Strikes hit southern Beirut after Israel’s evacuation call

Renewed attacks hit Hezbollah’s stronghold in southern Beirut on Thursday, AFPTV images showed, after the Israeli military warned people to evacuate the area.

Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported “three violent attacks on the Haret Hreik” area, hours after three attacks in the same area at dawn.

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Israeli strike kills 71 pro-Iran fighters in Palmyra, Syrian war monitor says

Israeli strikes killed 71 pro-Iranian militants in the Syrian city of Palmyra, with more than a third of them identified as fighters from Iraq and Lebanon, a monitor said on Thursday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said those killed in Wednesday’s attacks included 45 soldiers from pro-Iranian Syrian groups, 26 foreign fighters, most from Iraq’s Al-Nujaba movement, and four from Lebanon’s armed Hezbollah group.

The attacks targeted three sites in the city known for its ancient ruins, including one that hit a meeting between pro-Iranian groups with leaders from Al-Nujaba and Hezbollah.

The Observatory, which is based in Britain and relies on a network of sources on the ground across Syria, had previously put the toll from the Israeli attacks on Palmyra at 61 dead.

US envoy Amos Hochstein, who is trying to broker a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hezbollah, will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, the prime minister’s office said.

The announcement by spokesman Omer Dostri came after Israeli media reported that Hochstein had arrived in Israel on Wednesday evening and held talks with Israel’s Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer.

US envoy Amos Hochstein will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an effort to reach a ceasefire agreement in the war between Israel and Hezbollah, the prime minister’s office said.

Jerusalem, Nov 21, 2024 (AFP) – US envoy Amos Hochstein, who is trying to broker a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hezbollah, will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, the prime minister’s office said.

The announcement by spokesman Omer Dostri came after Israeli media reported that Hochstein had arrived in Israel on Wednesday evening and held talks with Israel’s Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer.

68 pro-Iran fighters killed in Israeli strikes on Syria’s Palmyra, Syrian war monitor says

Sixty-eight pro-Iranian militants were killed in Israeli airstrikes on the Syrian city of Palmyra, the British war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Thursday.

Those killed in Wednesday’s attacks include 42 fighters from pro-Iranian Syrian groups, 26 foreign fighters, most from Iraq’s Al-Nujaba movement, and four from Lebanon’s armed Hezbollah group, the monitor said.

The US envoy is to meet Israel’s Netanyahu on Thursday, the spokesman said

US envoy Amos Hochstein, who is trying to broker a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hezbollah, will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Thursday, the prime minister’s office said.

The announcement by spokesman Omer Dostri came after Israeli media reported that Hochstein had arrived in Israel on Wednesday evening and held talks with Israel’s Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer.

Gaza’s civil defense agency says 22 were killed in the Israeli attack

Gaza’s civil defense authority said on Thursday that 22 people were killed in an Israeli attack on Gaza City, while medical sources reported dozens dead in another airstrike overnight.

“We can confirm that 22 martyrs were transferred (to hospital) after an attack targeting a house… in the Sheikh Radwan” neighborhood of Gaza City, Civil Defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal said.

Dozens more were killed in another midnight attack in northern Gaza, medical sources said. The Civil Defense has not yet announced a death toll from that strike.

Dozens killed and injured in Israeli attacks in northern Gaza, medics say

Dozens were killed and wounded in Israeli airstrikes on several houses in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, medics told Reuters early Thursday.

The health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza said on Wednesday that at least 43,985 people have been killed and 104,092 wounded in more than 13 months of war between Israel and Palestinian militants.

The US Senate rejects the bid to stop some military sales to Israel

The US Senate on Wednesday blocked legislation that would have halted the sale of some US weapons to Israel, which had been introduced out of concern over the human rights catastrophe facing Palestinians in Gaza.

Seventy-nine of the 100 senators opposed a resolution that would have blocked the sale of tank rounds to Israel, while 18 approved it and one voted absent. Seventy-eight opposed a second measure, which would have stopped the deployment of grenade launchers, while 19 supported it and one voted absent. The Senate was to vote later on Wednesday on a third resolution that would stop shipments of a GPS guidance system for bombs.

All votes for the measures came from the Democratic caucus, while “no” votes came from both Democrats and Republicans. The “resolutions of disapproval” were filed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who voted with Democrats, and co-sponsored by a handful of Democrats.

Strong bipartisan support for Israel in Congress meant the resolutions would never pass, but supporters hoped significant support in the Senate would encourage the Israeli government and President Joe Biden’s administration to do more to protect civilians in Gaza.