Speaking to his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant at the Pentagon on Tuesday, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sounded the alarm on the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Urging Israel not to open a second front on its border with Lebanon, he said the fighting could "easily become a regional war, with terrible consequences for the Middle East". Read our blog to see how the day's events unfolded.
This blog is no longer being updated. For more coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, please click here.
Summary:
-
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin urged Israel not to open a second front against Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, saying the ongoing fighting could "easily become a regional war" as he met with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant at the Pentagon on Tuesday.
-
Israel’s Supreme Court Tuesday ruled that the military must begin drafting ultra-Orthodox men for military service, a ruling that could split Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s coalition.
-
The Gaza civil defence agency said an Israeli air strike early on Tuesday killed 10 members of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh's family. Israel's military said its forces had targeted militants overnight in Gaza City who had been involved in the planning of attacks on Israel.
-
At least 37,658 Palestinians have been killed and 86,237 injured in Israel's war in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave. The Hamas-led October 7 attacks resulted in the deaths of more than 1,190 people, mostly civilians, according to official Israeli figures. Some 250 people were taken hostage, with about 120 remaining in Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Many have been declared dead by Israeli authorities.
Yesterday's key developments:
- A US-backed proposal to wind down the eight-month-long war in Gaza was cast into doubt on Monday after Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said he would only be willing to agree to a “partial” ceasefire deal that would not end the war. His comments sparked anger among Israeli citizens whose family members are being held hostage by Hamas.
- The United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNWRA) was sued in New York Federal Court on Monday by 101 Israelis, including people who survived Hamas's October 7 attack or had relatives who were killed in it. The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages for what they allege was UNRWA’s “aiding and abetting Hamas’s genocide, crimes against humanity, and torture,” which they said violated international and US federal law.
Gaza’s health ministry collects data from the enclave’s hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent. For more on the health ministry’s casualty figures, click here.
(France 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
