The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, announced that its fighters had killed 15 Israeli soldiers at close range in the town of Beit Lahia, northern Gaza.

In a press statement, the Al-Qassam Brigades stated that its fighters engaged an Israeli infantry unit of 15 soldiers and killed them at close range, news agency reported.

In a separate statement, the Al-Qassam Brigades announced that they had targeted an Israeli Merkava tank with a Tandem shell near the Safatawi area, west of Jabalia Camp in northern Gaza.

Meanwhile, the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement, said it had targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers and vehicles near the Jabalia Services Club in central Jabalia Camp using standard 60mm mortar shells.

France has backed the International Criminal Court (ICC) in its issuing of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif.

The ICC's pre-trial chamber has accused Netanyahu and Gallant of committing "crimes against humanity and war crimes" between at least October 8, 2023 and May 20, 2024. Meanwhile, Mohammed Deif is accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the territories of Israel and Palestine from at least October 7, 2023, news agency reported.

French foreign ministry spokesperson Christophe Lemoine said during an online press conference that the Court is a "guarantee of international stability" and its orders must be exercised "in all situations."

"The fight against impunity is our priority," Lemoine told reporters, adding that France will continue to support the action of the ICC.

At least 47 people were killed and 22 others wounded in Israeli airstrikes on the eastern Lebanese governorate of Baalbek-Hermel, its governor Bachir Khodr said.

The casualties occurred in various towns and villages across the governorate, he added, noting that rescue teams were still searching for missing people beneath the rubble of destroyed homes, news agency reported.

Lebanese military sources, who spoke anonymously, told that the Israeli military on Thursday launched 48 airstrikes in southern and eastern Lebanon, while targeting 18 border towns and villages in southern Lebanon with about 100 shells.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah said in a statement that its fighters attacked central Israel with missiles.

"For the first time, a salvo of qualitative missiles targeted the Hatzor air base, which is 150 km from the Lebanese border, located in central Israel near kibbutz Hatzor Ashdod. It contains squadrons of warplanes," said the statement.

Russia has provided North Korea with anti-air missiles and air defence equipment in exchange for its troop deployment in support of Moscow's war in Ukraine, South Korea's top security adviser said on Friday.

National Security Adviser Shin Won-sik made the remark as North Korea is believed to have sent more than 10,000 troops to fight alongside Russia in the western Kursk border region against Ukraine, news agency reported.

"Russia is believed to have provided equipment and anti-air missiles to strengthen Pyongyang's vulnerable air defence system," Shin said in an interview with broadcaster SBS when asked about what the North would be getting from Russia in return for the troop dispatch.

"Following North Korea's failed military spy satellite launch on May 27, Russia had already declared its intention to support satellite-related technologies (to the North), and it reportedly supplied various military technologies," Shin said.

Around 170,000 households in France have lost electricity due to heavy snowfall brought by Storm Caetano, French Minister of Energy Transition Agnes Pannier-Runacher announced.

Speaking at a press conference, Pannier-Runacher stated that over 1,400 workers have been deployed to repair the damaged power network. However, the number of affected households is expected to continue to rise amid the ongoing storm, which made landfall in France on Thursday morning, news agency reported.

The minister warned that snowfall would persist into Thursday night, with temperatures expected to drop below freezing point. She urged residents to exercise caution, particularly regarding the increased risk of black ice.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said that his country went to every length in negotiations with the US, but it only confirmed Washington's unwavering hostile policy toward Pyongyang, the North's state media said Friday.

Kim made the remarks during a speech at the opening ceremony of an arms exhibition titled 'Defence Development-2024', in Pyongyang the previous day, news agency reported quoting the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

"We have already gone to every length in negotiations with the US, and what was certain from the outcome was ... the unchanging invasive and hostile policy toward North Korea," Kim noted in the speech.

He said that the "extreme situation" on the Korean Peninsula is not the result of a "misunderstanding" of the other side, apparently referring to the US.

South Korea's main Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung has filed an appeal against a suspended sentence by a local court over violations of the election law during the previous presidential campaign, legal sources said on Thursday.

On Friday, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced him to a one-year prison term suspended for two years as it found him guilty of making false statements in violation of the Public Official Election Act, news agency reported.

Lee was accused of lying during a media interview in December 2021 that he did not know the late Kim Moon-ki, a former executive of Seongnam Development Corp., which was behind a corruption-ridden development project in Seongnam, south of Seoul, when Lee was the city's mayor. Lee also suggested he did not play golf with Kim while on a business trip to Australia.

Deteriorating air quality mostly driven by processed fuel-based heating has sparked growing public concerns in Ulan Bator, the capital of Mongolia, as residents embrace unusually harsh winter conditions.

The city's Air Quality Index showed that as of 10 A.M. local time on Thursday, PM2.5 levels in the city's Ger districts exceeded 500 micrograms per cubic meter, while central areas recorded levels of 200 micrograms per cubic meter, both significantly surpassing the World Health Organisation's recommended safety limits, news agency reported.

PM2.5 particles, which measure 2.5 microns or below in diameter, pose serious health risks as they can penetrate deep into the respiratory system, reaching lungs and entering the bloodstream, medical experts warn.

A volcanic eruption on Iceland's Reykjanes Peninsula triggered evacuations, local media reported.

Grindavik town and the Blue Lagoon resort have been fully evacuated due to the eruption in the Sundhnuks crater series, news agency reported quoting the Icelandic radio RUV.

Benedikt Ofeigsson, head of deformation at the Icelandic Meteorological Office, said the eruption appears to be much smaller than the one in August. It is the seventh volcanic eruption on the peninsula this year.

US President-elect Donald Trump said that he will nominate former acting Attorney General, Matthew Whitaker, to serve as Washington's Ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).

Trump said in an announcement on social media that Whitaker, from the state of Iowa, "will strengthen relationships with our NATO Allies, and stand firm in the face of threats to Peace and Stability -- He will put AMERICA FIRST", news agency reported.

In addition to serving as the former Trump administration's acting Attorney General between November 2018 and February 2019, Whitaker is also the former US attorney for the Southern District of Iowa. He is a graduate of the University of Iowa.