Israel attacks Gaza's Kamal Adwan as fighting in south Lebanon continues

Syrian state media said an Israeli attack targeted the central city of Palmyra on Wednesday, reporting an unspecified number of wounded in the attack.

State news agency SANA said an "Israeli attack... targeted residential buildings and the industrial area" of the city, renowned for its ancient ruins, while state television reported unspecified "wounded due to the Israeli attack that targeted the city of Palmyra".

Hezbollah said its chief Naim Qassem would give a speech Wednesday, a day after cancelling a similar announcement and with US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut seeking an end to the Israel-Hezbollah war.

A statement from the Iran-backed group announced the speech by Qassem would be "today", without specifying a time.

The Israeli miliary said that a soldier has been killed in combat in north Gaza, with the commander of the Nachshon Battalion being seriously wounded in the same incident. 

The Israeli military has marked him as the 800th military death since the war started.

A UN peacekeeping patrol in Lebanon comprising French troops came under fire on Tuesday, France's foreign ministry said, adding that none of its forces were wounded in the incident.

It did not say who was responsible for the shots, but stressed that the safety and security of United Nations personnel, property and premises must be ensured.

"France reiterates that it is imperative that UNIFIL be able to exercise its freedom of movement so that it can fully implement its mandate," the foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

(Reuters)

North Gaza's Kamal Adwan hospital is still under siege by the Israeli military, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa, with medicine, food, staff and ambulances unable to enter the hospital.

According to the agency, 85 women and children are in the hospital receiving care, with six in a critical case. Likewise, the report added that there is a rise of malnutrition being registered at the hospital, with an elderly man dying from dehydration.

France's foreign minister said on Wednesday that US-led efforts for a truce between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon had created the chance for a lasting ceasefire and he called on both sides to accept a deal on the table.

"There is a window of opportunity that's opening for a lasting ceasefire in Lebanon that would allow the return of those displaced, ensure the sovereignty of Lebanon and the security of Israel," Jean-Noel Barrot told Europe 1 radio.

"I call on all sides with whom we are in close contact to seize this window."

(Reuters)

Lebanon's army said one soldier was killed Wednesday in an Israeli attack on a military vehicle, after previously reporting two personnel wounded in the incident in south Lebanon, where Israel is fighting Hezbollah.

One soldier "died of his wounds sustained due to the Israel army targeting of an army vehicle" in south Lebanon, a statement on X said, a day after the military said three soldiers were killed when Israel struck an army position.

A Hezbollah official said on Wednesday that any US-brokered ceasefire deal between the group and Israel must end fighting swiftly and must preserve Lebanon's sovereignty, an apparent reference to Israel's stance that it will keep striking the Iran-backed group even with a truce in place.

Speaking to Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV, Mahmoud Qmati said that he was neither overly optimistic nor overly pessimistic about the prospects of a truce.

(Reuters)

The Lebanese army has said that an Israeli air strike killed three of its soldiers in an attack yesterday on the southern town of Sarafand.

The army said in a brief statement that "the Israeli enemy targeted an army headquarters in the town of Sarafand, which led to the martyrdom of 3 soldiers".

Late last night, 17 others "including civilians in the surrounding area" were injured in the strike, NNA reported.

This latest incident comes just two days after two Lebanese soldiers were killed in an Israeli strike that hit an army post in the southern town of Mari in Hasbaya district.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shiaa al-Sudani has described an Israeli complaint to the UN Security Council regarding attacks by armed groups in the country as a pretext to attack his country.

"These accusations are nothing more than pretexts aimed at justifying a planned aggression against Iraq by those authorities, as part of a new step aimed at expanding the scope of the regional conflict," Shafaq News website quoted Sudani as saying yesterday.

He ordered the military and the security forces "to prevent and pursue any military activity outside the framework of the state's control".

Since the start of the Gaza war, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI) has claimed it launched dozens of drone and missile attacks targeting areas inside Israel.