Live: Three soldiers killed in Israeli strike on southern Lebanon, says army

Blinken heads to Hamas mediator Qatar on Gaza truce push

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken heads Thursday to key Hamas mediator Qatar as he seeks momentum to end the Gaza war following Israel’s killing of the group’s leader.

Two days after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Blinken was flying Thursday from Saudi Arabia to the Qatari capital Doha to hear assessments on where Hamas stands on a truce.

Blinken is paying his 11th trip to the region since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, after repeated disappointment as he seeks to end the devastating Israeli retaliatory campaign in the Gaza Strip.

Lebanese army says Israeli strike kills three soldiers in southern Lebanon

The Lebanese army said Thursday that three of its soldiers were killed by Israeli fire while carrying out a rescue operation in the south.

“The Israeli enemy targeted Lebanese army personnel in the vicinity of Yater village, in the Bint Jbeil area of the south, while carrying out an operation to evacuate wounded, which led to the deaths of three martyrs, including an officer,” an army statement said.

Israel strikes hit Syrian capital, state media says

Israel launched strikes on Syrian capital Damascus early on Thursday, the Syrian state media said, the latest such attack amid the war in Gaza.

Explosions were heard over the city after Israel targeted a residential building in the central Damascus neighbourhood of Kafr Sousa, state news agency SANA said.

It was not immediately clear if there were casualties, but the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights however said there had been “human losses”. Israel typically does not comment on specific reports of strikes in Syria.

Israel has been carrying out strikes against Iranian-linked targets in Syria for years, but it has ramped up raids since last year’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Israel claims six Al Jazeera journalists reporting in Gaza doubling as Palestinian militants

The Israeli army on Wednesday accused six Al Jazeera journalists covering the war in Gaza of also being current or former paid fighters for Palestinian militant groups. Al Jazeera rejected the claims.

Israel cited documents it purportedly found in Gaza, and other intelligence it gathered, in making the accusations against the journalists, all of whom are Palestinian men. It said four are or have been affiliated with Hamas, and two with Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Al Jazeera said the accusations were “fabricated” and “part of a wider pattern of hostility” toward the pan-Arab network.

In May, after an Israeli court ordered the closure of Al Jazeera’s operations and broadcasts within Israel, police raided a hotel room in East Jerusalem from where the network had been broadcasting live images.

US concerned by reported Israeli strikes against Lebanese army

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told his Israeli counterpart on Wednesday that Washington had deep concerns about reports of strikes against the Lebanese armed forces, the Pentagon said in a statement.

Austin also urged Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to make sure Israel takes steps to ensure the safety and security of the Lebanese armed forces and the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, the Pentagon said after their call.

UN envoy wars that neighboring conflicts could cause humanitarian ‘storm’ in Syria

“The fires of conflict are raging in the occupied Palestinian Territory, including Gaza, and in Lebanon,” Geir Pedersen, special envoy for Syria, told the UN Security Council. “And the heat is being felt in Syria too,” he added, warning “regional spillover into Syria is alarming and could get much worse.”

While Israel has for years struck Hezbollah positions in Syria, it has increased its air raids as its conflict in Lebanon expands, accusing the group of funneling weapons to Lebanon from Syria.

“The past month has seen the fastest-paced and broadest-ranging campaign of Israeli airstrikes in the last thirteen years,” Pedersen told the Security Council, adding residential areas, “even in the heart of Damascus,” have been hit.

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