The situation on Israel's northern border "cannot continue," says Netanyahu: Day 345 of the Gaza war

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We will continue our coverage of the conflict tomorrow morning.

(Credit: Photo sent by al-Risala Scouts Civil Defense to our correspondent)

The Central Civil Defense Operations Room of the Islamic Risala Scouts Association, affiliated with the Amal Movement, said its members participated in the firefighting operations following the Israeli strike on Houla (Marjayoun).

Hezbollah claimed an attack on “buildings used by [Israeli] soldiers in the Shlomi settlement,” opposite to the Lebanese village Alma Shaab (Sour).

A senior Hamas official has asserted that the Palestinian movement's capacity to fight Israel remains "high," despite the losses suffered during more than 11 months of war in Gaza. 

"The resistance's capacity to continue is high," Osama Hamdan told AFP in an interview. "There have been martyrs and sacrifices ..., but in return, there has been an accumulation of experience and the recruitment of new generations within the resistance," he added.

Israeli aircraft fired at least six missiles at Mahmoudieh, near the southern border of the village of Aaishieh in the Jezzine district, residents told our correspondent.

Hezbollah announced that it had conducted a missile attack on the Israeli Sammaka site in the disputed Kfar Shuba hills at 5:30 p.m.

Hezbollah announced an attack with guided missiles at 5:15 p.m. on spy equipment in Ramiya, opposite the Lebanese town of Ramiyeh, in the Bint Jbeil district. The party claimed to have destroyed its targets.

Today, Pope Francis expressed his closeness to relatives of six Israeli hostages whose bodies were recovered from Gaza earlier this month, saying he had met the mother of one of them.

"Let the conflict in Palestine and Israel cease. Let the violence cease. Let the hatred cease. Let the hostages be released. Let negotiations continue. And may solutions for peace be found," Francis said.

To read more, press here.👈

Prime Minister's Office Director General Yossi Shelley met today with Eliezer Marom, the government-appointed coordinator for Israel's north, following media reports suggesting the Prime Minister's Office had been trying to replace Marom, reported Haaretz.

The two agreed to continue working together. Sources in the Prime Minister's Office denied any recent discussions about replacing Marom. They also reviewed plans and goals for rebuilding the north during the meeting.

The Israeli army has announced that three hostages who died in Gaza in November were "probably" killed by an Israeli strike, according to the results of an investigation into the circumstances of their deaths, reported AFP.

"According to the results of the investigation, there is a high probability that the three were killed as a result of an army air strike ... on Nov. 10, 2023," the army said in a statement.

Once again, Hamas representative Osama Hamdan accused the U.S. of not exerting "sufficient pressure" on Israel to reach a cease-fire agreement in the Gaza Strip, adding that Hamas wants a "joint Palestinian rule" in Gaza once the war ends. 

"The American administration does not exert sufficient or appropriate pressure on the Israeli side ... Rather it is trying to justify the Israeli side's evasion of any commitment." Hamdan told AFP. 

"Clearly we said that the next day must be Palestinian... the day after the battle is a Palestinian day." 

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a new missile attack carried out at 4:05 p.m. against enemy positions in Zaoura, northern Israel, claiming to have hit its target. Zaoura is located opposite the Lebanese village of Mhaybib, in the Marjayoun district.

Sirens sounded in communities in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon, reported Haaretz.

Here are the latest updates in South Lebanon:

- Israeli airstrikes targeted the outskirts of Rashaya al-Foukhar (Sour district) with three missiles, causing a major fire, residents told our correspondent.

- Israeli artillery fire targeted the outskirts of Kounin and Aitaroun (Bint Jbeil), residents told our correspondent.

- Israeli artillery also shelled the outskirts of Mais al-Jabal (Marjayoun) and Naqoura (Sour).

Hamas hailed the Houthi missile strike on central Israel, saying Israel "will not be safe until it stops its aggression" in Gaza, reported AFP.

"We consider this a natural response to the aggression against our Palestinian people ... We affirm that the Zionist enemy will not be safe until it ceases its brutal aggression against our people in the Gaza Strip," the Palestinian movement said in a statement.

Hezbollah MP Hasan Ezzeddine said on Sunday that his party's achievements since Oct. 8 "constitute a strategic and existential threat to the enemy" Israel.

"The [Islamic] Resistance continues to fight this battle and has the full capacity to manage, control and command despite all the brutal strikes carried out by the enemy army as it bombs villages and towns, demolishes homes and murders fighters," Ezzeddine said.

"Despite this, the enemy has not managed to weaken this resistance," he concluded.

(Credit: Mayor of Wazzani Ahmed Al-Mohammad)

"To all residents and displaced people in tents and shelters, Hezbollah is using your area to conduct operations. You are urged to evacuate your houses immediately and move West of Khiam. You have until 4:00 p.m. to move."

Residents of Wazzani, in southern Lebanon's Hasbaya district, awoke to this message dropped by an Israeli drone. These were leaflets dropped by the Israeli army, which later described the operation as "an independent initiative" not endorsed by the military command or the political authorities. 

To read more, press here. 

(Credit: Photo sent by al-Rissala Scouts Civil Defense to our correspondent)

The al-Rissala Scouts Civil Defense, affiliated with the Amal movement, reported extinguishing fires after the Israeli attacks on Odaisseh (Marjayoun district).

⚡ The situation on Israel's northern border "cannot continue" and "requires a change in the balance of power," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at his weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, quoted by Haaretz.

Netanyahu added that Israel will do "whatever it takes" to allow its residents to return home safely.

(Credit: Hezbollah Press Office)

"The [Islamic] Resistance will continue to support the resistance and the people of Gaza, regardless of the intensity of assassinations, attacks, bombings, threats, intimidation and emissaries pouring into Lebanon," said Hezbollah MP Hussein Hajj Hassan at a ceremony honoring Mohammad Kassem al-Chaer, a Hezbollah member killed in clashes with Israel.

"The objective is clear and obvious: to prevent the enemy from winning and to help the resistance in Gaza achieve victory," he added. "We know exactly how to hit the enemy, where to hit them and at what point to hit them."

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for an 11:20 a.m. attack on "spy equipment" in Rouwaissat al-Alam, in the disputed Kfar Shuba hills, using a guided missile. The party claims to have destroyed the equipment.

(Credit: Menahem Kahana/AFP)

First responders put out a fire in an open area in Lod near Tel Aviv, caused by a missile fired from Yemen on Sept. 15, 2024. The Israeli military said a missile fired from Yemen crossed into central Israel on Sept. 15, 2024, causing no injuries but again adding to regional tensions nearly a year into the Gaza war. 

⚡ Yemen's Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for a "ballistic missile" strike against Israel, where the army says the projectile fell in an "open area" in the center of the country, causing no injuries.

The operation was aimed at a military target "in the area of Yafa [the Arabic name for Jaffa] in occupied Palestine" and was "carried out with a new hypersonic ballistic missile that succeeded in reaching its target, without the enemy's defense systems managing to intercept it," said Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree, reading from a statement.

To read more about the attack, press here.👈

Hezbollah announced that it carried out two attacks against Israeli positions this morning: 

- At 6:45 a.m. Using an exploding drone, it targeted a technical system in the Al-Malikia, opposite the Lebanese village of Aitaroun (Bint Jbeil)

- At 7:50 a.m., also using an exploding drone, it targeted Israeli soldiers in the Metula position, opposite Lebanese Kfar Kila (Marjayoun).

This morning, several Israeli attacks targeted South Lebanon: 

- Israeli artillery shelling targeted the outskirts of Shebaa town, Kfar Hammam (Hasbaya) and Robb Al-Thalateen (Marjayoun).

- Two people were injured as a result of the Israeli shelling on Odaisseh (Marjeyoun), residents told our correspondent.

- Israeli artillery shelling targeted two houses in the town of Alma al-Shaab (Sour).

- Israeli artillery shelling targeted the outskirts of Markaba (Marjeyoun), Wadi Al-Saluqi (Bint Jbeil), and Odaisseh (Marjeyoun).

Hezbollah announced that it carried out two attacks on Israeli positions yesterday night: 

- At 7:30 p.m., it launched a squadron of drones “on a newly established position of the 769th Brigade of the Galilee Division in Ein Margaliot, west of Kiryat Shmona.”

- At 10:40 p.m. it targeted an Israeli military vehicle in the vicinity of the Roweissat al-Alam site in the disputed Lebanese Kfar Shuba hills with a guided missile.

Also yesterday evening, several Israeli attacks targeted South Lebanon: 

- After 8 p.m., numerous Israeli airstrikes targeted homes in the towns of Shihine, Taybeh and Kfar Kila, in the Marjayoun district.

- For the first time, Israeli drones conducted an attack in the village of Sarfand, Zahrani district, targeting an empty room in an orchard in the town of

- Israeli airstrikes targeted a house in the town of Aitaroun (Bint Jbeil) and a three-story house in the town of al-Jbeen (sour).

- Flares were airdropped over the Bab Thaniya area in the Khiam plain and on the outskirts of Khiam city (Marjayoun).

- After 10:30 p.m., more than 10 Israeli artillery shells targeted the outskirts of the town of Shebaa.

- At midnight, Israeli incendiary bombs were thrown towards the forest of Talat al-Raheb in Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil).

Yesterday evening Israel conducted several attacks in the Baalbeck-Hermel governate:

- Israeli strikes hit Hosh al-Sayyed Ali area in Hermel near the Lebanese-Syrian border.

- Israeli warplanes targeted the Sarein plain near Dhour al-Ayroun in the Baalbeck-Hermel governorate with two highly explosive missiles.

- The Public Health Ministry's Emergency Operations Center said that Israeli attack on the town of al-Kawakh, north of Hermel, resulted in four injuries, including three children. The statement added that the fourth injured person required hospitalization for treatment.

⚡A missile fired from Yemen had fallen on Sunday on an open area in central Israel, without causing any injuries, reported AFP citing the Israeli army.

No immediate claim was made for the attack, but the Israeli military later released a statement stating that "the missile was fired from Yemen." 

Yemen's Houthi rebels have already launched several attacks against Israel, in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

"A surface-to-surface missile was identified crossing central Israel from the east and then falling in an open area," the Israeli army said in a statement, adding that "no injuries were reported."

To find out more about the attack, press here.👈

Israel's military offensive has killed at least 41,206 Palestinians and injured 95,337 others since Oct. 7, reported Gaza's health ministry today. 

At least 24 people have been killed in the last 24 hours, the statement by the ministry added. 

During the night, Israeli aircraft carried out several air strikes in Gaza, while artillery fire was also reported, according to AFP journalists and the Gaza Civil Defense.

At least three people were killed in a strike on a house in the Nousseirat refugee camp (center), the Civil Defense said, adding that several people were also injured.

One person was killed and three others wounded in a strike on a house in the Jabalia refugee camp (north), Gaza's Civil Defense said.

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