JERUSALEM: Israel launched strikes overnight on Hezbollah “terrorist” targets in Lebanon, the Israeli army said in a statement early Tuesday.
“The Israeli army is striking military targets of the terrorist organization Hezbollah on Lebanese territory,” it said.
Since the start of the war triggered by the unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, clashes on the Israel-Lebanon border have left around 10 people dead on the Lebanese side, mostly combatants but also a Reuters journalist and two civilians.

RIYADH: Russia’s UN envoy said the UN Security Council was a hostage to Western countries after Russia’s draft calling for humanitarian ceasefire was not adopted.

— More to follow.

NEW YORK: Saudi Arabia on Monday called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, condemned the targeting of civilians, rejected calls for “the deportation of Palestinians from Gaza,” and said the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestine, and its “repetitive and systematic” provocations against holy sites, have perpetuated the conflict.

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, said on Monday Beirut had been working to ease tensions along its southern border with Israel and avoid dragging the country into a new war.

“Lebanon is in the eye of the storm, and the region as a whole is in a difficult situation,” a statement from his office said.

The Lebanese government remains critical of Israel but fears a new war could further devastate its battered economy and risk the lives of its people.

ABERDEEN: Scotland’s leader Humza Yousaf said his wife’s parents were fast running out of food and drinking water in Gaza and could die if unable to leave soon.
Yousaf’s parents-in-law live in Scotland but were visiting relatives in Gaza when Hamas militants poured into Israel and killed 1,300 people last weekend.
Israel has responded with retaliatory strikes killing some 2,750 people and a total blockade on the Palestinian enclave that has kept aid out and foreign passport-holders in.