'They were just putting out a fire': Funeral of three firefighters killed on Saturday in Froun: Day 339 of the Gaza war

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Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib has arrived in Cairo to attend the 162nd session of the Arab League's ministerial meeting, according to a statement from our correspondent. The senior official is expected to deliver a speech outlining Lebanon's stance on the regional tensions arising from the ongoing Gaza war.

European Union Foreign Affairs Chief Josep Borrell is expected in Lebanon on Wednesday and Thursday. During his visit, he will meet with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Lebanese Army Chief General Joseph Aoun and caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, according to an EU delegation statement.

Update on the situation in southern Lebanon:

- An Israeli strike earlier targeted a motorcycle in the village square of Tallousa, in the Marjayoun district, according to local residents. The man on the motorcycle survived the attack.

- Israeli artillery has targeted the locality of Khiam (Marjayoun), according to other residents.

- Hezbollah launched its 10th operation of the day at 6:30 p.m., targeting an Israeli troop deployment near Metula, across from the Lebanese village of Kfar Kila in the Marjayoun district.

IDF Chief of Staff Herzl Halevi said that "Hezbollah's attack on a residential building this morning in Nahariya is a serious incident, as is the fire toward residents of the north."

Halevi spoke at the end of a situation assessment in Israel's north, and said "the IDF is operating strongly in the north, and is at a high level of readiness with operational plans, prepared for any task it may be required to do."

According to residents quoted by our correspondent, the village of Kfar Shuba has been bombarded with heavy artillery.

In Froun (Bint Jbeil), the funeral for Kassem Bazzi, the Civil Defense volunteer killed by an Israeli strike was held this afternoon. According to the deceased's cousin, Bazzi was "a supporter of the Amal movement while also being a volunteer with the Civil Defense." Bazzi was injured a month ago in Odaisseh (Marjayoun) and hospitalized due to white phosphorus used by the Israeli army in southern Lebanon.

"We know the war will be long, but we can't go anywhere; we're not really afraid," the woman told our reporter.

Latest from southern Lebanon according to residents of the area:

* The Israeli army launched a drone strike on the village of Tallousa in the Marjayoun district.

* The outskirts of the village of Kfar Shuba (Hasbaya) were shelled by the Israeli army.

Here’s the update on the situation in South Lebanon:

- The military branch of Jamaa Islamiya, allied with Hezbollah, has announced its second attack of the day, "in support of the people of Gaza and the West Bank." Jamaa stated it fired rockets at an Israeli army position in Beit Halal, near the town of Kiryat Shmona.

- Hezbollah claimed an attack at 3:35 p.m. on an Israeli army position in Haboushit, across from the Lebanese village of Kfar Shuba in the Hasbaya district.

- Hezbollah also announced it targeted "espionage equipment" in the Israeli town of Ramtha, in the contested hills of Kfar Shuba, which the party considers Lebanese.

Hundreds of people paid tribute in Nablus in the occupied West Bank to an American-Turkish activist killed last week during a protest against Jewish settlement.

Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, was shot dead on Friday in Beita, near Nablus, in the northern part of the Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967. Her family has accused the Israeli forces of killing her and has called for an "independent investigation." Turkey has also accused Israel, while the United States has mourned her death as "tragic."

The Gaza Strip’s Ministry of Health has released a new report stating that at least 40,988 Palestinians have been killed and 94,825 injured as a result of the Israeli military operations in the Palestinian enclave since the start of the Gaza war.

Additionally, Hezbollah claimed to have carried out an attack "in retaliation for the assaults on Hanine" (in the Bint Jbeil district, which was hit by an Israeli airstrike last night that injured four). The party stated that it targeted the "Jal al-Alam" site, facing the Lebanese village of Labbouneh (Sour district), with "artillery fire."

Here’s the update on the latest developments in South Lebanon:

- The Israeli army has bombarded the outskirts of the village of Naqoura (Sour district) multiple times in the past hour.

- Two raids have also been conducted on the villages of Kfar Hammam and Shebaa (Hasbaya).

(Credit: Mohammad Yassin/OLJ)

Women were seen in tears at the funeral of the three firefighters killed on Saturday in an Israeli drone strike in Froun.

Abdallah Moussawi, head of Civil Defense in Sour, says he now "fears for his men" after Saturday's "direct strike."

"For us, it's a message from the enemy. The Israeli army must have realized they were Civil Defense," Moussawi told our reporter. "They were extinguishing a fire in an olive field. We are far from the border. Life is normal here. But since the direct targeting (of the volunteers), we fear it might happen again," he added.

(Credit: Mohammad Yassin/L'OLJ)

"We are here for them because they risked their lives for us," says Kinda, 21, a relative of Abbas Hammoud, one of the Civil Defense volunteers killed on Saturday. According to Kinda, the victim's brother was also killed while working as a rescuer with Hezbollah's medical committee. "They were just putting out a fire and sacrificed themselves for us, so we could stay in our homes," says the young woman, who was displaced from Adsheet (Marjayoun district) due to the ongoing conflict.

The funeral in Ghandourieh is being held in the presence of National Civil Defense volunteers and rescue workers from Al-Rissala Scouts, affiliated with the Amal movement. Amal flags are visible at the scene, according to our correspondent.

A funeral is being held this afternoon in the town of Ghandourieh (Bint Jbeil) for three Civil Defense volunteers killed on Saturday evening in an Israeli drone strike in the Froun region of South Lebanon.

“These martyrs are from the South, this is the South. We are proud of them, it’s a form of jihad,” said the cousin of Kassem Bazzi, one of Saturday’s victims, to our reporter on the scene. According to her, Bazzi “chose Civil Defense to defend his land,” in the tradition of “Imam Hussein (a revered figure in Shiite Islam) and Imam Moussa Sadr,” founder of the Amal movement.

Hezbollah also claimed responsibility for two other strikes:

- Against the "new headquarters of the Western Brigade at the Ya'ara base," opposite Yaroun, in the Bint Jbeil district. This strike was carried out with a "barrage of Katyusha rockets."

- Against the "al-Marj" site, opposite Markaba (Marjayoun).

Hezbollah also announced that it "intercepted an Israeli fighter jet and fired a surface-to-air missile at it," forcing the jet, according to the party, to "leave Lebanese airspace."

On Saturday, the party made a similar announcement regarding a "Heron" drone.

Hezbollah announced that it launched "a squadron of explosive drones" targeting the Golani Brigade headquarters and the Iguz 621 unit at the Shraga base, north of Acre, targeting military residences at the base. Hezbollah stated that the attack was in retaliation for the yesterday's Israeli attack on Kherbet Selm, which left six people wounded.

According to a map released by the group, the Shraga base is situated between Nahariya and Acre, approximately 15 kilometers from Ras Naqoura (Sour) along the Israeli coast.

Earlier today, Haaretz reported that a drone from Lebanon had struck a "residential building in Nahariyya," causing a fire.

Here are the latest updates on the security situation in South Lebanon:

- Three Israeli artillery shells hit the town of Zebqin (Sour district), residents reported.

- Israeli artillery shelling targeted the outskirts of the town of Yater (Bint Jbeil), locals reported, noting that a convoy of ambulances were dispatched to the scene of the strike.

The al-Fajr Brigades, the armed wing of the Jamaa Islamiya, claimed responsibility for a rocket attack on the Israeli site of Beit Hillel, near Kiryat Shmona, facing the Lebanese village of Houla (Marjayoun).

Jamaa Islamiya, a sunni Lebanese party affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, has claimed half a dozen strikes on Israeli positions since the onset of the war along the Blue Line.

“The southern suburbs of Beirut will look like Gaza—there is no other solution,” said Israeli Likud MP Nissim Vaturi in an interview with Israeli public broadcaster Kan. Vaturi, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, stated that a "full-scale war" with Hezbollah was just "a matter of days."

As a member of Israel's Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, Vaturi outlined his proposed war strategy, advocating for a "pre-emptive aerial bombardment lasting up to five days," followed by a "ground invasion." He added that Netanyahu "shared [his] point of view."

The Israeli woman who threw sand at National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on a Tel Aviv beach last Friday has been indicted by the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The indictment, presented to the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court, charges the 27-year-old with assaulting a public official and obstructing a police officer. Police have also requested an extension of the restrictive conditions imposed on her. The woman has been held for the past four days at Neve Tirza women’s prison in Ramla, where around 20 demonstrators gathered on Saturday to demand her release.

An "aerial target" hit a "residential building" in the northern Israeli town of Nahariya, Haaretz reported. Israeli fire and rescue services, deployed to the scene after the impact, confirmed that no casualties were reported.

The Israeli army stated that a second drone had entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon, while alarm sirens repeatedly sounded earlier in the morning in several Israeli towns near the border.

Hezbollah announced that it carried out a missile strike carried out at 8:12 a.m. against the Israeli position of Ma'ayan Baruch, opposite the Lebanese Wazzani, in the Hasbaya district.

Citing the Israeli army, Haaretz reported that two rockets were fired from Lebanon toward northern Israel. One landed in an open area, while the other was intercepted. Warning sirens sounded in several areas, including Kiryat Shmona, Kfar Yuval, Kfar Giladi, Tel Hai, Metula, and Beit Hillel.

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for two strikes yesterday evening:

- With a fleet of exploding drones, it targeted Iron Dome platforms and the homes of Israeli officers and soldiers in the Za'oura position, opposite the Lebanese village of Mhaybib (Marjayoun). Hezbollah claimed the attack resulted in casualties. So far, the Israeli media and army have not announced any casualties. Hezbollah added that the attack was in retaliation for "Israeli attacks on villages in the south," and in particular the strike on Kherbet Selm.

- The second, at 3:35 a.m., targeted the Israeli Samaka site in the disputed Kfar Shuba heights, "with missiles."

At 7:30 this morning, Israeli artillery fire targeted Kfar Shuba, in southern Lebanon's  Hasbaya district, according to residents.

In South Lebanon, the night was relatively calm, according to our local correspondent:

- At around 9:30 p.m., the Health Ministry announced that the number of people wounded in the strike on Kherbet Selm had risen to six, five of whom sustained minor injuries. These individuals, affected in houses near the strike site, were treated at Tebnine Governmental Hospital. The sixth person was hospitalized for further care.

- Around 1 a.m., Israeli aircraft targeted Hanine (Bint Jbeil) and Taybeh (Marjayoun).

- Artillery fire targeted homes in Kfar Kila (Marjayoun).

At least 14 people, including three Syrian civilians, were killed overnight in Israeli airstrikes targeting military sites in central Syria, including a scientific research facility, an NGO reported.

"The number of martyrs from the Israeli aggression on several sites near Masyaf has risen to 14, with 43 wounded," the director of the local hospital told the state-run news agency Sana.

The strikes also destroyed military buildings and facilities near Masyaf, which hosts scientific research centers "where pro-Iranian groups and weapons development experts are present," the NGO added, noting that 13 "violent explosions" were heard in the area.

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"I've believed for months that we have enough forces to handle Gaza and should focus on the situation in the north," Gantz said.

"In Gaza, we've reached a decisive point. We can do whatever we want there," he added, as Israeli military operations continue pending a cease-fire in the enclave. "I think we should try to secure the release of our hostages, but if that fails in the coming days or weeks, we should shift our focus north."

"I don't think we should wait any longer ... we have the capacity to act," Gantz continued, including "striking Lebanon, if necessary." He emphasized that "the real issue is Iran," stating that "Hamas is an old story ... the question of Iran and its proxies across the region, and what they're trying to do, that's the real concern."

Former Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz said yesterday in Washington that Israel must now focus on the threat from Hezbollah in the north and called for a confrontation with Iran.

"We're late on that," Gantz said during a panel at the Middle East Discussion Forum (MEAD) in Washington, describing Israel's evacuation of northern communities as "a mistake." Thousands of Israelis have fled the north, as Hezbollah and the Israeli military have been trading fire almost daily along the Israeli-Lebanese border since the start of the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.

Read the Morning Brief to catch up on all the events you've missed over the weekend. 

Good morning! 

Thank you for joining our live coverage of the Gaza war and its implications on the region, particularly Lebanon. 

This is day 337 of the war in Gaza and day 336 since Hezbollah opened a "support front" for its Palestinian ally, Hamas, in Lebanon.