KEY POINTS
- Hezbollah drones launched from Lebanese territory reach Israeli beaches
- Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blasts "purpose" of new US sanctions
- United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations reports "attack" incident off Djibouti
The war in Gaza has passed 200 days, but tensions across the Middle East are still high amid escalating fire exchanges in the Israel-Lebanon border and attacks toward American bases in Syria from Iraq.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday announced that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has eliminated half of Hezbollah's southern Lebanon brigade commanders, adding that the remaining commanders have gone into hiding.
- IDF says it attacked 40 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon
- Pelosi slams Netanyahu's Gaza offensive policies, calls for his resignation
- Anti-tank missiles from Lebanon damage 2 homes in northern Israel, causes fire
- IDF footage shows large, successive blasts in its strikes targeting Hezbollah posts in Ayta ash-Shab
- Yahya Sinwar was recently aboveground, held inspections and spoke with Hamas fighters: Report
- Israeli army spokesperson denies claims IDF buried bodies at Nasser Hospital
- Israel prepares tens of thousands of tents ahead of Rafah evacuation: Report
- Hamas publishes video of American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin
- Germany signals it will resume UNRWA donations after independent report
The European Union on Wednesday called for an independent investigation into reports that mass graves were unearthed at Gaza hospitals that were previously raided by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Kuwait and Jordan said in a joint statement that Middle Eastern nations should avoid military escalation. They also emphasized the need for a United Nations Security Council resolution that calls for an immediate ceasefire in the devastated Gaza Strip.
The situation in the Israeli-Lebanese border has become troublesome in recent days as Iran-backed Hezbollah continues to attack IDF bases. The Israeli army has been responding in kind, and on Wednesday reportedly launched over a dozen strikes in southern Lebanon.
Talks for a truce plan in Gaza have stalled following escalated tensions between Iran and Israel earlier this month, but a senior Hamas source on Wednesday denied reports that the Palestinian terror group only had fewer than 20 hostages to release in the first phase of a temporary ceasefire.
Hostilities in Gaza were triggered by Hamas' Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, but fighting in the Israel-Palestine conflict has been ongoing for decades. Multiple global leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, have floated a two-state solution to hopefully put an end to the conflict.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, has repeatedly rejected a unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood despite increasing international pressure.
The live update has ended.
Germany signals it will resume UNRWA funding
Germany on Wednesday signaled it will resume funding for the UN's aid agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) after it suspended donations to the agency earlier this year.
The European nation was just one of many countries that halted funding to UNRWA after an Israeli exposé that accused 12 UNRWA staffers of being involved in Hamas' Oct. 7 massacre in Israel.
An independent body that reviewed the agency said in a report published Tuesday it did find "neutrality-related issues" in UNRWA's system but Israel has not yet provided proof of terrorism among the personnel.
