In southern Lebanon, the Israeli army carried out multiple strikes on Maarakeh (Sour district), including at least one that targeted a house, according to our correspondent. These strikes reportedly caused casualties.
Israeli warplanes also struck a house in the village of Kfar Dounin, in the Bint Jbeil district, also causing casualties, according to initial reports.
Hezbollah released new statements detailing operations conducted earlier in the day:
- The 19th statement reported a rocket attack targeting Israeli soldiers in the area of Shtula, opposite Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil district), which occurred at 10 a.m.
- The 20th statement announced another rocket strike, this time against a second group of soldiers near Ramiya, opposite the Lebanese village of Ramieh (Bint Jbeil district), also at 10 a.m.
According to Haaretz, Israeli army Chief of Staff Herzl Halevi addressed soldiers of the 98th Division operating in southern Lebanon, stating that Israel was "here with a very clear mission: to bring the residents of the north back to their homes safely." His remarks came during a situational assessment visit alongside Northern Command chief Ori Gordin and others.
In its 18th statement of the day, Hezbollah announced it had fired a rocket at a group of soldiers near Avivim, in northern Israel, opposite Maroun al-Ras (Bint Jbeil district).
U.S. Envoy Hochstein lands in Israel after Lebanon visit according to several Israeli media.
In its 17th statement of the day, Hezbollah announced it had thwarted an "attempted advance" by an "Israeli force on the outskirts of Tayr Harfa" (Sour district), "killing and wounding" enemy soldiers using machine guns. The group also reported destroying and setting fire to the truck accompanying the group of soldiers.
Hezbollah did not specify the time of the operation. Earlier in the day, Al-Mayadeen, citing Israeli media, reported that soldiers from the Maglan Unit, part of the Israeli army's 98th Division, had fallen into an ambush set by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
At least 3,558 people have been killed and 15,123 wounded in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since Oct. 8, 2023, Lebanon’s Health Ministry says.
Of those, 14 were killed and 87 wounded in the latest 24-hour reporting period, the ministry added.
Here’s an update on the Hezbollah attacks against Israeli positions:
*Hezbollah said it targeted an assembly of Israeli soldiers in Kfar Fardim, opposite the town of Bint Jbeil, at 5:15 pm with a rocket barrage.
*The party targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers at the Yiftah military base, opposite Maroun al-Ras (Bint Jbeil), with a rocket barrage at 5:30 pm.
Hezbollah "targeted the Shiraga base (the administrative headquarters of the Golani Brigade) north of [the Israeli city of] Acre with a salvo of rockets at 4:32 p.m., marking the third strike" on this base.
Hezbollah targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers south of the city of Khiam with a salvo of rockets at 5:15 p.m.
Here’s an update on the security situation:
*The Ministry of Health announced that four people were killed in an airstrike on the town of Maarakeh, and one person was killed in an airstrike on Qlaileh (both in Sour).
*Artillery shelling targeted the Litani River area in Qleia, our correspondent in the Bekaa reported.
*One person was killed in an Israeli strike on the town of Meifdoun in Nabatieh.
*An Israeli airstrike targeted the outskirts of the town of Deir Qanoun al-Nahr (Sour), local residents reported.
*An airstrike on the town of Roumin (Nabatieh) resulted in one killed, local residents reported.
*Artillery shelling targeted Rashaya al-Foukhar (Hasbaya), local residents reported.
Here’s an update on the Hezbollah attacks against Israeli positions:
*Hezbollah said it “targeted the Shiraga base (the administrative headquarters of the Golani Brigade) north of the city of Acre with a salvo of rockets at 4:32 p.m.”
*The party also said it targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers in Avivim, opposite Maroun al-Ras (Bint Jbeil), with a salvo of rockets at 4:45 p.m.
*The party also said it targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers at the al-Omra Gate, south of the town of Khiam (Marjayoun), with a salvo of rockets at 5:15 p.m.
According to Al-Mayadeen, citing Israeli media, soldiers from the Maglan unit, part of the Israeli army's 98th division, were ambushed by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
U.S. Deputy Ambassador to the U.N. Robert Wood said his country “deeply regrets” the position of the council after the latest Gaza cease-fire vote.
“The United States worked for weeks in good faith to avoid this outcome,” Wood said.
“We made clear throughout negotiations that we could not support an unconditional cease-fire. … A durable end to the war must come with the release of the hostages,” he added.
Yoav Gallant, former Israeli Defense Minister who was recently dismissed from Benjamin Netanyahu's government, considered that tasking the Israeli army with organizing food distribution in Gaza is “a dangerous political act,” for which Israeli soldiers “will pay the price,” according to a statement picked up by Haaretz.
The United States on Wednesday prevented the U.N. Security Council from calling for an “immediate, unconditional and permanent” cease-fire in Gaza, a further veto in support of its Israeli ally.
The draft text, which received 14 votes in favor and one against, called for “an immediate, unconditional and permanent cease-fire to be respected by all parties” and “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.”
Local residents in the town of Khiam (Marjayoun) reported to our correspondent in the south hearing the sounds of gunfire and rocket shelling, along with an exchange of gunfire in the eastern part of the town.
"Kindergarten in Acre hit in latest barrage from Lebanon; no casualties reported," Haaretz reported.
Here’s an update of the security situation in southern Lebanon:
*The Israeli artillery shelled three homes in the town of Ibl al-Saqi (Marjayoun) with four shells. Reports indicate that the homes were still inhabited, and recorded injuries.
*Artillery shelling also targeted the towns of Aita al-Shaab and Hanine.
*Israeli artillery shelling targeted the Housh area (Sour), according to local residents.
*The earlier airstrike on the town of Shouqine (Nabatieh) targeted a house in the al-Maysa neighborhood, with no injuries reported, according to local residents.
Hamas' representative in Lebanon, Ahmad Abdul Hadi, met in Beirut with the Iranian representative for West Asia in Beirut, Mohammad Reza Sheibani, to discuss the situation in Lebanon and Gaza.
Abdul Hadi considered that the Israeli army “had not achieved its objectives in Gaza due to the strength of the resistance” and the resilience of the people, stressing that “the key to any agreement is a complete cessation of the war” and “total withdrawal” of the Israeli army. He called for the launch of reconstruction of the affected areas and the provision of humanitarian aid and a “fair cease-fire agreement.”
The Iranian ambassador assured that the Islamic Republic “will continue to support the just cause of Palestine, the resistance and the Lebanese and Palestinian peoples.”
Hezbollah said it "launched an aerial attack with a squadron of precision-guided drones at 6:00 p.m. targeting the Ayelet base (a newly established command center for the 91st Division) west of the Ayelet HaShahar [close to Houla in the Marjayoun district.] The drones hit their targets with precision."
The Jordanian army has announced that it has sent eight helicopters loaded with seven tons of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, which is at high risk of famine, according to the U.N.
The aircraft, loaded with medicines, medical equipment, foodstuffs and children's items, took off from Jordan for the Gaza Strip, where the aid packages will be handed over to the World Food Program (WFP), the army said in a statement.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem has ended his speech.
Qassem:
We expected the (Israeli) operation on the advanced front to last 15 days, but it lasted longer because of the resistance shown by the (Hezbollah) fighters.
⚡ Naim Qassem:
Our future decisions will be taken within the framework of the Taif Agreement, in cooperation with the other political forces.
We will make an effective contribution to the election of a President of the Republic (in Lebanon) through Parliament.
Naim Qassem:
During the battle, we think about the future of our country. We have never changed, and we will never change, our honorable positions for the nation. We remain committed to our Army-People-Resistance motto.
"Israeli attack on Palmyra kills 36 and wounds 50," Syrian state media reported, cited by Reuters.
Here’s an update of the security situation in southern Lebanon which started before Qassem's speech:
*Israel targeted Shouqine (Nabatieh), local residents reported.
*Intense Israeli airstrikes targeted Khiam, Kfar Hammam, Malikiyah (all located in Marjayoun) and Kfar Shuba (Hasbaya), local residents reported.
Naim Qassem:
We are confronting a savage enemy, and we will remain on the ground, no matter the cost, as we will also increase the cost for the enemy. We are facing Israeli human monsters supported by American human monsters (...). I hope we emerge stronger because we have held firm. When the enemy fails to achieve its objectives, it means we have won.
He added that Israel "is also under fire" during this phase of negotiations.
⚡ Naim Qassem:
We received the negotiation document, thoroughly reviewed it, and provided our remarks. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri also has comments that align with ours.
We negotiated under two principles: first, a complete and total cease-fire; second, the preservation of Lebanese sovereignty. We will continue our efforts on the ground, whether the negotiations succeed or not.
The occupation believed it could achieve through an agreement what it failed to secure on the battlefield, but that is impossible.
Qassem: Israel can't beat us and impose its conditions on us. We are men of the land and we will stay there.
Naim Qassem:
“The resistance is fighting to eliminate the enemy and prevent the perpetuation of its occupation, and we been exceptional in this sense. The resistance can maintain this pace for a long time. Israel cannot defeat us.”
Qassem: We have faced two battles in Lebanon: the first was supporting Gaza for 11 months. Through our work and jihad, we ensured that we provided everything we could to Gaza and the victory of Palestine. The second battle began two months ago with the "pagers." It aims to confront the enemy's aggression against Lebanon.
Qassem added that Hezbollah went through a phase of "confusion" for 10 days following the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah.
“We have regained our strength in all areas, and we have what it takes to withstand the challenges,” he added, however.
Qassem: Israel has attacked the heart of Beirut, so it must expect the response to take place in the center of Tel Aviv. They must pay the price.
Naim Qassem began his speech by paying tribute to Hezbollah media manager Mohammad Afif, killed on Sunday by an Israeli strike in Ras al-Nabaa, Beirut, along with four other members of his team.
The strike also left three others dead and 16 wounded, according to the Ministry of Health.
🔴 Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem has started his speech, which had been previously postponed for "security reasons."
Philippe Lazzarini, Director of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, on Universal Children's Day launched an appeal on behalf of Palestinian children. He recalled that the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted by the General Assembly over 30 years ago, in 1989.
“Today, the rights of Palestinian children are violated day after day. In Gaza, they are killed, injured, forced to flee and deprived of safety, learning and play,” he stressed. “In the occupied West Bank, children live in fear and anxiety. Since October last year, more than 170 of them have been killed, while others are losing their childhood in Israeli detention centers,” he added.
Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani today held talks with Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian on “developments in the region, particularly in Gaza and Lebanon,” Qatari diplomacy reported in a statement.
Heavy Israeli artillery and phosphorus fire targeted the outskirts of the area between Majdal Zoun, Tayr Harfa and Shamaa (Sour), according to our correspondent in the South.
The Israeli army has been advancing in this area for several days.
Civil Defense volunteers attempt to extinguish a forest fire started by Israeli bombardment in Alma Shaab, southern Lebanon, on Oct. 26, 2023. (Credit: AFP)
The Lebanese Foreign Affairs Ministry has instructed the Permanent Mission of Lebanon to the United Nations to lodge a complaint with the U.N. Security Council in response to “repeated and deliberate Israeli attacks on Lebanese Civil Defense.”
Yonatan Urich, an advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is under new investigation for his involvement in the BibiLeaks affair, Haaretz reported.
The Bibileaks affair concerns the sharing of classified documents by people close to Netanyahu with foreign media, in order to influence Israeli public opinion against demonstrations in favor of a hostage release agreement, arguing that these demonstrations were harming negotiations and helping Hamas.
Israeli police have filed a draft indictment against another of Netanyahu's spokespeople, Eli Feldstein, and an Israeli army reservist in the BibiLeaks affair, the daily Haaretz reported on Sunday.
Israel is sticking to its position of demanding the right to act militarily against Hezbollah in any agreement to end the fighting in Lebanon, according to its Defense Minister.
“The condition for any political settlement in Lebanon is the preservation of [the Israeli army's] intelligence capability and right to act and protect the citizens of Israel against Hezbollah,” said Israel Katz, quoted by several media, including Al-Nashra and ABC News.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a rocket attack on Safed at around midday. Safed is located some 15 kilometers from the border with Lebanon.
The party also claimed to have fired rockets at Israeli soldiers south of Khiam, in the Marjayoun district in Lebanese territory, on two occasions.
The Israeli army said that it is fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon and “not the Lebanese Armed Forces,” after the Lebanese Army announced the death of four of its soldiers in two Israeli strikes on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“We emphasize that [the Israeli army] is carrying out precise operations against the terrorist organization Hezbollah in Lebanon, and is not acting against the Lebanese Armed Forces,” said an Israeli military statement sent to AFP.
In southern Lebanon, one person was killed in a strike on Rihan, in the Jezzine district, according to residents quoted by our correspondent Mountasser Abdallah.
A speech by Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem, scheduled for today, has been postponed until tomorrow at 1 p.m.
This is the second time that a speech by the Shiite party leader has been postponed to a later date this week. Hezbollah had originally announced a speech yesterday.
The American envoy Amos Hochstein, who is trying to achieve a cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel, announced after talks in Beirut that he would travel to Israel the same day.
“We have made further progress ... I will be going to Israel in a few hours to try to conclude this if possible,” declared Hochstein after a meeting with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who is liaising with Hezbollah.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for another attack carried out early this morning, at 6:15 a.m., using “booby-trapped drones” on the Shraga barracks, which, according to the party's statement, houses the administrative headquarters of the Golani brigade. This operation, on the northern side of Acre, “hit its target.”
Acre lies some 25 kilometers from the border between Lebanon and Israel.
The Health Ministry in Gaza has announced a new death toll of 43,985 in the Palestinian territory since the start of the war with Israel over a year ago.
At least 13 people have been killed in the last 24 hours, it said in a statement, adding that 104,092 people had been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war, triggered by an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
In southern Lebanon, Israeli strikes targeted the outskirts of Bazourieh (Sour), Khiam on at least two occasions and Zifta, in the Nabatieh district, according to information from our correspondent.
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a strike, carried out at 6:10 a.m., using a swarm of booby-trapped drones on the logistics base of the Israeli army's Unit 146, located east of Nahariya, a coastal town in northern Israel some ten kilometers from the Blue Line.
⚡ An Israeli raid has targeted the city of Palmyra, famous for its thousand-year-old Greco-Roman temples in central Syria, leaving some people injured, official media reported.
“The explosions heard in the city of Palmyra are the result of an Israeli aggression that targeted residential buildings and the industrial city,” reported the official Sana agency, while Syrian television reported injuries.
U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein will leave Lebanon for Israel this evening, Axios journalist Barak Ravid reported, citing Israeli authorities. Hochstein will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tomorrow to discuss the cease-fire agreement in Lebanon.
France has condemned the firing of rockets “probably perpetrated by Hezbollah” on Tuesday against two positions of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL), and the shooting down of a patrol of French peacekeepers on the same day.
“Four Ghanaian peacekeepers were wounded” by rocket fire against U.N. positions, while "a UNIFIL patrol made up of French peacekeepers also came under fire on the same day, without causing any injuries," deplored the French Foreign Ministry in a statement, demanding that "UNIFIL be allowed to exercise its freedom of movement."
The Israeli army claimed to have targeted over 100 “terrorist targets” in one day.
U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein, in charge of mediating a cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel, arrived in Ain al-Tineh to meet with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who is leading the negotiations on the Lebanese side.
Hochstein had already been received on Tuesday by the head of the legislature. He asserted that a solution was “within reach” to end the war.
More than 540,000 people are thought to have left Lebanon for Syria, 63 percent of them Syrians and 37 percent Lebanese, following the escalation of hostilities in recent weeks between Hezbollah and Israel, according to a UNHCR report published yesterday.
Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem will deliver a speech later today, the party announced on Telegram. The time of the speech was not immediately specified.
A speech had already been announced yesterday, but ultimately cancelled “for security reasons,” according to the deputy head of Hezbollah's Political Council, Mahmoud Qomati.
After two days without running water in Sour, following a strike on the local Water Board infrastructure, the Civil Defense has resupplied those still living in the city, according to information from our correspondent Mountasser Abdallah.
Updates on southern Lebanon
- Two successive drone strikes targeted the Deir Takla area in Ansarieh, in the Saida district, according to our correspondent. No casualties were reported.
- Israeli artillery fire hit Jermaq (Jezzine).
- Aerial bombardments hit Qleileh (Sour), Kfar Sir (Nabatieh) and Kfar Hatta (Saida).
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a rocket strike on Israeli soldiers at the “Jal al-Deir” position opposite Maroun al-Ras (Bint Jbeil).
Hezbollah has published a new visual on its press office's Telegram channel, in which it alludes to Monday night's strike on Ramat Gan, on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, which set fire to and damaged a building. “8:45 p.m.: Tel Aviv under fire,” it reads in Arabic and Hebrew beneath images of the damage caused by the rocket fire. Then below, in smaller font: “5:45 p.m.: Benjamin Netanyahu: We have destroyed 80 percent of Hezbollah's rocket-firing capabilities.”
Last night, the Israeli army had announced that an “examination” of the strike site had shown that the damage was due to the fall of a “piece of rocket after its interception” over the city. “An interceptor missile hit a surface-to-surface rocket fired from Lebanon at high altitude, and was able to destroy it in several pieces,” said the army. One of these pieces fell and caused damage in Ramat Gan. Shortly after the firing, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for an attack using precision-guided missiles and drone bombs on the Tel Haim military intelligence base in Tel-Aviv.
The Gaza Strip's Civil Defense announced this morning that 10 people, including a baby, had died in Israeli strikes on Palestinian territory. In a statement, the Israeli army reported the death of one of its soldiers in fighting in northern Gaza, in which an officer was also seriously wounded, according to the army.
In Beirut, Josep Borrell is scheduled to meet with outgoing Prime Minister Najb Mikati, parliamentary leader Nabih Berri, Lebanese Army commander Joseph Aoun and U.N. representatives in the country.
The tour comes “against the backdrop of the catastrophic situation in Gaza and the military escalation in Lebanon ... and will be an opportunity to continue discussing with partners in the region a possible path towards a lasting cease-fire in Gaza and Lebanon, and a longer-term process based on the two-state solution,” reads a statement.
Head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell will visit Lebanon on Sunday, as part of a tour of the Middle East scheduled for Nov. 20-24.
Borrell's tour begins today in Jordan, with a meeting with King Abdullah II in Amman, and continues tomorrow with a meeting with Jordan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Ayman Safadi. Borrell will also meet with Palestinian leaders. He will then travel to Cyprus on Friday, where he will give a speech on Saturday at an event organized by the Coalition for the Two-State Solution.
According to information from our correspondent, the vehicle hit by an Israeli strike was a “Humvee” containing an officer and two soldiers. The victim was mobilized in the Marjayoun barracks. The two wounded were hospitalized in Hasbaya.
Senior U.S. and Israeli officials will meet “in early December” in a new channel of discussions to assess whether the use of U.S. weapons has led to deliberate civilian deaths in Gaza, the State Department announced yesterday. The United States, Israel's leading political and military supporter, has repeatedly expressed concern about civilian casualties caused by Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip, but has never questioned its massive military aid.
The State Department has opened a number of investigations into Israeli strikes that caused civilian deaths in Gaza with weapons supplied by the United States, which would be contrary to U.S. law.
The U.N. Security Council is due to vote today on a draft resolution calling for an “immediate, unconditional and permanent” cease-fire in Gaza, a new attempt to put pressure on the parties to the conflict that is likely to be blocked by the United States, Israel's ally.
The latest version of the draft text prepared by the Council's 10 elected members, seen by AFP, “demands an immediate, unconditional and permanent cease-fire to be respected by all parties” and “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.” According to diplomats, this wording provoked Israel's anger in advance, and raised fears of a new American veto.
🔴 This morning, a Lebanese soldier was killed in a strike on a military vehicle on the road between Burj al-Muluk and Qlayaa, in the district of Marjayoun, a few kilometers west of Khiam, the Lebanese Army announced. In an earlier statement, the army had reported two casualties.
In addition to this strike, Israeli bombardments targeted Kfar Shuba, Ain Baal and al-Hawsh in the morning.
In addition to this fighting, the Israeli army also shelled several localities in southern Lebanon throughout the night, including Ain Qana, Irki, Zifta (where three people were killed), Ainata, Rihan, Zawtar Sharqieh, Yohmor al-Shakif, Hanaway, the outskirts of Kfar Hammam, Jouwaya, al-Hawsh and the heights of Iqlim al-Tuffah.
The Israeli army also attempted to advance on Biyada, south of Sour, from Tayr Harfa, and fighting was heard in the area, according to our correspondent.
Fighting also took place at Markaba, Marjayoun, some 14 kilometers southwest of Khiam. According to Hezbollah, an Israeli infantry unit in Wadi Hounine, east of Markaba, was first hit at 10 p.m. with a guided missile, in an attack that “caused casualties.”
Another unit then went to the scene to evacuate the victims, and was also hit with a guided missile 30 minutes later. The same scenario was repeated when a third unit arrived in the area. These attacks also resulted in casualties.
Then, shortly after midnight, Hezbollah fired a salvo of rockets at Israeli soldiers at the al-Marj site on the Israeli side of Wadi Hounine opposite Markaba.
This morning, a new Israeli strike targeted Khiam, in the Marjayoun district, a village which the Israeli army has been trying to advance on for several days following the failure of a first attempt at the end of October.
According to information from our correspondent Mountasser Abdallah, during the night the Israeli army attempted to advance on the locality by bypassing it from the north-east, at the level of the Ebel al-Saqi spring. This maneuver, carried out as Israeli aircraft and artillery pounded the village, failed after heavy fighting with Hezbollah, which launched several anti-tank missiles.
Last night, the party claimed responsibility for several strikes against Israeli soldiers around the village, particularly in the “Hamames” area in the south. Hezbollah also announced that it had launched a drone-bomb attack on Israeli soldiers at the “Aamra Gate,” south of Khiam.
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