EU says ‘race against time’ to avoid Lebanon ‘conflagration’
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Friday said the international community must speed up efforts for a political solution to end the fighting in Lebanon and prevent a “conflagration”.
In a statement released the day after a conference on aid for Lebanon in France, Borrell said the first step needed was a “ceasefire” between Israel and Hezbollah.
“We are currently engaged in a race against time between the possible start of a political process in Lebanon and a generalised conflagration with incalculable consequences,” Borrell said.
“Without a suspension of hostilities, nothing will be possible,” he said.
Israeli army says five soldiers killed in south Lebanon
The Israeli army said on Friday that five soldiers were killed and two others seriously wounded in fighting in southern Lebanon.
The soldiers “fell during combat in southern Lebanon” the previous day, the army said in a statement, bringing the total number of Israeli soldiers killed in Lebanon to 32 since the start of the ground operation on September 30.
Gaza rescuers say at least 20 killed in Israeli strikes on Khan Yunis
Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli air strikes hit two homes at dawn on Friday in Khan Yunis, the territory’s main southern city, killing at least 20 people.
Fourteen people were killed in a strike that hit the home of the Al-Fara family, and another six were killed in a separate air raid, according to agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal.
Lebanon minister says Israel strike puts second Syria crossing out of service
Lebanon’s Transport minister said Friday that Israeli bombing put a second border crossing between the country and Syria out of service — leaving one official passage between the two nations operational.
“The Qaa crossing has been put out of service after an Israeli strike on Syrian territory, hundreds of metres from Syrian border guards,” Ali Hamieh told AFP, adding that the strike blocked the passage of vehicles.
Lebanon says Israel’s killing of three journalists a ‘war crime’
Lebanon’s Information Minister Ziad Makary accused Israel on Friday of intentionally targeting journalists in a strike on the country’s south that killed three journalists, which he described as a “war crime”.
“The Israeli enemy waited for the journalists’ nighttime break to betray them in their sleep … This is an assassination, after monitoring and tracking, with prior planning and design, as there were 18 journalists there representing seven media institutions. This is a war crime,” Makary said in a post on X.
Three journalists killed in Israeli air strike, Lebanese state media says
Lebanese state media said Friday three journalists were killed in an Israeli air strike overnight in eastern Lebanon near the border with Syria.
“Our correspondent in Zahle reported the death of three journalists in an Israeli raid on Hasbaya,” Lebanon’s National News Agency reported, adding that “Israeli warplanes raided at 3:30am (00:30 GMT) on the Lebanese-Syrian border.”
Local news station Al Jadeed aired footage from the scene — a collection of chalets that had been rented by various media outlets — showing collapsed buildings and cars marked PRESS covered in dust and rubble. The Israeli army did not issue a warning prior to the strike.
Russia gave Houthis satellite data to target Red Sea ships, report finds
Russia earlier this year provided satellite data to help Yemen’s Houthi rebels strike ships in the Red Sea, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
The US daily — citing “a person familiar with the matter” and two anonymous European defence officials — reported that the data was transmitted by Iranian intermediaries and used to target ships with missiles and drones.
The Huthis, who control vast swaths of Yemen, started targeting commercial shipping in the Red Sea in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza war, sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. The attacks have led to a dramatic drop in traffic through the key shipping lane.
Blinken and Lebanese PM to meet in London on Friday, says US official
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet in London on Friday with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati as Washington appeals to Israel to keep its military campaign against Hezbollah short, a US official said.
The top US diplomat arrived late Thursday in London after a three-nation tour of the Middle East, where he also pleaded to protect Lebanese civilians but stopped short of urging an immediate ceasefire by Israel.
Blinken will also meet Friday separately with the foreign ministers of Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, two key US partners in a post-war plan for Gaza, the State Department official said.
Blinken, at a news conference earlier Thursday in Qatar, said that Israel was working to remove the “threat” of Hezbollah but there must ultimately be a diplomatic solution.
Welcome to our live blog, where we post the latest news on the war in the Middle East. To read all about yesterday’s key developments, click here.
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