During a tour of Israel's northern border with Lebanon on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu declared that his country was ready for forceful action in the north. Tuesday saw fierce fighting erupt in Gaza following calls from the G7 and Arab nations for Israel and Hamas to accept US President Joe Biden's proposal for a ceasefire and hostage-release agreement. Keep track of all the latest updates by following our liveblog.
According to human rights organizations, Israel is gradually discontinuing the use of a military-run detention facility for Palestinians who were taken prisoner during the Gaza War. Justice officials made this announcement on Wednesday.
Tuesday saw fierce fighting erupt in Gaza following calls from the G7 and Arab nations for Israel and Hamas to accept US President Joe Biden's proposal for a ceasefire and hostage release. The foreign ministry claimed Doha was "working with both sides on proposals on the table," but the mediator, Qatar, stated it had not yet seen any statements "that give us a lot of confidence" from either side.
In a Tuesday interview with Time magazine, US President Joe Biden took a jab at Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, stating that there was "every reason" to believe that he was prolonging the Gaza war in order to protect his political position.
The health ministry of Gaza, which is governed by Hamas, reports that at least 36,550 Palestinians have lost their lives and 82,959 have been injured in Israel's conflict in the region. According to Israeli counts, around 1,170 individuals were murdered and 250 were taken hostage in the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, with roughly 120 people still alive in Gaza. Israeli officials have pronounced many people dead.
Hezbollah, a militant organization based in Lebanon, has been regularly launching rockets and drones into Israeli villages close to the border, forcing several of them to be evacuated. This week, the rockets caused enormous wildfires that burned vast areas of northern Israel.
"Whoever believes they can injure us and we will just watch helplessly is really misguided. We are ready for a fierce uprising in the north. We will bring security back to the north, one way or another," Netanyahu declared.
Iran-supported In tandem with the Gaza battle, Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging gunfire for the past eight months, sparking fears that the highly armed rivals may launch an even larger conflict.
Tens of thousands of people have been forced to escape their homes on both sides of the border as a result of the deadliest hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah since their war in 2006.
According to human rights organizations, Israel is gradually discontinuing the use of a military-run detention facility for Palestinians who were taken prisoner during the Gaza War. Justice officials made this announcement on Wednesday.
The Supreme Court was informed by state counsel that prisoners housed at the Sde Teiman camp, which was established following Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel, which ignited the Gaza War, will be gradually moved to long-term holding facilities.
The majority of the prisoners will be moved in a few weeks since the transfers have begun. They claimed that doing so would allow the situation to get better in the interim.
In response to a petition submitted by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, state attorney Aner Helman informed the court that 700 prisoners had already been transferred to the military stockade known as Ofer on the West Bank. There were still 200 at Sde Teiman whose future was up in the air; another 500 were scheduled to be transferred in the upcoming weeks.
The Sde Teiman facility and the murders of Palestinians taken prisoner during the Gaza war are being looked into by Israel's military.
On Wednesday, the US Embassy in Lebanon was targeted by a shooter who was wounded after a gunfight with the army.
The assailant, a Syrian national, was brought to a hospital for treatment, according to the army, which also claimed that it was still combing the area.
Around 8:34 a.m. local time, the US Embassy reported a "small arms fire" near its entrance; nonetheless, it stated that both its staff and its facilities were unharmed.
According to a security source who spoke to Reuters, one of the assailants was hurt in the stomach by the Lebanese army, which was searching the area for the remaining attackers. Another member of the embassy's security team was also hurt in the incident.
The embassy is located in a heavily guarded area to the north of Beirut, with several checkpoints en route to the gate. It relocated there from Beirut in the wake of a 1983 suicide attack that claimed the lives of over sixty people.
Ordnance exploded at a military installation in the south, injuring nine Israeli soldiers, two of them critically, the army said on Wednesday.
"Militant explosion happened on a southern Israeli military facility. Regarding the explosion on Tuesday, an army statement stated that the situation was being looked into. It also stated that the wounded soldiers were being attended to.
According to Israeli media, the explosion happened at a location in the Negev Desert.
Legislation sanctioning the International Criminal Court (ICC) for requesting arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders was passed by the US House of Representatives on Tuesday.
With the 247-155 vote, Congress effectively rebuked the war crimes court legislatively for the first time since its startling decision to request arrest warrants for Israel's and Hamas' leaders last month. The action sparked a rare moment of unanimity on Israel despite growing partisan divides over the war with Hamas, since it was extensively criticized in Washington.
Even though there was a lot of fury over the court's ruling, the House bill was only somewhat supported by Democrats on Tuesday, which hurt its chances of passing the Senate. The legislation is opposed by the White House, which claims it goes too far.
