Israel will continue to 'mercilessly strike Hezbollah, including in Beirut,' Netanyahu says: Day 374 of the Gaza and Lebanon wars

Police arrested more than 200 pro-Palestinian protesters who staged a sit-in outside the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, calling for an end to U.S. support for Israel's war in Gaza, according to Reuters.
The protesters, many from activist groups like Jewish Voice for Peace, chanted "Let Gaza live" and "Stop funding genocide" in front of the iconic Stock Exchange building near Wall Street in Manhattan.

Others voiced opposition to Israeli attacks in Lebanon, where Israel claims to be waging a war against Hezbollah.

In three consecutive statements, Hezbollah announced that its fighters had targeted "gatherings of enemy (Israeli) forces."
The first attack occurred at 1:00 a.m. on the "al-Marj" position, located opposite the Lebanese village of Markaba (Marjeyoun). The second attack, also at 1:00 a.m., targeted soldiers in the Seddaneh area (Chebaa). The third, conducted at 1:20 a.m., was directed at soldiers in "Khalet Wardé," across from Aita al-Shaab.
All three attacks were carried out using "barrages of rockets."

Israeli warplanes targeted several localities in the Bekaa Valley, including Karak, Nabi Chit, Riyak, and Baalbek, according to various local media outlets.

Australia warned its citizens not to travel to Israel and urged Australians there to leave the country while commercial flights remained available, citing the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
"The Australian government has serious concerns the security situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories could deteriorate rapidly," said Foreign Minister Penny Wong in a post on X on Monday.

Some airlines have reduced or suspended their flights to Israel and Lebanon. Australia had urged around 15,000 of its citizens living in Lebanon to leave about a month ago.

Members of the Security Council "expressed their deep concerns after several UNIFIL positions were targeted in recent days," according to a statement read by the President of the UN Security Council and Permanent Representative of Switzerland, Pascale Baeriswyl. "They reiterated that UN peacekeepers and UN premises should never be the target of an attack," it added. They called on all parties to respect international humanitarian law.

According to the statement, Security Council members "requested the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and recognized the need for additional practical measures to achieve this goal." "They also emphasized the necessity of diplomatic efforts aimed at achieving a lasting end to the conflict," the text concludes.

Hezbollah stated in two separate announcements that its fighters targeted Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel at 10:40 p.m., as well as an "enemy forces gathering" at the "Baghdadi" position at 11:45 p.m.. Both attacks were carried out "with a barrage of rockets."

British Foreign Minister David Lammy and the European Union's foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell condemned Iran's attacks on Israel and its supply of ballistic missiles to Russia for use against Ukraine, UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said in a statement on Monday.

Lammy and Borrell met ahead of an EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting, the office said, adding both remain committed to sanctioning Iran's regime over its attacks on Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told the United States that Israel is willing to strike Iranian military targets and not nuclear or oil ones, the Washington Post reports, citing ‘two officials familiar with the matter.’

UN peacekeepers will maintain their current positions in Lebanon despite Israel's calls for them to relocate as the war with Hezbollah intensifies, their chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix stated on Monday, according to AFP.
"It has been decided that UNIFIL will retain all its positions despite the calls from the Israeli army for it to vacate positions near the Blue Line," the French diplomat added.

A funeral procession took place today in the Shiite holy city of Kerbala, in central Iraq, in tribute to General Abbas Nilforoushan, who was killed in Lebanon alongside Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah during an Israeli airstrike in southern Beirut at the end of September, an AFP photographer observed.

The Revolutionary Guards announced on Friday that General Nilforoushan's body had been found "after continuous efforts" at the site of the strike targeting a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Beirut on Sept. 27. His body was flown from Beirut to Baghdad International Airport on Monday, then transported by ambulance to Kerbala.

The funeral procession made its way to the Husseiniya shrine, where a representative of Iraq's highest Shiite religious authority, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, led the prayers in front of a large crowd. Participants waved flags of Iran, Hezbollah, and the Iraqi armed faction Kataeb Hezbollah, while chanting "death to Israel." The body will then be transported to the holy city of Mashhad in Iran, according to Sepah, a news agency affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards. Another ceremony will take place on Tuesday in Tehran, followed by the planned burial on Thursday in Isfahan, his hometown in central Iran, the agency specified.

Three Israeli airstrikes targeted the village of Deir Seriane (Nabatiyeh), which also came under Israeli artillery fire, according to the National News Agency. Additionally, two Israeli airstrikes hit the village of Taybeh (Marjeyoun).

Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris told Israeli President Isaac Herzog that the incidents involving Israeli soldiers and UN peacekeepers in Lebanon were "outrageous," according to the New York Times.

The Lebanese caretaker Minister of Economy, Amine Salam, stated that a shipment of 90 tons of humanitarian aid from Pakistan will arrive in Beirut on Thursday, according to the National News Agency (NNA).

The aid includes 50 tons of medication, 15 tons of meals, 9 tons of tents, 5 tons of fabrics, 4 tons of blankets and winter pajamas, 2 tons of winter clothing, and 5 tons of powdered milk.

Several Israeli nighttime airstrikes targeted villages in southern Lebanon, according to the National News Agency (NNA). These include Khiam, Taybeh, Khirbet Selm, Souwaneh, Kfar Kila, Adaisseh, and Rab el-Thalathine.

Sixteen soldiers have been killed and 305 injured since the start of the ground incursion in southern Lebanon, the Israeli army stated, according to Israeli media.

No aid has been allowed to enter the northern Gaza Strip since Oct. 1, a Gaza government official told Al Jazeera.

While trucks have reached the city of Gaza, they have been unable to access the Jabalia camp or other besieged areas that have been relentlessly bombarded by the Israeli army since the beginning of the month.

The official described the situation as "extremely difficult" due to shortages of food and water. The United Nations is attempting to deliver aid to Jabalia, but Israeli forces are blocking access, the official added.

Earlier on Monday, Israeli authorities claimed that 30 trucks carrying humanitarian aid were able to enter the Palestinian enclave, according to Haaretz.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) issued an urgent call on Monday for the protection of Lebanon’s healthcare system. "I urgently appeal for the protection of healthcare workers, ambulances, hospitals, and primary healthcare centers," said Nicolas von Arx, ICRC’s regional director for the Near and Middle East.

He expressed grave concern over attacks on healthcare facilities, the displacement of populations, and the overall strain on health systems in Lebanon. Von Arx emphasized the ICRC's priority in providing support to a healthcare sector already weakened by five years of economic crisis, through initiatives like establishing trauma treatment units in Beirut and eastern Lebanon.

He also noted increasing difficulties in accessing southern Lebanon, particularly as an Israeli airstrike injured a driver in a humanitarian convoy on the same day. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 100 out of 207 primary healthcare centers in conflict areas have shut down due to escalating violence.

In a post on X, Avichay Adraee, the Arabic-speaking Israeli army spokesperson, declared that the Israeli forces and Shin Bet had "eliminated" Samer Abu Daqa, the leader of Hamas’s air force, during an airstrike in September.
The statement adds that Abu Daqa "was among those responsible for planning the paraglider and drone infiltration into Israel during the events of Oct. 7," and that he played a significant role in "developing infrastructure to build and enhance the group's air force capabilities in the Gaza Strip." The statement does not give further details on the time or place of the strike.

Health Minister Firas Abiad said in a televised statement that "150 healthcare professionals," including doctors, paramedics, and firefighters, have been killed by Israeli airstrikes since the war began on Oct. 8, 2023, with the majority of these casualties occurring since Sept. 23.

He also noted that 250 other healthcare workers have been injured, and 13 hospitals are now out of service. Abiad announced that a complaint is being prepared with the UN Security Council and human rights organizations, in collaboration with the Beirut Bar Association.

Despite the challenges, the minister praised the "resilience" of Lebanon's healthcare sector and emphasized the importance of international support. He assured that stocks of most medications were secured for "4 to 5 months" and stated that a solution was being finalized with Middle East Airlines for replenishing other treatments.

The death toll from the Israeli strike on Aito, in the Zgharta region, has risen to at least 22, including twelve women, eight men, and two children, according to our correspondent in the North. The victims have been transferred to hospitals in Tripoli and Zgharta.

The death toll from the Israeli strike on Aito, in the Zgharta region, has risen to at least 22, including 12 women, eight men and two children, according to L'Orient Today's correspondent in the North.

The victims were transferred to hospitals in Tripoli and Zgharta.

The Israeli army carried out an eight-hour raid on Jenin in the occupied West Bank, killing two Palestinians: A 17-year-old boy, Rayan Ibrahim al-Sayed, and a 23-year-old man, Mahmoud Mamoun Abu al-Rub, according to the state-run Palestinian news agency Wafa.

Four other people were injured and significant damage was reported to public and private property, including the destruction of part of a house and infrastructure in the Jenin refugee camp.

Since October 2023, more than 750 Palestinians have been in the West Bank by Israeli soldiers or settlers.

Israeli warplanes dropped flares over Beirut, according to the state-run National News Agency.

The U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon's peacekeepers are "intended to stay," said French Minister of the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu, two days before a meeting of European contributors to the mission.

"The day the guns fall silent, there will still be this Blue Line [separating Lebanon from Israel], there will be resolution 1701 or a new resolution, there will still be a zone whose neutralization will have to be assumed," he explained on the public channel France 5.

"That is why the mission is intended to remain. It is the United Nations that put these forces there, it is up to the United Nations to withdraw them, unless there is an order to the contrary from the various contributing nations," he added.

The European countries contributing to UNIFIL (Italy, France, Spain and Ireland) are due to meet via videoconference on Wednesday to agree on their positions. Lecornu's comments echo those of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, according to whom "there will be no withdrawal of UNIFIL."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday dismissed accusations that Israeli troops deliberately targeted UNIFIL peacekeepers in Lebanon as “completely false,” and reiterated his call for the withdrawal of peacekeepers from combat zones.

He said the army was doing "everything possible to avoid harming personnel" of the U.N. force while striking Hezbollah fighters. "But the best way to ensure the safety of UNIFIL personnel is for UNIFIL to heed Israel's request and temporarily move away from danger."

Five of them were injured in two days at the end of the week by Israeli fire while fighting between Hezbollah and the Israeli army, which has been leading a ground offensive, has been raging since the end of September along the Blue Line.

An Israeli airstrike targeted the Jermach border road in the Hermel outskirts on the Lebanese-Syrian border.

The Israeli army claimed that 115 rockets were fired from Lebanon towards its territory on Monday, according to a count relayed by Haaretz.

Earlier in the day, Hezbollah launched a salvo of missiles toward the center of the Jewish state, activating alarm sirens as far north as Tel Aviv. A 17-year-old Israeli was lightly injured in the incident. Another large salvo then targeted the town of Safed in the Upper Galilee, without causing any casualties.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the U.N.'s portrayal of attacks on the United Nations Interim Force in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL) was "shameful and worrying."

"The image of the U.N. that cannot protect its own personnel is shameful and worrying in the name of the international system. Frankly, we wonder what the Security Council is waiting for to stop Israel," the Turkish head of state said in a televised speech after a meeting of his cabinet.

"Can you imagine? Israeli tanks enter the UNIFIL zone, attack peacekeepers, even injure some of them, but the UN Security Council just watches all this banditry from the stands. This is what we call helplessness," he added.

At least five peacekeepers have been injured in recent days in the fighting between the Israeli army and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. These attacks have been strongly condemned by the U.N., which has spoken of possible "war crimes."

Israeli attacks on the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon violate international humanitarian law and must stop immediately, Italy, Britain, France and Germany said on Monday, according to Reuters.

In a joint statement, the four countries reaffirmed "the essential stabilizing role" that UNIFIL plays in south Lebanon, adding that Israel and other parties must guarantee the safety of peacekeepers at all times.

The UNIFIL mission, which includes hundreds of European troops, said it had been attacked several times by the Israeli military in recent days. Israel has asked the U.N. to withdraw its troops from the area as it targets Hezbollah fighters.

The Israeli military announced that it discovered what it claims is an "underground Hezbollah headquarters" in southern Lebanon.

In a statement released by the Israeli army, it said that "forces of the 8th Brigade" attacked an "underground headquarters of the Radwan Force," Hezbollah's elite unit, extending "800 meters" under an unspecified village in southern Lebanon.

In a video, featuring Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari, Israeli soldiers can be seen walking through dark tunnels, stockpiles of ammunition, rooms with camp beds and kitchens filled with personal items, and scooters. "We eliminated several terrorists and destroyed weapons and infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah, both above and below ground," the statement said.

A rescuer from Marwanieh was killed in the Israeli strike that targeted a building located between the towns of Qanarit and Ghazieh, south of Saida, according to L'Orient Today's correspondent.

At 8:15 p.m., Hezbollah fired a salvo of rockets at a gathering of Israeli enemy personnel and vehicles in "Khallet Warda," located opposite Aita al-Shaab. It also targeted at 8:20 p.m. a gathering of Israeli forces in the Zar'it barracks, opposite the Lebanese village of Ramieh, with a salvo of rockets. 

The death toll from the Israeli strike on Aito, in the Zgharta region, has risen to at least 21 dead and eight injured, according to a new provisional report from the Health Ministry.

Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for five new attacks since 7 p.m. against Israeli positions near the border:

It first said that it twice targeted Israeli positions located in the Shebaa farms, then the site of "Roueissat al-Alam" in the hills of Kfar Shouba, territories occupied by Israel, using "salvos of rockets," according to the press release.

The party also said it had fired "guided missiles" at three Israeli Merkava tanks advancing towards the outskirts of Aita al-Shaab, specifying that it had "inflicted direct losses" and had "killed and wounded" their occupants.

Furthermore, Hezbollah said that it targeted with a new salvo of rockets the Israeli border town of Margaliot, which faces the Lebanese village of Houla (Marjayoun).

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would continue "to strike Hezbollah mercilessly, including in Beirut," in a video released by his office.

"I want to be clear: We will continue to strike Hezbollah mercilessly in all parts of Lebanon, including Beirut," Netanyahu said during a visit to the military base hit the day before by a drone fired by the Lebanese Islamist movement, which killed four Israeli soldiers.

The Israeli army announced on Monday the death of one of its soldiers, aged 19, in the Gaza Strip, indicating that he was killed during "fighting" in the south of the Palestinian enclave, according to Haaretz.

The Lebanese Ministry of Health has released a new report showing 2,309 dead and 10,782 injured in Lebanon since the start of the war on Oct. 8, 2023.

In a statement issued by the Public Health Emergency Operations Center, the latter specifies that the Israeli strikes on Sunday on Lebanon killed three people and injured 48 in South Lebanon. It adds that 29 people were also injured in Nabatiyeh, five others in the Bekaa and two in Hermel, for a total of 84 injured on Sunday.

Hezbollah targeted the northern Israeli city of Safed with "a large salvo of rockets" at 6:20 p.m., Haaretz reported. Alarm sirens sounded in the area.

Update on the situation in the Bekaa and South Lebanon, where Israeli bombings continue:

- Two people were killed and another was injured following an Israeli airstrike on the village of Qlaya, in the southwest of the Bekaa, according to L'Orient Today's correspondent in the region.

- In addition, Israeli warplanes targeted a building located between the towns of Qanarit and Ghaziyeh, south of Saida. According to L'Orient Today's correspondent, the strike caused deaths and injuries.

At 5:15 p.m., Hezbollah targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers in the town of Manara, opposite the Lebanese village of Houla (Marjayoun), with a "salvo of rockets."

At 6 p.m., it also targeted Israeli soldiers gathered near Margaliot opposite the Lebanese village of Markaba (Marjeyoun) with a "salvo of rockets."

Millions of Israelis rushed to bomb shelters as warning sirens sounded across Israel, the Israeli military said on X.

At around 5:15 p.m., Hezbollah claimed responsibility for three new attacks on gatherings of soldiers or forces of the Israeli army.

The first two targeted the Israeli position of "Khalet Warda," which faces the Lebanese village of Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil), and the east of Markaba (Marjeyoun) using rockets. The third targeted another position near Misgav Am, close to the Lebanese town of Odaisseh (Marjayoun).

The Israeli army said that three missiles were fired from Lebanon, claiming to have "intercepted" all of them. These rockets caused the activation of warning sirens north of Tel Aviv, according to Haaretz.

Israeli fighter jets broke the sound barrier over south Lebanon, Mount Lebanon, Beirut and Baabda, causing a loud bang.

The death toll from the Israeli strike on Aito, in the Zgharta region, has risen to at least 19, according to our correspondent in north Lebanon.

Lebanese Red Cross teams transferred the victims to local hospitals. Seven people living in nearby buildings were also injured and hospitalized.

According to our correspondent, 28 displaced people from the south live in the building targeted, which belongs to a member of the Alwan family. Nine people are still missing. Search operations are continuing.

In a phone call with Israel's foreign minister, China's foreign minister said that China hopes all parties will act “cautiously” to avoid falling into a “vicious circle” due to tensions between Israel and Iran, according to Chinese state media relayed by Reuters.

The statement comes as the Israel has threatened to target Iranian oil sites as part of its retaliation for the missile attack on Oct. 1. Beijing is Tehran's main customer, exporting the equivalent of almost two billion dollars worth of oil to China every month, representing at least 5 percent of the country's total economic output.

An Israeli airstrike targeted Qlaya in the western Bekaa. The village was subsequently targeted by an airstrike.

Heavy Israeli artillery fire continues to target Aita al-Shaab, according to L'Orient today's correspondent in the south.

At least 62 Palestinians have been killed and 220 have been injured in the past 24 hours by the Israeli army, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian enclave experienced "another night of horror" after Israeli forces shelled a hospital courtyard, causing a deadly fire in makeshift tents, and bombed a school designated as a polio vaccination site, according to UNRWA.

"A strike hit the courtyard of a hospital, burning tents where people were sleeping. Just before that, an UNRWA school sheltering families was hit in Nuseirat. The same school was to serve as a polio vaccination site today (Monday)," the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said in a statement.

Continuous heavy Israeli bombardments target Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil), according to L'Orient Today's correspondent in south Lebanon.

The head of the U.N. refugee agency has stressed the urgency of cease-fires in Lebanon and Gaza to avoid a wider regional conflict with global consequences.

"A cease-fire backed by a meaningful peace process ... is the only way to break the cycle of violence, hatred and misery," Filippo Grandi said at the opening of the annual meeting of the executive committee of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva.

The top U.N. official insisted that only a ceasefire could prevent a "major regional war with global repercussions."

Here are the Israeli strikes that targeted south Lebanon between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.:

- Israeli airstrikes targeted Aita al-Shaab, Zebqine and Rab al-Thalathine.

- Israeli artillery fire hit Odaisseh, Rab al-Thalathine, Shebaa and Kfar Shouba.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez urged other European Union members to respond to a demand from Madrid and Ireland to suspend the bloc's free trade deal with Israel over its actions in Gaza and Lebanon.

For months, Spain and Ireland have been in talks with other EU countries that want a revision of the EU-Israel Association Agreement on the grounds that Israel could violate the deal's human rights clause.

The British government announced new sanctions targeting senior Iranian military officials, according to Reuters. They are part of the Islamic Republic's air force and are accused of being linked to the development of ballistic and cruise missiles used and sold by Iran.

At 2:33 p.m., Hezbollah targeted the northern Israeli town of Karmiel with a salvo of rockets. According to Haaretz, one person was lightly injured by shrapnel in Karmiel.

At 1:30 p.m., it also targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers in the town of Tziv'on, opposite the Lebanese village of Yaroun (Bint Jbeil).

The Israeli strike on Aito, in the Zgharta region, left 9 dead and one injured, according to a provisional report from the Ministry of Health. Rescue operations are still ongoing.

The Lebanese Red Cross has revised the death toll from this strike upwards and now reports at least 18 dead.

The latest Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa:

- Two consecutive Israeli airstrikes targeted Rab al-Thalathine (Marjayoun).

- An Israeli airstrike targeted a house in Zebqine (Sour).

- The three trucks targeted earlier by an Israeli strike in al-Ain (Baalbeck) have arrived in Ras Baalbeck. Volunteer teams have begun unloading the aid. The trucks were slightly damaged, with some windshields shattered. One of the drivers, Hashem Othman, was lightly injured.

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on Israeli positions and soldiers:

- The party targeted at 2:15 p.m. an "Israeli infantry force that was trying to infiltrate the outskirts of the city of Markaba (Marjayoun)."

- It also said that its fighters "engaged in clashes with Israeli forces at 14:20 in Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil) using various types of machine guns, missiles and artillery shells." The clashes were still ongoing at the time of the release of this statement. Hezbollah also targeted an armored personnel carrier with a guided missile at 14:30 during the clashes in Aita al-Shaab, causing it to catch fire and causing casualties among those inside the vehicle."

- Hezbollah targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers at the Israeli site of Roueissat al-Alam in the contested Kfar Shouba hills at 2:20 p.m.

- It also targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers in the Israeli town of Ramot Naftali in the Upper Galilee with a barrage of rockets at 1:30 p.m.

According to AFP, an Israeli minister informed Washington that Israel will provide a "strong response" to the drone attack claimed Sunday evening by Hezbollah on the Binyamina military base, south of Haifa, which killed four soldiers and injured 67 in the ranks of the Israeli army.

Israeli army chief of staff Herzi Alevi, who visited the scene on Monday, said the attack was "difficult and painful."

Four people, including a Syrian child, were moderately injured in one of the airstrikes that targeted the town of Douris, L'Orient Today's correspondent in Bekaa reported. The injured were transferred to Dar Al-Amal University Hospital for treatment.

Israeli warplanes targeted the village of Hanine (Bint Jbeil), L'Orient Today's correspondent in the south reported.

More information on the Israeli strike on Aito, in the Zgharta region:

A house was targeted, according to many people on the scene quoted by L'Orient Today's correspondent in the region, leaving at least 11 dead, including women and children. L'Orient Today's correspondent notes that "all the inhabitants of the house" are from south Lebanon. The two-story building was reduced to nothing, and ambulances are on the scene.

The Lebanese army, from the Ehden barracks, is helping the Red Cross and Civil Defense rescue teams to transport the wounded to hospitals in the region.

Fierce battles are taking place between Hezbollah fighters and the Israeli army in Aita al-Shaab, Ramieh and Qaouzah (Bint Jbeil), according to L'Orient Today's correspondent in south Lebanon. Strikes are heard in several villages in the region. In addition, Israeli drones are continuously flying at low altitudes over villages in south Lebanon and Beirut.

The driver of a humanitarian aid convoy was injured in Lebanon's Bekaa when his truck was hit by an Israeli airstrike nearby, an official and the state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported, as cited by AFP.

"An Israeli strike fell very close to a humanitarian convoy that was passing through the village of al-Ain," Bachir Khodr, governor of the Baalbeck-Hermel region, which borders Syria, said on X.

"An Israeli strike targeted a solar panel store as a convoy of three trucks was passing towards the village of Ras Baalbeck," the NNA reported. "The blast damaged a truck and its driver was injured."

The affected convoy "was carrying humanitarian aid from the Lebanese government and its passage had been coordinated with the Red Cross and the United Nations," Lebanese Transport Minister Ali Hamiyeh, who had witnessed the convoy's departure from Beirut in the morning, told AFP.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said there was no point in indirect talks with the United States via Oman due to regional tensions, AFP reported.

"We currently do not see any point in these discussions until we overcome the current crisis," Araghchi told reporters in Muscat, stressing that the process is being halted "due to the specific conditions of the region."

Israeli fighter jets struck the highway linking Zgharta to Ehden, in North Lebanon, near the town of Aito, according to L'Orient Today's correspondent. The strike, which targets this town for the first time since the start of the war, targeted an apartment.

The Israeli military said it killed the commander of the anti-tank unit of Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force, Kamal Naim, in an airstrike, according to reports by Haaretz.

According to the Israeli army, he was "responsible for planning and executing numerous terrorist operations," including the firing of anti-tank missiles against Israel. The army statement added that air force fighters "hit rocket launchers in southern Lebanon from which rockets were fired toward Israel" in recent hours.

A new polio vaccination campaign has been launched in the central Gaza Strip, where at least two Israeli strikes have claimed several lives in recent hours, according to the Palestinian Civil Defense, cited by AFP.

"This morning, the United Nations and its partners will begin administering the second round of polio vaccines to children in the central area of the Gaza Strip," said representatives of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). Calling this second round of vaccinations "essential," UNRWA said more than 1,000 aid workers had been mobilized in "less than two weeks."

⚡ The Israeli army "a short while ago intercepted two drones that were on their way to Israel territory from Syria," reported Arabic-speaking Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee on X. He adds that the two craft were intercepted before entering Israeli airspace.

Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament Nabih Berri spoke with the commander of UNIFIL, General Aroldo Lazaro, thanking him for the "wise and courageous" stance of the peacekeepers who "remained at their posts in accordance with the tasks assigned to them."

Berri stated that this action preserves and is in line with U.N. Resolution 1701.

Berri also received a telephone call from the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar. The discussion focused on "the priority of an immediate cease-fire and the cessation of Israeli aggression," according to the Ain al-Tineh statement.

Here are the latest updates on Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa region, according to our correspondents: 

- White phosphorus artillery fire targeted the outskirts of Shebaa and Hebbarieh, in the Hasbaya district. 

- An airstrike bombed a house in Yater, in the Bint Jbeil district. Ambulances were dispatched to the scene to transport the wounded, according to residents

- Three consecutive Israeli airstrikes targeted the locality of Ain in the Bekaa, while another airstrike targeted Hermel. A previous strike on Ain had hit an aid convoy, wounding the driver. A house was also damaged, reported our correspondent in the Bekaa.

-The airstrike earlier this morning in Douris, Bekaa, closed the main road to Baalbeck, and traffic was diverted to secondary roads, residents reported.

Jordanian Prime Minister Jafar Hassan received Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati today at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jordan, the state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported.

“Discussions focused on the ongoing Israeli aggression on Lebanon and regional escalation. Hassan affirmed Jordan’s support for Lebanon’s security and sovereignty, under King Abdullah II’s directives, and condemned the Israeli assault, emphasizing adherence to U.N. Resolution 1701,” reported NNA citing a press release from the Grand Serail. 

🔴 The Israeli army has called on residents of 25 localities in southern Lebanon to evacuate their homes.

Residents of Berghlieh, Qasimieh, Nabi Qassem, Matariyet al-Shumar, Kharayeb, Mazraat Kawthariyet al-Rez, Ansar, Bablieh, Der Takla, Adloun, Ansarieh, Marouanieh, Zefta, Befrawa, Habboush, Nabatieh, Sojod, Jebaa, Ankoun, Benaafool, Qanarit, Zayta, Ernaya, Mazraat Matariyet Jebaa and Tanbourit have been ordered to "move immediately to the north of the Awali River," stated Arabic-speaking Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee on X at 12:47 p.m.

"Hezbollah's activities force the (Israeli) army to act against it. The army has no intention of harming you. For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and relocate immediately north of the Awali River. For your safety, you must evacuate immediately," claimed Adraee. "Anyone in the vicinity of Hezbollah agents, facilities or weapons is putting his or her life at risk. You are forbidden to move south. Any movement towards the south can put your life in danger. We will inform you in due course so that you can return home as soon as conditions are favorable."

The Israeli army said it had intercepted several projectiles fired from Lebanon into central Israel, while AFP journalists reported hearing explosions in the area of a military base targeted yesterday by Hezbollah.

"Sirens sounded a short while ago in the Sharon, Menashe and Wadi Ara areas, and a number of projectiles were identified crossing Israeli territory from Lebanon. The air force has succeeded in intercepting all the projectiles," says a statement from the army. Yesterday evening, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a drone attack on the Binyamina military base which, according to the Israeli army, killed four soldiers and wounded dozens. 

Israeli strikes targeting Ain, in the Bekaa. (Credit: Photo sent by local sources to our correspondent)

The Israeli army bombed Baalbeck, Khodor, Douris, Talaya, Ali al-Nahri, Ain, Nasriyah, Ain Borday and Haret al-Fikani in the Bekaa, according to our correspondent in the region. Two airstrikes also targeted Nabi Sheet.

A senior Israeli political source told Haaretz that Israel "will continue its attacks in Beirut" in the coming days.

The statement was made to refute a report by Israeli public broadcaster Kan 11, which claimed that the government had ordered the Israeli army to stop striking the Lebanese capital. "Israel is attacking everywhere in Lebanon, including Beirut," the source said. "We've demonstrated this recently and will continue to do so in the coming days, based on operational considerations."

Israeli attacks continue to target southern Lebanon: 

- Airstrikes targeted Kfar Roummane and Kherbet Selm, in the Bint Jbeil district, residents reported. 

- Airstrikes bombed a three-story building in Jabal al-Botm, in the Bint Jbeil districts. 

- Artillery fire shelled Derdghaya, in the Sour district. 

Israeli artillery targeted Sareen, al-Safar, Ain, and Brital, in the Bekaa district, our correspondent in the region reported.

Israeli strikes targeted Bodai and Khodor, both in the Baalbeck district.

Medical center for the Islamic Health Committee ravaged by an Israeli airstrike. (Credit: Photo sent to our correspondent in the region)

Israel targeted a center for Islamic Health Committee, affiliated with Hezbollah, in Yohmor (Nabatieh district.) Deaths and injuries have been reported among the nurses and doctors in the center.

Hezbollah announced its 10th and 11th attack of the day against Israeli positions and troops:

- It launched a salvo of missiles at Beit Lid barracks, west of the city of Netanya, at 11 a.m. 

- It also launched a salvo of missiles at Kiryat Shmona at 10 a.m.

Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed at least 42,289 Palestinians and wounded 98,684 others since Oct. 7, 2023, the Palestinian enclave's Health Ministry said in a statement.

Hezbollah announced that it launched a salvo of missiles at the Israeli barracks at Zebdine, in the disputed Shebaa Farms, at 7:30 a.m. The party also announced that it launched artillery shells on a troop of Israeli soldiers "in the south of Maroun al-Ras," in the Bint Jbeil district, at 10:45 a.m.

"If this is true, it's not the end of our journey. There is no fear for the Resistance fighters." This is how a source within Hezbollah reacted this morning to news of Israel's alleged capture of a party fighter.

In a statement on social media platform X, the Israeli army announced yesterday that it had captured a "Hezbollah terrorist" who was hiding in a tunnel in southern Lebanon.

To find out more, press here.👈

⚡ Hezbollah announced that it launched missiles at the Israeli Stella Maris naval base northwest of Haifa. 

"If this is true, it's not the end of our journey. The resistance fighters are not afraid." This is how a source within Hezbollah reacted this morning to news of the alleged capture of a party fighter by the Israeli army.

In a statement published on the X, the Israeli army announced yesterday that it had captured a "Hezbollah operative" who was hiding "underground" in southern Lebanon.

(Credit: Fayez Nureldine/AFP)

Relief aid provided by Saudi Arabia is transported before being loaded onto a Saudi Cargo plane at King Fahad International airport in Riyadh to be sent to Lebanon on Oct. 14, 2024.

Palestinian doctors said at least 10 people had been killed and at least 30 wounded in Israeli airstrikes on a food distribution center in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, with women and children among the victims, Reuters reported.

Israel has ramped up its attacks against northern Gaza in the past week. To read more, press here.👈

Israeli attacks on the United Nation's Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) "constitute a grave violation of international law and are totally unacceptable" stated the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell today in Luxembourg.  

"The 27 member states have agreed to call on Israel to stop its attacks on UNIFIL ... It is completely unacceptable to attack UN troops," he said shortly before the start of a meeting of EU foreign ministers.

The Lebanese Health Ministry denounced, in a statement, the continuous Israeli attacks on medical personnel and rescue workers, "in the absence of a stance from the international community." 

Israel's army chief of staff described the previous day's Hezbollah attack on a military base south of Haifa as "painful," according to AFP. 

"We are at war, and an attack on a training base on the home front is difficult and the results are painful," Herzi Halevi told soldiers during a visit to the Golani Brigade training base that was hit Sunday night in the area of Binyamina, south of the city of Haifa.

Here are the latest updates from southern Lebanon: 

- An Israeli strike targeted the outskirts of Nmeirieh, in the Nabatieh district. Another airstrike targeted Shehabieh, in the Sour district. 

- Several missiles were launched from Lebanon towards Israel, reported our correspondent citing security sources. 

- 10 missiles were launched towards Haifa, reported Haaretz citing the Israeli army, adding that most of them have been intercepted, while some landed in open areas. 

- The Israeli strike, which targeted Seddiqine (Sour) yesterday, killed a rescue worker and injured another. 

- An Israeli strike on Sarbine (Bint Jbeil) injured for Red Cross rescue workers and damaged two Red Cross vehicles. 

-The Israeli strike on Maaroub (Sour) killed two people, reported our correspondent citing security sources. 

- An Israeli strike on Kfar File (Iqlim al-Tuffah, ease of Saida) killed four people. 

Yesterday night, Israeli attacks incessantly targeted southern Lebanon:

- Border villages were the target of major military escalation — with several attempted Israeli infiltration and fierce fighting between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli forces in Mais al-Jabal, Markaba and Houla, in the Marjayoun district — reported our correspondent citing several sources. Explosions and exchanges of fire echoed throughout the area, with Hezbollah carrying out continuous attacks against Israeli forces throughout the night and until dawn.

- At 9 p.m., two Israeli strikes targeted Naqoura, in the Sour district, followed by three further strikes at 10 p.m. 

- Israeli fighter jets bombed a mosque in Shebaa, in the Hasbaya district, and targeted other areas in the neighboring villages. 

- Artillery fire shelled Aita al-Shaab, Ramieh and Qaouzah in the Bint Jbeil district. 

- Airstrikes bombed Taybeh, in the Marjayoun district. 

- Three strikes targeted Shamaa, in the Sour district, and two others targeted Tayr Harfa (Sour) and Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil). 

- Airstrikes targeted Abba, in the Nabatieh district, and Zrarieh, in the Saida district. 

- Israeli airstrikes wounded nine people when bombing a residential building in Arnaba, in the Saida district, located between Maghdoucheh and Zeita. This is the first strike on the area since Oct. 8, 2023. 

- A strike on Mayfadoun (Nabatieh district) killed seven people and wounded several others — the casualties were displaced people who fled from the village of Kfar Kila, in the Marjayoun district. Among the victims were Hussein Halawi, a pharmacist, and his family, who fled their village, Kfar Kila. 

Around midnight, Hezbollah issued a statement threatening further attacks if Israel's offensive in Lebanon continued. The party warned that "aggression against the population in Lebanon will make Haifa and other cities targets for the Resistance's missiles, just like Kiryat Shmona and Metula" along with other border towns. It added that "what happened today in southern Haifa is just a foretaste if Israel continues its aggression against our people," referencing yesterday's deadly attack on a military base south of Haifa. 

Here are this morning's updates on Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon: 

- At 6:30 a.m., airstrikes targeted Shebaa and Hebbarieh, both in the Hasbaya district. Artillery fire also targeted houses and the outskirts of the villages.

- At 7:00 a.m., an airstrike killed two people when it targeted al-Marj neighborhood in Ansar, in the Nabatieh district. Rescue workers from the al-Rissala Scouts, affiliated with the Amal movement, reported rescuing several people wounded and reopening the main road at the village's western entrance, following the Israeli strike. 

- Airstrikes also targeted homes in Yohomr, in the Nabatieh district, destroying at least five houses. The strikes also targeted the area around the village's public school and severed the main road.

- Airstrikes completely destroyed two homes in Maaroub, in the Sour district. 

Yesterday, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for 38 operations and attacks against Israel, marking the highest number in a single day since Oct. 8, 2023. 

At 1:05 a.m., Hezbollah said it struck Israeli soldiers in Labbouneh, in southern Lebanon’s Sour district. Ten minutes later, another attack reportedly targeted Israeli forces at the Khallet Warda site, near Aita al-Shaab (Marjayoun district). At 2 a.m., Hezbollah claimed it launched another salvo of missiles at Israeli forces in Khallet Warda.

By 3:15 a.m., the group said it targeted Israeli troops "during an attempt by enemy infantry forces to infiltrate Lebanese territory" near Markaba, a village in the Marjayoun district. Finally, at 3:40 a.m., Hezbollah reported another strike on Israeli forces in Labbouneh. 

Today, Hezbollah has claimed five attacks so far.

To catch up on yesterday's key events and learn more about what to expect throughout the day, read the Morning Brief. 👈

Good morning! 

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