'There will be no cease-fire' with Hezbollah, said Israeli Defense Minister; deadly strike in Akkar: Day 402 of the Gaza and Lebanon war

An Israeli attack targeted Shmestar, near Baalbeck, reported our correspondent in the Bekaa.

An Israeli airstrike killed at least seven people at a cafe west of southern Gaza's Khan Younis, Reuters reported citing medics in the enclave. 

An Israeli air strike targeted Zawtar al-Gharbieh, in the Nabatieh district in southern Lebanon, reported NNA.

(Credit: Photo sent by our correspondent Michel Hallak)

People gathered at the site of the deadly Israeli strike in Ain Yaacoub, North Lebanon, on Nov. 11, 2024. 

The Lebanese Army sent bulldozers to the site of the Israeli strike in Ain Yaakoub to help with rescue and clearing operations, reported our correspondent in North Lebanon.

Israeli aircraft targeted Kafra, Kounine and Yater in the Bint Jbeil district and Jabal al-Botm in the Sour district, reported the National News Agency.

Damage following an Israeli air strike near the entrance of al-Murtada Hospital in Douris southeast of Baalbeck on Oct. 15, 2024. (Credit: Nidal Solh/AFP)

Eight hospitals have been forced to close as a result of damage from Israeli strikes in Lebanon since Sept. 23, according to data compiled by L'Orient Today.

Which hospitals has the Israeli army damaged and forced to close? Read Malek Jadah's article to find out more.👈

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said today during a meeting with the Israeli army's general staff that "Iran is more vulnerable than ever to an attack on its nuclear facilities. There is broad consensus that the Iranian nuclear program must be thwarted," reported Haaretz. 

An earlier Israeli airstrike on Saksakieh (Saida) killed 11 people and injured five others, reported the Directorate General of Civil Defense. Search operations remain ongoing.

Earlier, the Health Ministry reported that at least seven people, "mostly women and children," were killed in the strike.

According to the official National News Agency (NNA), the airstrike "targeted a house" in this coastal village, which is located relatively far from the Israeli border.

Here are the latest updates on Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon, reported by the state-run National News Agency (NNA):

- An airstrike targeted Haniyeh, while several airstrikes targeted Mansouri, both in the Sour district. 

- Airstrikes targeted Khiam and Qabrikha in the Marjayoun district. 

- The Israeli army also struck Souwan neighborhood in Kfar Roummane, in the Nabatieh district. 

The Lebanese Health Ministry reported that the Israeli strike on Ain Yaakoub killed eight people and injured 14 others, as previously confirmed by our correspondent.

According to our correspondent, the casualty toll from the Israeli strike on Ain Yaakoub, in the Akkar region of northern Lebanon, has risen to eight killed and 14 wounded.

🔴 "There will be no cease-fire" with Hezbollah in Lebanon, said Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz cited by AFP.

Closing the summit in Riyadh, Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said that "the two-state solution will come, it's just a matter of time."

"I am convinced that many countries will support the idea of suspending Israel's membership of the U.N.," he said, adding that "this measure does not require the approval of the Security Council."

He viewed the Arab League's decision to call for the suspension of Israel's membership in the U.N. as "historic." Aboul Gheit also stressed the existence of "Arab, Islamic and African cooperation to defend the Palestinian cause," and denounced the situation in Gaza, saying that "90% of Gaza's inhabitants today live on 10% of its territory, deprived of the most basic means of sustenance."

At least 10 people were killed and 15 others injured in an Israeli airstrike on the northern Lebanese town of Ain Yaakoub on Monday, the town's mayor told Reuters. 

The strike, the first in the town, hit a residential building, the mayor added. 

Information about those injured in the Israeli strike on Ain Yaakoub: 

Eight people are from the Shrarah family, reported our correspondent. Three others are from the Harb family, two from the Choukeir family. Another wounded is from the Makhour family and another from the Kanaan family.

The death toll of the Israeli strike on Ain Yaakoub has risen to seven people killed, reported our correspondent in the region. 

New information on the Israeli strike in Ain Yaakoub, North Lebanon:

According to our correspondent, 33 people were living in the targeted house: 24 displaced Lebanese from Arab Salim (Nabatieh) and 9 Syrians. Six people were killed among the 23 who were pulled from the rubble.

Civil Defense and Lebanese Red Cross teams are on site to help evacuate the injured and remove the rubble. The Union of Jouma Municipalities is helping rescue workers gain access to the building levelled by the strike.

The Halba Government Hospital has launched an appeal for blood donations.

Saudi Arabia's crown prince and de facto ruler condemned what he called the "genocide" committed by Israel against Palestinians during a speech at a summit of leaders of Muslim and Arab countries in Riyadh today, reported Reuters.

"The Kingdom renews its condemnation and categorical rejection of the genocide committed by Israel against the brotherly Palestinian people," Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said at an Arab Islamic summit, echoing comments by Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud late last month.

He urged the international community to stop Israel from attacking Iran and to respect Iran's sovereignty.

The crown prince said in September the kingdom would not recognize Israel unless a Palestinian state were created.

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for four new attacks against Israel. One was carried out at 5:30 p.m. against Hatzor-Haglilit, in northern Israel, with a salvo of missiles. Another was carried out at the same time against Katzrin, in the occupied Golan Heights. A third attack was carried out at the same time on Rosh Pina, a locality close to Hatzor-Haglilit. Finally, the party claimed responsibility for an attack by a squadron of exploding drones on the Israeli base at Regavim, "a training base for the Golani brigade" located south of Haifa, "more than 65 kilometers from the border with Lebanon." This latest attack is part of the party's "Khaybar" operations, launched after Israel assassinated its leader Hassan Nasrallah on Sept. 27.

"We are not dealing with a state in the legal sense, but with a colonial entity outside the law. This is the essence of our meeting today, which I hope will be fruitful," said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at the Riyadh summit.

"Israeli aggressions and crimes have continued for more than a year against the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples, resulting in tens of thousands of victims and millions of displaced persons," Assad denounced. Asserting that the countries taking part in the summit "agree on the proposed principles concerning Israeli violations," he stressed that the essential thing was "to translate them into concrete action."

More information on the Israeli strike in Ain Yaakoub: According to our correspondent, the 22 residents of the targeted house were from Arab Salim, a village in the Nabatieh district in southern Lebanon.

⚡An Israeli airstrike targeted a home inhabited by a Syrian family in Ain Yaakoub, a village in the Akkar region of northern Lebanon, reported our correspondent in the region.

The property is owned by Hussein Hashem, and a car was also targeted. 

Civil Defense teams were deployed to the site, where there were reports of “many victims” and “remains,” our correspondent said. Two individuals were transported to Halba Government Hospital.

An Israeli strike on Meydoun, in the western Bekaa, killed three people, according to our correspondent in the region.

The Israeli army, quoted by Haaretz, claims it intercepted two drones heading towards Israel, one of which penetrated Israeli territory.

Hezbollah announced that it fired a guided missile on a house where Israeli soldiers were present in the Sari heights on the northwestern outskirts of Kfar Kila (Marjayoun district) at 4:35 p.m. The party said that the soldiers were killed and wounded.

"The world is waiting" for the future administration of US President-elect Donald Trump to put an "immediate" end to Israel's wars in Gaza and Lebanon, Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref told the summit of Arab and Muslim countries in Riyadh.

"The U.S. government is the primary supporter of the Zionist regime's [Israel] actions, and the world awaits the promise of that country's new government to immediately end the war against the innocent people of Gaza and Lebanon," Aref said. He also described Israel's assassinations of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders as "organized terrorism." "Operations misleadingly described as 'targeted assassinations,' in which Palestinian elites and leaders of other countries in the region are killed one by one or en masse, are nothing other than organized terrorism", said Mohammad Reza Aref.

Israeli warplanes broke the sound barrier over the Bekaa.

Israeli aircraft dropped cluster bombs — internationally banned ammunition — on the outskirts of Froun (Bint Jbeil district).

The previously reported Israeli strike on a house in Saksakieh (Saida), killed seven people, mostly women and children and injured seven others, reported NNA, citing the Lebanese Health Ministry's Emergency Operation Unit. Rescue efforts for missing persons remain ongoing. 

Israeli President Isaac Herzog will meet with President Biden at the White House tomorrow to discuss the war in Gaza and Lebanon, U.S. and Israeli officials told Axios.

A U.S. deadline for Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza looms on Wednesday. If it determines Israel has not taken sufficient steps to improve the humanitarian situation, the Biden administration could suspend arms supplies to Israel, in accordance with U.S. law. However, U.S. officials said that the deadline might be extended by a few days due to the appointment of a new Israeli minister of defense.

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for an attack at 4:15 p.m. on the Amiad base, south of the town of Safed, "with a barrage of large rockets." This base is part of the Israeli army's Northern Command, responsible for the military offensive in Lebanon. 

⚡The draft resolution of the Riyadh summit blamed Israel for the failure of cease-fire negotiations in Lebanon and Gaza, reports the National News Agency (NNA).

It also called for "the urgent election of a president in Lebanon, the formation of a government following the Constitution and the implementation of the Taif Agreement." The text also reaffirmed "support for the Lebanese Army as the preserver of the country's unity" and reiterated the importance of providing "humanitarian aid" to Lebanon.

Finally, it stressed the need to "implement the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice [ICJ] concerning Gaza." According to this opinion, issued in July by the ICJ, the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territory was illegal and should cease as soon as possible.

Hezbollah announced that it fired rockets at the area of Krayot and the Zovulun base for military industries, north of Haifa, at 2:10 p.m.

An Israeli air strike completely destroyed a house in Yater, in southern Lebanon's Sour district, according to NNA.

The previously reported Israeli strike on Ansar, in the Nabatieh district, injured at least three people, including a critical one who was transferred to hospital, according to a local security source contacted by L'Orient Today.

Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer will meet with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken today in Washington, the State Department said, as a deadline set by Washington to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza nears, reported Reuters. 

The Israeli army bombed an area between Sarafand and Saksakieh, in the Saida district in southern Lebanon, according to NNA.

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for an attack carried out at 2:10 p.m. on the Israeli base of Shraga, north of Acre in Israel, with a salvo of missiles.

Several Israeli airstrikes bombed Ansar in the Nabatieh district in southern Lebanon, targeting the center of the village, according to the official National News Agency (NNA).

"The Islamic Republic of Iran stands by Lebanon and supports it in the implementation of U.N. Resolution 1701," said Mohammad Bakir Ghalibaf, President of the Iranian Shura Council, in a telephone conversation with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on current developments in Lebanon and the region in the wake of Israel's continued aggression.

"In a word? No," replied Gideon Saar, Israel's new head of diplomacy, when asked about the prospect of creating a Palestinian state in exchange for normalization with Saudi Arabia as part of a revival of the Abraham Accords.

"A Palestinian state will be a Hamas state ... I don't think that's a realistic position today, and we have to be realistic," said Saar, adding that "no decision has been taken" by his government regarding the annexation of parts of the West Bank.

He also said that U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump had "made it clear that he understands the dangers of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons," which he described as "the most important issue for the future of the Middle East."

Finally, Saar declared that "Israel is ready to end the war in Gaza when its objectives are achieved" but that "Hamas has made no progress" in this area.

In a statement, Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he hopes "Israel will extend sovereignty" into the occupied West Bank in 2025, Reuters reported. 

Bezalel Smotrich said he hopes the incoming Trump administration in Washington will recognize this move.

The Israeli army, cited by Haaretz, reported that at least 90 rockets were launched from Lebanon at northern Israel, including the city of Haifa, in the latest barrage. According to the army, most of the rockets were intercepted, but some impact sites were detected. Haaretz reported nine impact sites.

"The words 'ethnic cleansing' are increasingly being used to describe what is happening in northern Gaza," said Josep Borell, the head of European diplomacy. Meanwhile, a Haaretz editorial used this expression to refer to the Israeli army's attacks in Jabalia and Beit Lahia in particular.

"I strongly condemn the latest Israeli strikes in Jabalia in the Gaza Strip. The daily reality of forced displacement violates international law," Borell added. The Palestinian Civil Defense reported on Sunday that "at least" 25 people were killed, "including 13 children," in a strike targeting a house in Jabalia, according to AFP.

The Israeli rescue services, Magen David Adom, cited by Haaretz, reported having received reports of people injured in northern Israel in Hezbollah's latest rocket barrage.

Ahmad Aboul Gheit, Secretary General of the League of Arab States and former Egyptian Foreign Minister, also felt that Israel's "extension of the conflict from Gaza to Lebanon is jeopardizing the future of the region," asserting that "the lack of respect for international law has encouraged the Israeli leadership to implement crazy and unrealistic projects." He also stressed the need to "begin a process leading to a two-state solution."

Jordan's King Abdullah II insisted in Riyadh on the need for "an immediate end to the Israeli wars, to put an end to the destruction and prevent the region from sinking into all-out war."

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for an attack carried out at 1:15 p.m. against the locality of Goren, in northern Israel, with a salvo of missiles.

Ahead of the Arab-Islamic summit, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi stressed "the need for a cease-fire in Lebanon in accordance with U.N. Resolution 1701." He also highlighted his country's commitment "to provide full assistance to Lebanon and its army".

In his address to the Arab League/Organization of Islamic Cooperation summit in Riyadh, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas stressed that “the Gaza Strip must be under the jurisdiction of the State of Palestine and the Palestine Liberation Organization.” He also stressed the need to “implement the U.N. Security Council resolution to stop the war and withdraw Israel from Gaza.”

Mahmoud Abbas then welcomed the “two-state coalition launched by Riyadh,” while calling for “the suspension of Israel's membership of the United Nations.”

The Israeli army arrested at least 20 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including former prisoners held in Israeli jails, during a night raid, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.

The wave of arrests took place in the Hebron, Ramallah, Jerusalem, Qalqilya and Nablus governorates, the Palestinian Prisoner's Society added in a statement.

At least three people were killed in the Israeli strike reported earlier on Srifa (Sour), according to the National News Agency, which also reports Israeli air raids on several localities in south Lebanon over the past hour:

Arnoun, Mansouri, Sammaaiyeh, the plains of Batoulieh, Ramadieh, Siddiqine, Qana, Jabal al-Botm, Zaoutar Gharbieh, as well as the outskirts of the Palestinian refugee camp of Rashidieh, south of Sour.

Several of these localities had been the subject of a call to evacuate issued a few hours earlier by the Israeli army.

In addition, according to Al-Jazeera, an Israeli drone raided the Syrian border village of Haouch al-Sayyed Ali, northeast of Hermel. So far, no casualties have been reported.

The Haaretz editorial quotes a senior Israeli army official as referring to a “purged zone” in the north of the Gaza Strip, as well as “very clear orders” to “create a purged area” in this region where Israel would allow no food, water or medicine. The officer reportedly revealed to journalists that “there is no intention of allowing the inhabitants of the northern Gaza Strip to return to their homes.”

The editorial concludes by listing the “war crimes committed by the Israeli army” in the northern Gaza Strip: “The expulsion of Palestinians, the destruction of their homes and the preparations on the ground for prolonged occupation and Jewish colonization.”

“Netanyahu's ethnic cleansing in Gaza exposed” is the headline of today's editorial in Haaretz, a left-leaning Israeli daily that is highly critical of the Israeli Prime Minister's policies, but also of their colleagues in other Israeli media, whom it accuses of serving as "propaganda" for those in power since the start of the war in Gaza, by making invisible the suffering of the Palestinians.

In the editorial, the newspaper accuses the Israeli army of carrying out a “premeditated ethnic cleansing operation in the north of the Gaza Strip,” ordered by Chief of Staff Herzl Halevi and led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and his successor, Israel Katz.

In his speech, Mikati also called on Arab and Islamic countries and the international community to press for an immediate cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel.

He also affirmed “the Lebanese government's firm and unwavering commitment to UN Resolution 1701, to strengthening the deployment of the Lebanese army in the south in close cooperation with international peacekeeping forces, and to extending the authority of the Lebanese state to all internationally recognized borders.”

In his speech in Riyadh, Mikati also called for an end to any interference “in the internal affairs” of Lebanon.

Lebanon's outgoing Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, said an “unprecedented” crisis was threatening Lebanon's existence.

Mikati also called on the international community to “continue sending aid to Lebanon,” at a summit of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

A house destroyed by an Israeli strike in Nabatieh Fawqa in southern Lebanon, on Nov 11. (Credit: Mountasser Abdallah)

In southern Lebanon, an Israeli strike targeted a house near an old mosque in Nabatieh Fawqa. Artillery fire targeted the outskirts of Yohmor al-Shakif. 

“Ongoing Israeli crimes against innocent civilians and the continued violation of our holy site, al-Aqsa Mosque, undermine all efforts to restore the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people,” said Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman in his speech opening the Arab diplomatic summit in Riyadh, focused on Israel's devastating wars in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

“We demand an immediate end to Israeli aggression against the Palestinian territories and Lebanon,” added the heir to the Saudi throne, while condemning Israel's refusal to let the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWa) deliver aid to Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

The fires that broke out west of Jerusalem are not linked to the interception of a missile launch from Yemen claimed by the Houthi rebels, the Israeli fire department announced. Initially, the fire department and the Israeli army had indicated that fires in the Bet Shemesh area, some 20 km from Jerusalem, had been caused by debris resulting from the interception of a missile from Yemen.

Israeli strikes targeted the town of Nabatieh and the nearby village of Kfar Roummane, according to information from our correspondent Mountasser Abdallah, as well as Srifa (Sour). 

Hezbollah also announced strikes on the Israeli village of Avivim, which faces Maroun al-Ras, on two occasions, at 12:10 and 12:30, using drones and artillery fire. 

Hezbollah announced two new operations against Israeli soldiers on the outskirts of Maroun al-Ras, in southern Lebanon, at 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. The first of these attacks, on the eastern outskirts of this Lebanese border village, was carried out with drones, the second with artillery fire. 

Local medical sources told Al Jazeera that at least 49 Palestinians had been killed in the Gaza Strip yesterday.

The Qatari media outlet also reported that artillery fire and aerial bombardment by the Israeli army had killed at least three people in the Nousseirat refugee camp, while Israeli tanks have been converging on the area south of Gaza City since last night, according to its local correspondents.

At the same time, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a series of operations against Israeli army positions:

- The party said it had targeted “gatherings” of Israeli soldiers positioned in the “Abad” site, opposite the Lebanese village of Houla (Marjayoun), with “missile salvos” between 10:30 and 11 a.m.

- Hezbollah also claimed to have targeted the Israeli towns of Safed, Ma'alot-Tarshiha and then Karmiel with a “major salvo of missiles.”

- Haaretz reported that around 50 rockets had been fired from Lebanon into northern Israeli territory on Monday morning, and that a woman had been “seriously wounded” in Bi'ina, near Karmiel, by shrapnel.

An update on the latest developments in south Lebanon since this morning

- An Israeli air raid targeted Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil), while videos circulating on social networks show a series of detonations of houses in the village booby-trapped with explosives by Israeli soldiers. These reports were corroborated by the National News Agency.

- Hezbollah said it had fired “salvos of missiles” at “gatherings” of Israeli soldiers in Maroun al-Ras (Bint Jbeil), on Lebanese territory.

In the Bekaa, according to our correspondent Sarah Abdallah, the death toll from the night-time strike on the Syrian border town of Qasr has risen to five.

The official Syrian news agency Sana reported an “Israeli aggression” targeting the Homs region in central Syria, the day after a deadly strike near Damascus.

According to Sana, quoted by AFP, “Israeli aggression” targeted “the outskirts of the Chinchar region south of Homs.” The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) reported that the Israeli raid was aimed at “an ammunition warehouse” belonging to Hezbollah, which is waging open war against Israel.

The Israeli army has once again called for the evacuation of several villages in southern Lebanon, including the districts of Sour, Bint Jbeil and Marjayoun.

In a posting on X, Arabic-speaking army spokesman Avichay Adraee called for the evacuation of Shihine, Jibbayn, Tayr Harfa, Abou Shash, Shamaa, Majdal Zoun, Mansouri, Zibqine, Rashidieh, Bourgholieh, Qassemiieh, Biyada, Naqoura, Bint Jbeil, Ainata, Kounin, Aitaroun, Taybeh, Rabb Thalathin, Markaba and Bani Hayan.

The call to evacuate “north of the Awali,” a river whose mouth lies north of Saida, was made in anticipation of strikes on these regions “against Hezbollah.”

⚡ Official Syrian media reports strikes near Homs, in the center of the country.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar reported “some progress” towards a cease-fire in Lebanon, where the Israeli army launched a major military offensive against Hezbollah in mid-September.

“There is some progress,” he said in response to a question about the prospects for such a truce. “We are working on the subject with the Americans,” he added at a press conference in Jerusalem.

With regard to political talks on a possible cease-fire, and with U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein expected in Lebanon this week, the Hezbollah spokesperson asserted that “so far, no official or specific proposal has reached Lebanon or reached us.”

“I don't expect anything specific any time soon,” he continued. 

Mohammad Afif: "We know that the cost [of this war] is high, and we are not in denial. We are aware of the patience of our people."

Mohammad Afif addressing the Israeli army: “As long as you are unable to fight and advance on the ground, you will not achieve your objectives and the inhabitants of the North will not return.”

The Israeli army and authorities have set themselves the goal of bringing back to the north of the country the tens of thousands of inhabitants who have been displaced by Hezbollah rocket fire on border villages. 

Mohammad Afif: “Some are now repeating the same rhetoric against the resistance, invoking slogans such as ‘Lebanon's strength is its weakness.’ They propagate a culture of defeat and wage a terminological war, using expressions like 'Israel's war against Hezbollah' to characterize Israeli aggression."

Mohammad Afif also declared that “the resumption of the initiative by the resistance on the ground and the election of the Secretary General have shocked the enemies.” Hezbollah appointed Naim Qassem as its new leader on Oct. 29, just over a month after Hassan Nasrallah was assassinated in massive bombardments of Beirut's southern suburbs on Sept. 27.

“Our resistance was born on Lebanese territory occupied by the enemy, and we receive no instructions from anyone to defend our land or support the Palestinian people,” said Afif.

Mohammad Afif: "Anti-Israeli demonstrations around the world send the message that Israel is isolated."

Mohammad Afif added that the party's relations with the Lebanese Army are “solid,” adding that Hezbollah appreciates its role in protecting Lebanese territory and national security. Pro-Hezbollah figures and the al-Akhbar newspaper recently criticized the Lebanese Army following the kidnapping of a naval captain in Batroun by the Israeli army.

“We say to those who fought the army and killed its officers that you will not be able to break the link between the army and the resistance,” said Afif. Several soldiers and at least one Lebanese officer have been killed in recent weeks in Israeli strikes, mainly in southern Lebanon. 

Mohammad Afif added that “the reality on the ground is in the hands of the group's fighters, who will have the final say on policy and perhaps the fate of the Middle East.” “The enemy will not win the war with air superiority, air strikes and the killing of civilian women and children,” he added.

In addition,  Afif denied rumors that Hezbollah's missile stockpile had decreased significantly, asserting that the group's front-line forces “have enough equipment for a long war.”

The head of Hezbollah's media relations office, Mohammad Afif, told a press conference in Beirut's southern suburbs that Israel is “still unable to occupy a single Lebanese village” in southern Lebanon, almost a month and a half after the launch of its ground offensive.

The Israeli army has been able to enter numerous localities in southern Lebanon, and regularly blows up houses and whole districts in certain villages. But Hezbollah insists that Israel “does not occupy” any part of the south. 

Iran believes that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump should “put an end to the continuation of genocide” in Gaza, where Israel has been at war with the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas for over a year, Iran's diplomatic spokesman said.

“Future American statesmen should ... put an end to the continuation of genocide” in the Gaza Strip, said Esmail Baghai at a press conference.

Yemeni Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for a “hypersonic ballistic missile” attack on an Israeli military base. In a statement issued shortly before 10 a.m., the Houthis said they had launched a “Palestine 2” missile at the “Nahal Sorek” military base, southeast of Tel Aviv. The shot “hit its target” and “started a fire near the targeted site.”

The Houthis claimed to have carried out the operation “in response to the crimes” committed by Israel in Gaza and Lebanon, and said they would continue their strikes “until the aggression ceases.” 

The “Islamic Resistance in Iraq,” a coalition of pro-Iranian armed groups, claimed responsibility for six successive drone attacks, carried out early on against “key targets” in northern and southern Israel.

On six separate occasions, fighters from the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq” carried out attacks “with drones” against targets in northern and southern Israel. The successive statements, published on Telegram between 3:30 a.m. and 8:40 a.m., do not specify the nature of these targets.

For its part, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for two attacks at around 10 p.m. last night, as part of its “warnings” to localities in northern Israel. It claimed to have hit Bar Yohai and Ayelet HaShahar with rockets. These two villages are located seven and 12 kilometers respectively from the Blue Line, opposite Bint Jbeil and Kounine, in the Bint Jbeil district. 

This morning firefighters were attempting to extinguish fires in the Bet Shemesh area west of Jerusalem, caused by “interceptor or missile shrapnel.”

“Firefighters are now working to extinguish the fires ... In parallel with extinguishing operations, firefighters are carrying out additional scouting in the area, in order to rule out other fires and damage caused by interceptor/missile shrapnel,” according to the Jerusalem area fire department statement.

When questioned by AFP, the Israeli army gave no further information for the time being.

The Houthi news channel in Yemen, al-Massira TV, reported early on Monday that a series of air strikes had targeted the governorates of Amran and Saada.

According to the Houthis, these bombings were carried out by the US and the UK.

An Israeli air strike last night on Khrayeb (Sour) killed two people, according to our correspondent. 

According to information from our correspondent Mountasser Abdallah, a series of air strikes yesterday evening targeted several villages in Sour and Bint Jbeil, in southern Lebanon. The air strikes targeted: Tayr Debba, Bourgholieh, Rmadieh, Shehabieh and Batoulieh (Sour), as well as Jmaijmeh, Qalawieh, Burj Qalawieh (Bint Jbeil).

An area between Doueir and Harouf, in the Nabatieh district, was also hit.

During the night, three consecutive strikes hit Khiam (Marjayoun) and its outskirts.