Several attacks on Aitaroun, three killed in Israeli strikes since this morning | LIVE

Hezbollah announces funeral of Jouaya victim

Hezbollah announced the death of Zakaria Yehia Hajj in the Israeli strike on Jouaya, in the Sour district, earlier on Sunday, according to our correspondent.

His funeral will be held in his home village, but the party has postponed announcing the date.

Israeli strikes on Aitaroun and Blida

Israeli artillery fired several shells toward the outskirts of the area known as “Kilometer 9,” located between the towns of Aitaroun (Bint Jbeil district) and Blida (Marjayoun district), our correspondent in southern Lebanon reported.

Palestinian killed near Hebron as Israel cites attempted stabbing

Israeli forces killed a Palestinian man on Sunday in the southern occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, while the Israeli army said the incident involved an attempted stabbing attack.

The ministry identified the victim as Mohamed Wael al-Sharouf, 23, who was shot dead by Israeli forces north of the city of Hebron.

The Israeli army said its forces had “neutralized a terrorist who attempted to stab them in the Hebron area.”

Hezbollah announces death of Ihsan Fares Zeineddine

Hezbollah has officially announced the death of Ihsan Fares Zeineddine, who was killed in the Israeli strike on his car in Safad al-Battikh, in the Bint Jbeil district, according to our correspondent.

The group said that his funeral will take place on Monday, Dec. 15, at 3 p.m. in the village.

Israeli drone drops explosives on house near Aitaroun

An Israeli army drone dropped explosive bombs on a house in the area known as al-Salem, near the “forest road,” on the southern outskirts of Aitaroun in the Bint Jbeil district, according to our correspondent.

The health ministry confirms one killed in Bint Jbeil

The Emergency Operations Center of the Lebanese Health Ministry reported one death from an Israeli drone strike in the locality of Safad al-Battikh (Bint Jbeil).

Victim of Jouaya attack identified

The victim of the Jouaya strike has been identified as Zakaria al-Hajj, a member of the village municipal committee.

He was hit while entering his vehicle.

Israeli army says it struck three Hezbollah members in southern Lebanon

The Israeli army stated that it targeted three pro-Iranian Hezbollah members in southern Lebanon. Beirut reported one death from an Israeli strike in the region.

“Since this morning [Sunday], the army struck three Hezbollah terrorists in multiple areas of southern Lebanon,” who “participated in attempts to restore the group’s infrastructure,” in violation of the November 2024 ceasefire agreement, the Israeli army said in a statement.

Israeli drone strike in Jouaya leaves one killed

An Israeli army drone targeted a car in Jouaya, in the Sour district, seriously killing the driver, according to our correspondent in southern Lebanon.

Guterres condemns attack, calls for calm

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the recent attack in a statement, calling for restraint and urging all parties to avoid further violence.

On X, he emphasized the need to protect civilians and ensure accountability, warning that such attacks “threaten regional stability and peace.”

Lebanese Army confirms no weapons found in Yanouh building

The Lebanese Army confirmed in a statement that “no weapons or ammunition were found inside the Yanouh building” in the Sour district.

The building had been searched the previous day by UNIFIL and the army following Israeli allegations, sparking anger among local residents.

Authorities emphasized that the searches were carried out responsibly and in coordination with the building’s owner. The incident highlights ongoing tensions in southern Lebanon amid repeated Israeli security claims and local concerns over sovereignty and safety.

Victim of Safad al-Battikh strike identified

The man targeted in an Israeli strike on a car in Safad el-Battikh, Bint Jbeil district, who later died from his injuries, has been identified as Ihsan Zeineddine, according to our correspondent.

Israeli drone strike kills Ihsan Zeineddine in Bint Jbeil

The man targeted in the Israeli strike on a car in Safad al-Battikh, Bint Jbeil district, who later died from his injuries, has been identified as Ihsan Zeineddine, according to our correspondent.

One critically injured in an Israeli drone strike in the Bint Jbeil district

An Israeli army drone targeted a car with two missiles in the locality of Safad al-Battikh (Bint Jbeil), near the Souan pond, leaving at least one person in critical condition, according to our correspondent in southern Lebanon.

New Israeli strike in southern Lebanon targets a two-wheeler

An Israeli raid targeted a motorcycle in the Yater–Tayr Harfa area, in the Bint Jbeil district. The attack left at least one person seriously wounded, according to our correspondent Mountasser Abdallah.

Several incidents reported in southern Lebanon since Saturday night

Before the strike, several other incidents were reported in southern Lebanon, according to our correspondent:

• Earlier that morning, an Israeli drone dropped three bombs on two excavators in a neighborhood of the village of Shebaa, in the Hasbaya district.

• Around 9 a.m., the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) reportedly asked residents of Shebaa to stop using their excavators for any type of work, at Israel’s request — information that has not yet been confirmed with UNIFIL.

• Also in the morning, the Israeli army fired medium machine guns in the Mazraat Bastara area, near the village of Kfar Shuba (Hasbaya district), from the Ramta post in the heights of Kfar Shuba (occupied territory).

• During the night and until dawn, the Israeli army intensified drone overflights over the Sour area (the city and surrounding villages), notably over the village of Yanouh — where a dispute had broken out the previous day between residents on one side and the Lebanese army and UNIFIL on the other, following the search of a house — as well as over the village of Khiam (Marjayoun district) and across the entire Nabatieh district. A Lebanese Army patrol remains stationed near the house in question in Yanouh.

• After midnight, the municipality of Yanouh issued a statement saying the house had been searched twice — once by UNIFIL and once by the Lebanese Army — following Israeli threats to strike it, stressing that “no weapons or ammunition were found.” The municipality specified that the searches were carried out “with the consent of the owner, who lives there with his family.” It called on UNIFIL and the international community “to assume their responsibilities by pressuring the Israelis to stop their aggressions,” while paying tribute “to the Lebanese army, which is acting with full responsibility and working to protect the population.”

Hamas confirms the death of a senior military official in Gaza, whom Israel said it killed on Saturday

Hamas’s leader for the Gaza Strip, Khalil al-Hayya, confirmed that the group’s head of weapons production was killed the previous day in an Israeli strike on the Palestinian territory, as Israel had announced, AFP reports.

“The Palestinian people are currently going through a difficult period and are suffering greatly (…) with the martyrdom of more than 70,000 people, the latest of whom are commander Raed Saad and his companions,” Hayya said on Hamas’s Al-Aqsa television.

Israel announced on Saturday that it had killed Raed Saad, describing him as “one of the architects” of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza, and saying he headed the weapons production headquarters of Hamas’s military wing.

Assailant who killed Americans was a member of the security forces, says official

The man who killed three Americans in Syria on Saturday was a member of the Syrian security forces, a Syrian security official told AFP on Sunday, adding that 11 members of those forces have been arrested following the attack.

Syria “strongly condemns the terrorist attack” that targeted a Syrian-American delegation in central Syria on Saturday and killed three Americans, including two soldiers, Syrian Foreign Minister Assaad al-Chaibani said.

“We extend our condolences to the families of the victims, as well as to the American government and people,” he added on X.

The attack, which Washington attributed to the jihadist group Islamic State, took place in the desert region of Palmyra.

Hamas says it has the 'legitimate right' to be armed and is open to any proposal to preserve it

Hamas has a “legitimate right” to be armed, and any proposal put forward for the implementation of the next phases of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip must respect this, said Hamas’s leader for the Palestinian territory, Khalil al- Hayya.

“Resistance and its weapons are a legitimate right guaranteed by international law and are linked to the establishment of a Palestinian state,” Hayya said on the Palestinian Islamist movement’s Al-Aqsa television, according to AFP. “We are ready to study any proposal that preserves this right while guaranteeing the creation of a Palestinian state,” he added.

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of developments in the Middle East

In this live blog, we will follow the situation in Lebanon, where the south continues to be almost daily bombarded by Israel.

We will also cover developments in Syria, more than a year after the first anniversary of the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, overthrown on Dec. 8, 2024, as well as in Gaza — still under Israeli fire despite the cease-fire — the occupied West Bank, and other countries in the region.