Chair of US Joint Chiefs of Staff makes unannounced trip to Middle East: Gaza war, day 323

(Credit: Mohammed Yassin/L'Orient Today)

The coffins of Hezbollah fighter Mohamad Najim and 7-year-old Zulfikar Fadi Radouane are carried through the streets of Aita al-Jabal on Aug. 24, 2024. 

Hezbollah says that at 5:25 p.m. it attacked with artillery fire Israeli soldiers in the Hanita position facing the Lebanese village of Alma al-Shaab in Sour district.

Qatar's prime minister and foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdelrahmane Al Thani, is expected to attend Gaza cease-fire talks in Cairo today, a source familiar with the negotiations told Reuters.

An update from south Lebanon:

* Hezbollah announced that they attacked around 4:40 p.m. the Israeli positions of Ramtha and Zibdin in the disputed areas of Kfar Shuba Hills and Shebaa farms.

* The party also said it attacked at 5:15 p.m. Israeli soldiers at the Israeli position of Bayad facing the Lebanese village of Blida in the Marjayoun district.

* The Israeli army shelled Alma al-Shaab and the outskirts of Naqoura in Sour district, residents of the areas told L'Orient-Le Jour.

The son of Hezbollah fighter Mohammad Najm, whose funeral is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. today in Aita al-Jabal (Bint Jbeil), southern Lebanon. (Credit: Mohammad Yassin/L'OLJ)

U.S. Chairperson of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Charles Q. Brown attends a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden in the Oval Office of the White House, on Oct. 5, 2023, in Washington. (Credit: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images/AFP)

⚡ U.S. Air Force General C.Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has today begun an unannounced visit to the Middle East to discuss ways to avoid any new escalation in tensions that could spiral into a broader conflict, Reuters reports. He began his trip in Jordan and said he will also travel to Egypt and Israel in the coming days to hear the perspectives of military leaders.

His visit comes as the United States is trying to clinch an Gaza cease-fire-for-hostages deal between Israel and Hamas, which Brown said would "help bring down the temperature," if achieved.

"At the same time, as I talk to my counterparts, what are the things we can do to deter any type of broader escalation and ensure we're taking all the appropriate steps to [avoid] ... a broader conflict," Brown told Reuters before landing in Jordan.

The funeral for Hezbollah fighter Mohamad Najim and 7-year-old child Zulfikar Fadi Radouane who were killed in Israeli strikes on the village of Aita al-Jabal (Bint Jbeil) yesterday is set to take place in the village at 5:30 p.m. today. An Israeli drone strike yesterday killed the two when it targeted a car and damaged a house in Aita al-Jabal.

A delegation from the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which has traveled to Cairo, will not take part in the talks, but will meet Egyptian officials in the evening, according to an official from the movement, AFP reports.

A drone strike in northwest Syria yesterday killed a Saudi militant from an al-Qaeda-linked group while he was riding a motorcycle, the U.S. military and a war observer told Associated Press, Haaretz reports.

The strike in the Jabal al-Zawiya area of opposition-held Idlib province was carried out by a U.S.-led coalition established years ago to fight the Islamic State militant group.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement published on X that its forces had killed Abu Abdel Rahman Makki, a senior leader of the Horas al-Din group, or "Guardians of Religion." It added that Makki was "responsible for overseeing terrorist operations from Syria."

A suspect caught on a surveillance camera after an explosion that injured a police officer near a synagogue in southern France today was brandishing a Palestinian flag, a source close to the probe said, AFP reports.

French authorities said earlier they were treating the early Saturday blast outside the Beth Yaacov synagogue in the seaside resort of La Grande Motte, near the city of Montpellier, as a potential terror attack.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has disagreed with Israeli cease-fire negotiators over his insistence that Israel will not pull out of the so-called Philadelphi Corridor in the south of the Gaza Strip, Reuters reports, citing a person with knowledge of the talks.

The Philadelphi Corridor, along the border with Egypt, and the Netzarim Corridor cutting across the middle of the Gaza Strip, have been two of the main sticking points in talks backed by Egypt, Qatar and the United States.

Netanyahu has repeatedly insisted that Israel will not give up control of the Philadelphi Corridor because it wants to prevent Hamas smuggling weapons and fighters across the border with Egypt.

According to Reuters, the person said Netanyahu had agreed to shift one Philadelphi position by a few hundred metres but would retain overall control of the corridor, despite pressure from members of his own negotiating team for more concessions.

"The prime minister insists that this situation will continue, contrary to pressure from certain elements in the negotiating team who are willing to withdraw from there," said the person, who has close knowledge of the negotiations.

Israel's Channel 12 television reported this week that Netanyahu had been bitterly critical of the negotiating team, led by David Barnea, the chief of the Mossad intelligence service, for being willing to make too many concessions.

⚡ The Health Ministry of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip has announced a new death toll of 40,334 in the Palestinian territory since the start of the war with Israel, AFP reports.

At least 69 people have been killed since Thursday, the date of the previous death toll announced by the ministry, which now counts 93,356 wounded in Gaza since Oct. 7. According to the U.N., most of the dead are women and children.

New update on the situation in south Lebanon:

* Hezbollah announced that at 10:15 a.m. it attacked Israeli soldiers around the Israeli position of Maskafam, opposite the Lebanese village of Odaisseh (Marjayoun).

* The party also announced that in retaliation for Israeli attacks on villages and civilian homes in the south, it attacked the Israeli position of Yaara opposite the Lebanese village of Dhaïra (Sour) and claimed to have inflicted losses on the Israeli army.

U.S. President Joe Biden asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during their meeting on Wednesday, to agree to withdraw Israeli forces from part of the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip during the first phase of the hostage release and Gaza cease-fire agreement. This is so that negotiations on the agreement can move forward, as three Israeli officials said, the American news site Axios reports.

Hezbollah has announced the death of another of their fighters: Ibrahim Fadel from the southern village of Touline (Marjayoun).

According to our correspondent in south Lebanon, Fadel died as a result of injuries sustained in a previous attack.

Some 430 Hezbollah fighters have been killed in Lebanon and Syria since Oct. 8.

Here is the latest news from south Lebanon:

* The Israeli army shelled the village of Taibeh (Marjayoun) and the outskirts of Aitaroun and Maroun al-Ras in Bint Jbeil district, residents of the villages told L'Orient-Le Jour.

* The Israeli army fired what appears to be phosphorous shells on Odaisseh (Marjayoun), residents of the village told L'Orient-Le Jour.

* Hezbollah announced that it attacked Israeli soldiers around the Israeli position of Harmon facing the Lebanese village of Rmeish (Bint Jbeil) with an exploding drone at around 8:30 a.m.

* Hezbollah announced that it attacked at 12 p.m. with artillery shots the Israeli position of Al-Rahib facing the southern village of Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil district) and at 12:15 p.m. it attacked with an exploding drone spying equipment at the same position.

* The Israeli army shelled houses in Aita al-Shaab, residents of the village told L'Orient-Le Jour.

While Hamas has announced that its delegation will arrive in Cairo this evening, AFP reported this morning, based on information from a movement executive, that the delegation is on its way to the Egyptian capital, where an official from the group says it will not take part in truce negotiations for Gaza. 

The Civil Defense in Hamas-run Gaza has reported 14 dead, including four children and four women, in strikes on the Gaza Strip today. Among them, 11 died in a bombardment that hit their home in Khan Younis (south), according to a medical source cited by AFP.

AFP correspondents and the Civil Defense reported artillery fire and airstrikes across the small territory besieged by Israel since October. Fighting also broke out between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian fighters in Gaza City (north).

Yesterday, at least 35 Palestinians were killed in Israeli bombardments, according to a Civil Defense report.

Religious leaders affiliated with Hezbollah and Amal today reaffirmed their support for the people of Gaza.

Speaking during a ceremony to commemorate Imam Hussein's martyrdom, the head of Hezbollah's Juristic Council, Mohammad Yazbek, said: "No matter how much Netanyahu tries to portray himself as strong and supported by America, the West, and the countries complicit with him against their own people and their religion, none of that will help him. The resilience displayed by our people in Gaza — women, men and children — and this patience despite all the killing, destruction and starvation, must eventually lead to a moment of victory."

Meanwhile, the Amal Movement's mufti for southern Lebanon, Hassan Abdullah, invoked the party's founder, Musa al-Sadr, saying that the Palestinian cause "remains the central issue for Arabs and Muslims, and it is the central issue on the human and global level. His [Sadr's] strategy was, 'If you encounter the enemy, fight him, regardless of how modest the weapon may be.'"

The Syrian Defense Ministry yesterday reported Israeli airstrikes against several sites in central Syria that wounded seven civilians.

"At around 19:35 this evening (16:35 GMT), the Israeli enemy launched an air assault … targeting a number of sites in the central region" of Syria, the ministry said in a statement. "The attack injured seven civilians and caused material damage," the same source added.

"The Israeli strikes hit makeshift gas stations affiliated to Hezbollah in the Homs countryside, as well as weapons depots belonging to the movement and two Syrian army sites in the Hama countryside," said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH).

Meanwhile, here's what happen in southern Lebanon yesterday evening, according to security sources and residents of villages in region:

* Israeli warplanes flew at low altitude over several parts of the region. They were also heard over Beirut at around 2 a.m.

* Rockets were fired from the south towards Israeli positions, and interceptor missiles exploded in the sky over the eastern sector of the south.

* Hezbollah said that in retaliation for Israeli attacks on southern villages and the targeting of civilians, it had fired several salvos of Katyusha missiles at the Israeli area of Kiryat Shmona, opposite Houla (Marjayoun). The party added that it had also attacked the Israeli position of Yaftah Bsaliyat, opposite the village of Blida (Marjayoun) in southern Lebanon, with Katyusha missiles.

In South Lebanon, Israeli fire resumed this morning at around 7 a.m. after a relatively quiet night, according to our correspondent in the region, Muntasser Abdallah. At 7 a.m. Israeli artillery fired three shells at houses in the locality of Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil distict).

Fighting continues to rage in Gaza, with witnesses and AFP journalists reporting Israeli artillery fire and ground clashes in the center and south of the territory.

An Israeli overnight bombardment of a house in western Khan Younis (south) killed 11 people, including four women and four children, and wounded a number of others, Gaza's Civil Defense said early Saturday.

The Israeli army said that over the past day, Israeli troops had "eliminated dozens of terrorists and dismantled dozens of terrorist infrastructure sites" in several areas.

The war has displaced almost the entire population of Gaza, often several times over, depriving them of shelter, drinking water and other essentials, according to the United Nations.

For the United States, a cease-fire in Gaza would help avoid a military escalation in the Middle East, where Iran and its allies have accused Israel of assassinating then-Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Teheran at the end of July, and are threatening to retaliate.

A Hamas official, Hossam Badran, told AFP yesterday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's insistence that his troops remain on a strip along the Gaza-Egypt border, known as the Philadelphia corridor, reflects "his refusal to reach a final agreement."

Hamas will accept "nothing less than the withdrawal of the occupation forces [from Gaza], including Philadelphia." he asserted.

Netanyahu said he is determined to keep Israeli troops in the strip, which they took control of in May, "in order to prevent Hamas from rearming," according to his office.

CIA director William Burns and White House Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk are also present in Cairo.

"Progress has been made. We now need both sides to come together and work toward an agreement," White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, adding that reports that talks are "close to failure" are inaccurate.

According to an Egyptian source close to the negotiations, the heads of the Egyptian and Qatari intelligence services are also taking part in the talks.

Washington reported "progress" in talks in Cairo yesterday, as the war between Israel and Hamas continues unabated.

U.S. President Joe Biden, who is pushing for a cease-fire agreement, also spoke by telephone with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi and the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.

The heads of Mossad (Israeli external intelligence), David Barnea, and Shin Bet (internal security), Ronen Bar, are taking part in the negotiations, a week after a previous round of talks in Doha with American, Qatari and Egyptian mediators.

According to the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, they are in Cairo "to advance an agreement to [free] the hostages" who were abducted and taken to Gaza during the unprecedented attack on Israeli soil by the Islamist movement Hamas on Oct. 7, which sparked the war.

The main news this morning concerns a new round of negotiations launched by Qatar, Egypt and the United States with the aim of reaching a cease-fire in Gaza.

A Hamas official has told AFP that a delegation from the movement is on its way to Cairo, where negotiations for a truce in Gaza are taking place, but that the group would not directly participate in the talks.

"The delegation will meet senior Egyptian intelligence officials to be briefed on the latest developments in the ongoing negotiations. This does not mean that Hamas is taking part in these negotiations," he told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

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Hello,

This is day 323 of the war in the Gaza Strip, and the 322nd day since Hezbollah opened a "solidarity" front in southern Lebanon.

Follow our live coverage of these events here.