Live blog: Israeli fire wounds two in Lebanon despite ceasefire — report

Thursday, November 28, 2024

1204 GMT — Lebanese official media said Israeli fire wounded two people in a border village, a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect.

A Lebanese military source said the armed forces were extending their deployment in the country's south, without approaching Israeli-controlled areas, following the ceasefire that ended two months of all-out war and more than a year of hostilities.

Lebanon's official National News Agency said two people were wounded in the village of Markaba "due to the enemy targeting" of a square in the village.

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1313 GMT — Israel renews curfew for southern Lebanon residents

The Israeli military has renewed the curfew for southern Lebanon residents, restricting movement south of the Litani river, according to a statement.

1219 GMT — Israeli foreign minister looks to Washington to punish the ICC

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he believed the United States would punish the International Criminal Court for having issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister.

"I tend to believe that in Washington, legislation is going to take place very shortly against the ICC and whoever cooperates with it," Saar told a joint press conference with Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky.

Saar added that Israel would finish the 14-month-old war on Gaza when it "achieves its objectives" of returning hostages being held by Hamas and ensuring the resistance group no longer controls the Palestinian enclave.

1038 GMT — All EU members are 'obliged' to arrest Netanyahu

All EU member states “are under an obligation to execute arrest warrants issued by the ICC,” EU spokesperson Peter Stano told Anadolu in a written statement, specifically noting the warrants issued for two top Israeli officials in the ongoing war on Gaza.

The International Criminal Court (ICC), in a landmark move last week, issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, where more than 44,000 people have been killed since October 2023.

Before his dismissal earlier this month, Gallant led the persecution of the ongoing war.

While some EU countries announced they would implement the warrants if the Israeli officials set foot on their territory, others were less clear, and one said there would be no arrests.

0958 GMT — Israel claims ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon violated

Israel's military has said that an arrival of suspects, was detected in several areas in southern Lebanon, and called it a violation of a ceasefire with Hezbollah.

0926 GMT — Israel’s Gantz calls on Netanyahu to return hostages, block settlers

Former Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz has called on the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to bring back hostages from Gaza, not to allow settlers into the enclave.

"We must get the hostages out of Gaza, and not allow other settlers to enter the strip,” Gantz told the local FM 103 radio.

“We have blessed settlements in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), so let us preserve them," he said.

"We have nothing to look for in Gaza except the hostages and security.”

0857 GMT — Israeli tank fires at 3 south Lebanese towns: sources

Israeli tank fire hit three towns along Lebanon's southeast border with Israel, Lebanese security sources and state media have said, a day after a ceasefire barring "offensive military operations" came into force.

Tank fire struck Markaba, Wazzani and Kfarchouba, all of which lie within two kilometres of the Blue Line demarcating the border between Lebanon and Israel. One of the security sources said two people were wounded in Markaba.

Managing the returns has been complicated. Israeli troops remain stationed within Lebanese territory in towns along the border, and on Thursday morning the Israeli military urged residents of towns along the border strip not to return yet for their own safety.

The three towns hit on Thursday morning lie within that strip.

There was no immediate comment on the tank rounds from Hezbollah or Israel, who had been fighting for over a year in parallel with the Gaza war.

0801 GMT — Death toll in Israeli strikes across Gaza rises to 21

Israel has killed at least 19 Palestinians in air strikes across Gaza as the genocidal war continues unabated for over 14 months.

Eyewitnesses told Anadolu that four Palestinians were killed in Israeli air strikes on two homes belonging to the families of "Sahwail" and "Zaqqout" in the Beit Lahia Project area in northern Gaza.

Another Palestinian was killed in the Saftawi area in northern Gaza City as the Israeli artillery strikes continued.

In central Gaza, seven Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike on a home in the Nuseirat refugee camp, a medical source told Anadolu.

0514 GMT — Israel kills at least six Palestinians in intense air strikes across Gaza

Several Palestinians were killed as Israeli forces launched air strikes across multiple areas in Gaza, Palestine's official news agency WAFA reported.

A child was killed in the Zeitoun neighbourhood, southeast of Gaza City, when the bombing struck his family’s home.

In Jabalia refugee camp, located in northern Gaza, another civilian was reported dead amidst ongoing Israeli bombardments.

Four additional citizens lost their lives when air strikes targeted homes belonging to the Zaqout and Sahweil families in Beit Lahia.

0445 GMT — Israel lists ten Lebanese villages as no-go zones for returnees

Israel has issued a new warning to residents of southern Lebanon, urging them to avoid returning to specific villages near the border.

Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee, in a social media post, listed 10 villages that are prohibited from return.

“Until further notice, you are prohibited from moving south to the line of these villages and their surroundings,” Adraee stated.

The designated villages are Shebaa, al-Habbariyeh, Marjayoun, Arnoun, Yahmor, Qantara, Chaqra, Barashit, Yatar, and al-Mansouri.

He stressed that entering these areas would put individuals in immediate danger.

2200 GMT — Israel, Hezbollah claim victory as Gaza genocide continues

Israel's army and Hezbollah's leaders have both claimed success on the battlefield after the sides entered into a ceasefire.

Israel said it degraded Hezbollah's capabilities and decapitated its senior leadership, while the Lebanese group said it put up a stiff defence to Israel's ground invasion "in support of the steadfast Palestinian people."

Hezbollah claimed "victory" over Israeli forces and said its fighters were "fully prepared" to counter any future Israeli actions.

"Their hands will remain on the trigger, in defence of Lebanon's sovereignty," the statement from Hezbollah's operations centre said, its first public comments since the ceasefire took effect.

Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the army had weakened Hezbollah's ability to launch rockets and drones into Israel, and targeted its ability to resupply and manufacture weapons.

"We are also preparing for the possibility of returning to intense combat," Hagari said in a video statement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the ceasefire deal amounts to a victory over Hezbollah. But polls in the country suggest that citizens are divided about the agreement.

2100 GMT — Palestine's Abbas lays ground for succession

Palestine's President Mahmud Abbas has announced who would replace him in an interim period when the post becomes vacant, effectively removing Hamas from any involvement in a future transition.

Abbas, 89, still rules despite his term as head of the Palestinian President ending in 2009, and has resisted pressure to appoint a successor or a vice president.

Under current Palestinian law, the speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) takes over the Palestinian Authority in the event of a power vacuum.

But the PLC, where Hamas had a majority, no longer exists since Abbas officially dissolved it in 2018 after more than a decade of tensions between his Fatah party and Hamas.

In a decree, Abbas said the Palestinian National Council chairman, Rawhi Fattuh, would be his temporary replacement should the position should become vacant.

"If the position of the president of the national authority becomes vacant in the absence of the legislative council, the Palestinian National Council president shall assume the duties... temporarily," it said.

2048 GMT — China calls for two-state solution

Implementing the two-state solution, which includes establishing an independent Palestinian state with full sovereignty based on the 1967 borders and occupied East Jerusalem as its capital "fundamental" for peace in Palestine, Chinese President Xi Jinping has said.

Xi underlined the urgency of ending the war and easing regional tensions by fully implementing relevant UN Security Council resolutions, according to a statement by the Chinese State Council.

The Chinese leader reaffirmed China's support for the Palestinian people's "legitimate" rights, including their right to statehood, existence, and return.

He also called for Palestine's full UN membership and the convening of an inclusive and effective international peace conference.

2000 GMT — Israel kills more Palestinians in Gaza

Israel has killed at least nine Palestinians in the north of the Gaza as Israel kept up its bombardment on the day a ceasefire took hold in Lebanon.

Gaza's Health Ministry said the Israeli strike hit a shelter for displaced people in Al-Tabi'een School in Gaza City's Daraj district.

Hamas condemned the "criminal military operation in northern Gaza".

For our live updates from Wednesday, November 27, 2024, click here.