► Netanyahu admits having given the green light to the pager attack against Hezbollah
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged for the first time on Sunday that he had given the green light to the pager attack against Lebanese Hezbollah in September, said his spokesperson, Omer Dostri. Speaking at the weekly Council of Ministers, Mr. Netanyahu said he had authorized this operation which had not previously been claimed, confirmed Mr. Dostri.
Booby-trapped transmission devices — pagers, walkie-talkies — used by members of Hezbollah were exploded on September 17 and 18 in the southern suburbs of Beirut as well as in the south and east of Lebanon, strongholds of the Islamist movement. Hezbollah. These explosions left 39 dead and nearly 3,000 injured, according to the Lebanese authorities.
If this spectacular operation bore the mark of Mossad, the powerful Israeli foreign intelligence service, Israel has never openly claimed responsibility for it or commented on it.
► Syria: an Israeli strike leaves at least 3 dead, according to an NGO
At least three people were killed Sunday in an Israeli strike on an apartment belonging to members of Lebanese Hezbollah south of Damascus, the Syrian capital, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) said.
“An Israeli strike killed three people in Sayyeda Zeinab”an area which is home to an important Shiite sanctuary, defended by pro-Iranian groups, including Hezbollah, declared the director of the OSDH, Rami Abdel Rahmane.
“Israeli attack targeted Hezbollah members in the building”declared the director of the Observatory, based in the United Kingdom but which has a vast network of sources in the country at war. According to him, the strike targeted two positions “where Hezbollah members live” near the municipality of Sayyeda Zeinab. The official Syrian news agency Sana reported a “Israeli aggression targeting a residential building in Sayyeda Zeinab” which caused victims, without further details.
► Some schools reopen in northern Israel
Some schools reopened on Sunday in northern Israel, an almost daily target of strikes by Lebanese Hezbollah, after a relaxation of Israeli civil defense restrictions, said a spokesperson for the Israeli Ministry of Education. Schools have been able to resume activities in some areas, including Haifa Bay and the Galilee, according to new civil defense guidelines released on Saturday.
The Ministry of Education does not yet have figures on the number of schools that have reopened, and these figures will not be available until later today, said the ministry’s spokesperson for the north of Israel. However, schools closest to the border with Lebanon remain closed.
► 43,603 dead in Gaza since the start of the war
The Health Ministry of the Hamas government in Gaza announced on Sunday a new death toll of 43,603 in the Palestinian territory since the start of the war with Israel more than a year ago.
At least 51 people have been killed in the past 24 hours, he said in a statement, adding that 102,929 people had been injured in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war, sparked by an unprecedented Hamas attack. against Israel on October 7, 2023.
► In Lebanon, an Israeli strike kills at least 23 people north of Beirut
At least 23 people were killed Sunday in an Israeli strike targeting a Shiite town located in a predominantly Christian region north of Beirut, the Lebanese Health Ministry said. “The Israeli enemy’s raid targeting Aalmat in the Jbeil region left 20 dead, including three children, and six injured”according to a report revised upwards by the ministry, which added that searches in the rubble continued.
Earlier in the morning, an Israeli strike had already targeted a house in Baalbek, the main city in eastern Lebanon, state media reported, without a prior call from Israel to evacuate. “Enemy planes launched a strike on a house in the al-Lakkis neighborhood” of the city, indicated the National Information Agency (Ani).
Earlier, Ani reported an unusual Israeli strike north of Beirut, on the Shiite village of Aalmat, located in a predominantly Christian region. During the night and morning of Sunday, Israel carried out a series of airstrikes on villages and towns in southern and eastern Lebanon, where the Hezbollah movement is well established, Ani added.
On Saturday, Israeli strikes killed at least 20 people in the east and 13 in the south, including seven rescue workers affiliated with Hezbollah and its Shiite ally Amal, according to Health Ministry figures.
► Gaza: “at least” 25 dead in two Israeli strikes
The Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza announced on Sunday the death of “at least” 25 people, including 13 children, killed in two Israeli airstrikes on two separate houses in the Gaza Strip. A first strike made ” at least “ 25 dead, “including 13 children”in a family home in Jabaliya, northern Gaza, and “more than 30 injured” early in the morning, Civil Defense said.
Palestinian emergency services also reported another Israeli strike on a house in the al-Sabra neighborhood in Gaza City, which left five people dead and others missing. “A number of civilians are still under the rubble”they clarified.
► Qatar suspends its mediation between Israel and Hamas
Qatar confirmed on Saturday that it had suspended its mediation between Israel and Hamas with a view to a ceasefire agreement in Gaza associated with the release of hostages, until the belligerents demonstrate ” serious “ in the negotiations. Along with the United States and Egypt, Qatar had participated for months in mediation efforts to end the devastating war in the Gaza Strip, triggered on October 7, 2023 by an attack by Palestinian Hamas against Israel. In vain.
The only truce in this war saw the light of day at the end of November 2023. It lasted a week and allowed the release of hostages kidnapped during the October 7 attack and taken to Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. At the end of October, “during the last (negotiations) to try to reach an agreement, Qatar informed the parties that it intended to suspend its mediation efforts between Hamas and Israel if an agreement was not reached during this round”Qatar Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said in a statement.
