Israel-Lebanon latest: Israeli soldier group warns Netanyahu ‘red line crossed’ and threatens to stop fighting

Leaders from the Islamist group Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement will hold further unity talks in Cairo on Wednesday, a Hamas official said.

The media adviser of the Hamas political chief, the Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Tuesday, according to reports.

It was led by Khalil Al-Hayya, the group’s chief negotiator and Hamas’ second-in-command, currently based in Qatar.

“The meeting will discuss the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, and the challenges facing the Palestinian cause,” Hamas officials said.

More than 42,010 Palestinians have been killed and 97,720 injured in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since 7 October 2023, Gaza’s health ministry said.

Over 100 Israeli soldiers have threatened to stop fighting if Netanyahu’s government does not secure a hostage release deal.

In a letter addressed to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence minister Yoav Gallant, 130 soldiers said: “If the government does not change course immediately and work towards securing a deal to bring the hostages home, we will not be able to continue serving.

“For some of us, the red line has already been crossed, and for others, it is rapidly approaching: the day when, with broken hearts, we will stop reporting for service.”

The group includes both reserve and regular soldiers, some of whom have served in Gaza and on Israel’s northern border since last year’s 7 October Hamas attacks.

The Israeli military says it has hit around 185 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in the past day. Soldiers had “dismantled” launch pads that “posed a threat” to northern Israel and located weapons, it added.

Hezbollah militants had also been killed in “close quarter encounters” and aerial strikes. In Gaza, the military said its operation against Hamas was still taking place, with “dozens” of fighters killed in the past 24 hours.

Weapons, including grenades and AK-47 rifles, had been destroyed, along with “infrastructure sites” and rocket launchers, it added.

At least 18 people were killed in overnight military strikes on Gaza as Israeli forces pressed on with a raid on the Jabalia refugee camp in the enclave’s north.

The Israeli military says the raid, now in its fifth day, is intended to stop Hamas fighters staging further attacks from Jabalia and to prevent them regrouping.

It has repeatedly issued evacuation orders to residents of Jabalia and nearby areas, but Palestinian and UN officials say there are no safe places to flee to in the Gaza Strip.

“At least 400,000 people are trapped in the area,” Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN Palestinian refugee Agency (UNRWA), posted on X on Wednesday.

“Recent evacuation orders from the Israeli Authorities are forcing people to flee again & again, especially from Jabalia Camp. Many are refusing because they know too well that no place anywhere in Gaza is safe.”

Israeli strikes this morning killed at least 12 Palestinians, including nine members of the same family, in northern and central Gaza, the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency WAFA reported.

The nine family members were killed in a strike targeting their apartment in the Shejaia neighbourhood in northern Gaza, it added.

The health ministry in the Hamas-run Strip said the Israeli military called for three hospitals in northern Gaza — Kamal Adwan, Awda and the Indonesian Hospital — to evacuate patients and medical staff.

“The military contacted me directly and said in a threatening way, ‘tomorrow all the patients and staff in Kamal Adwan must be removed or they will be exposed to danger.’ Clearly, it’s a clear threat,” said the hospital’s director, Hossam Abu Safiya.

“We have told all sides that the north is still crowded with people ... and we have the right to provide them services,” Abu Safiya said.

“We are staying firm and will continue to provide services no matter what the cost.”

Earlier, Kamal Adwan Hospital said at least 15 people, including two women, four children and four people trying to retrieve bodies, were killed yesterday in the fighting in Jabaliya.

“The situation is extremely difficult. The bombing and explosions haven’t stopped,” said Jabaliya resident Mahmoud Abu Shehatah. “It’s like the first days of the war.”

Iran has urged Gulf states to not allow their airspace or military bases to be used against Tehran, warning that any such move would draw a response.

The remarks come amid growing concern over possible Israeli retaliation for last week’s Iranian missile attack, as Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araqchi headed to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states for talks today.

“Iran made it clear that any action by a Persian Gulf country against Tehran, whether through the use of airspace or military bases, will be regarded by Tehran as an action taken by the entire group, and Tehran will respond accordingly,” the senior Iranian official told Reuters.

“The message emphasised the need for regional unity against Israel and the importance of securing stability,” he said.

US president Joe Biden is set to speak with Benjamin Netanyahu about Israel’s plans to strike Iran in response to a massive missile barrage launched at Israel by Tehran last week.

Biden is said to want to “shape the limitations” of Israel’s retaliation to ensure targets hit across Iran are “significant” without being disproportionate, White House officials said.

Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed to respond to Iran’s attack last Tuesday, which saw almost 200 ballistic missiles fired at Israel.

British intelligence is facing a “hell of a job” over rising threats from Iran and Russia, as well as the resurgence of Isis and Al-Qaeda, the head of MI5 has warned.

A day after Sir Keir Starmer called on the international community to focus on the “malign” regime in Iran, which supports proxies across the Middle East including Hamas and Hezbollah, Ken McCallum said British intelligence has thwarted 20 Tehran-backed plots that “presented potentially lethal threats to British citizens” since the start of 2022.

"We've seen plot after plot here in the UK, at an unprecedented pace and scale," the MI5 director general said.

Tom Watling reports.