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Arab World

Israel Denies Accepting Gaza Health Ministry War Toll

A forensic expert examines one of the bodies of Palestinians returned by Israel the previous day, as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal, in a morgue at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on January 30, 2026. (AFP)
A forensic expert examines one of the bodies of Palestinians returned by Israel the previous day, as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal, in a morgue at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on January 30, 2026. (AFP)
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Israel Denies Accepting Gaza Health Ministry War Toll

A forensic expert examines one of the bodies of Palestinians returned by Israel the previous day, as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal, in a morgue at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on January 30, 2026. (AFP)
A forensic expert examines one of the bodies of Palestinians returned by Israel the previous day, as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal, in a morgue at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on January 30, 2026. (AFP)

Israel's military denied on Friday having accepted the Palestinian health ministry's death toll for the war in Gaza of 71,000 killed since October 2023, as was reported in Israeli media.

"The (Israeli military) clarifies that the details published do not reflect official ... data", military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani posted on social media.

"Any publication or report on this matter will be released through official and orderly channels."

Israel's left-leaning daily Haaretz had reported Thursday that the military "accepted the estimate of the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry that approximately 71,000 Palestinians were killed during the Israel-Gaza war," sparked by Hamas' unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Haaretz added that the military "said it is currently analyzing the data on the dead to see how many of them are combatants and how many are civilians".

Hamas took power in the Gaza Strip in 2007 after winning elections and violently ousting the Palestinian Authority, which had administered the territory since Israel unilaterally withdrew in 2005, after more than 38 years of military occupation.

Its October 7, 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally that includes hostages who died or were killed during their captivity in the Gaza Strip.

Since then, at least 71,667 Palestinians have been killed in the small coastal territory by Israel's retaliatory military campaign, according to Gaza's health ministry.

Israeli authorities have repeatedly questioned the credibility of these figures or sought to discredit them by saying one cannot trust an administration under Hamas authority -- a movement Israel, the United States and the European Union designate as a "terrorist organization."

The ministry's figures are nevertheless considered reliable by the United Nations.

While they do not specify the share of armed Palestinian fighters among the dead, the ministry says more than half of those killed are children and women.

Its statistics only record people killed in Israeli bombardments or fighting. They do not take into account deaths whose bodies have not yet been pulled from the rubble of a territory devastated by Israeli strikes, nor indirect deaths caused by the war.

According to the ministry, 492 people have been killed by Israeli fire or bombardments since October 10 and the entry into force of a truce that the two sides accuse each other of violating daily.

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Arab World

Israeli Army: Hezbollah Disarmament Needs Full Occupation of Lebanon

An Israeli military truck transports a tank in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel near the Lebanese border (AFP)
An Israeli military truck transports a tank in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel near the Lebanese border (AFP)
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Israeli Army: Hezbollah Disarmament Needs Full Occupation of Lebanon

An Israeli military truck transports a tank in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel near the Lebanese border (AFP)
An Israeli military truck transports a tank in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel near the Lebanese border (AFP)

A senior Israeli military commander said on Friday that disarming Hezbollah was not part of the current war objectives, and that the army’s plan instead focused on razing entire villages in southern Lebanon and forcibly displacing residents to create a buffer zone imposing a new border reality.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said the war aimed to achieve what he called the “top objective” of disarming Hezbollah and that the government remained committed to it.

The spokesperson for the Israeli army later walked back the commander’s remarks, saying the military remained committed to the long-term goal of disarming Hezbollah through a broad, gradual effort.

The current operation weakens Hezbollah and will contribute to its disarmament over time, the spokesperson noted.

A military source said Israel would act if the Lebanese government failed to disarm the group, adding that Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem was within the scope of Israeli assassination plans.

Former general Yom-Tov Samia said dismantling Hezbollah would require targeting the Lebanese state itself, including its infrastructure, to pressure the public against the group.

Despite the clarification, the initial remarks continued to reverberate. Military analysts and reserve generals said they reflected a blunt reality: the current war cannot destroy Hezbollah.

They said such a goal would require full occupation of Lebanon and sweeping searches across all towns and villages, which would exceed the scope of the current operation.

Amid the visible rift, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed a cabinet meeting scheduled for Friday, replacing it with limited consultations before rescheduling it for Saturday evening.

A military source said the army would present a plan to the cabinet to completely destroy Lebanese border villages and establish a depopulated security zone, barring residents from returning to areas along what Israel calls the “contact line,” with 20 Christian villages exempted.

The army says Hezbollah has tried over the past year to rebuild its infrastructure along the border. It proposes turning a 3-4 km strip into a forward defensive zone.

The plan calls for the total destruction of dozens of villages near Israeli towns, from Kfarkela opposite Metula to Naqoura opposite Shlomi, including the demolition of all infrastructure and a permanent ban on residents returning.

The military says the plan has received legal approvals, arguing that villages used by Hezbollah constitute “incriminated” infrastructure and that their existence would enable the group to rebuild in the future.

It added that after a November 2024 ceasefire, Hezbollah fighters returned to border villages and attempted to rebuild underground infrastructure and deploy weapons not previously detected.

The army said it would be impossible after the current operation to revert to the existing border, as Hezbollah would return, requiring a new line.

The proposed model mirrors what the army calls the “yellow line” in the Gaza Strip, a 2-4 km strip cleared of locals and controlled by Israeli forces with forward positions.

A senior Israeli officer said the plan differs from Israel’s past security zone in southern Lebanon, stressing that civilians would not be allowed to return.

The officer acknowledged that setting Hezbollah’s disarmament as a war goal had been “overly ambitious,” saying current constraints, including a prolonged war and the need to focus on Iran, prevent making it an immediate objective.

 

Arab World

Israel Says Striking Hezbollah Sites in Beirut after Destroying Bridge

File photo of a bridge destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Dalfy, Lebanon on March 26, 2026. Stringer, Reuters
File photo of a bridge destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Dalfy, Lebanon on March 26, 2026. Stringer, Reuters
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Israel Says Striking Hezbollah Sites in Beirut after Destroying Bridge

File photo of a bridge destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Dalfy, Lebanon on March 26, 2026. Stringer, Reuters
File photo of a bridge destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Dalfy, Lebanon on March 26, 2026. Stringer, Reuters

The Israeli military said Saturday it had begun striking "Hezbollah infrastructure" in Beirut after it destroyed a bridge in eastern Lebanon to prevent the Iran-backed group's reinforcements from crossing.

An AFP journalist heard two loud explosions in the capital within half an hour early Saturday and saw smoke billowing from one of them, said AFP.

Local media reported two strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, a locality that has been a target of Israeli strikes in recent days as the military presses on with its ground invasion in the country's south.

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2 when Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel to avenge the US-Israeli attack that killed Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

On Friday, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said a blast at one of its positions in the country's south near the border wounded three peacekeepers, the third similar incident in days.

Israel's military had warned that it would target two adjacent bridges over the Litani River in the area "to prevent the transfer of reinforcements and military equipment".

The Lebanese state-run National News Agency (NNA) said: "Israeli warplanes targeted the bridge that links Sohmor with Mashghara, leading to its destruction."

Lebanese local media reported that a second bridge was also hit.

The strikes in Sohmor continued into early Saturday, with the NNA reporting the town's center being hit twice as warplanes roared in the skies.

Israel has previously struck five other bridges over the Litani in the country's south, including most of the main routes crossing the waterway.

The river runs around 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the Israeli border, an area where Israel has said it wants to maintain "security control".

Also in Sohmor, two people were killed and 15 wounded in an Israeli strike that hit "as worshippers were leaving the town's mosque" after Friday prayers, according to Lebanon's health ministry.

Lebanese authorities say more than 1,300 people have been killed in a month of hostilities.

- 'No longer afraid' -

UNIFIL spokesperson Kandice Ardiel said an explosion inside a UN position injured three peacekeepers, adding that the origin was unknown.

Israel's army accused Hezbollah of launching a rocket that hit the post.

On the edge of the southern suburbs of Beirut, Christians marked Good Friday in Shiyah with a procession around Saint Maroun Church.

Resident Hala Farah, 62, said she had never before missed the religious rites, even during repeated conflicts in the country.

"We're always here, we have to hold on for the future of our children," she told AFP at the entrance to the overflowing church.

Another worshipper, Patricia Haddad, 32, said she was no longer afraid of the bombardments.

"We got used to it, unfortunately," she said.

Israel's army has said it has struck more than 3,500 targets across Lebanon since last month, while Hezbollah said it had carried out 1,309 operations against Israeli targets.

On Sunday, an Indonesian peacekeeper was killed when a projectile exploded in a UNIFIL position, while another blast the following day killed two more Indonesian troops.

According to the UN, 97 force members have been killed in violence since UNIFIL was first established to monitor the withdrawal of Israeli forces after they invaded Lebanon in 1978.

The force's mandate expires at the end of this year.

Arab World

US Embassy in Beirut Warns of Possible Iran Threat to Universities in Lebanon

People walk past the main gate to the campus of the American University of Beirut (AUB) in the center of Beirut on January 13, 2022. (AFP)
People walk past the main gate to the campus of the American University of Beirut (AUB) in the center of Beirut on January 13, 2022. (AFP)
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US Embassy in Beirut Warns of Possible Iran Threat to Universities in Lebanon

People walk past the main gate to the campus of the American University of Beirut (AUB) in the center of Beirut on January 13, 2022. (AFP)
People walk past the main gate to the campus of the American University of Beirut (AUB) in the center of Beirut on January 13, 2022. (AFP)

The US embassy in Beirut said on ‌Friday ‌that Iran ‌and ⁠its aligned armed ⁠groups "may intend to target ⁠universities ‌in Lebanon".

In ‌a security ‌alert, ‌the embassy also ‌urged US citizens to depart ⁠Lebanon "while ⁠commercial flight options remain available".

Lebanon was dragged into the conflict in the Middle East when Iran-backed Hezbollah shot rockets at Israel in retaliation to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei at the beginning of the war.

Over the past 24 hours, Israeli strikes killed 23 people and wounded 98, the Lebanese health ministry said Friday.

The ministry said that the overall death toll includes 125 children and 91 women, since Israel launched intense airstrikes across Lebanon after the Hezbollah fired rockets toward northern Israel in solidarity with Iran on March 2. The strikes have also wounded 4,138 others.

Among those killed are 53 health workers, while Israeli strikes have targeted 83 emergency medical service facilities, the health ministry said.