This concludes our coverage of the wars in Gaza and Lebanon for today. Be sure to come back tomorrow for the latest updates.
Goodnight!
The state-run Syrian news agency SANA reported that an Israeli attack took place in the vicinity of Safira, in the countryside of Aleppo. Earlier, the agency said that explosions were heard and that a verification of their nature was underway.
A sixth strike targeted Haret Hreik, bringing to fourteen the total number of strikes carried out this evening against the southern suburbs of Beirut.
The Israeli air force intercepted a drone coming from Lebanon, the Israeli army announced on its Telegram account.
The Israeli air force once again aggressively struck Haret Hreik.
The night was particularly intense: Four strikes had already targeted Haret Hreik, four others hit the area around the Lebanese University, and finally, four strikes targeted Burj al-Barajneh.
A 12th Israeli strike has just targeted the so-called “American Quarter” (Hayy al-Amerken).
Two successive strikes were heard in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Israeli aircraft carried out a ninth strike against Haret Hreik, according to the National News Agency.
The clearing operation in the city of Sour has been suspended, and the current toll from the Israeli strike is nine killed and over 30 wounded. Operations will resume tomorrow morning.
An eighth strike, extremely strong, shook the area around the Lebanese University in Hadath.
Tensions have risen in the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp near Saida, southern Lebanon, following an assassination attempt on Omar Natour, according to local media reports.
Omar Natour, reportedly a member of the Bilal Badr group, one of the camp's armed Palestinian factions, escaped the assassination attempt. According to the Lebanese media, rocket fire was recorded in the camp, causing widespread panic.
“For the past few minutes, Islamist groups have been firing randomly in the direction of houses in the al-Bustan neighborhood and al-Fouqani street, following reports of an assassination attempt on a person in the al-Safsaf neighborhood,” Fateh reported in a statement. “We have not responded to the sources of these shots, and we will not allow ourselves to be drawn into a circle of fighting,” it added.
The Israeli air force struck Burj al-Barajneh again. This was the seventh strike of the evening.
The United States has informed Qatar that Hamas's presence in Doha is no longer acceptable after the Palestinian group rejected the latest proposal for a hostage deal in recent weeks, a U.S. administration official told Reuters.
Qatar then made the request to Hamas leaders around ten days ago, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Qatar, alongside the United States and Egypt, has played a major role in negotiations, so far unsuccessful, to try to broker a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of hostages held by Hamas in the enclave.
The Israeli army has mined and blown up the administrative building in Mais al-Jabal, announced Abdel Menhem Choucair, chairman of the local council.
On Wednesday, the municipality of Mais al-Jabal launched an urgent appeal to the Lebanese authorities and international organizations to protect its government hospital in the face of Israeli threats. The village, located in the Marjayoun district along the southern border with Israel, has been largely destroyed by Israeli bombardment over the past month of heavy fighting.
The toll from Israeli strikes in Sour has risen to 6 killed and 38 wounded, reports the National News Agency. Clearing operations are still underway.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed responsibility for a drone attack on a “military target” in northern Israel, without giving further details.
A fifth Israeli strike targeted Burj al-Barajneh.
Two violent air strikes targeted Beirut's southern suburbs. The Israeli air force has already carried out four strikes against the southern suburbs this evening.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had his first conversation Friday with Israel's new Defense Minister, Israel Katz, since taking office, the Pentagon announced.
“Secretary Austin reaffirmed the United States' firm commitment to Israel's security and support for its right to defend itself,” the Pentagon statement said.
According to the National News Agency, the first Israeli strike fell near the Lebanese University in Hadath.
⚡️ Israeli aircraft strike Beirut's southern suburbs.
Intense gunfire was heard in Beirut's southern suburbs, urging residents to evacuate immediately from areas threatened by Israeli bombardment.
The affected buildings in Hadath, according to the maps circulated by Avichay Adraee, are located between the Chiyah mixed public school and the Karout Mall. Two other buildings are located near the Lebanese University.
The buildings concerned are marked in red on maps shared by Adraee. The first building is behind the Sisters of Charity convent in Mreijeh. The second is near the Saint-Georges school and Abbas Hachem station in Haret Hreik, and the last is adjacent to the Silverado clothing store, also in Haret Hreik.
⚡ The Israeli army's Arabic-speaking spokesman called on residents of the Haret Hreik and Burj al-Barajneh buildings to evacuate before the Israeli army undertakes strikes.
“For your safety and that of your families, you must evacuate these buildings and those nearby immediately and move away to a distance of at least 500 meters,” he wrote on X.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas contacted Donald Trump by phone to congratulate him on his victory in the U.S. presidential elections and expressed his wish to work with him to achieve a “just and comprehensive” peace, the official Palestinian news agency reported.
Three Palestinians were killed and five injured in an Israeli air raid on a tent housing a displaced family west of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, rescue workers told Reuters.
According to our newspaper, Amos Hochstein, current President Joe Biden's emissary, is expected in Beirut next week.
⚡ “The Israeli army attacked intelligence, command and control centers used by Hezbollah in the city of Sour,” its Arabic-speaking spokesperson Avichay Adraee announced on X.
According to him, “this evening, air force fighter jets carried out raids on Hezbollah command centers, housing leaders and elements of the group, right in the heart of civilian areas near the city of Sour.”
Adraee returned to his usual rhetoric, accusing Hezbollah of using civilian areas “to carry out terrorist activities” that “threaten the security of Lebanese citizens.”
🔴 The Lebanese Health Ministry reported a provisional toll of three dead and 30 wounded in the strike in Sour.
The Ministry also reiterated its call not to launch blood donation appeals without coordination with dedicated organizations, as this risks adding to the confusion, recalling that such appeals are managed by the Red Cross.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken thanked the United Arab Emirates for its humanitarian assistance in support of Gaza and Lebanon during a phone call with Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the State Department reported in a statement.
Wissam Ghazal, a doctor in Sour, told L'Orient-Le Jour that the number of people killed by the recent Israeli strike that targeted two buildings on Hiram Street in the city of Sour could not yet be determined, as the bodies discovered during the excavation were “in pieces” and an “unknown number of people are still under the rubble.”
He estimated that the death toll in this strike was probably very high. The search continues.
An Israeli air strike targeted Majdal Balhis (Rashaya), in the eastern Bekaa, according to our correspondent.
New Hezbollah statement, announcing a rocket attack at 5 p.m. on the town of Margaliot, just southeast of Kiryat Shmona and opposite Houla (Marjayoun).
According to our correspondent in southern Lebanon, at least 20 injuries have been reported so far following the latest Israeli strike on a neighborhood in Sour.
Hezbollah declared that “as part of the warning” it had issued to several towns in northern Israel, the party “targeted Kiryat Shmona, opposite Houla (Marjayoun), with a salvo of rockets for the second time at 5 p.m.”
In its 15th statement, it then announced another rocket attack on the Israeli town of Yiron, opposite Maroun al-Rass (Bint Jbeil), at the same time.
⚡ An air attack by Israeli planes with two missiles targeted two buildings on Hiram Street in the city of Sour, our correspondent in the south reported. Initial reports indicate a large number of casualties.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said on Friday that the “deliberate and direct destruction” of its property by the Israeli army was a “flagrant violation” of international law.
It said that Israeli army excavators and a bulldozer had destroyed part of a fence and concrete structure at a U.N. peacekeeping position in Ras Naqoura on Thursday.
In southern Lebanon, the Israeli attack on Zawtar Sharqieh (Nabatieh), killed one person and wounded three, local residents reported.
🔴 Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed 3,117 people and wounded 13,888 since October 2023, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry, quoted by Reuters.
The Israeli army said on Friday that it planned to reopen the Kissufim crossing in the central Gaza Strip, in order to increase the flow of aid to the southern part of the Palestinian enclave, largely devastated by Israeli bombing and under siege, Reuters reports.
The decision comes amid growing international pressure for Israel to deliver more aid to Gaza, while humanitarian organizations have warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis in the north of the enclave, where Israeli troops have been conducting a major operation for over a month.
The new crossing will be opened following engineering work carried out in recent weeks by army engineers to build inspection points and paved roads, the army said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has named Yechiel Leiter as Israel's next ambassador to the United States.
The Israeli army said that no casualties had been reported after five projectiles were fired from southern Lebanon into northern and central Israel. According to the army statement, one of the rockets fell in an open area, while four others were intercepted.
Israeli air strikes targeted the locality of Debbine, in Marjayoun, residents report.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for several attacks.
At 2:55 p.m., the group launched a rocket attack against a gathering of Israeli forces in Dovev, opposite Aitaroun (Bint Jbeil). It carried out a similar attack against Israeli soldiers in Manara, opposite Markaba (Marjayoun).
Shortly afterwards, at 3:15 p.m., Hezbollah claimed to have struck the Tel Nof air base, south of Tel Aviv, with “an advanced missile strike.” Finally, at 3:55 p.m., it targeted a parachute brigade training base at Karmiel, opposite Maroun al-Rass (Marjayoun).
Israeli Army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said on Wednesday that the army would expand its maneuvers in Lebanon, in parallel with efforts to reach an agreement with the country.
“In parallel with political efforts to reach an agreement in Lebanon, we must continue to develop plans to continue combat operations in Lebanon, including broadening and deepening ground maneuvers. We will implement these plans as required,” he said. He added that the Israeli army was continuing its strikes against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley, Beirut and Syria.
Hezbollah said it targeted at 3:10 p.m. a gathering of Israeli soldiers at the easter entrance of the southern Lebanese village of Maroun al-Ras (Bint Jbeil)
⚡ The most prominent Islamic scholar in Gaza has issued a rare, powerful fatwa condemning Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which triggered the devastating war in the Palestinian territory, reported the BBC. Professor Dr Salman al-Dayah, a former dean of the Faculty of Sharia and Law at the Hamas-affiliated Islamic University of Gaza, is one of the region’s most respected religious authorities, so his legal opinion carries significant weight among Gaza’s two million population.
Dr. Wissam Ghazal told our correspondent in southern Lebanon that six Syrian nationals were slightly injured by shrapnel in their homes following an Israeli shelling on orchards in Deir Qanoun Ral al-Ain (Sour district). Five were treated on the scene, while another was treated in the emergence room of the local hospital and later discharged.
Earlier, the state-run National News Agency reported heavy-caliber artillery shelling in the area.
⚡ Gaza's Health Ministry announced a new death toll of 43,508 Palestinians killed and 102,684 injured in the territory since the start of the war with Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
At least 39 people have been killed in the last 24 hours, the ministry added.
Here’s an update on Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon, reported by our correspondent:
- The Mukhtar of Wazzani said that teams from the International Red Cross, the Lebanese Red Cross, and UNIFIL managed to retrieve four bodies from under the rubble in Khiam (Marjayoun). Since Israeli forces retreated from the area, efforts have been ongoing to extract bodies from under the rubble. To find out more, press here.👈
- An airstrike struck a house and two cars in Kfar Roummane (Nabatieh).
- Four people were killed in a previously reported airstrike on Ghandourieh (Bint Jbeil).
- Israeli fighter jets attacked the town of Hanniyeh (Sour district).
The U.N. Human Rights Office said on Friday nearly 70 percent of the fatalities it has verified in the Gaza war were women and children and condemned the systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, Reuters reported.
This finding indicates "a systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, including distinction and proportionality," the U.N. rights office said in a statement accompanying the 32-page report. "It is essential that there is due reckoning with respect to the allegations of serious violations of international law through credible and impartial judicial bodies and that, in the meantime, all relevant information and evidence are collected and preserved," United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said.
To learn more about the U.N. report, press here.👈
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a rocket attack at 1:25 p.m. on a gathering of Israeli soldiers in the Upper Galilee town of Margaliot.
Three Israeli airstrikes bombed the road leading to the Palestinian refugee camp, Rashidieh (Sour district) — targeting an area near the Lebanese Army's checkpoint — reported our correspondent in southern Lebanon. On Oct. 31, the Israeli army called for evacuating the camp, which lead to widespread panic among its residents; however, the refugee camp was not bombed at the time.
Additionally, Israeli airstrikes pounded several villages in southern Lebanon's Sour district, including Hannieh, Qlayleh, Deir Qanoun Ras al-Ain, Tayr Harfa and Naqoura.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a rocket attack at 12:50 p.m. on a gathering of Israeli soldiers in the Misgav Am kibbutz in the Upper Galilee, in northern Israel.
Here are the latest updates on Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa, reported by our correspondents:
- Airstrikes targeted homes in Ghandourieh, Bint Jbeil district, with no casualties reported so far.
- Israeli aircraft broke the sound barrier in southern Lebanon and western Bekaa.
- A drone bombed the outskirts of Haoush and Batoulieh valley in the Sour district.
- The director of the Shehabieh news website, Hassan Sabra, was killed in an Israeli strike on Shahabieh in the Sour district.
An Israeli airstrike targeted the Jisr region, on the border with Syria, in the Haoush al-Sayed Ali locality, north of Hermel, according to our correspondent in the Bekaa.
⚡An adviser to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned against launching an "instinctive" response to Israeli air strikes on the Islamic Republic last month.
"Israel aims to bring the conflict to Iran. We must act wisely to avoid its trap and not react instinctively," the adviser, Ali Larijani, told state television late Thursday. "Our actions and reactions are strategically defined, so we must avoid instinctive or emotional responses and remain entirely rational," he added.
To find out more about his warning, press here.👈
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed responsibility this morning for three drone attacks on “military targets” in northern Israel, though it did not provide additional details. In three statements released with videos showing overnight drone launches, the group claimed that its operations are “increasingly destroying enemy strongholds.”
Throughout the morning, Haaretz reported multiple instances of warning sirens sounding in northern Israel due to “hostile air intrusion,” though the origin of the projectiles was not specified.
The Israeli army has announced the death of one of its soldiers, who succumbed to his injuries after being "seriously wounded" in southern Lebanon on Oct. 26.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a new rocket attack at 9 a.m. this morning on the locality of Kiryat Shmona, opposite the Lebanese town of Houla, in the Marjayoun district.
Hezbollah announced that at 1:20 a.m. it launched a guided missile at an Israeli military bulldozer accompanied by an infantry force, which tried to advance towards Sari Heights, northwest of Kfar Kila (Marjayoun), "destroying it, killing and wounding its crew."
In the Bekaa, the Israeli air force bombed the town of Harabta, in the Baalbeck district.
Here are the latest updates on Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon, reported by our correspondent:
- Israeli aircraft incessantly bombed several villages south of Litani River.
- Two airstrikes targeted Kfar Kila (Marjayoun district) and Deir Kifa (Sour).
- Airstrikes also bombed Kfar Sir (Nabatieh) and Majdel (Sour).
- Two homes were bombed in Jwayya (Sour) and Khiam (Marjayoun).
- A drone targeted a mosque in Debbine (Marjayoun).
- Aitaroun was targeted by multiple airstrikes since the morning.
This morning, Hezbollah announced that it had fired artillery shells at Israeli soldiers in the Jal al-Hmmar area, south of Odaisseh in southern Lebanon's Marjayoun district.
In southern Lebanon today, the Israeli army detonated houses in Maroun al-Ras, reported our correspondent.
Last night too, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a rocket attack on the "Abad" position, which faces the Lebanese village of Houla (Marjayoun). During the night, the party also claimed to have repelled Israeli soldiers with rocket fire in Lebanese territory, at the Fatima Gate, an old border crossing near Kfar Kila (Marjayoun), as well as east of Maroun al-Ras (Bint Jbeil).
U.S. and U.N. representatives are urging Israel to step up humanitarian aid to Gaza. Sigrid Kaag, the U.N.'s senior coordinator for aid and reconstruction in Gaza, called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow unrestricted aid access. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, speaking to reporters, acknowledged Israel’s recent efforts to increase aid but emphasized that "more needs to be done," according to The Washington Post. Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken pressed Israeli officials to allow at least 350 aid trucks into Gaza each day. Currently, that target remains unmet; U.N. data shows that no more than 120 trucks have entered Gaza in a single day since late September. Only six trucks reached the region in October.
Last night in southern Lebanon:
- Three people, a father and his two children, were killed in an Israeli strike on Zebdine, in the Nabatieh district.
- Airstrikes also targeted a building near the Marjayoun Governmental Hospital, in Debbine (Marjayoun district).
- Israel also bombed Jabal al-Botm, in the Sour district.
- Israeli fighter jets targeted Sarafand (Saida), but the missile did not explode.
- Fires broke out in Deir Zahrani (Nabatieh), following Israeli fire.
In southern Lebanon this morning:
- Two people were killed in Israeli strikes that bombed Kfar Tibnit, in the Nabatieh district, reported our correspondent in the region.
- Further Israeli airstrikes targeted a house in Bint Jbeil, which was also hit by artillery fire.
- Another airstrike hit Shehabieh, in the Sour district.
F-15 fighter jets arrived in the Middle East yesterday, the U.S. military said, a week after Washington announced the deployment of additional military assets in the region as a warning to Iran. The aircraft, usually based in England, arrived in the area of responsibility of Centcom, the U.S. military command for the Middle East, according to the military. The number of aircraft was not specified.
The U.S. Defense Department announced last week that it would be sending bombers, fighter jets, refueling aircraft and air defense ships to the Middle East.
During the night, clashes broke out in Amsterdam following a Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv, with Israel denouncing "a very violent incident" against its supporters and sending planes to assist.
The Amsterdam police, who were massively deployed during the day for the match, were quoted by the Dutch news agency ANP as saying that they had made 57 arrests in connection with several incidents on the sidelines of the soccer match, without giving any details of the events.
To find out more, press here.👈
This morning, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for two attacks on military bases in Haifa, using "qualitative rockets," an expression often used by the party to refer to its precision-guided missiles.
- The first targeted Stella Maris naval base, a "strategic center for maritime observation and surveillance of Israel's northern coastline," northwest of Haifa, the Hezbollah statement read.
- The second targeted Ramat David base and airfield, southeast of Haifa.
Good morning!
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