US envoy Amos Hochstein discusses Israel-Lebanon ceasefire deal with officials in Beirut

The Lebanese health ministry Tuesday said the death toll from Israeli attacks on the country since October 8, 2023 has reached 3,544, with over 15,000 wounded.

It recorded 28 deaths and 107 injuries on Monday.

Italy's Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said that Israel on Tuesday staged an "intolerable" new attack on the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon.

"Today there was a new attack. Three rockets fell on Chamaa. It is intolerable," the minister said on the sidelines of EU talks in Brussels. The UNIFIL force has complained of increasing attacks by Israel since it started its campaign targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The U.S. on Tuesday imposed sanctions on six senior Hamas officials, the U.S. Treasury Department said.

The Treasury Department said in a statement the sanctions targeted the group's representatives abroad, a senior member of the Hamas military wing and those involved in supporting fundraising efforts for the group and weapons smuggling into Gaza.

Among those targeted was Abd al-Rahman Ismail Abd al-Rahman Ghanimat, a longtime member of Hamas' military wing who is now based in Turkey, the Treasury said, accusing him of being involved in multiple attempted and "successful terrorist attacks."

Two other officials based in Turkey, a member based in Gaza who has participated in Hamas' engagements with Russia and a leader authorised to speak publicly on behalf of the group and who previously oversaw border crossings at Gaza were also among those targeted, according to the Treasury.

France's defence minister on Tuesday urged the wealthy Gulf states to find ways to bolster Lebanon's armed forces, saying they will be crucial for securing border areas after Israel's war with Hezbollah.

As efforts towards a ceasefire increase, Sebastien Lecornu told AFP that the Gulf monarchies, rich from oil and gas, should consider "operational support" for the Lebanese forces.

"I have reiterated to each counterpart that we need them to support the Lebanese armed forces," Lecornu said after visits to Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

"Both in the central role they play in welfare matters, and in the security aspect. We will have to think about more operational support on the military side."

Lecornu was speaking in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi before meeting President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed at the end of his three-country tour.

Yemen's Houthi military spokesperson says the group attacked a vessel in the Red Sea.

The Israeli army announced on Tuesday afternoon that one soldier has been "killed in combat" in Lebanon. 

According to the Times of Israel, the Israeli army reservist was killed in southern Lebanon this morning. 

He has been named as Sgt. Omer Moshe Gaeldor. An initial Israeli army probe said he and three other soldiers were hit with an explosive-laden drone launched by Hezbollah during an operation. 

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi welcomed his new Syrian counterpart Bassam al-Sabbagh in Tehran on Tuesday, the latest in a series of meetings between top officials from the close allies.

Sabbagh is in Tehran for his first visit since taking up his post in September to meet Iranian officials, local media reported.

The Syrian top diplomat and Araghchi attended a joint press conference later in the day where the Iranian foreign minister reaffirmed Iran's support for Syria and allied groups in the region.

Araghchi said that "the Islamic republic of Iran will always be on the side of Syria and the axis of resistance," a group of Iran-backed groups aligned against Israel, including Lebanon's Hezbollah and Hamas.

He said the country would "not hesitate to provide any support" to the groups.

Israeli forces shot and killed three members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad on Tuesday during an armed raid on Qabatiya in the occupied West Bank. 

The group confirmed the killings and said it took place as they confronted Israeli forces who stormed the area. 

Israel did not immediately comment on the killings.

Hezbollah said it launched missiles at a military intelligence base near Tel Aviv on Tuesday and attacked Israeli troops near four south Lebanon villages as a US envoy visited Beirut for ceasefire talks.

Hezbollah statements said its fighters fired "a salvo of missiles" at the Glilot military base in the Tel Aviv suburbs, as well as targeted Israeli troops in four locations including near the Lebanese flashpoint village of Khiam, as US envoy Amos Hochstein held talks in Beirut seeking an end to the war.

The Israeli military claimed that it killed a commander in Hezbollah who headed the group's medium-range missile system.

It identified the commander as Ali Tawfiq Doueiq, and said that it killed him in south Lebanon's Kfarjoz, next to the city of Nabatiyeh.

The Israeli military said Tuesday 11 of its soldiers had been wounded in battle in southern Lebanon in the past 24 hours.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi welcomed his new Syrian counterpart Bassam al-Sabbagh in Tehran on Tuesday, the latest in a series of meetings between top officials from the close allies.

Sabbagh is in Tehran for his first visit since taking up his post in September to meet Iranian officials, local media reported.

The Syrian top diplomat and Araghchi attended a joint press conference later in the day where the Iranian foreign minister reaffirmed Iran's support for Syria and allied groups in the region.

Araghchi said that "the Islamic Republic of Iran will always be on the side of Syria and the axis of resistance," a group of Iran-backed groups aligned against Israel, including Lebanon's Hezbollah and Palestinian group Hamas.

He said the country would "not hesitate to provide any support" to the groups.

Sabbagh's visit comes less than a week after Ali Larijani, a senior adviser to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, visited Syria and met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The head of Lebanon's Hezbollah group, Naim Qassem, has postponed a speech set for Tuesday to a later time, Hezbollah's media office said.

US special envoy Amos Hochstein said he was in Beirut on Tuesday because he saw "a real opportunity" to end the Israel-Hezbollah war raging for two months after more than a year of clashes.

"I came back because we have a real opportunity to bring this conflict to an end," he told reporters after meeting Hezbollah-allied parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri, who has led mediation on behalf of the group.

"This is a moment of decision making. I'm here in Beirut to facilitate that decision, but it's ultimately the decision of the parties to reach a conclusion to this conflict," he said. "It is now within our grasp."

He later met with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

A mosque in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip was allegedly set on fire by Israeli forces, local media said.

Images of the Badr Mosque in flames were shared online

Badr Mosque in the city of Rafah, southern Gaza, has been set on fire by the Israeli occupation army, according to local sources. pic.twitter.com/N2btBAi37H

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) November 19, 2024

The head of Lebanon's Hezbollah group, Naim Qassem, will give a speech on Tuesday, Hezbollah's media office said, minutes after U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein said there was a "real opportunity" to end the conflict between the Iran-backed armed group and Israel.

US envoy Amos Hochstein said he held "very constructive talks" with Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, adding that "this is a moment of decision making."

Hamas negotiators are "not in Doha" but the Palestinian group's office there has not been permanently closed, Qatar said on Tuesday.

"The leaders of Hamas that are within the negotiating team are now not in Doha," foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said, adding: "The decision to... close down the office permanently, is a decision that you will hear about from us directly."

A man was shot at an Israeli police checkpoint in the Shu'afat camp northeast of Jerusalem, Israeli media said.

A man could be seen laying on the ground, but it was not immediately clear if he was killed or just wounded.

الاحتلال يطلق النار تجاه شاب عند حاجز مخيم شعفاط شمال القدس المحتلة ويتركه ينزف ويمنع الإسعاف من الوصول إليه. pic.twitter.com/4CL9wKFBIx

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) November 19, 2024

Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed at least 43,972 Palestinians and wounded 104,008 since October 7, 2023, the Palestinian enclave's health ministry said on Tuesday.

Three Palestinians were killed on Tuesday during an Israel military operation in the occupied West Bank near Jenin, said the governor of the region, citing local authorities.

"There are three bodies of martyrs that are now with the Israeli side, after they killed them," Kamal Abu al-Rub said, citing the District Coordination Office. The Israeli military has yet to comment on the operation.

UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said the peacekeeping mission's monitoring capacity is "very, very limited" due to the ongoing war, and reported damage to its towers.

Israel has directly targeted UNIFIL members and their installations numerous times since last month.

The UN said Tuesday that over 200 children have been killed in Lebanon in the less than two months since Israel escalated its attacks on the country.

"Despite more than 200 children killed in Lebanon in less than two months, a disconcerting pattern has emerged: their deaths are met with inertia from those able to stop this violence," James Elder, spokesman for the UN children's agency UNICEF, told reporters in Geneva.

"Over the last two months in Lebanon, an average of three children have been killed every single day," he said.

Argentina has notified the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon that it is withdrawing three of its officers, a UNIFIL spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday.

"Correct. Argentina has asked its officers to go back," said Andrea Tenenti, UNIFIL spokesperson, in response to a question about a newspaper report. He declined to comment on the reason for their departure, referring the question to the Argentinian government.

An Israeli soldier was reportedly killed in battle in southern Lebanon Tuesday morning, Israeli media said.

Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan emphasised that the ongoing Israeli wars on Gaza and Lebanon has caused unprecedented levels of human suffering, pushing the region to the brink of a wider war and undermining the credibility of international law and institutions.

He made his comments at the G20 summit in Brazil on Monday.

The Israeli military said on Tuesday that some 40 projectiles were fired from Lebanon into central and northern Israel, with first responders reporting that four people were lightly injured by shrapnel.

"Following sirens that sounded between 09:50 and 09:51 in the Upper Galilee, Western Galilee, and Central Galilee areas, approximately 25 projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israel. Some of the projectiles were intercepted and fallen projectiles were identified in the area," the military said in a statement.

That announcement followed earlier reports that some 15 projectiles fired that set of air raid sirens.

A spokesperson for Israeli first responders said that in central Israel it found "four individuals with light injuries from glass shards.... They were injured while in a concrete building where the windows shattered."

The Israeli police said they were searching the impact sites from projectiles intercepted by Israel's air defence systems but did not report any serious damage.

Israeli forces demolished a mosque in Jabal Mukaber in occupied East Jerusalem on Tuesday, Palestinian media reported.

الاحتلال يهدم مسجد الشياح في بلدة جبل المكبر بالقدس المحتلة ويحوله إلى ركام. pic.twitter.com/loprY772FN

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) November 19, 2024

Dozens of far-right Israeli settlers stormed the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem on Tuesday, reported Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, carrying out religious rituals and provoking worshippers. The storming happened under the protection of Israeli police.

Three Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces Tuesday morning after being trapped in a building for hours in the Mothalath al-Shohada village south of Jenin in the occupied West Bank.

The killing came after Israeli troops stormed the village in the early hours of Tuesday and clashed with Palestinian fighters.

Videos were shared online of the besieged building in which the Palestinian men were trapped before being killed.

Israeli bulldozers were also seen destroying infrastructure in other parts of Jenin, local media said.

#فيديو | بعد سحب الاحتلال جثامينهم.. جرافة الاحتلال تواصل هدم المنزل الذي تحصن فيه الشهداء وخاضوا اشتباكهم الأخير فيه في قرية مثلث الشهداء جنوب جنين. pic.twitter.com/AIrP1LbHrV

— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) November 19, 2024

Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Monday called on the UN Security Council to pressure Iraq's government to end attacks by "pro-Iranian militias" on Israel.

"This evening I sent a letter to the president of the UN Security Council in which I called for immediate action regarding the activity of the pro-Iranian militias in Iraq, whose territory is being used to attack Israel", Saar said in a post on X that featured a copy of the letter.

Warning that Israel has the right to defend itself under the UN charter, Saar said that Iraq "is responsible under international law to prevent the use of its territory as a base for attacks against other nations."

"Israel calls on the Iraqi government to fulfill this obligation and to take immediate action to halt and prevent these attacks," Saar added.

Saar said Israel would take "all necessary measures to protect itself and its citizens" from Iran-backed militias.

Israel's Foreign Minister Gidon Saar on Tuesday praised the European Union's decision to widen sanctions on Iran, calling it "necessary" to combat the threats from Iran.

In a post on X, Saar wrote that the fresh EU sanctions announced on Monday, imposed over Iran's support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which Iran denies, were "necessary steps in the international community's fight against the Iranian threat, which constitutes the greatest danger to the security and stability of the Middle East, Europe, and the entire world."

Sirens were activated in central Israel on Tuesday after around five projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory, the Israeli army said.

"Following the sirens that sounded in the areas of Dan, Sharon and Menashe [central Israel], approximately five projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory. Some projectiles were intercepted, fallen projectiles were identified," the army said in a statement.