This blog is closing now. You can read our full report on the latest Israeli attacks on Lebanon here and our report on the latest Israeli attacks on Gaza here. And here’s a summary of the latest key developments:
Israel launched a wave of attacks on buildings belonging to al-Qard al-Hassan, a Hezbollah-run banking system that provides loans and banking services primarily to people who live in areas where Hezbollah is popular. Lebanon’s National News Agency reported 11 strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs. Other strikes hit the association in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley and in the country’s south, NNA added. One strike hit close to Beirut’s airport.
Israel may be causing the “destruction of the Palestinian population in Gaza’s northernmost governate through death and displacement” with its latest military campaign there, the UN’s human rights office (OHCHR) said. The Israeli military (IDF) has made life in north Gaza “impossible” for Palestinians, many of whom were already facing starvation, while also ordering their displacement and preventing supplies from entering, it said.
Several Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured late on Sunday when Israeli airstrikes hit two schools housing displaced people in Jabalia, the area in northern Gaza that Israel has placed under siege for more than two weeks. Other deadly Israeli attacks took place in Beit Lahia and Gaza City’s al-Tuffah neighbourhood, both in northern Gaza, and in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Israeli forces have “deliberately demolished an observation tower and perimeter fence of a UN position in Marwahin,” Unifil said on Sunday. The UN peacekeeping mission added: “Yet again, we remind the IDF and all actors of their obligations to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and property and to respect the inviolability of UN premises at all times.”
The US government is investigating an unauthorized release of classified documents that assess Israel’s plans to attack Iran. The US House speaker, Mike Johnson, confirmed the investigation in remarks to CNN’s State of the Union program on Sunday, saying “the leak is very concerning.”
Medecins Sans Frontieres has condemned Israel’s siege on the last remaining hospitals in Gaza, saying: “This is purely and simply a collective punishment imposed on Palestinians in Gaza, who must choose between being forcibly displaced from the North or killed. We fear that this will not stop.”
Hezbollah said on Sunday that it launched rockets at Haifa in Israel following the latest Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon, Agence France-Presse reports. According to the group, its fighters launched a “rocket salvo” at the “city of Haifa,” adding that it was “in response to the aggressions on [Beirut’s] southern suburbs” from Sunday morning.
Top Israeli officials have discussed “new ideas” regarding a deal to free hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, the Times of Israel is reporting, citing prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesperson.
The spokesperson’s statement came at the end of an eight-hour meeting that began at 7.30pm according to the paper, which added that it was held in the defence ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv.
The paper said it had been told by an official ahead of the meeting that it would focus on how to “wrap up” the war in Gaza after the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar last week. The official described Sinwar’s body as “another bargaining chip” in negotiations, according to the Times.
However that description of the meeting was not confirmed by Netanyahu’s office, with an official earlier saying:“We are continuing to pressure Hamas militarily … You can see the effects in Jabaliya. We are continuing to kill Hamas members. We are pushing for a psychological collapse.”
It was earlier reported that the meeting was to focus on a potential Israeli strike on Iran.
