Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has requested a meeting with the White House to discuss an upcoming ground operation in Rafah, situated in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. This move comes after Netanyahu scrapped a government delegation's trip to Washington following the U.S.'s decision to abstain from a UN Security Council vote urging an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Netanyahu justified the cancellation as a demonstration of Israel's refusal to yield to mounting international pressure to halt the conflict in Gaza.

Meanwhile, reports from Reuters indicate that Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon have resulted in the deaths of at least eight individuals, including fighters affiliated with the Shiite Hezbollah group. Five casualties occurred in an airstrike on the border village of Tair Harfa, with an additional attack targeting a restaurant in the town of Nakura, near the Israeli border, claiming the lives of three more individuals. In response to these strikes, Hezbollah launched numerous rocket attacks on Kiryat Shmona, a city in northern Israel, following yesterday's deadly Israeli assault on the Lebanese village of Hebariya.

Furthermore, Hezbollah has claimed that three of its members were killed in Israeli airstrikes in northeastern Lebanon the previous day. These developments mark a continuation of heightened tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, underscoring the ongoing volatility in the region.

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