Summary of the day so far …
It is 5pm in Beirut, Tel Aviv and Gaza City, and 6pm in Damascus
Israel’s defense minister Israel Katz has threatened that if the ceasefire in Lebanon collapses, Israel’s forces “will no longer” differentiate “between Lebanon and Hezbollah”. Katz, who was visiting the north of Israel, threatened “if we return to war we will act strongly, we will go deeper, and the most important thing they need to know, that there will be no longer be an exemption for the state of Lebanon”
Lebanon’s National News Agency has reported that caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati has held a series of diplomatic meetings today in which he “stressed … the priority of stabilising the situation for the return of the displaced to their towns and regions and expanding the army’s deployment in the south”
Israel’s military has reiterated its order prohibiting Lebanese civilians from returning to their homes in dozens of villages in the south of Lebanon
In Syria insurgents fighting forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have launched attacks in the central province of Hama, threatening to cut off government troops from a key route linking the capital, Damascus, with rebel-held Aleppo. The army was engaging in “violent confrontations” with armed groups in Hama, the Syrian state news agency, Sana, reported
Health services are no longer functioning in the Syrian city of Idlib after a series of airstrikes on key hospitals damaged intensive care units and specialised services, doctors said. At least two intensive care patients have died because of power and oxygen shortages caused by the airstrikes, according to the rescue group White Helmets, and hospitals have had to evacuate patients or move them into basements
Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that Israeli security forces have raided the Turkish governmental hospital in Tubas in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Pictures sent over the news wires from the scene appear to show Israeli troops detaining Palestinians. Wafa claimed the Israeli forces “arrested a number of citizens, including a doctor”
The Hamas-led health authority in Gaza has issued new casualty figures for the conflict, stating that in the last 24 hours, 36 people have been killed and 96 injured in Israeli attacks. It claims the total death toll in Gaza since 7 October 2023 now stands at 44,502 Palestinians killed and 105,454 injured
Reuters reports that, in an Ankara readout of a call between them, president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told Iraqi prime minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Tuesday that Turkey’s priority was keeping calm borders, and that Syria’s government needs to engage in a real political process to de-escalate events in its north.
Erdoğan also reportedly told Sudani during the call that Turkey valued Syria’s territorial integrity, unity and stability, and that that Ankara wanted to avoid civilian deaths.
Turkey has frequently been accused of destabilising northern Syria due to its ongoing conflict with Kurdish separatist forces that Turkey defines as terrorists.
