United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Filippo Grandi said in Beirut that Israel violated international humanitarian law with its airstrikes on Lebanon, as the targets were civilians and civil infrastructure, Reuters reported.
Grandi called on all parties to stop the conflicts in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. UNHCR's high commissioner is in Lebanon to help provide housing for more than 1,2 million displaced people after Israel stepped up airstrikes and launched a ground operation in Lebanon.
Grandi said the World Health Organization (WHO) had informed him that Israel had committed grave violations of international humanitarian law by targeting health facilities in various locations in Linab.
"The fighting has led to about 220.000 people crossing into Syria, of which 70 percent are Syrians and 30 percent Lebanese," Grandi said.
He pointed out that it is now difficult for people to cross from Libya to Syria after Israel bombed the road leading to the Masna border crossing on Friday.
More than 2.000 people have been killed and nearly 10.000 wounded in Lebanon in nearly a year of fighting with Israel. The majority, as announced by the Lebanese Ministry of Health, died in the past two weeks. Israel announced that around 50 civilians and soldiers were killed in the conflict with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
Hezbollah is both a militant organization and a political party that controls a significant portion of southern Lebanon. The United States has designated it as a terrorist organization, while the European Union blacklists only the armed wing of Hezbollah, not the political party. Hezbollah has supported Hamas since the beginning of the war in Gaza, and enjoys the support of Iran.
(Radio Free Europe)
Israeli army chief General Herzi Halevi told his troops today that his country is waging a "long" war against Palestinian Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah, vowing to destroy those who attack Israel.
"This is a protracted war," Halevi said, confirming that the armed wing of Hamas had been "defeated", ahead of the anniversary of the Palestinian Islamist movement's attack on Israeli territory on October 7 last year, which sparked the war in the Gaza Strip.
(BETA)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli military has "completely transformed reality" in the year since the October 7 attack by Hamas, which plunged the country into two wars, AFP reported.
Speaking to soldiers during a visit to Israel's border with Lebanon, Netanyahu said that Israel "will win," AFP reported, citing a statement from the Israeli prime minister's office.
"A year ago we suffered a terrible blow. Over the past 12 months, we have completely transformed reality. The whole world admires the blows you are dealing with our enemies and I salute you. We will fight together and together we will win," Netanyahu said.
His statement comes a day before the first anniversary of the attack by Hamas, designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, in southern Israel.
(Radio Free Europe)
One woman was killed and 10 people were wounded in a shooting at a bus station in the southern Israeli city of Beer Sheva, emergency services said, the Guardian reports.
Israel's Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency service said the injured were taken to Soroka Medical Center in southern Israel, including one person who was in moderately serious condition with gunshot wounds.
Another four people have gunshot wounds, while five people are in a lighter condition with bruises and injuries from glass fragments, according to the MDA.
Pope Francis again today called for an "immediate ceasefire" in the Middle East, as well as the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas, ahead of the first anniversary of the start of the war in Gaza.
"Tomorrow will be the first anniversary of the terrorist attack on the population of Israel, for which I reiterate my support. Let's not forget that there are still many hostages in Gaza, whose immediate release I ask for," the pope said after Sunday prayers.
"Since that day, the Middle East has been dragged into ever-increasing suffering, with destructive military actions that continue to affect the Palestinian population," the pope continued.
He added that these are mostly innocent civilians, people who need to receive the necessary humanitarian aid.
"I demand an immediate ceasefire, on all fronts, including the Lebanese one," Pope Francis said.
He called on the international community to make sure that the spiral of revenge is stopped and that the attacks carried out by Iran a few days ago are not repeated, because "they can lead the region into an even bigger war".
"All nations have the right to exist in peace and security. Their territories should not be attacked or occupied. Sovereignty should be respected and guaranteed through dialogue and peace," the pope concluded.
He has called several times in recent months for a ceasefire, the release of Israeli oppressors and an increase in humanitarian aid for the Palestinians.
(BETA)
Several people were wounded in a shooting at a bus station in the southern Israeli city of Beer Sheva on Sunday, an Israeli police spokesman said.
The Israeli emergency service Magen David Adom (MDA) announced that eight wounded in the attack were transferred to the hospital.
The attacker was killed, the spokesman for the Israeli police said.
"The terrorist has been eliminated, and numerous police forces from the southern district are present at the scene," the statement said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited troops along the border with Lebanon on Sunday, according to a statement from his cabinet, the Guardian reports.
The visit came nearly a week after the Israeli military launched ground operations against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, and ahead of the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant warned Iran that it could end up like Gaza or Beirut if it tries to harm Israel, reports AFP.
"The Iranians did not even touch our air force - not a single plane was damaged, not a single squadron was put out of service," Galant said in a statement, referring to the recent Iranian missile attack on Israel.
"Anyone who thinks that the mere attempt to harm us will deter us from action, should look at our achievements in Gaza and Beirut," added Galant.
Iran said the missile strike, which hit two Israeli air force bases, was in response to the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Iranian General Abbas Nilforoushan in an attack on Beirut on September 27.
The UN has announced that 20.000 Palestinian refugees have been forcibly displaced by Israeli airstrikes on camps in Lebanon.
The UN Palestine Refugee Agency (UNRWA) has activated emergency shelters for more than 4.300 displaced persons, including Palestinian refugees, Lebanese and Syrians.
"We have been preparing for this emergency for weeks and months," said Dorote Klaus, director of UNRWA in Lebanon.
The Islamic Resistance Group in Iraq said it carried out three separate attacks on Israeli positions in the occupied Golan Heights, according to BBC reports.
This comes after the group sent two drones into a military base in the occupied territory earlier this week, killing two Israeli soldiers and injuring 24 others.
The Islamic Resistance is a group linked to Hezbollah and Iran that opposes Israel in the region.
The IDF (Israeli army) has not commented, and it is still not clear if any damage was caused.
The State of Palestine welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron's statement in which he emphasized the need to stop arms exports to Israel.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Palestine welcomes the statement of French President Emmanuel Macron in which he emphasized the need to stop the export of arms to Israel during its war in the Gaza Strip, noting that the priority today must be focused on finding a political solution to end the conflict," the statement said. was provided to the media by the Embassy of Palestine in Montenegro.
The Ministry believes that Macron's statement is fully in line with international law, international resolutions, and that it supports the two-state solution.
"The ministry calls on countries that continue to support Israel in its war to respect and implement international law and to put pressure on Israel to end the genocidal war against our people, forcing it to abide by international law and implement United Nations resolutions in a way that leads to an end to the occupation. and the colonization of Palestine," it added.
The Ministry, as they state, "holds responsible the countries that provide military resources to Israel, believing that in this way they encourage the continuation of crimes against the Palestinian people and continuous serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights."
"The Ministry calls on the signatory states of the Genocide Convention and the Arms Trade Treaty to immediately introduce an embargo on the export of arms to Israel in accordance with their obligations not to approve the transfer of arms if they have knowledge of the use of such arms in the commission of genocide, crimes against humanity and serious violations of the Geneva Conventions ", the announcement states.
The Israeli military said its air force had killed Hezbollah commander Kader Ali Tawil.
The statement said Tawil, along with Muhammad Haidar and Hassan Natir Al-Raini, who were killed earlier in the week, were responsible for an anti-tank missile that hit Israel's northern border in January.
This rocket led to the death of a member of the Kfar Juval emergency services, Barak Ajalon, and his 76-year-old mother.
Hezbollah has yet to comment on the Israeli army's statement.
The Israeli military (IDF) said it expects possible long-range rocket fire from the Gaza Strip ahead of the October 7 anniversary of the attack, The Times of Israel reports.
Military sources told the newspaper that they are strengthening their defenses along the border with Gaza and in the Netzarim Corridor area in the center of the Strip, where the IDF maintains a presence, in anticipation of possible attacks.
The IDF also said it was coordinating with police and medical services in Israeli border towns.
"The Southern Command is prepared to defend and attack in several scenarios over the next month, with permission to hold memorial events in Gaza's border communities to be carried out safely," the IDF said in a statement to the newspaper.
Although much of the Hamas military organization has been dismantled, Israeli operatives say they can still launch rocket attacks.
The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has again called for a ceasefire in Gaza ahead of the first anniversary of Israel's war on the territory, which erupted after a Hamas-led attack on October 7 that killed around 1.200 people and kidnapped 250.
"Unfortunately, on this first anniversary of Hamas' terrorist attack on Israel, peace or even reconciliation in the Middle East seems more distant than ever," Soltz said in a video message.
The German government continues to persistently advocate for a ceasefire, which must finally come true, he added.
"We are in close contact with our international partners in order to prevent further escalation of the conflict," Solc said.
He also warned of growing anti-Semitism in Germany, which has unconditionally supported Israel since last October.
"It must never be the case that Jewish citizens here in Germany have to live in fear and terror. We will never accept anti-Semitism and blind hatred of Israel. The Jewish people here in Germany have the full solidarity of our state," Soltz said.
According to Felix Klein, the government's commissioner for combating anti-Semitism, there were more than 5.000 anti-Semitic incidents in Germany in 2023, half of which occurred after the October 7 attack.
The Israeli army has reportedly detained at least 15 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in the past 24 hours, including a journalist and former prisoners, the Guardian reports.
The arrests were made in the areas of Hebron, Bethlehem, Tulkarem and Tubas, the Palestinian Prisoners' Society and the Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs said.
Since last October, over 11.000 Palestinians have been detained in Israeli raids in the occupied West Bank, according to these groups.
Human rights groups and international organizations have raised allegations of widespread abuse of prisoners detained by Israel during raids in the occupied West Bank.
They described alleged abuse and degrading treatment, including keeping prisoners blindfolded and handcuffed in cramped cages, as well as being beaten, intimidated and harassed.
At least 23 people were killed and 93 wounded during Israeli bombing across Lebanon yesterday, the health ministry said.
The Israeli strikes targeted towns and villages in southern Lebanon, in the Nabatieh region of the eastern Bekaa province, Balbek-Hermel, a mountainous region of Lebanon, and in the north, the ministry added in a post on its X account.
These figures do not include the dead and wounded from the latest Israeli bombardment of the southern suburbs of Beirut after midnight.
Since September 23, Israeli attacks on Hezbollah across Lebanon have killed more than 1.110 people, according to official figures.
The Gaza Ministry of Health has issued an update on the death toll from an Israeli attack on a school and a mosque serving as a shelter in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, on Saturday.
The previous number of victims was 24, and now it has increased to 26. Dozens of people were reported as wounded. The Israeli military claims to have targeted Hamas militants in the attacks.
Al Jazeera reports that the Israeli army has surrounded the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza.
The media portal quoted Gaza Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal as saying that there were many casualties following multiple attacks that hit Jabalia overnight.
The Israeli military said in a statement: "Troops of the 401st Brigade and 460th Brigade have successfully surrounded the area and are currently continuing operations in the area."
The statement added that intelligence indicates "the presence of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure in the Jabalia area ... as well as efforts by Hamas to restore its operational capabilities in the area."
"Before and during the operation, the air force engaged dozens of military targets in the area to support ground troops," it added.
The Jabaliya refugee camp has been regularly targeted by Israeli forces since the start of the Gaza war, leading to the displacement and death of many of its residents.
According to the latest figures released by the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 41.870 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli army in Gaza since October 7.
The Ministry of Health also reported that at least 97.166 people were injured. They previously stated that thousands of other dead were likely lost in the ruins of the enclave.
Najib Mikati, Lebanon's acting prime minister, said his government continued to support the "joint call for a ceasefire" launched by France and the US last week, despite increased Israeli airstrikes on his country.
Mikati said that a diplomatic end to the escalating war would be a "win-win for both sides," Israel and Lebanon, and that all sides would honor such an agreement.
The BBC reports his statement today in which Lebanon continues to "demand that pressure be put on Israel to respect the ceasefire and immediately implement resolution 1701".
The media reports on very intense Israeli attacks on Beirut in the last 24 hours. The BBC describes the previous night as the worst since the beginning of the conflict at the end of September.
Lebanon's official national news agency said the targets of the attack were a gas station and a warehouse of medical supplies. Lebanese media described the explosions in Beirut as "very violent", saying that ambulances were rushed to the affected areas.
According to a report by Al Jazeera, the Israeli strikes hit several neighborhoods in Dahiya, the southern suburbs of Beirut, as well as the road leading to Rafik Hariri International Airport.
Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group, said it fired artillery at Israeli forces after they tried to infiltrate towards the Kalat Shuaib area of Blida, southern Lebanon.
The statement said fighters fired rockets at Israeli soldiers during the evacuation of "dead and wounded soldiers" in the Menara border area shortly after midnight. Hezbollah also said it launched attack drones at an Israeli military base.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that, almost a year after Hamas attacked Israel, his country was now fighting a battle on seven fronts.
"Today, Israel is defending itself on seven fronts against the enemies of civilization," he said in a video statement on Saturday, according to CNN. He said those fronts include Iran-backed Hezbollah in the north, Hamas in Gaza, the Houthis in Yemen, "terrorists" in the West Bank and Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria.
"And we are also fighting against Iran, which last week fired over 200 ballistic missiles directly at Israel and which is behind this seven-front war against Israel," Netanyahu added.
He said he was making good on his promise to change the balance of power in the north between Israel and Lebanon. According to ACLED, Israel has launched nearly 9.000 attacks on Lebanon since October 8, while Hezbollah has launched 1.500 attacks in the same time period.
Speaking about Gaza, Netanyahu said Israel had the right to defend itself and would not forget the 101 hostages "whom we are committed to with all our might to bring them home."
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, at least 41.825 people have died in Gaza since October 7 last year.
Netanyahu said there should be shame on French President Emmanuel Macron and other countries calling for an arms embargo against Israel, saying: "Let it be clear to you, Israel will fight until it wins - for our sake and for peace and security in the world".
According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, more than 1.400 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Lebanon in the past month, while nearly 7.500 have been injured.
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