One killed by Israeli drone strike in Aitaroun, Bint Jbeil, Israel claims to have killed Hezbollah commander | LIVE

An Israeli drone dropped three bombs on prefabricated houses in Mhaibib, in the district of Marjayoun, according to our correspondent in the South.

No casualties have been reported.

Lebanese Army Commander in Akkar

Lebanese Army Commander Rodolph Haykal inspected the First Land Border Regiment’s command in Shadra, Akkar, the military said on X.

During his meeting with troops, the commander praised “their efforts to maintain security in the border area,” emphasizing that these efforts aimed to ensure stability. He also commended their “determination in the face of Lebanon’s tough economic and security conditions caused by repeated Israeli violations and aggressions.”

After speaking with officers and issuing instructions, Haykal visited an observation tower in the Karm Zebdine area, “where he reviewed the soldiers’ missions and stressed the importance of their presence in monitoring the border and preventing infiltration and smuggling.”

He then traveled to Kalkha to offer condolences to the family of soldier Fadi al-Jassem, who was killed April 14 in an explosion caused by a suspicious device in Wadi al-Azziyeh, in the Sour district.

Israeli army claims to have killed Hezbollah commander

The Israeli army's Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, announced on X that Israeli forces carried out a strike earlier in the day, claiming to have killed Abdel Nabi Hijazi, deputy commander of Hezbollah’s military outpost in Mhaibib. He said Hijazi was killed in Blida, in the Marjayoun district. Earlier, Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported that an Israeli raid killed one person in Aitaroun, a village near Blida.

Israeli gunshots were fired from the site of Ramtha, located in the disputed hills of Kfar Shuba, in the direction of the Bastara farms, on the outskirts of Kfar Shuba (Hasbaya district), reports our correspondent in the South.

Lebanese Army dismantles spy device in Blida

The Lebanese Army announced it had “discovered a concealed surveillance device equipped with a camera in Blida, in the Marjayoun district.” It said it had “dismantled the device.”

The military reminded citizens to “stay away from such objects and not touch them, as they may pose a danger,” and urged the public to “report them to the nearest military post.”

Israel will not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons, noting that he has led “countless public and covert operations” that have delayed Iran’s nuclear program by “nearly a decade.”

“As the prime minister has stated many times: Israel will not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons,” his office said, as U.S. President Donald Trump seeks to strike a new nuclear deal with Tehran. “The prime minister has led countless public and secret actions in the fight against Iran’s nuclear program. Without these efforts, Iran would already possess a nuclear arsenal. These actions have delayed Iran’s nuclear program by nearly a decade,” the statement added.

‘Let us do our work’ in Gaza, urge 12 NGOs

Humanitarian aid to Gaza is “on the brink of total collapse” due to the blockade imposed by Israel on the entry of aid since March 2, 12 major NGOs warned Thursday in a joint statement.

“Let us do our work,” pleaded representatives of Doctors of the World, Oxfam, the Norwegian Refugee Council and other aid organizations, saying they are facing “one of the worst humanitarian failures of our generation.”

Lebanon

Israeli drones have been flying at low altitude over Beirut since this morning, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Lebanon/Israel

Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah said Hezbollah would be open to discussing broader issues, including its role in Lebanon’s national defense strategy, only after Israel stops violating the cease-fire in place since Nov. 27 and reconstruction efforts begin in the destroyed areas, according to comments aired by the party’s channel, al-Manar.

Gaza

The Israeli army said it killed Yehya Fathi Abdel Kader Abu Shaar, described as the head of a Hamas weapons smuggling network and a senior Hamas operative who led terrorist attacks inside Israel. According to army spokesperson Avichay Adraee, the strike took place two days ago in Khan Younis. He added that weapons smuggled by Abu Shaar were used in the Oct. 7 attacks.

The army also announced it killed Mazen Ibrahim Mahfouz al-Farra last week in the Khan Younis area. He was described as a key Hamas member responsible for major attacks in Israel over the past two years, especially in recent months.

In the past two days, the Israeli Air Force reportedly struck about 110 targets in Gaza, including sabotage units and other militant infrastructure. According to the army:

• A drone hit a Hamas naval facility in Nuseirat.
• In northern Gaza, the 252nd Division destroyed underground infrastructure and tunnel openings, killing armed fighters heading toward Israeli troops.
• In Rafah, the Gaza Division found and destroyed militant infrastructure, tunnels, and mortar shells. The 36th Division also located and destroyed missile launchers and both aerial and underground facilities.

Rubio, Witkoff, and Macron hold talks in Paris on Middle East

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff are currently meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace in Paris, according to Reuters.

The discussions are expected to focus on the ongoing negotiations between Washington and Tehran over a potential nuclear deal, as well as efforts to secure a cease-fire in Gaza and address the conflict in Ukraine.

British and German national security advisers are also set to take part in the meetings.

Israel

The High Court of Justice on Thursday rejected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request to overturn the suspension of his dismissal of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, according to Haaretz.

The judges also dismissed claims that “the government’s powers in the security field had been usurped,” and encouraged the parties to reach an agreement. Netanyahu had announced Bar’s dismissal in March, citing a crisis of trust, but the High Court had put the decision on hold.

Qatar says Israel 'did not respect' Gaza truce

Qatar's Emir, whose country has been mediating between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, accused Israel of violating the Gaza cease-fire agreement reached in January.

"We reached an agreement a few months ago, but unfortunately Israel did not respect that agreement," Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani said during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

Israeli drone kills six in northern Gaza

An Israeli drone strike on a U.N. school in the Jabalia refugee camp, sheltering hundreds of Palestinians, has resulted in six deaths.

This attack appears to be separate from an earlier reported incident in which seven people were killed.

Israeli offensive in Gaza: death toll exceeds 51,000

Gaza Health Ministry has updated the human toll of the Israeli offensive, reporting that the official number of Palestinians killed in the attacks has reached 51,605, with 116,505 injured.

The ministry also stated that at least 40 people were killed and 73 others injured in the last 24 hours, bringing the death toll since March 18—the resumption of Israeli bombings that broke the January cease-fire with Hamas—to 1,691, with 4,464 injured.

At least 34 Palestinians killed in Gaza

At least 34 Palestinians have been killed today in Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, most of them displaced people sheltering in makeshift camps, according to the local Civil Defense.

Israeli drone strike in South Lebanon

Israeli drone carried out a strike targeting a motorcycle on the Naqaa road in the village of Aitatoun (Bint Jbeil district), according to our correspondent in South Lebanon. Causing the victim to be hospitalized.

Additionally, an Israeli drone dropped a sound bomb on a prefab house in the village of Boustane (Sour), causing no injuries.

Iran/Saudi Arabia

Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman arrived in Tehran on Thursday for meetings with Iranian officials, according to the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA), as reported by Reuters.

The visit comes ahead of weekend talks between Iran and the U.S. regarding Iran's nuclear program.

Palestinian detainee dies in Israeli custody days before scheduled release

A 20-year-old Palestinian prisoner, Musab Hassan Adili, died at Israel’s Soroka Medical Center just three days before his scheduled release, according to Wafa news agency.

The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners' Society confirmed his death in a joint statement. Adili, from the village of Osarin near Nablus in the occupied West Bank, had been in Israeli custody since March 22, 2024, and was serving a sentence of one year and one month.

Gaza

Hamas close to finalizing its internal discussions on Israel’s cease-fire proposal for Gaza, two officials from Hamas told AFP.

“These talks are nearly complete, and the group will send its response to the mediators once they are concluded. This could happen soon, possibly even today,” one Hamas official said on condition of anonymity. A second official confirmed the statement.

Gaza aid blockade: Hamas accuses Israel of using 'famine as a weapon'

Hamas has accused Israel of using starvation as a weapon by blocking humanitarian aid from entering Gaza since March 2.

In a statement, the group responded to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s remarks on Wednesday, in which he ruled out allowing aid into Gaza. Hamas called this “a new public admission of a war crime,” saying it involves “the deliberate use of famine as a weapon, and the denial of essential life needs — food, medicine, water, and fuel — to innocent civilians for the seventh consecutive week.”

Israel has maintained the blockade, claiming Hamas diverts the aid—an allegation the Palestinian group denies. “No humanitarian aid will enter Gaza,” Gallant said in his statement.

Palestine/Syria

According to a diplomatic source cited by Bahraini newspaper Al-Watan and a Fatah statement relayed by RT Arabic, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to visit Damascus on Friday — his first official trip to Syria since the Islamist rebel coalition ousted Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

Abbas is expected to meet with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa. His last visit to Syria dates back to the early 2000s. A Palestinian delegation had already visited Syria in late January.

Iran/Israel

Opposition leader Yair Lapid revealed he had urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to strike Iran’s oil facilities, but Netanyahu refused.

"As early as October 2023, I proposed targeting Iran’s oil fields. Destroying its oil industry would collapse the economy and eventually bring down the regime. Netanyahu got scared and halted the operation," Lapid wrote on X.

Former Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz also weighed in, saying: "The Iranian regime is a master of obstruction. The State of Israel must—and can—eliminate the threat of Iranian nuclear capabilities."

His comments followed a New York Times report that former U.S. President Donald Trump discouraged Israel from attacking Iran’s nuclear sites in May.

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also reacted to the New York Times report, saying: “Netanyahu’s doctrine is to threaten, threaten, threaten, then leak that he intended to act—but that we didn’t let him.” He called this approach “dangerous” and warned that Israel “will never have another opportunity like this” to strike Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

Gaza

Israeli airstrikes on tents sheltering displaced people killed 25 individuals across several locations in the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian Civil Defense.

Welcome to our live coverage of the Middle East crisis, focusing on developments in Lebanon, Gaza, Yemen, Israel, the occupied West Bank, and Syria.

Gaza

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu instructed negotiators to "continue efforts" to secure the release of hostages in Gaza. Israel’s military confirmed it has turned 30% of Gaza into a buffer zone. The humanitarian situation remains dire, with over 500,000 displaced since the end of the ceasefire. Al Jazeera reports the Israeli army blew up residential buildings in Rafah and Gaza. Overnight strikes killed over 20 people in Beit Lahia, Jabaliya, and Khan Younis.

South Lebanon

No incidents involving Israel were reported in South Lebanon or the Bekaa on Wednesday. However, Israeli airstrikes killed at least two people in the South.

Lebanon

Following Jordan’s arrest of 16 people—some trained in Lebanon—linked to the Muslim Brotherhood and accused of plotting attacks, Lebanon arrested several Palestinians and Lebanese individuals reportedly affiliated with Hamas.

Lebanon/Qatar

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun visited Qatar on Wednesday, where Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani reaffirmed continued Qatari support for the Lebanese army. It marks Aoun’s first official trip to the gas-rich Gulf nation.

Gaza

Wall Street Journal reports that Hamas is facing a severe financial crisis, struggling to pay its fighters. Israeli strikes targeting the group's financial leadership and the blockade of humanitarian aid have led to a major cash shortage. Intelligence sources say many civil servants in Gaza are no longer receiving salaries, while fighters and senior leaders are getting only half of their usual pay.

Yemen

According to Saudi outlet Al Arabiya, as cited by Haaretz, the U.S. has intensified its strikes on the Houthis, carrying out at least 36 attacks in Sanaa.

Gaza

Palestinian Civil Defense reported that an Israeli airstrike on tents sheltering displaced people in Gaza killed at least 16 people, according to AFP.

The attack, carried out by two Israeli fighter jets near Khan Younis in southern Gaza, also injured 23 others, said Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal.

South Lebanon

The Israeli army said it struck a "Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure" in southern Lebanon overnight, according to a post by its Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee on X.

Adraee accused Hezbollah of “absurdly exploiting civilian infrastructure for terrorist purposes” and using Lebanese civilians as human shields, warning that the Israeli military “will act” against attempts by the group to rebuild or reposition militarily under civilian cover.

Later in the day, Israeli forces launched multiple airstrikes on prefab houses in several southern Lebanese towns, including Aita al-Shaab, Zalloutiyeh, Chihine, and Boustane.