Hezbollah fires 135 rockets toward Israel on Wednesday, IDF strikes Beirut's Dahiyeh

An explosion was heard over Syria's Damascus early on Thursday, the state news agency said without providing further details.

This is a developing story.

US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday and believed that an agreement to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia could be reached before the end of the year.

Graham, who is in Michigan campaigning for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, told Reuters that Netanyahu supported work on a deal with Saudi Arabia, adding that the next US administration was unlikely to be able to secure enough votes in Congress after President Joe Biden leaves office on Jan. 20.

"I think the time to do this is on Biden's watch," said Graham, who had also met with Netanyahu earlier this month. He said Vice President Kamala Harris was "far more beholden to the left" and had not shown interest in working for such an agreement, but Biden was keen to see a deal get done and would be able to mobilize the needed Democratic votes.

Morgan Finkelstein, National Security Spokeswoman for the Harris campaign said: “Vice President Harris has consistently supported efforts to ensure Israel is more deeply integrated in the Middle East region, including a potential historic normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia. She believes such integration is critical to counter the threats posed by Iran.”

Soldiers, many of which who have spent over 200 days in reserves and recently operated in Lebanon shared their stories with the IDF on Sunday.

Soldiers of the Etzioni Brigade recently completed their first entry into Lebanon and are preparing for their next mission. To prepare for their next entry into Lebanon, reservists trained and completed exercises at the Elyakim Training Base. 

"We practiced fighting in dense forests and nature reserves, with an emphasis on locating explosives and moving from place to place," Staff Sergeant (res.) Andrew said and was quoted by the IDF.

The Biden administration wouldn't be engaged in diplomatic efforts if it didn't think there were still opportunities to reach ceasefire agreements in Gaza and Lebanon, National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby told reporters on Wednesday afternoon from the White House following another day of intense negotiations across the region. 

Kirby declined to go into detail about Secretary of State Antony Blinken's meetings with Israeli officials but said "they had good, constructive conversations, specifically with respect to Gaza while he was in Israel."

"But there's still a lot of work before us," he added. 

America and Britain conducted strikes against targets in the port city of Hodeidah, Yemen, Houthi-owned Yemeni news outlet Al-Masirah reported on Wednesday. 

This is a developing story.

Approximately 135 projectiles were fired by Hezbollah and crossed into Israeli territory as of 11:00 p.m. on Wednesday evening, the IDF reported. 

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told his Israeli counterpart on Wednesday that Washington had deep concerns about reports of strikes against the Lebanese armed forces, the Pentagon said in a statement.

Austin also urged Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to make sure Israel takes steps to ensure the safety and security of the Lebanese armed forces and the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, the Pentagon said after their call.