Over 24 injured in Israeli strike on Nabatieh, according to Health Ministry | Live

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the two Israeli strikes. “This aggression constitutes a further violation of Lebanese sovereignty and a flagrant transgression of the cease-fire agreements and the provisions of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701,” he said.

According to a statement from his press office, Mikati also contacted U.S. General Jasper Jeffers, head of the cease-fire monitoring committee, asking him to take a “firm stand to ensure that Israel honors its obligations under international law.”

In an updated report, the Ministry of Health announced that the two Israeli strikes had injured 24 people: 20 in Nabatieh al-Fawqa and four in Zawtar.

The Israeli army's Arabic-speaking spokesman, Avichay Adraee, announced on his X account that “the Israeli air force carried out strikes against a truck and a vehicle belonging to Hezbollah.”

According to him, “these vehicles were transporting military equipment in the regions of Shqeif and Nabatieh.” He stressed that “the Israeli army is determined to act within the framework of the agreements between Israel and Lebanon, despite Hezbollah's attempts to return to the southern region of Lebanon.”

“It will intervene to eliminate any threat to the State of Israel and its citizens,” he added.

Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced Tuesday that he has been invited to the White House on Feb. 4 by U.S. President Donald Trump.

"President Donald Trump has invited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to a meeting at the White House on Tuesday, Feb. 4. Prime Minister Netanyahu will be the first foreign leader invited to the White House during President Trump’s second term," a statement from Netanyahu’s office said.

Gaza

The U.N. Secretary-General has urged Israel to rescind its order for the U.N. agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) to vacate Jerusalem by Jan. 30, according to a letter dated Monday.

"I regret this decision and call on the Israeli government to reverse it," Antonio Guterres wrote, emphasizing that Israel cannot "exercise sovereign authority" over East Jerusalem.

So far, two Israeli drone strikes have hit Nabatieh al-Fawqa, according to our correspondent. One targeted the road between Nabatieh al-Fawqa and Zawtar, while the other struck the intersection leading toward Zawtar. According to Lebanon's Ministry of Health, these strikes injured 14 people. A video obtained by L’Orient-Le Jour shows significant damage to a pharmacy.

The state-run National News Agency reports that the first strike targeted a pickup truck carrying fruits and vegetables. This claim has not been independently verified by our correspondent.

“The Israeli enemy tonight carried out a brutal attack against our residents and safe areas, in flagrant violation of the cease-fire agreement, without justification," said Yasser Ghandour, head of Nabatieh al-Fawqa's municipal council, accusing Israel of targeting "civilians and innocents."

Gaza

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said that expelling Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Egypt or Jordan, as suggested by former U.S. President Donald Trump, would be "unacceptable," AFP reports.

"In light of recent public statements, I state very clearly that any plan involving displacement — the idea that Gaza’s citizens would be expelled to Egypt or Jordan — is unacceptable," Scholz said during an event at Berlin City Hall.

An Israeli drone struck between Nabatieh al-Fawqa and Zawtar, local residents told our correspondent.

The latest Israeli strike in southern Lebanon dates back to last Friday, when an Israeli drone targeted the Sadana area between Shebaa and Kfar Shuba, in the Hasbaya district. On the same day, an Israeli drone dropped three bombs on al-Arid neighborhood in the vicinity of the village of Yohmor, in the Nabatieh district.

A new explosion occurred at the site of the strike in Nabatieh al-Fawqa, its nature remains unknown for the moment, reports our correspondent.

Israeli drones fly over the Bahraini region, reports our correspondent in South Lebanon.

The Israeli strike in Nabatieh left 14 people injured, according to an update from the Ministry of Health.

According to Israeli radio station GLZ, the Israeli army carried out a strike on Nabatieh.

According to an initial toll from the Lebanese Ministry of Health, the Israeli strike in Nabatieh left seven people injured.

According to our correspondent, a major explosion sounded in Nabatieh al-Fawqa.

Our correspondent noted that security sources have not confirmed that this was an Israeli drone strike, contrary to what has been announced by local media.

The man wounded by Israeli fire at the entrance to Odaisseh was rescued and taken to hospital. Earlier, our correspondent had reported that the Israeli army had detained the wounded man and prevented the Lebanese Army and civil defense from coming to his aid.

The Lebanese Army announced on X that Israeli fire wounded one of its soldiers and three civilians on the Yaroun-Maroun al-Ras road (Bint Jbeil district) while the army was escorting people returning to southern border villages.

The Israeli army is holding the wounded man, who was hit by gunfire this afternoon at the entrance to Odaisseh, reports our correspondent. According to their information, they have prevented the Lebanese Army and civil defense from coming to his aid.

The Lebanese Army's updated deployments in southern Lebanese border villages, according to our correspondent:

The Lebanese Army entered Aita al-Shaab, Boustan (Sour district), Deir Mimas, Bani Hayyan, Tallouseh and Taybeh (Marjeyoun).

The army is also partially present in other villages: Marwahine (Sour) and Yaroun (Bint Jbeil).

However, the army could not yet deploy in Aitaroun, Ramyah, Maroun al-Ras (Bint Jbeil), Mais al-Jabal, Houla, Blida, Markaba and Kfar Kila, Wazzani, Robb Thalathin (Marjayoun district), Majidieh and Mazraat Sarda (Hasbaya).

The United States “supports” Israel's decision to force the U.N. Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) out of Jerusalem, the acting U.S. ambassador to the U.N. told the Security Council, reports AFP.

“It is Israel's sovereign decision to close UNRWA's offices in Jerusalem on Jan. 30. The United States supports this decision”, said Dorothy Shea, whereas before Donald Trump's arrival in the White House, the previous U.S. ambassador to the U.N. had called for a "pause" in the implementation of the Israeli law.

Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, had a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to discuss the continuation of their joint mediation efforts in Gaza, the Qatari foreign ministry said.

According to Reuters, the two expressed hope that the cease-fire deal reaches its second phase and turns into a permanent cease-fire.

During a visit to the Israeli army post on Mount Hermon, Israeli Defense Minister, Israel Katz, said his army would remain in the security zone on the Syrian side for "an unlimited period of time to ensure the security of the residents of Israel," according to Haaretz.

"We will not allow hostile forces to establish themselves in the security zone in southern Syria and we will not be dependent on others for our defense. Here and anywhere else," he said, adding that ties would be established with neighboring communities, especially the Druze population in the area.

After the removal of the stone wall on the outskirts of the town of Taybeh, towards the village of Odaisseh (Marjayoun), several young people crossed into the area, reported L'Orient Today's correspondent. The Israeli army then opened fire on them using automatic weapons, wounding one of them in the leg.

The Israeli army blocked the road between the villages of Taybeh and Odaisseh (Marjyoun) with stones to prevent citizens from crossing to Odaisseh, according to L'Orient Today's correspondent in south Lebanon.

Israeli Minister Yitzchak Goldknopf, of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, said the government must "free every last hostage" held in Gaza, "every last one of them," Haaretz reported.

Addressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he pledged to support "any deal" the prime minister put on the table.

Residents of Yaroun (Bint Jbeil) stationed on the western outskirts of the town have still not been able to access the village square, according to the head of the municipality Ali Tehfeh, quoted by L'Orient Today's correspondent in south Lebanon. A man was injured by Israeli army fire in Yaroun, where residents are gathered to try to enter the village.

Residents have been able to reach the mosque but need equipment to reopen the roads. The villagers have also come under fire from Israeli soldiers still stationed in the village. They should try to access the town by other routes, the elected official said.

In addition, clearing operations and searching for remains under the rubble in Tallousseh (Marjayoun) began today, according to L'Orient Today's correspondent. In addition, the Israeli army is demolishing with bulldozers and burning several buildings in the area of ​​Mfaylha, west of the village of Mais al-Jabal.

(Photo sent by residents to L'Orient Today's correspondent Muntasser Abdallah)

The Lebanese army deployed to Yaroun (Bint Jbeil) and are clearing the roads to access the village square, L'Orient Today's correspondent reported. Residents are alongside them, some of whom are carrying Hezbollah flags.

The residents of the border village of Kfar Kila (Marjayoun) who were blocking the Khardali road at Deir Mimas have reopened access, L'Orient Today's correspondent reported.

The Israeli army released Naim Haidoura, a sheikh it had surrounded and stopped while he was inspecting his house on Sunday in Mfaylha, near Mais al-Jabal, L'Orient Today's correspondent reported.

A Russian delegation of two senior officials arrived in the Syrian capital, a first since the fall of the Kremlin's ally, President Bashar al-Assad, in December, as Moscow seeks to keep its two major military bases in Syria.

According to Russian state news agencies Ria Novosti and Tass, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and the Russian president's special envoy for Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev, are on the ground.

After an 11-day offensive, the rebel coalition led by the Islamist group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) overthrew Bashar al-Assad on Dec. 8, leaving him and his family in Russia. The fall was a major blow for Moscow, which, along with Iran, was the former Syrian president's main ally and had been intervening militarily in Syria since 2015.

Residents of Kfar Kila block the road near Khardali, on Jan. 28, 2025. (Photo sent by residents to L'Orient Today's correspondent)

Residents of the border village of Kfar Kila (Marjayoun) said in a statement that they blocked the Khardali road (which connects Nabatieh to Marjayoun) to protest the postponement of their return to their lands, which are still occupied by the Israeli army.

"We, the residents of Kfar Kila, declare that the road will be blocked until further notice until we are allowed to enter the neighborhoods of our devastated village and to recover the bodies of our heroic martyrs who defended it by shedding their pure blood," the text said.

Kfar Kila is one of the last Lebanese towns still occupied by the Israeli army, while the cease-fire agreement concluded at the end of November between Israel and Hezbollah provided for a complete withdrawal of the Israeli army from Lebanese territory on Sunday, Jan. 26.

"We also call on the Lebanese state to assume all its responsibilities towards its people and its land, and demand that it take immediate measures to ensure the security of our villages, and to work with the international community to denounce the occupation and its criminal practices," he added.

During the launch of a project to survey the damage in border villages, Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah said, from the town of Bint Jbeil, that he is looking forward to liberating the rest of south Lebanon.

"We, the people of the south, especially the people of the border region, are determined to liberate every inch of our land, and we will not accept that any occupying soldier remains on this land, whatever the agreements and resolutions," he said.

"What concerns us is one thing: Expelling this occupation from this land, reconstructing these villages and towns and returning normal life to them," he added.

Qatar reiterated its support for a two-state solution between Palestine and Israel after comments by U.S. President Donald Trump, who repeated his desire to move Gaza residents to Egypt and Jordan, AFP reports.

"Our position has always been clear on the need for the Palestinian people to achieve their rights and that the two-state solution is the only way forward to resolve the Palestinian issue," Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said in response to a question about the U.S. president's remarks.

Danny Elgarat, whose brother Itzik is being held hostage in Gaza, spoke at a Knesset committee hearing today, and criticized the Netanyahu government's handling of hostage negotiations and the Gaza war, Haaretz reported.

Elgarat said that although a process is underway to bring the hostages home, members of the government are still trying to block the deal.

"The war is over," Elgarat said, "the images from Gaza are those of the end of a war ... The people of Gaza are returning home, but not yet the hostages. But the prime minister has achieved all the objectives of his personal war of resurrection: He has remained in power."

"Israel's goals have not been achieved," Elgarat continued, "Hamas still rules Gaza, the hostages are still in Gaza. The conclusion is simple: Netanyahu won, the State of Israel lost."

Israeli jets flew over south Lebanon and also the town of Baalbeck in the Bekaa, at low altitude, according to L'Orient Today's correspondents in the two regions.

Residents of Yaroun accompanied by the Lebanese army return home, Jan. 28, 2025. (Photo sent by local sources to L'Orient Today's correspondent Muntasser Abdallah)

A number of residents of the village of Yaroun (Bint Jbeil), accompanied by the Lebanese army, entered the western part of the village via the neighboring village of Rmeish , and not through the main entrance, reported L'Orient Today's correspondent in south Lebanon.

According to the head of the municipality, Ali Toufeh, who is accompanying the residents, "the residents will not back down until they have penetrated the entire village."

He added that the current stage is "to reach the city square" and then go to all the neighborhoods.

"We did not see the Israeli army on the western side when we entered, and we will continue on our way," he said.

Yesterday's Israeli attacks on civilians trying to return to their still-occupied villages in south Lebanon left two dead and 26 injured, according to a report from the Health Ministry. The victims are distributed as follows:

Odaisseh: One dead and three injured.

Bani Hayyan: One dead and two injured.

Bourj al-Moulouk: Two injured.

Houla: Nine injured.

Kfar Kila: Six injured.

Markaba: Three injured.

Yaroun: One injured.

The Israeli army carried out two heavy explosions this morning in Wazzani (Hasbaya), according to L'Orient Today's correspondent. Yesterday evening, two other explosions hit this village.

"We have not been able to determine the nature of the explosions at the moment because no one is in the village. We cannot enter because of Israeli threats to shoot at the inhabitants," Abu Zeid Mohammad, president of the Wazzani municipality, told L'Orient Today. "We are in contact with the Lebanese army for the next steps."

In Majidieh (Hasbaya), Israeli military vehicles and bulldozers razed trees on a farm, according to L'Orient Today's correspondent in south Lebanon.

The Israeli army announced that "two terrorists" were killed and six wounded during "anti-terrorist operations" in the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, where a major operation was launched last week. According to the report cited by Haaretz, the army dismantled 20 explosive devices and arrested four suspects.

Donald Trump reiterated yesterday his desire to see Palestinians in the Gaza Strip live outside the enclave  "without disruption, without revolution and without violence" and said that he would discuss it "very soon" with Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington.

"The Gaza Strip has been hell for so many years ... So I think people could live in much safer and perhaps much more comfortable areas," he added on board Air Force One taking him back to Florida.

Asked whether he still believed in the two-state solution between Israel and Palestine, he said: "I will talk to [Benjamin Netanyahu] in the not too distant future. He will come here." He did not mention a date, but said the meeting would take place "very soon."

Last night, Islamic Jihad released a one-minute video showing Israeli hostage Arbel Yehud, clearly in distress, calling on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to do everything he can to free the hostages.

A day earlier, a settlement was reached between Israel and Hamas, agreeing to release three hostages on Thursday, including Arbel Yehud, 29, and Agam Berger, 20, who was kidnapped while performing her military service near Gaza. Three other captives are supposed to be released on Saturday as provided for in the agreement, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

Tel Aviv also announced that it had obtained from the Palestinian movement a list of the dead and the living among the 87 hostages still in Gaza, 34 of whom were declared dead by the Israeli army.

Several attacks by the Israeli army against displaced Palestinians returning to the northern Gaza Strip were recorded overnight.

Israeli soldiers opened fire on a horse-drawn cart in the Nousseirat refugee camp, killing a young child, Al Jazeera reported.

Another Palestinian was killed and several others were injured after an Israeli strike on a bulldozer trying to free a stuck vehicle, also in Nousseirat, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.

According to the Gaza government, around 300,000 displaced people returned to the north of the enclave yesterday despite the Israeli army's bans, thanks to the cease-fire in place since Jan. 19 between Israel and Hamas.

He added that 135,000 tents and caravans are needed in Gaza City and the northern governorate, where more than 90 percent of the buildings have been destroyed.

"The war has also destroyed public infrastructure, sewage treatment and drinking water supply systems and public waste management," Achim Steiner, head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), told AFP.

Six other civilians held by Israel were released this morning, this time from the town of Bani Hayyan (Marjayoun) and captured in Houla, according to L'Orient Today's correspondent. They are named Hassan Ghazi Hojeij, Hussein Amer Moustafa, Ali Hassan Mazraani, Ahmad Hassan Rizk, Moustapha Ahmad Rizk and Jihad Hassan Hussein.

Israeli forces released this morning six Lebanese people they had captured at a crossroads linking  Kounine, Baraasheet and Wadi Slouqi (Marjayoun) two days ago, L'Orient Today's correspondent reported.

"The Lebanese army recovered these people, Bisan Bitar as well as three people from the Nassar family of Houla: Qassem, Hassan and Rasha," the president of the Houls municipality, Shakib Kteish, told L'Orient Today. The two other people are Ahmad Ksaibani and Hussein Jaber, who are originally from Mhaibib.

Yesterday, the Israeli army kidnapped and then released Kamal Ahmad, a resident of Wazzani (Marjayoun) who was captured while the villagers were trying to enter it.

In a statement released last night, Hezbollah saluted "its people" who "broke the will of the enemy" by heading toward neighboring villages.

"You went to your villages despite the arrogance of their cowardly soldiers," the party said. "We bow and salute the weapons, the jihad and the resistance for every mother, every father, every brother and sister, in the name of all the fighters and martyrs."

In South Lebanon, residents continue to face the Israeli army still present in some areas. According to L'Orient Today's correspondent, residents of Aitaroun and Blida (Bint Jbeil) as well as nearby villages called to gather this morning and head towards Aitaroun. At the same time, the Lebanese army told the residents of Yaroun that it would deploy this morning in the village. Yesterday evening, after 9 p.m., the Israeli army launched flares near Yaroun.

In Kfar Kila (Marjayoun), residents gathered at 7:30 a.m. for the same purpose. They are gathered at a crossroads near Deir Mimas with a unit of the Lebanese army, in an attempt to enter Kfar Kila.

Be sure to read the Morning Brief so you are caught up with what has been happening.

Displaced southerners attempt to return to their villages for second day: Everything you need to know this Tuesday

Displaced southerners attempt to return to their villages for second day: Everything you need to know this Tuesday

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