WHO: What's happening in Gaza is an 'abomination;' sectarian clashes in Syria cause 100 deaths this week | Live

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Gaza

An Israeli drone strike has killed at least one person in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, reports the Palestinian news agency Wafa.

According to the same source, dozens of other people were injured in the attack, which targeted a home near the al-Buna bakery.

Lebanon-Syria

The Syrian Social Nationalist Party in Lebanon said in a statement that “the serious events of a sectarian, religious and criminal nature occurring in Jarmana, Sahnaya, Ashrafiyat Sahnaya and Sweida, herald a major turning point that threatens Syria's future, unity and stability.”

The party condemned “all murders and sectarian reactions,” calling on everyone to “show the utmost wisdom and responsibility in dealing with the sedition project that many parties are seeking to carry out, aimed at destroying the social structure and infrastructure of the state in Syria.”

Gaza

The U.N. has once again called on Israel to lift its blockade on the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

"International law is unambiguous: As an occupying power, Israel must allow the entry of humanitarian aid. Aid, and the civilian lives it saves, should never be a bargaining chip," said Tom Fletcher, U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, in a statement.

He added that blocking aid starves civilians and deprives them of basic medical support, stressing that it robs them of their dignity and hope and "inflicts cruel collective punishment. Blocking aid kills."

"The humanitarian movement is independent, impartial and neutral. We believe that all civilians deserve equal protection," said Fletcher, stressing that they remain ready to save as many lives as possible, despite the risks.

Gaza

What is happening in Gaza is “an abomination,” denounced a senior World Health Organization (WHO) official on Thursday, expressing anger at the lack of action to come to the aid of the population. “We have to ask ourselves: How much blood is enough to satisfy the political objectives of both sides?” questioned Mike Ryan, Deputy Director-General of the WHO, at a press briefing.

"We are breaking the bodies and minds of the children of Gaza. We are starving the children of Gaza, because if we don't act, we will be complicit in what is happening before our eyes," he said. Friday will mark two months of total blockade of the Gaza Strip by the Israeli army.

South Lebanon

Our correspondent in the South reports that an Israeli drone dropped three stun grenades on houses in the Sawwan district of Houla (Marjayoun). No injuries were reported.

Lebanon-Syria

Sheikh Akl Sami Abi al-Mouna spoke by telephone with Saudi ambassador Walid Boukhari to inform him of the situation in and around Ashrafi Sahnaya, reports the official National News Agency (NNA).

It was agreed to consider holding an urgent meeting at the Druze community house, bringing together several ambassadors from countries influential in the Syrian issue, in order to work towards a common position aimed at stopping the bloodshed and acts of violence and brutality targeting civilians in their homes and villages, NNA added.

On Wednesday, Lebanon's two leading Druze figures, Walid Joumblatt and Sheikh Akl Sami Abi al-Mouna, stepped up their diplomatic efforts to contain the escalation, denounce any attempt at Israeli interference and call for an immediate cease-fire.

Syria

Reacting on X to comments made earlier in the day by Druze sheikh Hikmat al-Hajri, Syria's head of diplomacy Assaad al-Shibani said that “any call for foreign intervention, under any pretext or slogan, will lead to a deterioration of the situation and further divisions.”

In a statement, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hajri had denounced an “unjustified genocidal campaign” targeting “civilians in their homes” and called for “immediate intervention by international forces.” “We no longer trust an entity that claims to be a government ... A government does not kill its people using its own extremist militias and then, after the massacres, claim that they are uncontrolled elements,” he added.

Syria-Israel

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Thursday called on the international community to protect Syria's Druze population, following two days of deadly sectarian fighting near Damascus.

“I call on the international community to play its part in protecting minorities in Syria, particularly the Druze, from the regime and its terrorist gangs, and not to turn a blind eye to the difficult events of recent months,” Saar said at a commemoration of Israel's Independence Day, according to a statement from his office.

Iran-US

Omani mediator announces postponement of talks “for logistical reasons.”

Iran-U.S.

The fourth round of negotiations between the United States and Iran, scheduled to take place in Rome this Saturday, according to Oman, is likely to be postponed until next week, according to three sources, reports Axios journalist Barak Ravid.

“As a result, the E3 meeting with Iran scheduled for Friday in Rome could also be postponed,” he added.

Gaza

Gaza's Civil Defense reported on Thursday that at least 24 people had been killed overnight in Israeli bombardments in the Palestinian territory, AFP reported.

South Lebanon

The Israeli army claimed responsibility for the two drone strikes that destroyed vehicles in southern Lebanon on Thursday, killing two people, in a message published by its Arabic-speaking spokesperson, Avichai Adraee.

“Earlier today, the [Israeli military] carried out an attack that eliminated a member of the al-Radwan Force [Hezbollah's elite unit], in the Mais al-Jabal region of southern Lebanon,” the spokesperson wrote on X. “A little later, the [Israeli military] also targeted and killed another Hezbollah member who was operating in the same area and gathering intelligence on behalf of the party,” he added.

South Lebanon

A member of the Lebanese Civil Defense, Oussama Farhat, was killed by an Israeli drone that targeted his vehicle in the vicinity of Birkat Mais al-Jabal, reports our correspondent in the south, Mountasser Abdallah. Earlier, he had reported a second drone strike, which injured one person.

Israel

The Forum of Families of Hostages and Missing Persons has issued a statement expressing its concern that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has aligned himself with the position of far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich regarding the hostages, rather than with “the overwhelming majority of the Israeli public, who wish above all for the return of all hostages,” Haaretz reports.

The statement follows Netanyahu's claim that the “supreme” objective of the war is victory over the Israeli enemy.

“The return of the abductees is not less important: it is the supreme objective that should guide the Israeli government,” reacted the Forum.

Iran-US

Iran condemned on Thursday the new sanctions announced by the United States against its oil sector, calling them “economic terrorism,” ahead of a fourth round of indirect nuclear negotiations between the two enemy countries.

The sanctions are part of U.S. efforts “to disrupt friendly and legal relations between developing countries through economic terrorism,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghai said in a statement.

On Wednesday, the United States announced sanctions against seven companies involved in the sale of Iranian oil. These include five trading companies, four of which are based in the United Arab Emirates and one in Turkey, which sold Iranian-origin petrochemical products to third countries, as well as two shipping companies, according to the State Department.

Gaza

At least 16 people were killed today in Israeli strikes on Gaza, medical sources told Al Jazeera.

Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indirectly acknowledged that the Israeli army's priority was not to recover the hostages first.

“We want to bring back the living and the fallen. That's a very important objective. War has a supreme objective, and that supreme objective is to achieve victory over our enemies, and that we will achieve,” he said at a ceremony in Israel reported by Haaretz.

Lebanon

Hezbollah MP Hussein Hajj Hassan stressed that “the Lebanese state must lead efforts to confront Israeli aggression, enforce the cease-fire, secure the release of prisoners and work for reconstruction.”

He criticized the international community, particularly the United States, for failing to hold Israel accountable for more than 3,000 violations since the cease-fire in November 2023.

Speaking at a commemoration in Aramoun, he accused “certain Lebanese political forces of ignoring Israeli threats and favoring political attacks against the resistance.”

Lebanon

Lebanese Forces MP Ghassan Hasbani stressed that stability in Lebanon cannot be achieved without all weapons being placed under state control, according to a statement relayed by the National News Agency.

He warned that if Hezbollah's “resistance” turned against the Lebanese Army, it would lose its legitimacy.

The former minister called for the accelerated implementation of the presidential oath and ministerial declaration, urging the state to resume all its prerogatives. He insisted on the need to respect international resolutions and the cease-fire agreement in order to put pressure on Israel and preserve Lebanon's sovereignty.

Syria

Confessional violence in Syria has killed 73 people in two days, according to an NGO, reports AFP.

For its part, Paris called on “Syrian and regional actors” to put an end to sectarian violence.

“France calls on all Syrian and regional players to stop the clashes and invites the Syrian authorities to do their utmost to restore calm,” according to the statement, which also calls on "Israel to refrain from unilateral actions likely to aggravate communal tensions in Syria," read a statement from the French Foreign Ministry.

(Credit: Mountasser Abdallah)

South Lebanon

⚡ A second Israeli drone strike targeted another van in Mais al-Jabal, in the Marjeyoun district, injuring one person, according to our correspondent in southern Lebanon.

Israel

On the beach in front of the U.S. embassy representation in Tel Aviv, former members of the Israeli army's elite special units staged a protest installation addressed to U.S. President Donald Trump, calling on him to keep his promise to promote the return of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, Haaretz reports.

The protest is part of the actions carried out by the initiators of the letters signed by reserve soldiers and members of civil society, calling for the return of the hostages and an end to the war in Gaza. According to the organizers, these letters have already collected more than 150,000 signatures.

South Lebanon

Israeli artillery fired a shell at goat herders on the outskirts of the town of Shebaa, in the Hasbaya district.

No one was injured.

South Lebanon

According to our correspondent in South Lebanon, it has been confirmed that the two Syrian workers in the pick-up truck targeted by the Israeli drone strike in Mais al-Jabal survived with minor injuries, according to rescue workers on the scene.

South Lebanon

Three Lebanese and two Syrians were killed in an Israeli drone strike on a vehicle in the southern Lebanese town of Mais al-Jabal, according to a statement from the Public Health Emergency Operations Center, an affiliate of the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Iran-US

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned Iran on Wednesday that it would pay the consequences for its support of the Houthis, even as the U.S. relaunched talks with Tehran on its nuclear program.

The United States and Iran have so far held three rounds of indirect talks, mediated by the Sultanate of Oman, intending to reach an agreement preventing Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons while lifting the heavy economic sanctions imposed by Washington. The two parties are due to meet again in Rome on Saturday.

Message to Iran: We see your DEADLY support for the Houthis. We know exactly what you are doing,” wrote Hegseth on X. “You know very well what the U.S. military is capable of - and you have been warned. You will suffer the consequences at the time and place of our choosing.”

Hegseth then republished on his personal X account a message from Donald Trump published in March on Truth Social, in which the former president asserted that he would hold Iran responsible for any attack carried out by the Houthis.

South Lebanon

⚡ An Israeli drone targeted a van collecting scrap metal between the localities of Mais al-Jabal and Blida in the Marjayoun district.

The strike killed three people, one Lebanese and two Syrians, according to as yet unconfirmed preliminary information reported by our correspondent in the South, Mountasser Abdallah.

In Lebanon, where tensions have eased since the latest Israeli strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, the United States has appointed a new chairman to the committee overseeing the cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah, which has been in force since Nov. 27.

The new chairman is Major General Michael Leeney, who, unlike his predecessor, U.S. General Jasper Jeffers, must reside in Lebanon.

(Credit: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters)

A helicopter drops water a day after wildfires broke out due to extreme heat and winds, in Latrun, central Israel, May 1.

Other important news

From April 28 to May 2 in The Hague, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is holding hearings on the advisory opinion it is to issue on the question of “Israel's obligations in respect of the presence and activities of the United Nations, other international organizations and third States in and related to the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”

This request, presented on Dec. 19 by the U.N. General Assembly on Norway's proposal to the jurisdiction that manages disputes between states, follows the adoption of two Israeli laws targeting UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, accused of being linked to Hamas.

L'Orient-Le Jour reports after each day of hearings on Israel's obligations towards the U.N., international organizations and third-party states.

The breaking news this Thursday concerns Syria.

At least 15 Druze fighters were killed on Wednesday in an ambush near Damascus, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) reported on Thursday.

Armed groups linked to the Sunni Islamist government clashed with Druze fighters in Sahnaya, near Damascus, on Wednesday, before an uneasy calm returned. The 15 Druze fighters, who were on their way to Sahnaya, were targeted “by security forces and armed men affiliated with them,” according to the NGO.

On Thursday, one of the main Druze religious leaders denounced a “genocidal campaign” against his community.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the situation in the Middle East, particularly in Lebanon.

We'll also be covering the situation in Yemen, in Gaza, where Israel is continuing its air and ground offensive, as well as in Israel, the occupied West Bank and Syria.