Analysis from CNN’s Tamara Qiblawi in London
When the Hamas-Israel war started, Western leaders almost immediately turned their sights to Lebanon’s southern border with Israel. This is the home turf of the Middle East’s most powerful paramilitary group, Hezbollah, and it is widely believed to be a possible launching pad for a regional war.
Since the war began, Hezbollah’s charismatic leader Hassan Nasrallah — and the only real spokesman of his own party — has been noticeably quiet.
There has been a weeks-long, limited flare-up between Hezbollah and Israel in the volatile border region. The United States, France and others have repeatedly called on the group to refrain from entering the fray of the Hamas-Israel war. Two US aircraft carriers — including the nuclear-powered USS Gerald Ford — were dispatched to the eastern Mediterranean in an apparent bid to deter Hezbollah.
But Hezbollah’s involvement in the larger conflict remained murky. Nasrallah’s domestic, regional and international observers were left to dissect the trickle of information that was coming out.
Last week, he published a handwritten letter that praised his fighters who died in combat on the border, and made only a passing reference to the ongoing war, reinforcing the sense of his deafening silence.
On Sunday, he appeared as a shadowy figure walking in and out of frame in a 12-second video, nodding slightly at a hulking Hezbollah poster as he rushed past. Many interpreted it to mean that Nasrallah intended to move on to a new phase of the conflict.
Hours later, Hezbollah media finally scheduled their leader’s first speech since October 7.
Today, he is set to deliver that hotly anticipated televised address, and observers will look to it to answer some pressing questions:
- Will Hezbollah continue to engage in a tit-for-tat exchange that sticks to the loosely defined rules of engagement with Israel?
- Could the escalation at the border serve as a preamble to an all-out war, roping in not only Lebanon — which is still reeling from a crushing financial crisis — but also, possibly, Syria, where the group fights alongside Iran’s elite revolutionary guards?
- How tightly coordinated have Hezbollah’s actions been with Hamas, with whom they have had a tenuous alliance?
Hezbollah is backed by Iran, but it has grown to a regional power in its own right. It is a more sophisticated fighting group than Hamas, and boasts more advanced weaponry, including precision-guided missiles and drones. On Thursday, it said it had used a self-detonating drone in an attack on an Israeli military position for the first time in its history.
Today’s speech is expected to be long and fiery. Western leaders will monitor it for signs of what lies in store for this conflict. Nasrallah is unlikely to show his entire hand — but will reveal enough to keep everyone guessing.
Blinken, alongside Israeli president, says: "How Israel does this matters"
From CNN's From Mick Krever in London and Jennifer Hansler
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, standing alongside Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv on Friday, said that his country stood by Israel and that civilians in Gaza must be protected.
“We stand strongly for the proposition that Israel has not only the right but the obligation to defend itself and to do everything possible to make sure that this, October 7, can never happen again,” Blinken said.
“How Israel does this matters. And it is very important that when it comes to the protection of civilians who are caught in the crossfire of Hamas’ making, that everything be done to protect them and to bring assistance to those who so desperately need it, and were not in any way responsible for what happened on October 7. So we’re working on all of that together.”
A diplomatic source familiar with negotiations told CNN on Friday that Blinken would push Israel for a "pause" in airstrikes on Gaza to “allow for mediation.”
Herzog thanked Blinken for his “moral clarity.”
He acknowledged protesters, who could be heard faintly in the background, demanding action to release hostages held by Hamas and said: “Our heart goes out to them. We understand it. We want their immediate release.”
Blinken and Herzog also said that they “are thinking every single moment of our hostages – so many Israelis, Americans, other foreign nationals."
“We are determined to do everything we can to bring them back safely, to bring them back to be with their families and loved ones,” Blinken said.
Herzog sought to emphasize the claim that Israel is following international humanitarian law by showing Blinken a leaflet -- 1.2 million of which he said had been sent to citizens of Gaza.
“We’ve carried out six million text messages and four million phone calls to the citizens of Gaza according to the rules of international law, where we alerted the citizens in advance, including before the Jabalya attack,” he said.
9 Palestinians killed as Israeli military conducts raids across occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials say
From CNN’s Kareem Khadder, Abeer Salman and Zeena Saifi in Jerusalem
Nine Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces overnight in raids across the occupied West Bank, according to information from the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Four men and a 17-year-old were shot dead in Jenin. They were named as Suleiman Steti, 31, Mustafa Na’aniya, 26, Waseem Zyoud, 22, Motaz Abu Al-Nada, 26, and Yamen Jarrar, 17. A sixth person was transferred to hospital with what health officials described as a serious abdominal injury.
Videos obtained by CNN show several Israeli military vehicles entering the Jenin refugee camp on Thursday evening, with sounds of gunshots being fired and piles of rubble strewn around the ground. Another clip shows a roadside explosive being detonated near an Israeli military bulldozer that had been tearing up infrastructure.
An eyewitness told CNN that Israeli forces covertly entered the camp and were spotted by Palestinian gunmen who opened fire. More Israeli military vehicles then came in to support the special unit as reinforcement, the eyewitness added.
Some context: Israel has stepped up activities against armed Palestinian groups in the West Bank since October 7, with the town of Jenin, in the north of the territory, a particular focus.
In a statement Friday morning, the Israeli army said it had taken part in “counterterrorism activity overnight in the Jenin Camp.”
“During the activity, an aircraft struck an armed cell that had hurled explosive devices at the forces. Several assailants were killed,” the statement added.
In separate incidents overnight, four other Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. They were named as Wadih Al-Najjar, 33 and Muhammad Al-Azza, 36, both killed in Hebron; Ibrahim Zayed, 29, killed in Qalandiya; and Asim Ramadan, 19, who died in Nablus.
79 American citizens have so far crossed into Egypt from Gaza
From CNN's Mike Callahan in Washington DC and Zeena Saifi in Jerusalem
As more foreign nationals make their way out of Gaza, the White House said Thursday that a total of 79 American citizens and family members were among those who had arrived in Egypt through the Rafah border crossing so far.
In a press briefing on Thursday, John Kirby, the National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications, announced the figures, saying that 74 US citizens and family members had crossed the border on Thursday, in addition to five Americans who crossed into Egypt on Wednesday. Kirby also stressed the figures are "changing in real time."
"We obviously continue to be focused on getting as many Americans out as quickly as possible. And we still fully expect that more Americans will be able to depart -- hopefully more today, but certainly we're looking for them to depart at a similar pace... if not better than what we've seen," he said on Thursday.
Earlier Friday, an Egyptian border guard at Rafah crossing told CNN that 99 people had so far transited through from Gaza that morning without specifying any nationalities. More people are expected to arrive throughout the day.
IDF says forces are advancing in Gaza
From CNN's Mick Krever
A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says that the military is advancing in Gaza and destroying Hamas infrastructure.
“IDF forces encircle Gaza from the air, land and sea, surrounding the city of Gaza and its surroundings,” Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a press conference on Friday.
“The fighters are advancing in battles during which they are destroying above ground and underground terrorist infrastructures, and eliminating terrorists.”
Hagari said that IDF forces had located explosives caches.
Blinken will push Israel for pause in fighting to allow for mediation, diplomatic sources say
From CNN's Becky Anderson in Doha
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will push Israel for a "pause" in airstrikes on Gaza to "allow for mediation," a diplomatic source familiar with the negotiations told CNN.
Blinken is currently in Israel meeting with top officials and intends to convey that message whilst in country, the source added.
The timeline for the pause is unclear at this stage.
A Jordanian diplomatic source also told CNN that in talks with the US Secretary of State, “Jordan will forcefully be demanding an immediate ceasefire."
Israeli military on "very high level of alertness" at Lebanese border
From CNN's Mick Krever
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are on a “very high level of alertness” at the Lebanese border, a spokesperson said Friday.
His words came hours ahead of a highly anticipated speech by Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, and the day after unusually fierce exchanges of fire across the Israel-Lebanon border.
“We are at a very high level of readiness in the north – on a very, very high level of alertness to respond to any event that occurred today and in the days to come,” Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said in a press briefing.
He said that the IDF was “in the middle of a wide-scale operation on the northern border.”
“Yesterday we launched a very broad attack and hit a number of terrorist cells of Hezbollah in response to the shooting carried out by the Hezbollah organization at Kiryat Shmona and Safed,” he said. “We will continue to respond firmly against any harm to the citizens of the State of Israel.”
Some background: A CNN team in northern Israel on Thursday saw an increase in the pace of rocket fire from Lebanon, with Israel's Iron Dome engaging with two of them. Israel and Hezbollah — an Iran-backed armed group that dominates southern Lebanon — have been engaged in daily cross-border exchanges of fire since the start of the conflict between Israel and Hamas on October 7, raising fears that the fighting could escalate into a regional war.
Al-Shifa hospital shuts down major services as it’s plunged into darkness, doctor says
From CNN's Muhammad Darwish
A doctor at Gaza City’s Al-Shifa hospital said that low fuel stocks have plunged wards into darkness and cut off major, basic functions like oxygen generation.
Only one operating theatre, the emergency department, and the intensive care unit (ICU) continue to function, Dr. Yousef Abu Al-Rish, director of the hospitals in Gaza, said in a video obtained by CNN.
In the wake of Hamas’ October 7 attack, Israel has prevented any fuel from entering Gaza. The Israeli government accuses Hamas of stockpiling fuel, to the detriment of civilian services.
Filming an almost pitch-black building, Abu Al-Rish points out the services that are affected.
“This is the maternity hospital, there, which is containing the neonatal ICU. And this is the rest of the hospital. And this is the surgical department building,” he says.
“We are just trying to keep the hospital working... Even the admin part now, as you see, it’s in complete darkness.”
He said that they were “trying our best” to extend the fuel as long as they can.
“All the other services directly related to the electricity will stop. For example, the oxygen generator, as there is no fuel, it stopped.”
Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah, also at Al-Shifa hospital, told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that the hospital is currently running on just one generator after the fuel shortage led to another generator being switched off.
“Unless there's electricity, this hospital will turn into a mass grave,” Abu-Sittah said. “It's as simple as that. If we cannot keep the ventilators running, if we can't take our critically wounded patients back to the operating room, then there's nothing for this place other than to come and die.”
Abu Al-Rish, in his video, said that pleas for help had gone unanswered.
“No one responds,” he said. “No one can imagine even how the nurses will complete their job to give the medication, to have follow up, without an electromechanical system. Without the light even. It’s very catastrophic.”
Read more on the increasingly precarious conditions doctors in Gaza are coping with.
Nearly 50 UN buildings and assets impacted by war in Gaza, UNRWA says
From CNN’s Martin Goillandeau
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said on Friday that nearly 50 of its buildings and assets across Gaza have been impacted, with some being “directly hit.”
“This includes UN schools and buildings being used as shelters, where UNRWA is currently hosting around 700,000 people,” UNRWA said in a post on social media.
Earlier on Friday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement that Israeli airstrikes on Thursday have killed at least 23 people sheltering in four UNRWA facilities that are hosting nearly 20,000 displaced people in Gaza. Since October 7, 72 UNRWA staff have been killed in Gaza.
Previous reporting from CNN's Kareem El Damanhoury.