One killed, seven injured, including four children, in Israeli strike on Ahmadieh, West Bekaa: Day 343 of the Gaza war

Thank you for joining us for our live coverage today. Be sure to return tomorrow for the latest updates.

Goodnight!

In response to the Israeli strike on Ahmadieh, which left one dead and seven wounded, including four children, Hezbollah targeted the Hadeb Yarine site, located opposite the Lebanese village of Dhaira (Sour), with Burkan missiles, claiming to have hit it directly.

According to the party, part of the site was destroyed and a fire broke out.

At 6:35 p.m., Hezbollah targeted Israeli artillery positions in Zaoura, claiming to have directly hit its target.

The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) announced the death of one of its employees, "killed on the roof of his house by a sniper" during an Israeli military operation in the northern West Bank.

"This is the first time that an UNRWA employee has been killed in the West Bank in more than ten years," UNRWA said in a statement. Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.

The Health Ministry's emergency operations center has revised the number of casualties from the strike that targeted a house in the village of Ahmadieh (Hasbaya).

According to the ministry, the strike left one person dead and seven injured, including four children.

President Biden’s senior adviser Amos Hochstein is expected to visit Israel on Monday to discuss the situation in Lebanon, Axios reporter Barak Ravid reported citing U.S. and Israeli officials.

U.S. officials say they are "concerned by the escalating rhetoric from the Israeli army about going to war with Lebanon," Ravid added.

The Israeli strike that targeted a house in the village of Ahmadieh (Hasbaya) left one dead and four injured, according to L'Orient Today's correspondent.

The Health Ministry's emergency operations center confirmed the death toll from the strike, noting that a young girl was among the injured.

According to villagers, the strike injured six people, including three children. 

Israeli warplanes carried out two strikes targeting the village of Jibbain. Ambulances were dispatched to the scene.

An Israeli strike also targeted Blida (Marjayoun) and Boustan (Sour).

Photo provided by L'Orient Today's correspondent Muntasser Abdallah

Israeli warplanes carried out a strike targeting Khallet Maroun near Majdel Zoun (Sour), L'Orient Today's correspondent reported. 

Here are the latest developments in southern Lebanon:

- An Israeli drone struck a house in the Ahmadieh area (Hasbaya). Ambulances were dispatched to the scene.

- Israeli artillery fire targeted the areas of Wadi al-Assafir and Hamames, on the outskirts of Khiam (Marjayoun), as well as the outskirts of Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil), Labbouneh and Naqoura (Sour).

At 3 p.m., Hezbollah targeted an Israeli force as it arrived at the Israeli site of Birket Risha, opposite the Lebanese village of Boustan (Sour), claiming to have caused "deaths and injuries."

According to the party, an Israeli vehicle also caught fire.

Al-Mayadeen, a pro-Iran broadcaster, reported last night that the strike claimed by Hezbollah on Aug. 25 against the Glilot base near Tel Aviv, in retaliation for the assassination of its commander Fouad Shukur, "killed 22 Israelis and wounded 74." Al-Mayadeen cited "European security sources" without providing further details on these sources.

On Aug. 25, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah announced that the main military targets of the retaliatory operation were the "Aman" military intelligence base and Unit 8200 in Glilot, as well as the Ein Shemer air defense base. The Israelis denied any attack on these facilities.

After the release of this information by al-Mayadeen, Hezbollah MP Ibrahim Moussawi considered it to be "proof of the high level" of the "resistance's" capabilities, in a message published on X. 

Two drones launched from southern Lebanon entered Israeli territory, an Israeli military spokesperson said. One of the drones was intercepted by the "Iron Dome" air defense systems, and the other "fell in an open area" in the Western Galilee, according to Haaretz.

The statement added that the warning sirens sounded earlier in northern Israel were linked to false alarms.

Israeli artillery fire targeted the outskirts of Jibbain, Yarine (Sour), Ramieh and Hanine (Bint Jbeil), residents told L'Orient Today's correspondent in the south.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) announced that Chile filed a declaration of intervention in the complaint filed by South Africa in January 2023 against Israel for “violation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide” in connection with its invasion of the Gaza Strip.

Chile thus becomes the 14th U.N. member state to declare its intention to join this complaint. Before it, Nicaragua, Colombia, Mexico, Cuba, Libya, Palestine and Spain had received approval from the Hague Court to take part in the proceedings.

In addition, Turkey, a member of this list since May 1, announced its intention to perform an autopsy on the body of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, the American-Turkish activist killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank last Saturday "to collect evidence that can be used in the context of the complaint before the ICJ," reported Al Jazeera. The authorities are trying to convince the family of the 26-year-old woman, whose body arrived this morning in Istanbul.

Representatives of Arab and European countries, including EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, have again called in Madrid for the "two-state" solution to be advanced. The meeting, dubbed "For the Implementation of the Two States," also brought together Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, and the foreign ministers of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey, all members of the Arab-Islamic Contact Group for Gaza.

"Together we want to identify concrete actions that will allow us to move forward towards this goal," explained Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on X, who welcomed all the participants before the meeting. Asked about Israel's absence from the meeting, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares explained that the country had not been invited because it does not belong "to the European group or the Arab-Islamic contact group," but assured that he would be "delighted" for Israel to participate in discussions on the two-state issue.

Latest updates from the Lebanese-Israeli border:

* Hezbollah announced that it fired artillery shells on the Israeli site of Bayyad Blida, facing the Lebanese village of Blida (Marjayoun district), at 1:50 p.m.

* "Hostile aircraft alerts" have been activated in Israel's north, near the border with Lebanon, according to Haaretz.

* Israeli artillery shelling has targeted the outskirts of Kfar Shuba (Hasbaya), residents told our correspondent in the South.

In response to the Israeli airstrike on Kfarjoz (Nabatieh district) that killed three people yesterday, Hezbollah announced that it attacked with squadrons of drones the Filon Israeli base (the headquarters of the 210th Division brigades and its stores in the northern region) southeast of the city of Safed, targeting the "positions of its officers and soldiers and causing confirmed casualties." This base is located 16 km south of the Lebanese border village of Aitaroun (Bint Jbeil district).

According to the Israeli army, a drone crashed in a non-residential area in the Upper Galilee. Meanwhile, Haaretz reported that the drone caused a fire.

Drones launched from Lebanon have crossed into Israel, a security source told our correspondent in the South.

Simultaneously, Israeli warplanes have been flying at a low altitude in a bid to intercept the drones.

According to Haaretz, the drones have fallen near Safed in northern Israel.

Hezbollah announced that it fired rockets at the Israeli site of Marj, facing the Lebanese village of Markaba (Marjeyoun district), and the Israeli Zebdine barracks in the disputed Shebaa farms at 12:35 and 12:48 p.m. respectively.

In the past 45 minutes, rockets sirens have sounded twice and "hostile aircraft alerts" once in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon, according to Haaretz.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned what it described as a "flagrant Israeli intrusion" by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into a Palestinian-controlled area of the Jordan Valley.

According to a statement released by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Saudi diplomacy labeled the incident as a "provocative action aimed at expanding Israeli settlement activities." On Wednesday, Netanyahu, accompanied by Israeli military commanders, visited a part of the valley near the Jordanian border and announced plans to build a wall along the border to prevent what he described as attempts to smuggle weapons and fighters into the West Bank and Israel.

Foreign ministers from several Islamic and European countries will meet in Spain today to discuss the implementation of a two-state resolution to the Middle East conflict in the context of the Gaza war, according to the Spanish and Norwegian governments, as reported by the Emirati media outlet The National. Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares will preside over the meeting, which will also include European Union Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell.

Two Israelis were arrested by the military while attempting to enter the Gaza Strip, Haaretz reported, citing the Israeli army. They have been handed over to the police for questioning, according to the media outlet, which provided no further details on the incident.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has warned of "staggering" economic devastation in Gaza, with reconstruction expected to cost tens of billions of dollars, according to a report published Thursday.

On the humanitarian front, the World Health Organization announced that the first round of the polio vaccination campaign in Gaza has likely met its goal. According to the WHO, over 552,000 children have received their first dose, with the second dose scheduled to be administered in about four weeks.

The Israeli military stated in a release that its air force had "carried out a precision strike on terrorists operating" within the school. The military then said it had requested that UNRWA provide "detailed information and the names of the workers" for further investigation.

Juliette Touma, UNRWA’s communications director, told AFP that she was not aware of such a request, asserting that UNRWA "shares lists of all its employees annually with host governments and, in the context of the West Bank and Gaza, with the State of Israel as the occupying power."

European Union foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell expressed his "outrage," stating, "The disregard for fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, particularly the protection of civilians, cannot and must not be accepted by the international community."

In Berlin, the death of the humanitarians was deemed "completely unacceptable."

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for the protection of humanitarian workers, while also noting, "We continue to see Hamas hiding within these sites."

After the strike on a school in central Gaza yesterday, which killed 18 people, including UNRWA (the UN agency for Palestinian refugees) humanitarian workers, several international bodies condemned the bombing.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "condemned the death of at least 18 people, including children, women, and six UNRWA employees, in Israeli airstrikes that hit a school serving as a shelter in Nusseirat" in central Gaza. "This incident must be subject to an independent and thorough investigation," Guterres added, urging "all parties to refrain from using schools, shelters, or surrounding areas for military purposes."

In the morning, according to local sources, artillery fire targeted an area between Alma al-Shaab and Dhaira (Sour). This region was hit approximately 10 times.

In southern Lebanon, the night was marked by several Israeli strikes and artillery fire, according to security and local sources contacted by our correspondent in the South.

Artillery fire and flare rockets were launched over the Khiam plain in the Marjayoun district.

The Ministry of Health announced that earlier on Thursday, artillery fire on Maroun el-Ras had resulted in two injuries.

At 3:40 a.m., Israeli aircraft bombed Bint Jbeil twice. The first strike targeted a house. Ambulances arrived on the scene, but no casualties have been reported so far.

At the same time, a fighter jet struck the outskirts of Salhani (Bint Jbeil).

At 4:00 a.m., an air raid targeted Yaroun (Bint Jbeil).

In response to the strike, Hezbollah announced that it had targeted with Katyusha rockets "the main missile defense base of the northern command, at the Birya barracks." This barracks is located 12 kilometers from the Blue Line, north of Safed. According to the party, this is the second time it has been targeted since Oct. 8. The base includes, among other things, the headquarters of the battalions operating the Patriot missile batteries and the Iron Dome.

Following the drone strike on Kfarjoz, north of Nabatieh, which killed three people according to the Lebanese Health Ministry, Hezbollah has announced the deaths of two of its members.

Sadek Moubarak, born in 1993, from Markaba and residing in Zebdine, west of Nabatieh, and Sajed Moustapha, born in 1998, from Mlikh and living in Toul, both in the same region, were identified as the deceased. A child was also killed in the strike, reportedly the son of one of the two members, according to information circulating on social media.

Make sure to read the Morning Brief so you are caught up with what has been happening.

Good morning!

Thank you for joining us for our coverage of the ongoing war in Gaza and its regional and global impacts.