
Hezbollah and Israel exchange new fire
Following Israeli operations and strikes in recent days, more than 100 projectiles were fired from Lebanon toward the Hebrew state early Sunday morning, according to the Israeli army, forcing hundreds of thousands of residents to take refuge in air raid shelters and the authorities to order the closure of schools in the north of the country. “Approximately 85 projectiles were identified as crossing Israeli territory from Lebanon” shortly after 6 a.m. (5 a.m. Paris time), and “approximately 20” during a previous salvo shortly before 5 a.m. (4 a.m. Paris time), the army explained in a statement. In response to the Hezbollah fire, the Israeli army said in a statement Sunday morning that it had carried out new strikes on targets of the Islamist movement in southern Lebanon. The Lebanese Ministry of Health has so far reported three deaths.
UN, US, Europe call for restraint
“As the region stands on the brink of imminent catastrophe, we cannot say it enough: there is NO military solution to make either side safer,” insisted the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, for his part, declared himself “concerned” that Lebanon is “turning into another Gaza.” It seems “very clear” that neither Israel nor Hamas want a ceasefire, he noted. For his part, John Kirby, a White House spokesman, considered that a military “escalation” is not in Israel’s “interest,” assuring that the United States shared this sentiment “directly” with its “Israeli counterparts.” Finally, the European Union said it was "extremely concerned by the escalation in Lebanon", through the head of diplomacy, Josep Borrell. "Civilians are paying a high price", and they will be "once again those who suffer the most in an all-out war that must be avoided, including through further intense diplomatic efforts", he added.
Israel orders closure of Al Jazeera bureau in Ramallah
The Qatari television channel Al Jazeera has been ordered to close its offices in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah for a month and a half, it said on Sunday morning following a raid by Israeli forces. The closure order was signed following a legal opinion and an intelligence assessment that “the offices were being used to incite terror, to support terrorist activities, and the channel’s broadcasts were endangering security and public order in the region and throughout the State of Israel,” the army said in a statement. For its part, Al Jazeera “vehemently condemns and denounces this criminal act,” the channel said in a statement, adding that the “raid” on its office and “seizure” of its equipment were “not only an attack” on it “but an affront to press freedom and the very principles of journalism.” The 45-day closures are renewable, and Al Jazeera’s shutdown in Israel was extended for a fourth time by a Tel Aviv court on September 11. The ban had not previously affected the channel’s work in the West Bank or Gaza Strip, where Al Jazeera journalists are present to cover the war between Israel and Hamas.
Demonstration in Tel Aviv to demand release of hostages
Thousands of Israelis took to the streets of Tel Aviv again Saturday night to criticize the lack of a truce agreement between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip that would lead to the release of the hostages taken in the October 7 attack. As in previous weeks, relatives of hostages addressed the crowd. The weekly protests have become more critical of the government since Israeli officials announced earlier this month that the bodies of six hostages had been found in the southern Gaza Strip.