Israel bombards Lebanon's Baalbek as Biden advisers seek deal

Israeli military says it downed drone smuggling weapons

Israel's military said on Thursday it shot down a drone smuggling weapons from Egyptian territory to Israel on Wednesday.

Israeli officials have said during the war that Palestinian armed group Hamas used tunnels running under the border into Egypt's Sinai region to smuggle arms.

Egypt says it destroyed tunnel networks leading to Gaza years ago and created a buffer zone and border fortifications that prevent smuggling. 

(Reuters)

Israel targets residential buildings in Qusayr

An "Israeli aggression" targeted a number of residential buildings in the area of Qusayr in the southern countryside of Homs province, in central Syria, the country's state news agency (SANA) reported on Thursday.

Israel typically does not comment on specific reports of strikes in Syria, but it has been carrying out strikes for years against what it says are Iranian-linked targets in the country. 

Hamas confirms killing of commander in Tulkarm

Hamas's armed wing, the Izz-al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, has confirmed the killing of one of its commanders in the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarm in an Israeli operation yesterday.

It said in a Telegram statement that Hossam al-Mallah, a key commander in the Tulkarm Brigade, was killed in a "cowardly Zionist assassination" in the Tulkarm refugee camp.

The Israeli army said on X that it had carried out an air strike in Nur Shams, near Tukaram, targeting a group of armed men. 

It added that it had "eliminated [...] Hassam Malach" it said was a "key operative" in Hamas involved in "planning imminent attacks".

'Violent and continuous' Israeli strikes in Lebanon

The MTV channel reported this morning "mass destruction" of residential areas in Lebanon, and a rising number of casualties in the wake of "violent and continuous Israeli strikes" in the south and in the Bekaa Valley. 

It said that that the Bekaa Valley and Baalbek had been most affected yesterday.

The L'Orient-Le Jour newspaper reported that Israeli forces had launched a "series of strikes" in Baalbek yesterday, following a call to evacuate the area. It said that thousands of people had evacuated the area, with many fleeing to the north.

Lebanese media reported yesterday that the strikes in the eastern Baalbek-Hermel region were the most violent yet.

According to Lebanon's health ministry, the strikes in Baalbek killed 19 people and injured eight others. Israel has since given new displacement orders for the city of Baalbek and the surrounding area.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah announced on its Telegram channel that it had confronted the Israeli army on the southern frontier, targeting "gatherings of Israeli soldiers" with missile salvoes. 

It also said it had launched rockets overnight targeting several areas in northern Israel.

Hamas official says group rejects short-term Gaza truce

A senior Hamas official said Thursday that the group rejects any proposal for a temporary halt to more than a year of fighting in Gaza and insists on a lasting ceasefire.

"The idea of a temporary pause in the war, only to resume aggression later, is something we have already expressed our position on. Hamas supports a permanent end to the war, not a temporary one," Taher al-Nunu, a senior leader of the movement, told AFP.

Israel orders new displacement order for Baalbek

The Israeli military Arabic language spokesperson has given displacement orders on the Lebanese city of Baalbek and the surrounding areas for the second day in a row. 

Germany, France, UK call for renewed West Bank banking

Germany, France and Britain call for the urgent renewal of correspondent banking services between Israel and the Palestinian Territories for at least one year, the German foreign office said on Thursday.

"Failure to renew would suspend cross-border trade and be catastrophic for the Palestinian economy," the ministry said in a post on social media platform X. 

(Reuters)

Israel issues displacement orders in south Lebanon and camp

The Israeli army issued an evacuation call for several areas of south Lebanon Thursday, including a Palestinian refugee camp, warning it was poised to hit Hezbollah targets in those areas.

"Hezbollah's terrorist activities force the IDF (army) to act forcefully against it in these areas, and we do not intend to harm you," the Israeli military's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on X. Among the areas listed was Rashidieh camp, which houses thousands of Palestinian refugees.

Dozens reported killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza

Dozens of people were reportedly killed in a wave of morning airstrikes and shelling by Israel across the northern and central Gaza Strip.

According to Palestinian news agency Wafa, shelling killed civilians in Beit Lahia in the north of the enclave, which has entered the 27th day of besiegement by Israeli forces.

Wafa also reported that four people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a vehicle west of the al-Maghazi camp in the centre of the enclave.

Lebanon PM expresses hope for imminent ceasefire deal

Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati last night expressed hope for a ceasefire agreement with Israel "in the coming hours" following a phone call with US special envoy Amos Hochstein.

In an interview with Al-Jadeed TV channel, Mikati said that Hochstein had indicated the possibility of "positive" developments before the US presidential elections on 5 November.

He added that he was "cautiously optimistic" about the possibility of a truce after Hezbollah's newly appointed Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem's remarks on the matter during his speech yesterday.

Separately, the MTV channel said that it had obtained information that Hezbollah had informed parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri - who Qassem said was tasked with leading Lebanon's truce negotiations - that it had agreed to a 60-day truce.

The news has not yet been confirmed by Hezbollah. 

White House national security spokesperson Sean Savett said yesterday that reports on truce developments "do not reflect the current state of negotiations".

US officials in Israel, reports of progress on Lebanon deal

US President Joe Biden's Middle East adviser Brett McGurk and special envoy Amos Hochstein are to arrive in Israel today amid reports of progress on a deal between Israel and Lebanon that would halt fighting with Hezbollah.

The Israeli public broadcaster Kan published what it said was a draft of the ceasefire agreement, which includes the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon, who will be replaced by the Lebanese army under international supervision.

The website of Channel 12 reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a meeting on the deal last night, during which there was a "consensus among all the participants that the time was ripe" to reach an agreement.

The main point of contention now revolves around how Israel will act if Hezbollah violates the agreement and if it is not enforced by other international bodies, Channel 12 added.