Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday said his group has new weapons and intelligence capabilities that would be deployed deep inside Israel in case of an all-out war. His televised address came as the cross-border conflict between the Lebanese-based movement and Israel has escalated despite US efforts to ease tensions. Read our liveblog to see how all the day's events unfolded.
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Summary
- Gaza continued to be rocked Wednesday by Israeli air strikes and clashes with Palestinian militants, with reports of Israeli bombardments in western Rafah and at least seven fatalities confirmed by medics.
- Israeli forces may have repeatedly violated fundamental principles of the laws of war and failed to distinguish between civilians and fighters in their Gaza Strip military campaign, the United Nations human rights office said on Wednesday.
- Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday warned Israel against a full-blown war and threatened the use of "new weapons" and intelligence capabilities. In a televised address, he also threatened Cyprus for allowing Israel to use its airports.
- Israel's top army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Wednesday that Hamas cannot be eliminated, prompting a rebuttal from Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's office.
- The US does not want to see a wider regional war in the Middle East, said a Pentagon spokesperson shortly after the Israeli army announced Tuesday it had approved operational plans for an offensive in Lebanon.
- At least 37,396 Palestinians have been killed and 85,523 injured in Israel's war in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave. Some 1,170 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks and 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:
- Israeli strikes on Tuesday killed at least 13 people in central Gaza, the civil defence agency in the Hamas-run territory said. Witnesses reported gunfire and artillery shelling near Nuseirat refugee camp, where separate deadly strikes on a family home and a commercial building were also reported.
- US special envoy Amos Hochstein met senior Lebanese officials during a visit to Beirut and called for an end to hostilities across the Blue Line, or the de facto demarcation between Israel and Lebanon.
- A French court on Tuesday ordered organisers of the Eurosatory defence trade show to suspend a ban on Israeli firms, according to a lawyer for the Franco-Israeli Chamber of Commerce.
- In a message for Eid al-Adha, US President Joe Biden called for the implementation of a ceasefire plan he outlined last month, saying it was "the best way to end the violence".
(France 24 with AP, AFP and Reuters)
