Closing summary
We’re closing our Middle East crisis liveblog now after a day in which Israel and Hezbollah traded fire in Lebanon, five days after a ceasefire was declared in the conflict.
Here’s what we’ve been following:
Hezbollah said it launched two rockets near a watchtower in the occupied Shebaa farms earlier on Monday night. They landed in an open area and caused no injuries. In a statement, the group said the attack on the watchtowers was an “initial warning defensive response” against “repeated violations” by Israel of the ceasefire agreement.
In response, Israel said it targeted “dozens of targets” in southern Lebanon, claiming to have struck “Hezbollah terrorists, dozens of launchers, and terrorist infrastructure” across the country. “Israel demands that the relevant parties in Lebanon fulfill their responsibilities and prevent Hezbollah’s hostile activity,” the army said in a statement.
US officials said they believed the ceasefire, announced last Wednesday, had not broken down. “If we do see violations of the ceasefire, we’ll go to the parties and tell them to knock it off,” state department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters at an afternoon briefing.
But the UN peacekeeping force, United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil), told CNN through an unnamed source said Israel has been serially in breach of the ceasefire agreement. The source said “approximately 100” incidents have been recorded.
Please keep following the Guardian’s news coverage for the latest developments in the Middle East crisis.
Updated
Trump: 'Hell to pay' if hostages not released
Donald Trump is promising “there will be all hell to pay” in the Middle East if hostages still being held in Gaza by Hamas are not released by his inauguration on 20 January.
The president-elect made the statement in a post to his Truth Social network, but did not elaborate on what the threat entailed, other than to say those responsible would be “hit harder than anybody has been hit”.
Here’s Trump’s statement in full, random capital letters included:
Everybody is talking about the hostages who are being held so violently, inhumanely, and against the will of the entire World, in the Middle East - But it’s all talk, and no action!
Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity. Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW!
According to the Washington Post, there were believed to be 63 hostages still alive in Gaza as of 26 November. One of them, Israeli-American Omer Neutra, was reported killed Monday having previously thought to have been a hostage.
Updated
