Live: Thousands return home as Lebanon ceasefire takes hold

The Israeli military says its war planes have hit more than 100 targets in Lebanon, including “launchers, weapons storage facilities, command centres, and military structures," over the past day.

In a statement, it added that its air force had "eliminated" two Hamas commanders on Sunday.

US envoy Amos Hochstein told reporters in Beirut that he would not discuss the details of the ceasefire talks because he does not want to "negotiate this publicly."

Hochstein made the comments after a meeting with Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.

He added that he would travel to Israel to discuss the Lebanon ceasefire deal with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Gaza's health ministry said that 13 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks on the besieged enclave in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 43,985 since 7 October.

Additionally, 104,092 people have been wounded since the start of the war.

Syria's state media reported explosions were heard near the city of Palmyra, saying it was an Israeli air strike on the area.

It said initial reports indicated that residential buildings were hit.

US presidential envoy Amos Hochstein has arrived to Ain al-Tine to meet Lebanese Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri for the second time this week.

Ceasefire talks between Lebanon and Israel have reportedly advanced in the past few days, with Hochstein expected in Israel later on Wednesday to continue the process.

Israeli forces are using an AI weapons system in Gaza co-produced by an Indian defence company that turns machine guns and assault rifles into computerised killing machines, Middle East Eye can reveal.

According to documents and news reports seen by MEE, Israeli forces have been using the Arbel weapons system in Gaza following their devastating invasion of the enclave after the 7 October attacks on southern Israel.

Touted as a "revolutionary game changer that improves operator lethality and survivability," the Arbel system enhances machine guns and assault weapons - such as the Israeli-produced Tavor, Carmel and Negev - into a weapon that uses algorithms to boost soldiers chances of hitting targets more accurately and efficiently.

The past 12 months has seen Israeli forces engage in a catalogue of massacres - from bombing schools and refugee camps and hospitals to conducting executions on the streets of Gaza.

More women and children have been killed by Israeli firepower than in any other conflict over the past 20 years while close to 1,000 entire families have been erased.

READ MORE: Israel using AI weapons system co-produced with Indian firm in war on Gaza

At least two Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli strike targeting a house in Gaza City's Zeitoun neighbourhood, Al Jazeera Arabic is reporting.

Several others were wounded in the attack.

🔴 مراسل ساحات: قصف عنيف على حي الزيتون جنوب مدينة غزة pic.twitter.com/1G7ArzGP9u

— ساحات - عاجل 🇵🇸 (@Sa7atPlBreaking) November 20, 2024

The director of the besieged Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia has said that 85 injured people, including women and children, remain trapped at the facility and are receiving "minimal health services".

Dr Hussam Abu Safia said in a statement shared on Gaza health ministry's Telegram channel that the hospital had received 17 children with signs of malnutrition, adding that yesterday an elderly man died of severe dehydration.

"Unfortunately there is no movement or even promises from any international party to open a humanitarian corridor through which medical supplies, surgical medical delegations, baby food, baby milk and therapeutic milk can enter, so we can treat cases of malnutrition," Safia said.

He added that the hospital received a distress call from a family targeted by an air strike, but they couldn't respond due to the ongoing siege.

Al Jazeera is reporting that the bodies of two people killed by Israeli forces have been recovered in the Khirbet al-Adas and al-Jnaina areas near Rafah.

In a separate attack in central Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp, two Palestinians were injured by Israeli drone fire, the report said.

Israeli forces have detained several Palestinians in their ongoing military assault on the city of Jenin and its refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, while bulldozers have razed buildings and destroyed infrastructure, Wafa news agency is reporting.

Citing local sources, Wafa reported that Israeli forces raided a large number of civilian homes in the camp, detaining several people, including a woman, at dawn on Wednesday. It added that soldiers used some homes as military posts.

Meanwhile, in Jenin city, military bulldozers destroyed power lines, resulting in a power outage since dawn, destroyed parts of the stadium and ploughed through the schools street.

The Jenin Education Directorate announced the temporary closure of schools in the city.

Wafa news agency is reporting that two Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes on north and south Gaza.

Citing medical sources, it reported that one person was killed in a strike on Jabalia al-Nazla, while another was killed in an attack in the Khirbet al-Adas area north of Rafah.

A Hezbollah official said on Wednesday that any US-brokered ceasefire deal to end the Israeli war on Lebanon must end fighting swiftly and preserve Lebanon's sovereignty, an apparent reference to Israel's stance that it will keep striking the group even with a truce in place.

Speaking to Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV, Mahmoud Qmati said that he was neither overly optimistic nor overly pessimistic about the prospects of a truce.

Reporting by Reuters

An Israeli soldier was killed and a battalion commander seriously wounded by Palestinian fire in the northern Gaza Strip, the Israeli military announced on Wednesday. 

This brings the death toll in the army to 800 since the war started on 7 October 2023. 

France's foreign minister said on Wednesday that US-led efforts for a truce in Lebanon had created the chance for a lasting ceasefire and he called on both sides to accept a deal on the table.

"There is a window of opportunity that's opening for a lasting ceasefire in Lebanon that would allow the return of those displaced, ensure the sovereignty of Lebanon and the security of Israel," Jean-Noel Barrot told Europe 1 radio.

"I call on all sides with whom we are in close contact to seize this window."

Reporting by Reuters

The UN Security Council is expected to vote on Wednesday on another draft resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza in its latest attempt to exert pressure to end the Israeli war.

However, the draft could be blocked by the United States, Israel's main ally.

The latest draft of the resolution demands "an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire" in the war and "the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages."

The wording has angered Israel and raised fears of a US veto.

The Israeli ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, has called the text "shameful," adding: "We cannot allow the UN to tie the hands of the State of Israel from protecting its citizens, and we will not stop fighting until we return all the kidnapped men and women home."

"For us, it has to be a linkage between a ceasefire and the release of hostages," said Robert Wood, the deputy US UN ambassador. "It has been our principal position from the beginning and it still remains."

Reporting by AFP