Mosque hit as raids, phosphorus bombs strike southern Lebanon front

BEIRUT: Israeli artillery shelling intensified on Thursday at various Lebanese border towns where Hezbollah is active.

War correspondents reported “the use of phosphorus bombs by the Israeli army in shelling the outskirts of the town of Khiam.” 

Israeli Channel 14 reported that the Iron Dome intercepted 20 missiles fired from southern Lebanon towards the Galilee Panhandle.

The Israeli military launched a drone strike on a house located in the town center of Aita Al-Shaab.



Iran abolishes visa requirements for 33 countries, including Saudi Arabia

LONDON: Authorities in Iran are removing visa requirements for passport holders from 33 countries, including Saudi Arabia.

The move was confirmed on Thursday following comments after a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday by Minister of Tourism Ezzatollah Zarghami, who said: “The government intends to open the country’s doors to the world.

“The Islamic Republic has shown its readiness to open doors to people worldwide and provide more facilities for them so that they can easily visit our country and benefit from its advantages.”



Israel to pursue Gaza war ‘with or without international support’

GAZA: Israel declared its determination Wednesday to press on with its Gaza war “with or without international support,” after it came under mounting pressure even from key backer the United States.
Now in its third month, the war was launched after the unprecedented October 7 attacks on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas that officials say killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians.


9 Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza City ambush in sign that Hamas resistance is still strong

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Palestinian militants carried out one of the deadliest single attacks on Israeli soldiers since the Gaza invasion began, killing at least nine in an urban ambush, the military said Wednesday, a sign of the stiff resistance Hamas still poses despite more than two months of devastating bombardment.


Israel ‘absolutely’ rejects prospect of a 2-state solution after Gaza war ends, says envoy

LONDON: Israel’s ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, said on Wednesday that her country will “absolutely” reject any possibility of a two-state solution after the war in Gaza ends.

Asked how peace might be achieved absent an agreement to establish a Palestinian state, she told Sky News: “Israel knows today and the world should know now … that the Palestinians never wanted to have a state next to Israel.

“They want to have a state ‘from the river to the sea.’ They are saying it loud and clear.”