Israeli strikes on Gaza, Lebanon press on after Hamas leader Sinwar's death

The Israeli military Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adree issued a new set of evacution orders for more than 20 villages in south Lebanon, urging people to leave for their own safety and claiming Hezbollah facilties are nearby.

Adree named the following villages: Qozah, Beit Lif, Yater, Jabal al-Batm, Zebqin, Marouhin, Sheheen, Umm Tuta, Bustan, al-Zalutiya, Yarin, al-Dhahiriya, Matmoura, Majdal Zun, Shamaa, Tayr Harfa, Abu Shash, al-Jabbin, Biyadh, al-Mansouri, Kafr, Alma al-Shaab, al-Naqoura.

"The IDF has no intention of harming you. For your own safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and move to the north of the Awali River," Adree said.

Israel has repeatedly called on residents to leave homes, mainly in south Lebanon and Beirut's suburbs. It has triggered a major displacement crisis with more than 1.2 million people internally displaced, according to UN reports.

The Lebanese government has said that a quarter of the country is now under evacuation orders.

Egyptian officials have been holding talks with French, US and Saudi counterparts to discuss the need for "de-escalation" in the Lebanon-Israel conflict.

Discussions have been around the need to pressure Israel to stop attacking civilian areas outside of southern Lebanon. Over the past week, there have been huge air strikes on locations in the east and north of the country, including a strike on the Christian village of Aitou which killed 23 people, with women and children among the dead.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in Cairo on Thursday as part of plans to persuade allies to put pressure on Israel from launching a large-scale retaliation on Iran.

US bomber aircraft conducting strikes on underground bunkers in Yemen this week flew through Australian air space in a demonstration of military interoperability, Australian officials said on Friday.

The United States said it carried out strikes on Wednesday against five underground weapons storage facilities in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, in a strike that used long range B-2 stealth bombers against the Iran-aligned group for the first time.

Australia provided support for the US airstrikes, an Australian defence official said in a statement.

"Australia provided support for US strikes conducted on 17 October 2024 targeting Houthi facilities in Yemen, through access and overflight for U.S. aircraft in northern Australia," the statement said.

"This support is consistent with our long-standing alliance commitment and close cooperation, demonstrating the interoperability of our militaries," it added.

Lebanon's caretaker prime minister said on Friday he rejected Iranian interference in a Lebanese matter, after the speaker of Iran's parliament said Tehran was ready to negotiate with France on implementing a UN resolution concerning southern Lebanon.

UN Resolution 1701, adopted in 2006, calls for the border area of southern Lebanon to be free of weapons or troops other than those of the Lebanese state, with the aim of keeping peace on the border with Israel.

The speaker of Iran's parliament, Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf, made his comments in an interview published on Thursday.

"We are surprised by this position, which constitutes a blatant interference in Lebanese affairs and an attempt to establish a rejected guardianship over Lebanon," a government statement quoted Prime Minister Najib Mikati as saying.

Mikati added that negotiating to implement UN resolution 1701 was a matter for the Lebanese state.

(Reuters)

The Israeli army said on Friday that its troops "neutralized" a number of "terrorists" who crossed from Jordan into Israeli territory south of the Dead Sea.

In a statement it said further searches in the area were ongoing and more details would follow. This would be an unusual incursion into Israel from Jordan, which shares a border crossing with Israel and the West Bank.

Palestinian news outlet Quds News Network reported that two Israeli soldiers were injured in a shooting incident along the border with Jordan.

Israeli army said operations are ongoing in Jabalia in north Gaza which has been beset by intense fighting for the past week.

The army said its troops from the Givati Combat Team and air force "eliminated dozens of terrorists in close-quarters encounters" and aerial attacks. It said it also struck a site in central Gaza.

Israel says it killed Hezbollah commander Muhammad Hassin Ramal in southern Lebanon strike. It also claimed to have located weapons used by the group, including "sniper rifles, combat equipment and a Burkan-2 rocket launcher".

Hezbollah said on Friday it shelled a group of Israeli troops on the outskirts of Kafr Kila after "monitoring their movements".

Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group says it is entering a new phase in its fight against invading Israeli troops, adding that it has introduced new weapons over the past days.

A statement from the group’s operations room early Friday said that Hezbollah’s fighters have used new types of precision-guided missiles and explosive drones for the first time.

The statement appears to refer to a drone laden with explosives that evaded Israel’s multilayered air-defense system and slammed into a mess hall at a military training camp deep inside Israel, killing four soldiers and wounding dozens.

The group also announced earlier this week that it fired a new type of missile called Qader 2 toward the suburbs of Tel Aviv.

The statement also said that Hezbollah’s air defense units shot down this week two Israeli Hermes 450 drones.

Hezbollah said its fighters are working according to “plans prepared in advance” to battle invading Israeli troops in several parts of south Lebanon.

Iran’s Mission to the United Nations issued a statement honouring Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, after Israel said Thursday he had been killed in fighting:

"When US forces dragged a disheveled Saddam Hussein out of an underground hole, he begged them not to kill him despite being armed. Those who regarded Saddam as their model of resistance eventually collapsed. However when Muslims look up to martyr Sinwar standing on the battlefield — in combat attire and out in the open, not in a hideout, facing the enemy — the spirit of resistance will be strengthened. He will become a model for the youth and children who will carry forth his path for the liberation of Palestine. As long as occupation and aggression exist, resistance will endure, for the martyr remains alive and a source of inspiration."

Iran and Iraq fought a brutal war in the 1980s that began when Hussein launched an invasion of Iran. It killed more than 1 million people on both sides.