Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni today in Beirut called for the strengthening of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
At a joint press conference with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Meloni said that "only by strengthening the UNIFIL mission, while maintaining impartiality, will it be possible to turn the page."
"I repeat that I find the targeting of UNIFIL unacceptable," Meloni said, referring to recent Israeli attacks on UN peacekeepers.
Israel said it did not deliberately target UNIFIL members and accused Lebanon's Hezbollah of using UN peacekeeping positions as cover to target Israeli forces. Israel called on UN troops to leave the conflict area.
Mikati and Meloni agreed today that a diplomatic solution must take precedence over violence, according to Reuters.
"What is happening today is a lesson for all Lebanese to stay out of regional conflicts," Mikati said.
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The Israeli army announced this evening that it had killed an extremist who was the bodyguard of the late leader of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar.
Sinvar was killed by Israeli soldiers in the town of Rafi in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
In this evening's statement, the army identified the slain extremist as Mahmoud Hamdan and stated that he was killed at a distance of 200 meters from the place of Sinwar's murder.
In addition, it was announced that Hamdan was guarding six hostages who were killed at the end of August when Israeli soldiers approached the place where they were held in a network of tunnels in Gaza.
Evidence for this claim was not provided.
One of the hostages had both Israeli and American citizenship.
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US President Joseph Biden says there is a possibility of working on a ceasefire in Lebanon, but it will be more difficult to achieve it in Gaza.
He stated this during a one-day visit to Berlin, where he discussed Ukraine with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
When asked by a journalist if he has an understanding of how and when Israel will respond to Iran's missile attacks, Biden answered in the affirmative, but did not elaborate further, the BBC reported.
On October 1, Iran launched nearly 200 ballistic missiles toward Israel. Most of the missiles were intercepted, according to the Israeli military.
Lebanon's interim prime minister, Najib Mikati, rejected any move by Iran to hold talks on implementing the UN resolution on southern Lebanon, calling it "obvious interference" in his country's internal affairs.
Israel launched a ground operation in Lebanon earlier this month aimed at weakening Hezbollah, with whom it has been exchanging cross-border fire since the start of the Gaza war against the militant group Hamas, which along with Hezbollah is an Iranian ally in the region.
While Hamas was declared a terrorist organization by the USA and the European Union (EU), Hezbollah is a terrorist organization for the USA, and the EU blacklisted the armed wing of that group, but not the political party that has representatives in the Lebanese parliament.
Responding to Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Ghalibaf's Oct. 17 comments that Tehran was ready to negotiate a UN resolution calling for the border area of southern Lebanon to be cleared of international weapons or troops, Mikati said Oct. 18 that the Lebanese government was "surprised by this stance ".
This "represents a clear interference in Lebanese affairs and an attempt to establish a rejected guardianship over Lebanon," he said in an interview with the French newspaper Le Figaro.
(Radio Free Europe)
Chief of the General Staff of the Israeli army, Herzi Halevi, said today that Israeli forces have killed around 1.500 Hezbollah operatives since the conflict with the Lebanese organization escalated.
He said that Hezbollah continues to shrink, as today the pro-Iranian Shiite organization announced that the war with Israel is entering a new phase.
"We are very determined to hit Hezbollah as hard as possible. We have eliminated their entire chain of command," the Israeli army chief said, referring to airstrikes that killed Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah and other top leaders.
Halevi claims that Hezbollah is hiding victims, dead commanders, and that it is estimated that around 1.500 operatives were killed, and that the estimates are lower and that there are certainly more killed in dozens of airstrikes.
The head of the Israeli army also said that Hezbollah continues to surrender and that says a lot about its morale and level of fighting.
He claims that Iran, which supports Hezbollah, does not understand what is happening with that organization, even though it is its main ally that it relies on, Israeli media reported.
Tonight it was announced that in the past day alone, around 60 Hezbollah operatives have been killed in fighting in southern Lebanon and airstrikes.
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White House spokesman John Kirby said today that slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was the main obstacle to establishing a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and that his killing was a "tipping point" that could speed up talks on ending the war.
"We believe, we continue to believe, that finding an end to the war is critical and we also believe that the death of Sinvar can provide the tipping point to get there," Kirby said, according to Reuters.
Kirby said that the cease-fire negotiations brokered by the US, Qatar and Egypt are not underway and that there is no deadline for a new start.
"I wish I could tell you today that the teams are meeting again in Doha and we're starting again," Kirby said, adding that it hasn't gotten there yet.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been criticized for blocking a ceasefire agreement by insisting on Israeli control of the "Philadefi Corridor" between Gaza and Egypt and the "Necarim Corridor" in central Gaza.
Hamas demanded a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Sinwar was the main organizer of the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which triggered the Gaza War. He was killed on Wednesday by Israeli soldiers in Rafah, the southernmost city in the Palestinian territory.
The killing of Sinvar is a great success for Israel and a key moment in the year-long war, according to Israeli media.
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The situation in the Gaza Strip is inhumane, and almost all the inhabitants of the Palestinian enclave are hungry, said the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
"The WHO calls for immediate access to all humanitarian aid, starting with food and medicine for severely malnourished children who need urgent treatment," Gebrejesus said.
He stated on the X social network that the WHO continues to call for a ceasefire, because "peace is the best medicine".
Israel has maintained a blockade of Gaza since 2006, turning the region into what many describe as the world's largest open-air prison, Anadolia reports.
Israel's attacks on Gaza began after a cross-border attack on Israel by the Palestinian group Hamas on October 7 last year.
Israel continues its attacks despite a UN Security Council Resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.
More than 42,4 people were killed in the conflicts, mostly women and children, and over 99,1 were injured.
The Israeli attack has displaced almost the entire population of the Gaza Strip amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.
Because of its actions in Gaza, Israel is facing a charge of genocide before the International Court of Justice.
(MINE)
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he hoped the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar would open the door to a truce and the release of Israeli hostages.
He spoke in Berlin together with his American counterpart, Joseph Biden, whose visit Scholz described as a strong signal of transatlantic unity, the Guardian reports.
The director of one of the few functioning hospitals in northern Gaza said the hospital was overwhelmed by the number of incoming patients, with exhausted staff running out of medical supplies and food.
"This is a catastrophic situation in every sense of the word, given the lack of capacity, supplies, tools and medical methods," Dr. Husam Abu Safija, director of Kamal Advan Hospital, said in a video message to CNN.
Abu Safiya noted that the number of people being treated after an Israeli airstrike on a school serving as a shelter for displaced people in the Jabaliya refugee camp, in which health officials said nearly 30 people were killed, has strained the intensive care unit. during the past day.
"From yesterday until this moment, no one slept. A large number of people came to us because of the massacre," said Abu Safija.
In addition, the hospital is dealing with a number of babies being born prematurely due to the stress and "psychological pressure" on pregnant women caused by heavy bombardment in northern Gaza.
The Israeli army has called on residents of 23 villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate tens of kilometers to the north, across the Awali River, which flows from the western Beka Valley into the Mediterranean, as it steps up attacks in the region.
Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim confirmed the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, saying it was "painful and excruciating" but that the group "will win in the end."
The statement is the first public confirmation by a Hamas official of the killing of Sinwar.
Naim said Hamas has become "stronger and more popular" with each killing of previous leaders.
"Yes, it is very painful and painful to lose loved ones, especially an extraordinary leader like Jahja Sinvar, but what we are sure of is that we will win in the end; that is the outcome for all the people who fought for their freedom," he said. Namely.
"Israel seems to believe that killing our leaders means the end of our movement and the struggle of the Palestinian people ... they can believe what they want, and this is not the first time they have said that," he added.
Israel's military said it killed two "terrorists" who crossed the border into Israel from Jordan on Friday, while a third fled the scene.
"Two terrorists who crossed from Jordan into Israeli territory, south of the Dead Sea, were eliminated by IDF (Israeli army) soldiers," the statement said, according to the Guardian.
In an updated statement, the IDF said additional fighters had been sent to "reinforce the area," adding that the army was searching the area for a third fighter "who probably fled the scene of the incident."
In a rare public condemnation, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati called Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf's statements "obvious interference" in Lebanon's internal affairs.
Ghalibaf told French newspaper Le Figaro on Thursday that Tehran was ready to negotiate with France on a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel in Lebanon, including the implementation of a UN resolution that ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.
Mikati said Lebanon was "surprised" by Iran's stance, which "represents clear interference in Lebanese affairs and an attempt to impose tutelage over Lebanon," reports CNN.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi led a delegation to Beirut earlier this month that included Ghalibaf. The delegation met with Mikati during the visit, which came a week after the Israeli military killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Israeli airstrikes killed several Lebanese citizens and injured others across Lebanon this morning, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported, without specifying the number of casualties.
Reports say that several civilians have died in the town of Ansar, a village in southern Lebanon, as a result of Israeli attacks. Wafa reported that the attacks also targeted various towns, including Al Duwajr, Dabal, Hanin and Ramiya.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said today that United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres "did not welcome" the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, as he refused to declare the armed group a terrorist organization after October 7.
"Guterres runs an extreme anti-Israel and anti-Jewish agenda. We will continue to label him persona non grata and ban him from entering Israel," Katz wrote on the X social network.
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At least five people were killed in new Israeli attacks on targets in the Gaza Strip, reported the Agence France-Presse this morning.
The Civil Defense said there were several airstrikes during the night.
Three children were among the dead.
The army said it was continuing operations in Jabalia, in the north of the Palestinian territory, where it says Hamas is trying to rebuild its forces.
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Israeli daily Haaretz reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with ministers and heads of security agencies around noon in Tel Aviv.
Among the topics of discussion will be how the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar will affect negotiations on the release of hostages held in Gaza.
In a Telegram post, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said it shelled the Zvulun test site, north of the Israeli city of Haifa, this morning with a "large volley of rockets."
The Israeli army announced that it had killed the commander of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, Muhammad Hasin Ramal.
Ramal, the commander of the Tayba area, was responsible for "many terrorist attacks" against Israel and Israeli soldiers, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Hezbollah has not yet spoken out.
The IDF also said it had carried out strikes on more than 150 targets in Gaza and Lebanon over the past day, including weapons depots, underground tunnels, sniper positions, observation posts and "terrorist operatives".
Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that children are among the civilians killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza overnight and in the morning.
They say the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said it found the bodies of children after a house was hit in a rocket attack northwest of Gaza City.
Two people were reportedly killed after being shot by Israeli soldiers in the Wadi al-Arjes area, southeast of Gaza City.
Earlier in the night, more casualties were reported after Israeli airstrikes targeted a house in Al Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City. Medical sources have confirmed the arrival of several bodies, including those of children, as a result of the bombing of the Al Kudairi family's house, according to Wafa.
Israeli naval forces also opened fire on the western areas of the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip.
Israel's elite Givati Brigade joined expanded operations in the Jabalia area of northern Gaza overnight, nearly two weeks after launching a new ground operation against an alleged resurgence of Hamas.
"During the past day, ground troops and the Israeli Air Force eliminated dozens of terrorists in close combat and airstrikes, and dismantled terrorist infrastructure in the area," the Israel Defense Forces said, according to CNN.
Nearly 30 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a school in the Jabalia refugee camp, which was housing displaced people, local health officials said Thursday. The IDF said it carried out an attack on a command and control center of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which was housed in a compound that had previously served as a school.
The IDF also said Israeli troops hit a military structure in central Gaza from which the militants were operating.
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