President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are expected to have a phone conversation on Thursday, according to Israeli and U.S. officials. The conversation comes as U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators are scrambling to salvage talks in the wake of back-to-back killings of Hamas’ top political leader in Iran and a Hezbollah commander in Lebanon. Those killings have increased fears of an escalation into a wider war, leaving the region waiting to see how Iran and ally Hezbollah will respond.
Quick Read
- Biden and Netanyahu to speak on Thursday
- President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are scheduled to have a phone conversation on Thursday, according to officials from both countries.
- This discussion comes amid intensified efforts by U.S., Egyptian, and Qatari mediators to salvage talks following the assassinations of Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran and Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur in Lebanon.
- The killings have heightened fears of a wider regional war, with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah signaling a new phase of conflict in response.
- At least 15 killed after Israel strikes a school sheltering displaced Palestinians
- An Israeli airstrike on a school in the Shujaiya district of Gaza City, sheltering displaced Palestinians, resulted in at least 15 deaths and over 40 injuries, according to the Palestinian Civil Defense.
- The Israeli army stated that the compound was used by Hamas fighters as a hideout for commanders and operatives planning attacks against Israel.
- Israel warns its citizens to be vigilant while traveling abroad
- Israel’s National Security Council has issued a warning for Israeli travelers to exercise heightened caution abroad, citing potential threats from Iran-allied militants targeting Israeli or Jewish institutions.
- The advisory comes after the assassinations of Ismail Haniyeh and Fouad Shukur, with Iran vowing revenge, raising international concerns over a possible regional conflict.
- Funeral procession for Hezbollah commander draws hundreds of mourners
- In Beirut, hundreds of mourners attended the funeral of Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike.
- The Lebanon-Israel border remained unusually calm on Thursday, despite the recent escalation, with Hezbollah not launching any rockets into Israel during the day.
- Iran says one of its military advisers died in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut
- Iran’s Revolutionary Guard announced that an Iranian military adviser, Milad Bidi, died in the Israeli airstrike in Beirut that also killed Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur.
- The incident has raised fears of an expanded regional war, with both Hezbollah and Iran considering their responses to the recent assassinations.
The Associated Press has the story:
President Biden and Israel’s PM Netanyahu to speak on Thursday
Newslooks- WASHINGTON —
President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are expected to have a phone conversation on Thursday, according to Israeli and U.S. officials. The conversation comes as U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators are scrambling to salvage talks in the wake of back-to-back killings of Hamas’ top political leader in Iran and a Hezbollah commander in Lebanon. Those killings have increased fears of an escalation into a wider war, leaving the region waiting to see how Iran and ally Hezbollah will respond.
In a speech Thursday via video link to mourners at the funeral of Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur in a Beirut suburb, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said, “We … have entered a new phase that is different from the previous period.” “Do they expect that Hajj Ismail Haniyeh will be killed in Iran and Iran will remain silent?” he said of the Israelis.
At least 15 killed after Israel strikes a school sheltering displaced Palestinians
SHUJAIYA, Gaza Strip — Israeli airstrikes on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in the eastern Gaza City district of Shujaiya killed at least 15 people and wounded more than 40 others, the Palestinian Civil Defense reported. The Israeli army said that Hamas fighters used the compound “as a hideout for commanders and operatives” to plot attacks against Israel. Schools crowded with displaced families in Gaza have been targeted throughout the war by the Israeli army, which says that Hamas uses civilian infrastructure as bases for military operations.
Israel warns its citizens to be vigilant while traveling abroad
JERUSALEM — Israel’s National Security Council is warning Israeli travelers to exercise extra caution abroad, citing fears that Israeli or Jewish institutions might be targeted by Iran-allied militants. The warning Thursday comes as tensions escalate over Israel’s assassinations of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and influential Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur in Beirut.
Iran’s leaders have vowed revenge for Haniyeh’s killing, which was considered one of the most embarrassing breaches of Iran’s defenses in years. International alarm has grown over the possibility of an all-out regional conflict. Israeli authorities said that Iran’s regional proxies could seek retaliation through attacks on embassies, synagogues, Israeli businesses and other sites around the world and urged Israeli travelers to avoid demonstrations and remain vigilant in public places. The security council also warned Israelis against wearing symbols that make them identifiable as Jews.
Funeral procession for Hezbollah commander draws hundreds of mourners
BEIRUT — In the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, hundreds of black-clad mourners packed an auditorium Thursday for the funeral procession of Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur, killed in an Israeli strike in Beirut this week.
Many of them held Hezbollah flags or photos of Shukur. An escort of red-capped fighters carried Shukur’s coffin, also draped in a Hezbollah flag, down the aisle to the backing of a military band.An unusual calm prevailed Thursday on the Lebanon-Israel border, where exchanges of rockets and shelling have become a daily occurrence. Hezbollah claimed no rocket launches into Israel during the day.
It and Iran have been mulling their response to the killings of Shukur and of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in a suspected Israeli strike in Tehran on Wednesday, The killings have triggered fears of a cycle of escalation that could spark a regional war that has been narrowly avoided over the past 10 months.
Iran says one of its military advisers died in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said Thursday that an Iranian military adviser died in the Israeli airstrike in Beirut earlier in the week that killed a senior Hezbollah commander. In a statement on its website, the Guard identified the adviser as Milad Bidi, saying he had been operating in Syria and Lebanon. The Guard has advisers in both countries working with key allies Hezbollah, the Syrian government and other militias.
The Guard did not specify the day of the strike that killed Bidi, but Tuesday evening’s attack was the only Israeli strike hit in the Lebanese capital since January. The strike hit a building in a Beirut suburb, killing a Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur, along with at least five civilians. The Beirut strike and an alleged Israeli airstrike in Tehran that killed Hamas’ top political leader Ismail Haniyeh on Wednesday have hiked fears of an expanded regional war. Shukur’s funeral was set to take place Thursday in Beirut.
