The Times of Israel is liveblogging Thursday’s events as they happen.
IDF issues fresh evacuation orders for southern Beirut ahead of strikes
The IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, Col. Avichay Adraee, announces fresh evacuation orders for Lebanese civilians near a pair of buildings in separate areas of Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold.
Adraee says the IDF will soon strike Hezbollah targets.
EU’s Borrell proposes suspending ties with Israel due to ‘serious concerns’ over Gaza war
BRUSSELS — European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has proposed that the bloc suspend a political dialogue with Israel, citing possible human rights violations in the war with Hamas in Gaza, according to four diplomats and a letter seen by Reuters.
In the letter sent EU foreign ministers ahead of their meeting this coming Monday, Borrell cites “serious concerns about possible breaches of international humanitarian law in Gaza” and says “thus far, these concerns have not been sufficiently addressed by Israel.”
The political dialogue is enshrined in a broader agreement on relations between the EU and Israel, including extensive trade ties, that entered into force in June 2000.
“In light of the above considerations, I will be tabling a proposal that the EU should invoke the human rights clause to suspend the political dialogue with Israel,” Borrell writes.
A suspension would need approval from all 27 EU countries, which the diplomats say is very unlikely. Multiple countries objected when a senior EU official briefed ambassadors in Brussels on the proposal on Wednesday, say three of the diplomats, who speak on condition of anonymity.
Borrell’s proposal is intended to send a strong signal of concern about Israel’s conduct in the war, one diplomat says.
It will be discussed at the foreign ministers’ meeting, the last he will chair before ending his five-year term.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Strike hits Beirut’s southern suburbs after IDF issues evacuation order for area
BEIRUT — A strike hit the southern suburbs of Beirut, according to an AFP videographer, after a series of three attacks on the Hezbollah stronghold in less than 24 hours.
AFP footage shows smoke rising from an area subject to a call to evacuate from the Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee around an hour beforehand.
IDF says it intercepted drone ‘from the east’ over Syrian airspace
The IDF says it downed a drone “from the east” — a term the military uses for Iraq — over the skies of Syria as it headed toward Israel.
IDF: Rocket launcher positioned in southern Gaza humanitarian zone destroyed in airstrike
A rocket launcher positioned in the Israeli-designated “humanitarian zone” in the southern Gaza Strip was destroyed in an airstrike earlier today, the IDF says.
The launcher was loaded and primed for an imminent attack on Israel, according to the military.
Before carrying out the strike in the humanitarian zone, where the vast majority of the Palestinian population in Gaza is currently residing, the IDF says it carried out steps to mitigate civilian harm.
The steps included issuing warnings to civilians in the area to evacuate, as well as using a precision munition and aerial surveillance, the military says.
The IDF says secondary blasts were seen following the strike, indicating that weapons were stored there.
Palestinian media published footage of a strike in the humanitarian zone earlier today, which appears to have been the strike on the launcher.
لحظة استهداف الطائرات الإسرائيلية خيام النازحين في المنطقة الإنسانية الآمنة بغرب خان يونس، جنوب قطاع غزة. pic.twitter.com/FMdTTehG9N
— أنس الشريف Anas Al-Sharif (@AnasAlSharif0) November 13, 2024