, along the Lebanon-Israel border.

The Lebanese Ministry of Health reported that the three Israeli strikes that targeted an area west of Nabi Sheet (Baalbeck district) in the Bekaa on Monday evening resulted in nine injuries, one more than in its previous update.

Among the injured are six Lebanese citizens and three Syrian nationals, including a 5-year-old girl and a 15-year-old teenager.

Blinken's arrival in Israel coincided with a "terrorist attack" in Tel Aviv on Sunday that "slightly injured a passerby," according to Israeli police. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another armed Palestinian group, claimed responsibility for the attack and threatened to carry out more in Israel.

Israeli strikes continue relentlessly in the Gaza Strip. On Monday, a medical source reported three deaths in the bombing of a house east of Khan Younis (south). The Hamas government's Health Ministry and a Palestinian media outlet announced Monday the death of a journalist, Ibrahim Mouhareb, who was reportedly hit by Israeli fire the day before in the southern part of the besieged Palestinian territory.

The conflict has also sparked a surge in violence in the occupied West Bank, particularly between Palestinians and Jewish settlers, against whom Blinken urged Israeli leaders to take action.

Last Friday, Washington submitted a new compromise proposal to Doha, which in its initial phase includes a six-week cease-fire accompanied by an Israeli withdrawal from densely populated areas of Gaza and the release of several hostages.

The United States, Egypt and Qatar are set to resume their discussions this week in Cairo. According to Blinken, Israel has promised to send a delegation.

Hamas, which is not participating in these talks, has not officially commented on Blinken's Monday call to accept the new plan proposed by Washington. Previously, the movement considered the new U.S. proposal as "meeting the conditions set by Netanyahu."

The main news this morning:

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken continues his tour in al-Alamein, Egypt, aimed at convincing the warring parties in the Gaza Strip to accept a cease-fire tied to an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners.

The U.S. diplomat arrived from Tel Aviv, where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed to him that Israel accepted Washington's compromise plan for a truce, according to Blinken.

Blinken, who has urged the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas to "do the same," is scheduled to meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty.

The talks are at a "decisive moment," Blinken said Monday in Israel, marking his ninth trip to the region since the war began. This is "perhaps the last chance to bring the hostages home" and "secure a cease-fire," he added.

He also urged not to "derail the process" led by the mediating countries —  the United States, Qatar and Egypt —  for a truce, while Israel and Hamas accuse each other of sabotaging the negotiations.

Make sure to read today's Morning Brief to stay updated on yesterday's key events and today's upcoming ones.

Good morning! Thank you for joining us for today's live coverage of the Gaza war and its regional impacts.