Sharaa will visit US, says Barrack | LIVE

We are now closing our LIVE coverage for tonight. We will be back tomorrow morning with more news updates.

Axios reports direct negotiations between Syria, Israel after Sharaa's visit to Washington

U.S. envoy Tom Barrack revealed to Axios that a "fifth round of direct negotiations between Israel and Syria, mediated by the United States, is expected to take place after Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa visits Washington, scheduled for November."

"He [Tom Barrack] emphasized that the U.S. objective was to reach a security agreement between the two countries by the end of the year," Axios journalist Barak Ravid told X.

The U.S. envoy also told the journalist that "the Syrian president is expected to travel to Washington on Nov. 10, where he will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House."

"This will be the first-ever visit by a Syrian president to the White House," Ravid added.

Hajjar tells Jordanian foreign minister he hopes Israel is pressured to stop aggression

During a meeting with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi on the sidelines of the Manama Dialogue on Saturday, Interior Minister Ahmad Hajjar hoped that the international community will pressure Israel to stop its hostile actions, according to the state-run National News Agency.

"We hope the international community will pressure Israel to fulfill its commitments to cease hostile actions and to provide support to Lebanon in the areas of humanitarian aid and reconstruction," he said.

🔗Read more here.

Barrack says Sharaa will visit Washington

U.S. Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said on Saturday that Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa was expected to visit Washington, according to Reuters.

During the visit, Syria would "hopefully" join the U.S.-led coalition to defeat the Islamic State, Barrack told reporters on the sidelines of the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain, an annual global security and geopolitical conference.

Health Ministry confirmed 1 injured in Kfar Sir by Israeli strike

The Health Ministry confirmed that the toll from the Israeli strike that targeted the village of Kfar Sir earlier in the day was one injured.

Israeli drones are flying over northern Lebanon

(Credit: Michel Hallak)

Israeli drones are flying over northern Lebanon, according to our correspondent in the region.

Barack: Lebanon running out of time, must quickly secure state arms monopoly

"Lebanon is running out of time and must quickly secure state control of arms," ​​U.S. envoy Tom Barack stated in a speech delivered at the Manama Forum and reported by MTV.

The envoy also stated that "Lebanon is a failed state" and that the Lebanese Army suffers from a lack of financial and human resources. He further indicated that time is running out to disarm Hezbollah.

In a speech delivered at the Manama Forum and reported by MTV, Tom Barack added that "Israel is ready to reach an agreement with Lebanon on the borders, and the Lebanese must join the negotiations and safeguard their borders."

"It is inconceivable that there would be no dialogue between Lebanon and Israel," he further observed.

The U.S. envoy also stressed that "Lebanese leaders are determined, but they need to move faster on the issue of Hezbollah's disarmament."

"There will be no problem between Lebanon and Israel if Hezbollah is disarmed. Israel bombs southern Lebanon daily because Hezbollah is still armed," he said, adding that "thousands of rockets in southern Lebanon continue to threaten Israel."

"There is no more time to lose for Lebanon. It must quickly seize the weapons" in the hands of the state, Barrack concluded.

Israeli military patrol headed towards Quneitra, Syria: SANA

An Israeli military patrol consisting of 12 military vehicles, including Hilux trucks, troop transport vehicles and jeeps, left the village of al-Hamidieh and headed towards the vicinity of the Syrian village of Ofaniya, reaching Tal al-Ahmar in the Syrian province of Quneitra, according to the official Syrian news agency SANA.

Tehran 'ready for all events': Araghchi

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Al Jazeera that his country was "ready to negotiate to allay concerns about Iran's nuclear program," which he described as "peaceful."

Araghchi said it was possible to reach a fair agreement, but stressed that the United States had set "unreasonable and unacceptable conditions."

He added that Tehran did not want direct negotiations with Washington, but could reach an agreement through indirect talks.

The minister also clarified that Tehran would not negotiate its missile program or halt uranium enrichment.

Furthermore, he stated that Tehran was "ready for all eventualities and expects any aggressive behavior from Israel," which he said would suffer another defeat in any future war.

Israeli drone targeted entrance to garage in Kfar Sir, Nabatieh district

An Israeli drone targeted the entrance to a repair garage in the village of Kfar Sir, in the Nabatieh district, injuring one person, according to our correspondent in southern Lebanon.

The missile exploded on the ground, not directly on the nearby excavator.

5 people were killed in Gaza in the past 48 hours

Hospitals in the Gaza Strip received 22 bodies in the past 48 hours, the Gaza Health Ministry said in a statement, adding that nine other people were wounded.

According to the Ministry, five of the bodies were those of people killed in the past 48 hours, while the other 17 were found under rubble across the Gaza Strip.

Oman urges US, Iran to resume dialogue

The Sultanate of Oman, which had hosted several rounds of talks between the United States and Iran before they were suspended following the Iran-Israel war in June, has urged the two countries to resume dialogue, AFP reports.

"We want to resume negotiations between Iran and the United States," said Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaydi during a panel discussion at the Manama Dialogue, an annual conference of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) held in Bahrain.

The minister noted that his country had hosted five rounds of talks between Washington and Tehran this year.

"Just three days before the sixth, which could have been decisive, Israel launched its bombs and missiles in an act of illegal and deadly sabotage," he lamented.

Iran and the United States severed diplomatic relations after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The two countries have been at loggerheads for four decades.

Hezbollah MP questions why Salam govt is not ordering Lebanese Army to 'take necessary measures to repel Israeli aggression'

Hezbollah MP Hassan Ezzeddine questioned on Saturday why the government of Nawaf Salam is not ordering the Lebanese army to "take the necessary measures to repel Israeli aggression," after President Joseph Aoun called on the troops to "confront" any further Israeli incursions into Lebanese territory.

In a speech delivered at a ceremony in Biyada, in southern Lebanon, the MP called on the government to "rigorously examine national priorities, as outlined in its ministerial statement, placing Israeli aggression and the issue of construction and reconstruction at the forefront."

“This government must convene an extraordinary session to examine all available options to deter the enemy and end the aggression and the ongoing offensive against Lebanon by all means at its disposal, especially since it has diplomatic and political relations with most of its allied or friendly countries — American, Western and Arab,” added Ezzeddine.

“Why doesn’t the government issue a national political decision ordering the Lebanese army leadership to take the necessary measures to repel these aggressions and prevent this enemy from going further and violating Lebanese sovereignty?” the MP further asked.

Geagea to Qassem: Find an impartial mediator to compel Israel to stop its aggression

The head of the Lebanese Forces (LF), Samir Geagea, on Saturday criticized on X the remarks of Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem, who had accused the United States the day before of not being an impartial mediator but rather "the instigators of the aggression" against Lebanon.

"Sheikh Naim Qassem declared that the United States is not an impartial mediator, but rather the main instigator of the aggression. Sheikh Naim, find us an impartial mediator capable of compelling Israel to put an end to its acts of aggression against Lebanon and withdraw its army from our territory, and we will be grateful to you," wrote Geagea.

🔗Read more here.

Israeli settlers carried out attack near Bethlehem

Israeli settlers carried out an attack in the village of al-Maniya, near Bethlehem in the West Bank.

A group of settlers shot and wounded three people in the village, Al Jazeera reported, citing the Palestinian Red Crescent.

Jordan and Germany say International Stabilization Force (ISF) for Gaza must be mandated by the UN.

Jordan and Germany say International Stabilization Force (ISF) for Gaza must be mandated by the U.N., reports AFP.

The ISF is envisioned in Trump's plan for Gaza that came into effect on Oct. 10, despite Israel's continues violations of it.

Under the terms of the agreement, it will be composed of a coalition of mainly Arab and Muslim countries and deployed to Gaza to oversee security as the Israeli army withdraws.

"We all agree that for this stabilization force to carry out its mission effectively, it must have a mandate from the Security Council," said Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi. He was speaking alongside his German counterpart Johann Wadephul at a conference in Manama, Bahrain.

Israeli forces carried out series of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip overnight

Israeli forces carried out series of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip overnight, according to al Jazeera.

Israel carried out air strikes east of Khan Yunis in the south. Other strikes targeted homes near the eastern part of Gaza City. No casualties were reported in these attacks.

Israel killed man near Nabatieh yesterday

An Israeli drone strike targeted and killed a motorcyclist traveling near Nabatieh yesterday.

Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee said on Saturday that Israel had "killed a member of Hezbollah's Radwan forces" in Nabatieh on Friday.

Israeli army contests identification of three hostage bodies received on Friday

An Israeli army spokesperson told AFP on Saturday that the three unidentified bodies handed over to Israel on Friday evening via the Red Cross are not in fact those of hostages.

Hamas has so far returned the remains of 17 of the 28 deceased hostages it agreed to hand over as part of the U.S.-brokered truce agreement.

Welcome to our live blog

Hello and welcome to our live blog, where we will be covering events in Lebanon and the region. We will be taking a particular look at Gaza where Israel continues its strikes across the Strip, as well as southern Lebanon where Israel also continues to violate last year's cease-fire agreement.