Israeli attacks kill 45 in Lebanon in last 24 hours, health ministry says
Israeli attacks killed 45 people in Lebanon in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 2,865 since October 2023, the Lebanese health ministry said, Reuters reports.
about 4 hours ago
US says ‘good progress’ made towards Lebanon ceasefire
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says negotiators have made “good progress” towards a deal that would bring a ceasefire in Israel’s attack on Lebanon, Al Jazeera reports.
“Based on my recent trip to the region and the work that’s ongoing right now, we have made good progress on those understandings,” Blinken told reporters.
about 4 hours ago
EU Council chief warns of ‘consequences’ of Israel’s UNRWA ban for key trade deal
The European Council President warned that Israel’s decision to ban the key UN aid agency for Gaza could result in the annulment of a deal establishing Israeli trade relations with Brussels, Reuters reports.
Israel passed a law on Monday banning the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA from operating in the country, raising concerns about its ability to provide relief in Gaza after over a year of conflict between Israeli forces and Hamas fighters.
“The decision made by parliament in Israel, if implemented, to ban UNRWA in Israel is absolutely not acceptable and I cannot imagine that there would be no consequences on the EU side,” Charles Michel told reporters in Geneva.
“I can observe that more and more voices, including at the political level, the highest political level of the EU, are considering that the time will come to put on the table the Association Agreement between Israel and the EU,” he said.
about 5 hours ago
French university cuts ties with Israeli institution over Gaza offensive
A French university has severed ties with an Israeli higher education institution, accusing it of having “warmongering” stances on the Gaza onslaught, French media has reported, sparking criticism from Paris, Al Jazeera reports.
The Institute of Political Studies [IEP] in France’s eastern city of Strasbourg cut ties with the Reichman University near Tel Aviv in June, local newspaper Dernieres Nouvelles d’Alsace reported on Wednesday.
Students and several teachers had backed the move over what its initiators called the Israeli institution’s “deeply warmongering” stances over the Gaza war, calling them “devoid of any humanist perspective”, it said.
IEP Director Jean-Philippe Heurtin told AFP he had been strongly opposed to severing ties, but members of the university board — which includes students — approved it in a vote.
“The decision is distressing,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told the BFMTV broadcaster on Thursday. “It’s not this university that today is bombing Lebanon or Gaza,” he said.
about 5 hours ago
Catastrophic conditions at Kamal Adwan Hospital after Israeli army destroys supplies
Eid Sabbah, the director of nursing at Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, has described the situation inside the facility as catastrophic.
“The hospital has no medical teams — doctors, surgeons, orthopaedics. More than 33 people between doctors and nurses have also been arrested,” Sabbah told Al Jazeera.
The Israeli army has destroyed oxygen and electricity stations as well as the hospital’s main water pump and ambulances, Sabbah said.
“The things that we have are things that can’t keep people alive,” he said.
About 120 wounded patients are still inside, a third of whom need immediate surgery. But there are only three doctors left, including two graduates who are not able to operate, the doctor said.
Five days ago, a delegation from the World Health Organization arrived with a small amount of fuel for the generators to operate and some medical supplies, but “immediately after the delegation left the hospital on the same night, the Israeli army stormed the hospital, destroyed a lot of things inside, destroyed the medical supplies that we had received,” he said.
about 6 hours ago
Israeli troops attacked after entering Tulkarem refugee camp
Palestinian fighters are battling Israeli troops in Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera reports.
“Our brave fighters are engaged in fierce clashes with the Zionist enemy forces that have penetrated Tulkarem camp using machineguns and explosive devices,” the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said in a statement on Telegram.
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades is the armed wing of Fatah, the movement that controls the Palestinian Authority, which has limited self-rule in the occupied West Bank.
about 6 hours ago
Netanyahu: Israel can strike any location in Iran if necessary
Netanyahu, in a speech to new military officers, says Israel has unprecedented freedom of action after its recent air strikes against Iran, Al Jazeera reports.
“Israel today has more freedom of action in Iran than ever. We can reach any place in Iran as necessary,” Netanyahu said.
“The supreme goal I gave to the Israeli [military] and the security branches is to prevent Iran from achieving a nuclear weapon.”
about 6 hours ago
Israeli cabinet set to approve wartime austerity budget
Israeli cabinet ministers are to start voting on a long-awaited wartime budget for 2025 that will rein in spending and raise a host of taxes to pay for the military conflicts that have engulfed the country, Al Jazeera reports.
Israel’s offensives in Gaza and Lebanon have cost the country billions of dollars on spending for defence — for military equipment, compensation for those impacted and manpower after hundreds of thousands of citizens were called for reserve duty.
“Our security also depends on the economy. We cannot have a strong military if we have no way of financing it,” PM Benjamin Netanyahu said at the outset of a cabinet meeting before the budget vote, which could run into the night.
“There is no economy without restrictions. If you give to one place, you unfortunately need to take from another,” he said.
about 6 hours ago
Israel’s settlers see sanctions relief if Trump wins US election
Israel’s settlers are closely watching the US election, a leader of the community said, expressing confidence that if Donald Trump wins he will lift what they see as illegitimate sanctions imposed on some of them for attacks on Palestinians.
As much of the world’s attention has focused on the onslaught in Gaza, growing violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank and land grabs in the occupied territory have raised concern among some of Israel’s Western allies.
Washington and others have imposed asset freezes and banking restrictions on violent settlers, outposts and groups and urged Israel to do more to stop attacks they say undermine efforts to end the conflict.
Israel Ganz, chairman of the main Yesha settler council who has close ties with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, described the sanctions as interference in Israel’s legal system that would ultimately cause problems for the government.
Read the full Reuters story here.
about 7 hours ago
End the killings: Al Jazeera demands protection for journalists in Gaza
Al Jazeera has issued the following statement:
“Al Jazeera Media Network stands witness to the unprecedented, deliberate, and systematic targeting of journalists in Gaza and the region. As the Israeli Occupation Forces carry out their crimes, journalists continue to document a genocide that the world must witness. As a result, they have and continue to face grievous threats and paid the ultimate price in the line of duty.
“Over the past year, the war on Gaza has resulted in a devastating toll on journalism. Since the outbreak of the war, the Israeli Occupation Forces have methodically targeted and killed over 170 journalists, among whom are three Al Jazeera journalists: Samer Abu Daqqa, Hamza Al Dahdouh, Ismail Al Ghoul, along with many of their family members.
“These systematic attacks extend beyond individual tragedies; they constitute a calculated campaign to silence those who dare to document the realities of war and devastation and a direct assault on the fundamental right to information.
“Al Jazeera Media Network continues to steadfastly report from Gaza. As the sole international media network present in Gaza, Al Jazeera has become the eyes and ears of a global audience witnessing the dire consequences of the war on the civilian population.
“The prohibition of international journalists from entering the war zone has curtailed the global understanding of the true cost of the war and its impact; making the Network’s role even more critical in providing essential coverage.”
Read the full statement from Al Jazeera here.
about 7 hours ago
Multiple Israeli air strikes hit southern Lebanese city of Tyre
A series of Israeli air strikes have hit the al-Housh district in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, Al Jazeera reports, citing Lebanon’s NNA news agency reports.
Al Jazeera’s verification agency, Sanad, has confirmed footage posted online showing the moment of the bombing and dense smoke rising from multiple raids in the area.
The AFP news agency said the strikes on al-Housh coincided with an exodus of civilians from the Rashidieh camp for Palestinian refugees near Tyre, which had earlier received an evacuation warning.
about 7 hours ago
Gaza death toll rises to 43,204 since Oct 7, 2023: health ministry
At least 43,204 people have been killed and 101,641 wounded in Israeli military attacks on Gaza since October 7, 2023, the enclave’s health ministry said in a statement, Reuters reports.
Of those, 41 Palestinians were killed and 131 wounded in the latest 24-hour reporting period, the statement added.
about 8 hours ago
Israel says rocket fired from Lebanon kills 2 people in Haifa region
Israeli emergency services say a rocket launched from Lebanon has killed two people in an olive grove in northern Israel, bringing the day’s death toll to seven, Al Jazeera reports.
Medics “treated and attempted resuscitation on a 30-year-old male and a 60-year-old female, who were then pronounced dead”, the Magen David Adom first responders said in a statement.
“A 71-year-old male with mild shrapnel injuries to his limbs was evacuated.”
about 8 hours ago
Israel’s Smotrich to sign waiver for Palestinian-Israeli bank cooperation for one month
Israel’s finance minister, under pressure from US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, will sign a waiver to extend cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian banks for another month after the cabinet agreed, his spokesman says, Al Jazeera reports.
Smotrich in June extended a waiver that allows cooperation between Israel’s banking system and Palestinian banks in the occupied West Bank but for only four months until today.
The waiver allows Israeli banks to process shekel payments for services and salaries tied to the Palestinian Authority without the risk of being charged with money laundering and funding “terrorism”. Without it, Palestinian banks would be cut off from the Israeli financial system.
about 8 hours ago
6 health workers killed in Israeli strikes across south Lebanon: health ministry
Lebanon’s health ministry has said in a statement that six Lebanese health workers were killed and four wounded in Israeli strikes across south Lebanon, Reuters reports.
The total number of health workers killed by Israel since October 2023 rose to 178 and 279 wounded, the ministry added.
about 9 hours ago
Hunger deaths ‘likely’ in Gaza, Sudan, Mali, Haiti: UN agencies
UN food agencies warned of deadly hunger levels in 16 “hunger hotspots” in coming months, with the Palestinian territories, Sudan and South Sudan, Mali and Haiti of most concern.
A surge in hostilities in the Gaza Strip has raised concerns that the “worst case scenario” of famine will materialise, says a joint report covering forecasts for November 2024 to May 2025.
about 10 hours ago
At least 30 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, hospital hit: Gaza ministry
Gaza’s health officials said that at least 30 Palestinians were killed in Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip, mostly in the north where one attack hit a hospital, torching medical supplies and disrupting operations, Reuters reports.
about 10 hours ago
Mideast conflicts to leave ‘lasting scars’: IMF
Gaza, Lebanon and Sudan will take decades to recover from the conflicts raging on their soil, the International Monetary Fund has said after downgrading the region’s growth forecast, Reuters reports.
Israel’s military actions against Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Sudan’s civil war would have enduring impacts, the IMF said.
“The damage caused by these conflicts will leave lasting scars at their epicentres for decades,” the global lender said in a statement.
about 12 hours ago
Israeli military says it downed drone smuggling weapons from Egyptian territory to Israel
Israel’s military said it shot down a drone smuggling weapons from Egyptian territory to Israel on Wednesday, Reuters reports.
Egypt says it destroyed tunnel networks leading to Gaza years ago and created a buffer zone and border fortifications that prevent smuggling.
about 11 hours ago
MSF surgeon detained by Israel in north Gaza hospital raid
Medical charity Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said that one of its doctors working in a north Gaza hospital has been detained by Israeli forces, Reuters reports.
Mohammed Obeid, an MSF orthopaedic surgeon working at Kamal Adwan hospital in north Gaza, was detained during an Israeli military raid on the site on October 26, MSF said.
“We are extremely alarmed by the detention of our colleague,” it said.
“We call for the safety and the protection of our colleague, and for all medical staff in Gaza who work under impossible conditions and are facing horrific violence as they try to provide care.”
about 13 hours ago
Hamas official says group rejects short-term Gaza truce
A senior Hamas official said that the group rejects any proposal for a temporary halt to more than a year of fighting in Gaza and insists on a lasting ceasefire, AFP reports.
“The idea of a temporary pause in the war, only to resume aggression later, is something we have already expressed our position on. Hamas supports a permanent end to the war, not a temporary one,” Taher al-Nunu, a senior leader of the movement, told AFP.
about 13 hours ago
Israel army issues evacuation call for south Lebanon including refugee camp
The Israeli army issued an evacuation call for several areas of south Lebanon Thursday, including a Palestinian refugee camp, warning it was poised to hit Hezbollah targets in those areas, AFP reports.
“Hezbollah’s terrorist activities force the IDF (army) to act forcefully against it in these areas, and we do not intend to harm you,” the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on X.
Among the areas listed was Rashidieh camp, which houses thousands of Palestinian refugees.
about 13 hours ago
PHOTOS: Displaced by Israel’s bombing, Lebanese families sleep on the streets
about 14 hours ago
Major Gulf markets gain on Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire hopes
Most major stock markets in the Gulf rose in early trade, buoyed by hopes for a potential ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah, Rueters reports.
Lebanon’s prime minister expressed hope yesterday that a ceasefire deal with Israel would be announced within days as Israel’s public broadcaster published what it said was a draft agreement providing for an initial 60-day truce.
The push for a ceasefire for Lebanon is taking place alongside a similar diplomatic drive to end hostilities in Gaza.
about 14 hours ago
Germany, France, UK call for urgent renewal of Israeli-Palestinian banking services
Germany, France and Britain call for the urgent renewal of correspondent banking services between Israel and the Palestinian Territories for at least one year, the German foreign office said, Reuters reports.
“Failure to renew would suspend cross-border trade and be catastrophic for the Palestinian economy,” the ministry said in a post on social media platform X.
31 Oct, 2024 10:41pm
Israeli attacks kill 45 in Lebanon in last 24 hours, health ministry says
Israeli attacks killed 45 people in Lebanon in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 2,865 since October 2023, the Lebanese health ministry said, Reuters reports.
31 Oct, 2024 02:21pm
Germany, France, UK call for urgent renewal of Israeli-Palestinian banking services
Germany, France and Britain call for the urgent renewal of correspondent banking services between Israel and the Palestinian Territories for at least one year, the German foreign office said, Reuters reports.
“Failure to renew would suspend cross-border trade and be catastrophic for the Palestinian economy,” the ministry said in a post on social media platform X.
31 Oct, 2024 01:50pm
Israel hits besieged Kamal Adwan Hospital’s medicine stash
The Ministry of Health in Gaza has condemned ongoing attacks by Israeli forces on the besieged Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern part of the enclave, Al Jazeera reports.
A short while ago, Israeli forces “caused great damage” when they hit the third floor of the largest hospital in the north, which contains medicine and medical supplies, the ministry said in a short statement on Telegram.
“The ministry appeals to all international and UN bodies and organisations to protect hospitals and medical staff from the brutality of the occupation and its crimes against health institutions and staff in the Gaza Strip,” it said.
31 Oct, 2024 01:58pm
Pakistan condemns Israel’s ‘indiscriminate’ strike on Gaza’s Beit Lahiya, Lebanon casualties
Pakistan has condemned Israel’s “indiscriminate” airstrike on Gaza’s Beit Lahiya and attacks on Lebanon resulting in civilian casualties, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says.
“Pakistan strongly condemns the recent Israeli attacks on Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley and Baalbek region resulting in the tragic loss of civilian lives, including women and children, and the displacement of over a million people,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said at a weekly press briefing.
“Pakistan also unequivocally condemns continuing Israeli assault against the people of Northern Gaza and the indiscriminate airstrike on Beit Lahiya which has resulted in the tragic loss of over a 100 Palestinian lives, including women and children,” she added.
31 Oct, 2024 01:00pm
WATCH: Destruction of Gaza’s health system leaves hospitals overwhelmed, supplies depleted
An independent UN inquiry has accused Israel of carrying out a “concerted policy” to destroy Gaza’s healthcare system.
The chair of the UN Commission of Inquiry, Navi Pillay, said Israeli attacks on medical infrastructure in the Palestinian enclave have been constant.
Al Jazeera‘s Hind Khoudary is at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah in the centre of the Strip, where she’s been talking to medical workers about what’s left of Gaza’s healthcare system.
Watch the report below:
31 Oct, 2024 12:40pm
CIA director heading to Egypt for Gaza truce talks
CIA Director Williams Burns is expected in the Egyptian capital, Cairo today for a new round of talks aimed at securing a ceasefire in Gaza, Al Jazeera reports, according to the Al Ahram Weekly.
Burns’ visit comes days after he held meetings with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Israeli and Egyptian security officials in Qatar’s capital, Doha. As those meetings took place, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi announced that Cairo had proposed a limited two-day truce to exchange four Israeli captives held by Hamas for some Palestinian prisoners.
US President Joe Biden’s Middle East advisers, Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk, are also expected in Israel today for talks on a truce deal between Israel and Lebanon.
31 Oct, 2024 12:31pm
Israeli military claims 150 Hamas, Hezbollah targets hit
The Israeli military claims its fighter aircraft attacked about 150 targets linked with Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon in the past 24 hours, saying Hezbollah headquarters and rocket launchers were struck, Al Jazeera reports.
In Gaza, the Israeli army said it launched dozens of attack in the northern and central parts of the besieged enclave. The attacks killed dozens of Palestinians, mostly civilians, Jabalia and Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza are seeing disastrous scenes of destruction.
31 Oct, 2024 12:29pm
Israel denounces UN expert who accused it of ‘genocide’
Israel’s UN ambassador on Wednesday called for the resignation of UN independent expert Francesca Albanese, who has denounced the “eradication of Palestinians” from their land through “genocide.”
Danny Danon posted on X, formerly Twitter, to call for the UN special rapporteur for human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories to step down immediately.
He made the call after Albanese told a committee at the UN General Assembly that developments in recent months “cement my assessment that Israel is conducting a genocidal campaign against the Palestinians.”
“Once again, the UN has rolled out the red carpet for one of the most anti-Semitic figures in modern history, granting her a stage to spew baseless propaganda and lies,” Danon wrote.
Addressing Albanese directly, he added: “Your presence at the UN is a disgrace, a betrayal of all moral standards. Resign immediately. Leave your credentials at the door and join your friends at Hamas and Hezbollah, where you belong.”
31 Oct, 2024 11:27am
Israeli attack kills 3 people in south Lebanon
An Israeli attack on the town of Deir al-Zahrani in the Nabatieh district has killed at least three people, Al Jazeera reports citing Lebanon 24 news.
It said rescue crews are still searching for survivors under the rubble.
31 Oct, 2024 10:49am
Radiohead frontman clashes with pro-Palestinian heckler in Australia
Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke briefly walked off stage during an Australian concert after a verbal stoush with a pro-Palestinian heckler, AFP reports.
Yorke was performing a solo show night in Melbourne when a concert goer began chiding him about the mounting death toll in Gaza.
“How many dead children will it take for you to condemn the genocide in Gaza,” the heckler said.
In a frosty reply, Yorke accused the man of ruining the gig for other fans and invited him to “hop up” on the stage.
“Don’t stand there like a coward, come here and say it. You want to piss on every body’s night,” Yorke said.
Yorke briefly walked off stage as the crowd booed the heckler, although returned minutes later to play his final song — Radiohead’s 1997 hit “Karma Police”.
Radiohead defied pro-Palestinian activists in 2017 to play a gig in Tel Aviv. “Playing in a country isn’t the same as endorsing its government,” Yorke wrote on Twitter at the time.
“We’ve played in Israel for over 20 years through a succession of governments, some more liberal than others. As we have in America.
“We don’t endorse Netanyahu any more than Trump, but we still play in America. “
31 Oct, 2024 10:36am
Israeli military continues assault on Beit Lahiya, Jabalia
Israeli forces in north Gaza are “intensively shelling” Beit Lahiya and carrying out “renewed raids” on the Jabalia refugee camp, according to Al Jazeera Arabic’s correspondents on the ground.
The bombardment comes as Israel’s siege of north Gaza enters its 27th day. The operation has killed hundreds of people and left hundreds of thousands cut off from food, water and medicine.
31 Oct, 2024 08:34am
US says Iran should not respond to Israel’s attacks
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said Iran should not respond to Israel’s strikes carried out last week, but if it does, the US will support Israel, Al Jazeera reports.
“Iran should not respond to Israel’s retaliation. They should not,” Jean-Pierre said at a news briefing.
“If they do, we will support Israel in defending itself, but they should not,” she said.
Jean-Pierre’s comments come after US media reported, citing an anonymous Iranian source, that Iran will deliver a “definitive and painful” response to Israel, likely before the US presidential election on November 5.
31 Oct, 2024 08:33am
UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon targeted 30 times in October
A spokesperson for the force, which is known as Unifil, said the 30 incidents had resulted in property damage or injury to peacekeepers and included 20 from Israeli fire or action.
Andrea Tenenti said seven of the Israeli actions were “clearly deliberate”.
For about a dozen other incidents, the origin of the fire could not be determined.
“What has been very concerning are incidents where peacekeepers performing their monitoring tasks, as well as our cameras, lighting and entire watchtowers, have been deliberately targeted by the [Israeli army],” Tenenti told a news conference.
“To be clear, the actions of both the [Israeli army] and Hezbollah are putting peacekeepers in danger,” he added.
The UN peacekeeping force has been deployed in Lebanon since Israel invaded the country in 1978.
31 Oct, 2024 08:32am
Iraqi armed group claims three drone attacks on Israel
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq said it launched drone attacks on a “vital” targets in the occupied Golan Heights and in northern Israel, as well as a military site in the south of the country, Al Jazeera reports.
The Iran-backed group, comprising several Iraqi militias, has stepped up attacks targeting Israel as the Israeli military intensifies its assault on Gaza and Lebanon.
The group, which says it is acting in solidarity with the people of Palestine and Lebanon, has also launched rockets and drone attacks at US forces in Iraq and Syria.
31 Oct, 2024 08:31am
French court overturns ban on Israeli companies at defence fair
A commercial court in Paris has ruled against a decision by the French government to ban Israeli companies that supply the bombardment in Gaza and Lebanon from exhibiting their hardware at the Euronaval defence fair, Al Jazeera reports.
The court said organisers of the fair cannot keep Israeli companies from exhibiting at the event based on their nationality and ordered the suspension of “the execution of the measures adopted against” the firms, according to the AFP news agency and the Times of Israel newspaper.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz hailed the ruling as a “significant victory” against the French government’s “unjust and undemocratic decision”.
30 Oct, 2024 11:24pm
US says Israel ‘not doing enough’ to answer concerns on Gaza strikes
The United States has said that ally Israel is not doing enough to answer questions a day after a strike in Gaza killed a large number of children, AFP reports.
“They are not doing enough to get us the answers that we have requested,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.
Asked if the US had learned more over the past day since it asked for answers, Miller said, “We reiterated that call with them today. We do not yet have an explanation.”
“They have said to us what they had said publicly, which is they’re investigating the matter,” he said.
30 Oct, 2024 11:22pm
US says officials heading to Israel to discuss Lebanon, Gaza deals
The US State Department has confirmed that senior US officials are travelling to Israel to seek progress on deals to end the Gaza and Lebanon conflicts, AFP reports.
Amos Hochstein, the US point man on Israel-Lebanon tensions, and Brett McGurk, the top White House official on the Middle East, will lead the talks with Israel.
The two “are travelling to Israel to engage on issues including a diplomatic resolution in Lebanon, as well as how we get to an end to the conflict in Gaza”, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.
“We do ultimately want to see a ceasefire,” Miller said.
“We want to see a diplomatic resolution that allows civilians both in Lebanon and Israel return to their homes,” he said.
Miller said that the US was pressing Israel to avoid “widespread damage” in Lebanon after it issued evacuation orders for the historic city of Baalbek.
“We have made clear that the campaign they’re conducting in Lebanon should not, cannot, must not look like the campaign that they have conducted in Gaza.”
30 Oct, 2024 11:18pm
There are alternatives to UNRWA: Israel
Israel “remains committed to international law and to ensuring the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza, through international organisations that are free of terrorist activity”, its foreign ministry says, Al Jazeera reports.
“There are alternatives to UNRWA,” said an X post by the foreign ministry’s spokesperson, naming the World Food Programme, Unicef, and the World Health Organisation.
30 Oct, 2024 10:19pm
US tracking nearly 500 incidents of civilian harm during Gaza conflict: report
US State Department officials have identified nearly 500 potential incidents of civilian harm during Israel’s offensive in Gaza involving US-supplied weapons, but have not taken further action on any of them, Al Jazeera reports according to three sources, including a US official familiar with the matter.
The incidents — some of which might have violated international humanitarian law, according to the sources — have been recorded since October 7, 2023, when the Israeli campaign in Gaza started.
They are being collected by the State Department’s Civilian Harm Incident Response Guidance, a formal mechanism for tracking and assessing any reported misuse of US-origin weapons.
Read more here.
30 Oct, 2024 09:55pm
‘Peace among ourselves’ crucial to save nature: UN chief
UN chief Antonio Guterres has for “peace among ourselves” in order to save the planet, as devastating conflicts rage in Ukraine, Gaza, Lebanon and Sudan, AFP reports.
“We need peace with nature and we need peace among ourselves,” Guterres told journalists in Cali, Colombia, where he attended a UN summit that is seeking ways to “halt and reverse” humankind’s destruction of Earth’s bountiful resources.
“We need to make peace among ourselves because wars … have some of the most devastating impacts on biodiversity, on climate and on pollution,” the secretary general said.
He reiterated calls for a “just peace” in Ukraine and an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, with “massive” humanitarian aid to the people there and the release of all hostages held by Hamas since its attack on Israel more than a year ago.
Guterres also underlined the need for a peace in Lebanon “that respects Lebanese sovereignty and Lebanese territorial integrity and paves the way for a political solution,” after Israel expanded its military offensive into that country.
30 Oct, 2024 09:54pm
Israel says it will ensure Gaza aid, despite new UNRWA ban
Israel has said that it will make sure aid gets into Gaza despite a new law it passed this week banning authorities from having any contact with the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, Reuters reports.
“Israel remains committed to international law and to ensuring the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza, through international organisations that are free of terrorist activity, such as WFP, Unicef, WHO and many others,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry said.
30 Oct, 2024 08:45pm
Israel must apply ‘military pressure’ in Gaza to ensure hostages
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told troops in Gaza that they must apply “military pressure” to guarantee the return of hostages held in the Palestinian territory for over a year, AFP reports.
“The central issue here is to continue exerting as much pressure on Hamas as possible, in order to create the conditions necessary to ensure the return of the hostages. Your duty is to exert military pressure, and eliminate and imprison terrorists,” Gallant’s office reported him saying.
30 Oct, 2024 08:28pm
Iran calls Israel’s UNRWA ban ‘outrageous and cruel’
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman denounced Israel’s decision to ban UNRWA, the main international agency delivering aid to Palestinian refugees in the region, Al Jazeera reports.
“This could only be understood as part and parcel of what UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine has defined as ‘genocidal intent, contextualizing the situation within a decades-long process of territorial expansion and ethnic cleansing aimed at liquidating the Palestinian presence in Palestine’,” Esmaeil Baghaei wrote in a post on X
31 Oct, 2024 10:41pm
Israeli attacks kill 45 in Lebanon in last 24 hours, health ministry says
Israeli attacks killed 45 people in Lebanon in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 2,865 since October 2023, the Lebanese health ministry said, Reuters reports.
30 Oct, 2024 10:58pm
PHOTOS: 2-year-old Lebanese baby with burn wounds caused by Israeli strike
30 Oct, 2024 07:41pm
New Hezbollah leader says will accept ceasefire with Israel under ‘conditions’
Hezbollah’s new leader, Naim Qassem, said he would agree to a ceasefire with Israel under acceptable terms but said a viable deal has yet to be presented, AFP reports.
“If the Israelis decide that they want to stop the aggression, we say we accept, but on the conditions that we see as appropriate and suitable,” Qassem said in a pre-recorded speech, though he added a suitable agreement has not been offered.
30 Oct, 2024 07:15pm
Saudi Arabia hosts meeting of new group pushing for Palestinian state
Saudi Arabia has hosted the first meeting of a new “international alliance” to press for the establishment of a Palestinian state, AFP reports.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said nearly 90 “states and international organisations” were taking part in the two-day meeting in Riyadh.
“A genocide is happening with the goal of evicting the Palestinian people from their land, which Saudi Arabia rejects,” he said, describing the humanitarian situation as “catastrophic” and denouncing the “complete blockade” of northern Gaza.
30 Oct, 2024 06:07pm
Israel army says killed deputy head of elite Hezbollah force
The Israeli army said it had killed the deputy head of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, Mustafa Ahmad Shahadi, in a strike in the Nabatieh area of south Lebanon, AFP reports.
“In an intelligence-directed strike, the Israeli air force struck and eliminated Mustafa Ahmad Shahadi, deputy commander of Hezbollah’s Radwan Forces, in the area of Nabatieh,” the army said in a statement, adding that Shahadi had previously run Radwan operations in Syria and overseen “terror attacks in southern Lebanon”.
30 Oct, 2024 06:07pm
Israeli army issues more displacement orders for southern Lebanon villages
The Israeli army has issued a new wave of enforced displacement orders for at least eight towns in southern Lebanon, Al Jazeera reports.
“For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and move to the north of the Awali River. To ensure your safety, you must evacuate without delay,” a spokesperson said on X.
Civilians are prohibited from heading south, it added.
Hundreds of villages in the country’s south have been evacuated for an area that the UN estimates covers a quarter of Lebanon’s territory.
30 Oct, 2024 06:03pm
Hamas says will discuss any Gaza truce plan that leads to Israel withdrawal
A Hamas official has said that the group has not received any proposals for a Gaza ceasefire but will discuss any ideas that include an Israeli withdrawal, AFP reports.
“We have not officially received any comprehensive proposal. We are prepared to engage with any ideas or proposals presented to us, provided they ultimately lead to an end to the war and a withdrawal by the army from the (Gaza) Strip,” the official told AFP.
The official, who preferred to remain anonymous, added that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is obstructing truce efforts to push an agenda of “genocide, ethnic cleansing and displacement” made possible by the absence of US pressure.
“We have told the mediators that Hamas is ready if [Israel] agrees to a proposal for a ceasefire, complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, return of displaced people to their homes in Gaza, including the north, entry of sufficient aid for our people and a serious prisoner exchange deal,” he said, referring to ceasefire conditions Hamas has repeatedly brought to negotiations.
He said that Egypt and Qatar continue to work as mediators in consultations between Hamas and Israel.
30 Oct, 2024 06:00pm
France ‘firmly condemns’ deadly Israeli strike in north Gaza
France has “firmly condemned” an Israeli strike in Gaza the previous day that rescuers said collapsed a building, killing at least 93 people including a large number of children, AFP reports.
“France firmly condemns the Israeli strike against a building in Beit Lahia in north Gaza on October 29 that killed almost 100 people, including women and children,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
“France also condemns recent Israeli strikes on hospitals in the north” of the Palestinian territory, it added. “The siege imposed on north Gaza must be ended immediately. “
30 Oct, 2024 05:46pm
CIA director, other officials to visit Middle East for talks
A United States official has said that other officials, including CIA Director William Burns and envoys Brett McGurk and Amos Hochstein, will visit Egypt and Israel on Thursday to discuss issues involving Iran, Lebanon and the release of hostages in Gaza as Washington seeks to de-escalate tensions in the region, Reuters reports.
Centcom Commander General Erik Kurilla also is in the region and will visit Israel, the official said.
30 Oct, 2024 05:30pm
Parents losing hope as food insecurity ‘reaches critical levels’ in Gaza: WFP
The World Food Programme (WFP) reports that Palestinians across the Gaza Strip are increasingly losing hope of finding any food for their starving children, Al Jazeera reports.
“If I could provide as little as an onion and a tomato for my kid, it would cost me a fortune,” a Palestinian mother said. “I only cook flour for my kids to eat it like rice.”
Many parents expressed fear that they would soon be fully unable to feed their children and lose them.
30 Oct, 2024 05:21pm
Israel cabinet discusses Lebanon ceasefire framework: minister
Israel’s security cabinet is discussing the terms of a truce with Hezbollah in south Lebanon, where Israeli troops are conducting a ground offensive, Energy Minister Eli Cohen said, AFP reports.
“There are discussions, I think it will still take time”, Cohen told Israeli public radio.
According to Israel’s Channel 12 television, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks with ministers on Tuesday evening on Israel’s demands in return for a 60-day truce.
These include an Hezbollah pullback north of the Litani river, some 30 kilometres from the Israeli frontier, the Lebanese army’s deployment along the border, an international intervention mechanism to enforce the truce and a guarantee that Israel will maintain freedom of action in case of threats.
“Thanks to all the army’s operations these past months and particularly these past weeks… Israel can come in a position of strength after the entire Hezbollah leadership was eliminated and over 2,000 Hezbollah terrorist infrastructures were hit”, said Cohen, a former intelligence minister.
30 Oct, 2024 05:14pm
Saudi Arabia to host meeting of new group pushing for Palestinian state
Saudi Arabia is expected to open the first meeting of a new “international alliance” to press for the establishment of a Palestinian state, state media said, AFP reports.
The “International Alliance to Implement the Two-State Solution” was unveiled last month on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Saudi state media reported at the time, bringing together Arab and Islamic countries and European countries.
This week’s meeting in Riyadh is expected to last for two days and feature sessions on humanitarian access, the embattled UN agency for Palestinian refugees and incentives to promote a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, diplomats said.
The European Union will be represented by Sven Koopmans, the special representative for the Middle East peace process, diplomats said.
Read more here..
30 Oct, 2024 05:03pm
Iran says missile production unaffected by Israel strikes
Iran said that its production of missiles remained intact, following Israeli air strikes targeting military facilities last week, AFP reports.
“There has been no interruption in the process of producing offensive systems such as missiles,” Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh told reporters.
“The enemy tried to damage both our defensive and offensive systems,” he added.
30 Oct, 2024 04:40pm
Israel slams UN expert over ‘eradication’ of Palestinians claim
Israel’s mission in Geneva has charged that UN rights expert Francesca Albanese is a “political activist” abusing her mandate “to hide her hatred for Israel”, AFP reports.
Albanese, UN special rapporteur on rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, reiterated an allegation that Israel is committing “genocide” in Gaza, saying it is seeking the “eradication of Palestinians” from their land.
Israel’s Geneva UN mission said in a statement: “According to her hate-filled paradigm, the state of Israel has no historic reason to exist, no right to defend its population, and both the attack of October 7 and the rescue of hostages are merely used by Israel as an excuse.”
“This distorted reality is a smokescreen to hide her hatred for Israel.”
30 Oct, 2024 04:39pm
Lebanon security official says 1 dead in Israel strike on munitions van
A Lebanese security official told AFP that an Israeli strike on a van carrying munitions near Beirut killed the driver, the latest death in more than a month of Israel-Hezbollah conflict.
“A van was targeted in an Israeli strike on the Kahhale road and its driver killed,” the official said, adding that the vehicle was carrying munitions. He requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
Lebanese state media said the Kahhale road, which links Beirut to Damascus, had been “blocked in both directions due to a ‘security incident’”.
30 Oct, 2024 04:38pm
Israel issues evacuation warning to residents of Lebanese city of Baalbek
The Israeli military issued an evacuation warning to residents of the city of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon, a military spokesperson said on X.
30 Oct, 2024 04:33pm
New Hezbollah leader to give first speech on Wednesday: source close to group
Hezbollah’s new leader is due to give a speech on Wednesday, a source close to the group said, his first since he was appointed earlier this week.
“A speech by the new secretary general of Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, is scheduled for Wednesday,” the source told AFP, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
30 Oct, 2024 04:20pm
Gaza mediators to propose truce of ‘less than a month’: source
Mediators for a ceasefire in Gaza are to propose a truce of “less than a month” to Hamas, a source with knowledge of the talks has told AFP.
Meetings between Mossad head David Barnea, CIA Director Bill Burns and Qatar’s prime minister in Doha, which concluded on Monday, discussed proposing a “short-term” truce of “less than a month”, the source said on condition of anonymity because of the talks’ sensitivity.
30 Oct, 2024 03:49pm
Gaza health ministry says death toll at 43,163 since conflict began
The health ministry in Gaza has said that at least 43,163 people have been killed in the year-long conflict, AFP reports.
The toll includes 102 deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to the ministry, which said 101,510 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023.
30 Oct, 2024 02:53pm
Iran says missile production not disrupted by Israeli strikes: state media
Iran’s missile production has not been disrupted following Israeli airstrikes on the Islamic Republic on Oct 26, Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh was quoted by state media, Reuter reports.
30 Oct, 2024 02:30pm
80 Israelis, including 64 soldiers, police killed in October amid ongoing conflict
At least 80 Israelis, most of them soldiers taking part in offensives in southern Lebanon or Gaza, have been killed by the Hezbollah and Hamas groups this month, Anadolu reports.
In a comment on the figure, Israeli Army Radio dubbed the month “black October,” as 64 soldiers and police, along with 16 civilians, were killed in either southern Lebanon and Gaza or in attacks inside Israel or rocket attacks from Lebanon and Iraq.
The broadcaster said 33 soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon, while 16 were killed in the Gaza Strip.
In addition to the 16 civilians, other soldiers and police officers were killed in attacks inside Israel, including a drone strike by Lebanese group Hezbollah that killed four soldiers in an army base near the central city of Binyamina on Oct 13, while two soldiers perished in another attack by an Iraqi group on Oct 4.
30 Oct, 2024 01:48pm
Palestine’s UN envoy warns thousands in northern Gaza face imminent execution by Israeli army
Palestine’s permanent representative to the UN warned that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in northern Gaza face imminent execution for refusing to abandon their land and homes, criticising those who protect Israel, their tormentors, Anadolu reports.
Riyad Mansour was speaking at a session of the UN Security Council focused on the situation in the Middle East.
After addressing the conditions in Gaza, particularly its northern areas, Mansour said “hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are at immediate risk of death and face execution for refusing to leave their lands.”
“Palestinians are besieged and subjected to bombing and starvation. They know that if they leave their areas, they will not be allowed to return,” he added.
30 Oct, 2024 01:45pm
Harris faces Gaza protest during Ellipse speech
US Vice President and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, campaigning in Washington, DC, faced protests from hundreds of people expressing disapproval of her administration’s Gaza policy, Anadolu reports.
As she addressed the crowd, delivering her campaign’s closing argument, around 300 protesters began chanting slogans criticising the Biden-Harris administration’s policy on Gaza, drawing attention to the civilian toll.
Demonstrators held signs calling for a weapons embargo on Israel, chanting “Kamala, what do you say? We won’t vote for you on election day. How many kids did you kill today?”
The protesters maintained their presence throughout Harris’s speech and later marched with banners toward a nearby street leading to the White House.
30 Oct, 2024 01:14pm
EU foreign policy chief condemns Israeli attack that killed dozens in northern Gaza
The EU’s foreign policy chief condemned the killing of Palestinian civilians in northern Gaza after an Israeli army attack reportedly killed at least 100 Palestinians in the Beit Lahia area, Anadolu reports.
“The images from Beit Lahiya in #Gaza are horrifying. At least 100 people have been killed in another IDF (Israeli military) attack,” Josep Borrell said on X.
“We will not stop condemning this and calling for accountability,” he said, adding that the principles of proportionality and protection of civilians were being “brutally disregarded.”
30 Oct, 2024 01:08pm
Palestinian foreign ministry condemns ‘violent campaign’ against UN agencies, officials
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates condemned Israel’s “continued violent campaign against the United Nations, its agencies, its officials and personnel”.
“Israel’s 76 years campaign to dismantle the United Nations, undermine its promise, and delegitimise its purpose, is aimed at destroying any obstacle in its plan to exterminate the Palestinian people,” it said in a post on X.
“Israel, the occupying Power, is a serial violator of the UN Charter and does not belong to the community of nations,” it added.
30 Oct, 2024 11:57am
Senior Biden advisers to visit Israel to try to end conflict in Lebanon: report
US President Joe Biden’s senior advisers Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk will arrive in Israel to try to close a deal that would end the conflict in Lebanon, Reuters reports citing Axios.
A deal that would end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah could be achieved within a few weeks, Israeli and US officials said, according to Axios.
31 Oct, 2024 10:41pm
Israeli attacks kill 45 in Lebanon in last 24 hours, health ministry says
Israeli attacks killed 45 people in Lebanon in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 2,865 since October 2023, the Lebanese health ministry said, Reuters reports.
30 Oct, 2024 11:23am
Israel’s UNRWA ban ‘blatant violation’ of international law: PM Shehbaz
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has condemned Israel for banning the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
In a post on X, he said: “By preventing critical relief assistance from reaching millions of helpless Palestinians, Israel is committing yet another blatant violation of international humanitarian law and the UN Charter for which it must be held accountable by the international community.”
30 Oct, 2024 11:05am
WATCH: UN official tells Security Council Middle East at ‘most dangerous juncture’
30 Oct, 2024 10:44am
Residents of Lebanon’s Sidon say Israel gave no warning before deadly attack
Residents in Lebanon’s Sidon have said Israel gave no warning before attacking the suburb of Haret Saida on town’s outskirts, killing at least seven people, Al Jazeera reports.
“We were sitting and all of a sudden, we heard a missile. When it hit the building, it came down, then a second missile hit and a second building came down and the one next to it too,” Ahmed al-Teryaqi, a resident of Sidon, told Al Jazeera.
“They have no mercy and no faith.”
Lebanese health officials say the Israeli attack also wounded more than 20 people, Al Jazeera added.
30 Oct, 2024 10:00am
Sirens sound in dozens of Israeli towns following rocket attack
Al Jazeera quotes Israel’s Army Radio as saying that a salvo of rockets has been launched from Lebanon, causing air raid sirens to be activated in several areas of northern Israel.
Israel’s Home Front Command reported that sirens were sounding in dozens of towns in the Sharon region, the Upper Galilee and the northern occupied Golan Heights, Al Jazeera says.
The Israeli military has said that at least some of the alerts were caused by a surface-to-surface ballistic missile fired from Lebanon which exploded. No casualties or damage has been reported.
30 Oct, 2024 09:30am
PHOTOS: Palestinians surrounded by rubble, bodies following strike on Gaza residential area
30 Oct, 2024 08:59am
Scores still missing, rescuers scramble for survivors after Israeli strike on Gaza’s Beit Lahia
An Israeli air strike on a five-storey residential block in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza has killed nearly 100 people, according to Gaza’s civil defence agency, leaving rescuers scrambling for survivors, AFP reports.
A charred body with long hair hung from an upper-storey window and bodies in blankets were lined up in the street as stunned relatives sought to identify loved ones.
“The number of martyrs in the massacre of the Abu Nasr family home in Beit Lahia has risen to 93 martyrs, and about 40 are still missing under the rubble,” Gaza civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.
“The explosion happened at night and I first thought it was shelling, but when I went out after sunrise I saw people pulling bodies, limbs and the wounded from under the rubble,” said Rabie al-Shandagly, 30.
“Most of the victims are women and children, and people are trying to save the injured, but there are no hospitals or proper medical care,” he told AFP.
30 Oct, 2024 08:34am
Lebanon says at least eight killed in Israeli strike on southern town
Lebanon’s health ministry has said at least eight people were killed in an Israeli strike on the southern coastal city of Sarafand, AFP reports.
“The Israeli enemy raid on Sarafand this evening has, according to a provisional toll, left eight dead and 21 wounded,” a ministry statement said, adding that rescue workers were searching for survivors.
An earlier strike further north near Sidon left six dead and 37 wounded, according to a new toll from the ministry.
30 Oct, 2024 08:30am
UN chief writes letter to Israeli PM protesting UNRWA ban
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu protesting a new law that could effectively cripple the UN agency responsible for aiding Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), AFP reports.
The ban is due to start in three months.
In the letter, which was seen by AFP, Guterres said the law could have “devastating consequences” for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank because there is no reasonable alternative to UNRWA for providing the aid and assistance these people need.
“I appeal to you and to the government of Israel to prevent such devastating consequences and to allow UNRWA to continue carrying out its activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, in accordance with its obligations under international law,” Guterres wrote.
Guterres argued that under international law an occupying power must implement mechanisms for aiding the people living in that occupied territory. “Israel, as the occupying power, continues to be required to ensure that the needs of the population are met,” Guterres wrote.
“If Israel is not in a position to meet such needs, it has an obligation to allow and facilitate the activities of the United Nations, including UNRWA, and other humanitarian agencies, until the needs of Palestine refugees in the Occupied Palestinian Territory are met,” he added.
29 Oct, 2024 11:03pm
Hamas open to discussing new deal securing end to Gaza conflict, Israeli pull-out
A senior Hamas official has said the group is studying new proposals from mediators to end the Gaza conflict but reiterated that these should entail a complete Israeli military withdrawal from the enclave, Reuters reports.
“The movement has confirmed it is open to any deal or ideas that ends the suffering of our people in Gaza and achieve a permanent ceasefire, and the occupation’s withdrawal from all of Gaza Strip,” Sami Abu Zuhri said in a televised speech.
He also said an agreement must end the Israeli-led blockade of the coastal enclave, allow unrestricted relief aid and a reconstruction of Gaza, and achieve a swap of Israeli hostages in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
29 Oct, 2024 11:01pm
US voices concern on ‘horrifying’ Israeli strike in Gaza that killed children
The United States has voiced concern about a “horrifying” Israeli strike in Gaza that killed a large number of children and said it was asking its ally for answers, AFP reports.
“We are deeply concerned by the loss of civilian life in this incident. This was a horrifying incident with a horrifying result,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters, pointing to “reports of two dozen children killed” in the bombing that destroyed the five-story block in Beit Lahia.
“We have reached out to the government of Israel to ask what happened here,” Miller said.
The “tragic cost to civilians” in the latest strike “is another reminder of why we need to see into this war”. Miller said.
“We are a year into the government of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and Israel has decimated Hamas’s military capabilities, it has decimated Hamas leadership, it has through its military action ensured that Hamas does not have the ability to repeat the attacks of October 7,” Miller said.
29 Oct, 2024 10:00pm
Norway asks ICJ to clarify Israel’s aid obligations to Palestinians: PM
Norway said it would ask the UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) to clarify Israel’s aid obligations to Palestinians, a day after Israel banned the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, AFP reports.
The Scandinavian country is “requesting that the ICJ pronounces on Israel’s obligations to facilitate humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian population, delivered by international organisations, including the UN, and states,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said in a statement.
29 Oct, 2024 09:59pm
5 killed in Israeli air raid on building in Lebanon’s Sidon
Al Jazeera reports that the attack targeted a building located in Haret Saida, southeast of Sidon, according to Al Jadeed TV.
At least four others were injured and transported to Hammoud Hospital University Medical Center, the National News Agency said.
29 Oct, 2024 09:35pm
If implemented, UNRWA ban would be act of ‘collective punishment’: UN
Israel’s decision to ban UNRWA would represent a form of collective punishment for Gaza’s people if fully implemented, UN humanitarian office spokesperson Jens Laerke says, Al Jazeera reports.
“I think it is a fair description of what they have decided here, if implemented, that this would add to the acts of collective punishment that we have seen imposed on Gaza,” he said.
29 Oct, 2024 09:33pm
Israeli bombardment of Gaza City kills 6 Palestinians
Al Jazeera reports that at least six Palestinians have been killed and many wounded by an Israeli bombardment near al-Khalidi Mosque in northwestern Gaza City.
29 Oct, 2024 10:34pm
Genocide is only possible because of impunity: Palestinian envoy to UN
Riyad Mansour, Palestine’s envoy to the UN, has demanded the Security Council act to protect civilians enduring more than a year of Israel’s attacks, Al Jazeera reports.
“Israel has crossed every red line, broken every rule, defied every prohibition. When is enough really enough? When are you going to act? You are the Security Council. You have to reach every single one who is in pain among the Palestinians. That is your duty,” the envoy said at a council meeting.
Besides the 43,000 people killed in Gaza, he noted 100,000 Palestinian have been maimed in Israeli strikes, many with amputations and other permanent disabilities. Two million Palestinians are displaced with “people enduring unspeakable pain”, Mansour said.
“By ending impunity and ensuring accountability, by finally bringing to an end this terrible injustice, let your actions match your words. Stop this genocide or forever remain silent.”
29 Oct, 2024 08:48pm
Gaza humanitarian crisis could escalate into famine, WFP warns
The World Food Programme called for immediate action to avert famine in the Gaza Strip, saying that the humanitarian crisis could soon escalate amid “severe” restrictions on aid flows, Reuters reports.
“As the situation in northern Gaza continues to deteriorate, the likelihood of a larger group being impacted by famine will surely increase unless conditions on the ground improve,” WFP said, calling for more crossing points to be open and safety guaranteed.
29 Oct, 2024 08:44pm
Mideast at ‘most dangerous juncture’ in decades: UN official
The UN’s special coordinator for Middle East peace warned that the region was at its “most dangerous juncture” in decades, as the onslaught between Israel and Iran-backed groups risked spiraling into a broader conflict, AFP reports.
“We have now entered the second year of this horrific conflict, and the region is on the verge of yet another serious escalation,” Tor Wennesland told the Security Council.
“Every effort — by all of us — must be made to de-escalate the situation and establish a different trajectory toward greater peace and stability in the region,” he said.
Over a year after Hamas’ unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel prompted the devastating offensive in Gaza, which has now extended to Lebanon, deadly violence “shows no signs of abating,” Wennesland said.
“We are witnessing not only a horrific humanitarian nightmare, but a rapidly accelerated unraveling of the prospects for a sustainable resolution to this conflict.”
29 Oct, 2024 08:42pm
US says Israel not yet doing enough to help Palestinians in Gaza
The United States rejects “any Israeli efforts to starve Palestinians in Jabalia, or anywhere else” in the Gaza Strip, US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said, Reuters reports.
“Israel’s words must be matched by action on the ground. Right now, that is not happening. This must change — immediately,” she told the UN Security Council.
29 Oct, 2024 08:00pm
50pc of Gaza’s telecommunications infrastructure destroyed
The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media says that since October 2023, at least 50 per cent of the total infrastructure has been destroyed, resulting in repeated disruptions to internet services and other communications, Al Jazeera reports.
The organisation, known as 7amleh, said communications services were cut off at least 15 times from October 2023 to March. The damage inflicted on communication towers and the fibre optic infrastructure is estimated at $90 million up to March, 7amleh said.
“Currently, only 30pc of the communication towers and infrastructure components are operational.”
29 Oct, 2024 07:45pm
Rocket injures 8 Austrian Unifil soldiers in Lebanon: Vienna
A rocket attack injured eight Austrian soldiers with a UN peacekeeping contingent in southern Lebanon, the Austrian defence ministry said, condemning the attack and adding it was “currently not possible to say where the attack came from”, AFP reports.
“Eight Austrian army soldiers from the Unifil contingent (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) were injured today at 12:58 pm (1058 GMT) by a rocket hit in Camp Naqoura; none of them seriously,” the statement said, adding the injuries were “minor and superficial”.
29 Oct, 2024 07:31pm
Ireland urges EU to review Israel trade ties over UNRWA ban
Ireland’s Prime Minister Simon Harris has urged the EU to review trade ties with Israel over Israeli lawmakers’ “despicable” ban on the UN’s Palestinian aid agency UNRWA, AFP reports.
The Irish leader criticised the Israeli parliament’s “shameful” banning of the agency, which coordinates nearly all aid to Gaza.
“The most important action that the European Union could take right now is reviewing trade relations,” Harris told reporters in Dublin before meeting incoming European Council president Antonio Costa.
“What Israel and the Israeli Knesset did last night was despicable, disgraceful and shameful. More people will die, more children will starve,” he said.
Harris added there was “no alternative” to UNRWA, and that he would discuss with Costa “how Europe now needs to find the moral courage … to act in relation to this.
“Ireland, Spain, Belgium, Slovenia and others have been calling for more actions at an EU level. I think that would be a very effective way and I’ll be continuing to make that case,” he said.
29 Oct, 2024 07:19pm
PHOTOS: Aftermath of Israeli strike on Palestine’s Beit Lahiya
29 Oct, 2024 07:10pm
Israel’s Defence Minister Gallant vows new Hezbollah leader will be ‘temporary’
Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warned Hezbollah’s new leader, Naim Qassem, that his appointment was “not for long”.
“Temporary appointment. Not for long,” Gallant wrote in a post on X alongside a photograph of Qassem, whom Hezbollah had earlier named as assassinated leader Hassan Nasrallah’s successor.
In a separate post in Hebrew, Gallant wrote that the “countdown has begun”.
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29 Oct, 2024 06:54pm
Palestine official calls for Israel’s ouster from UN over UNRWA ban
The president of the Palestinian National Council, Rawhi Fattouh, has called for Israel’s expulsion from the UN if it fails to reverse its ban on UNRWA functioning in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, Al Jazeera reports.
Fattouh said Israel’s decision is in clear violation of the UN Charter and part of Israel’s policy is “ethnic cleansing”, Wafa news agency reported.
He urged UN member states to hold a General Assembly session to compel Israel to reverse its legislation or face legal consequences that could result in expulsion from the world body.
The UNRWA ban not only jeopardises the rights of refugees but also undermines international legitimacy and goes against UN resolutions concerning the Palestinian issue, Fattouh said.
29 Oct, 2024 06:45pm
Hamas congratulates Hezbollah on new leader
Hamas congratulated Hezbollah on the announcement of Naim Qassem as its new secretary-general, Al Jazeera reports.
“We consider this election as evidence of the party’s recovery from the targeting of its leadership bodies, and we affirm our support for the new leadership of the party,” Hamas said in a statement.
The Palestinian group wished Qassem and Hezbollah luck in “confronting the Zionist enemy and its colonial ambitions in Lebanon, Palestine and the region”.
31 Oct, 2024 06:12pm
At least 30 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, hospital hit: Gaza ministry
Gaza’s health officials said that at least 30 Palestinians were killed in Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip, mostly in the north where one attack hit a hospital, torching medical supplies and disrupting operations, Reuters reports.
29 Oct, 2024 02:52pm
Beit Lahiya attack death toll rises to 93
The director-general of the Gaza Government Media Office, Ismail al-Thawabta, says at least 93 people have been killed, and 40 are missing after an Israeli attack on a residential building housing displaced people in Beit Lahiya, Al Jazeera reports.
Al-Thawabta told Al Jazeera Arabic that dozens of wounded were arriving at Kamal Adwan Hospital, which stopped working, and no one could treat them.
He added that the building Israel attacked housed 200 people. So far, 83 people have been buried.
29 Oct, 2024 02:49pm
Jordan says Israel’s UNRWA ban is a continuation of efforts to destroy agency
Jordan’s Foreign Ministry says the Israeli parliament’s decision violates international law and is part of its bid to dismantle the organisation, Al Jazeera reports.
It said the vote was “part of the systematic targeting” of UNRWA and a “continuation of Israel’s frantic efforts to assassinate the UN agency politically, in addition to its aggressive war on the Palestinian people”.
29 Oct, 2024 02:47pm
17 children among 77 killed in Beit Lahiya attack
In Beit Lahiya, 65 people have been killed, 17 of them children below the age of 12, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud reports from Deir el-Balah, Gaza.
“Al-Awda Hospital, a facility in the northern part of the Strip, still somehow operational and offering medical care, is unable to accommodate the large number of injuries.
“More people are being pulled out of the rubble. They are in critical condition. They are severely bleeding or simply were crushed by the heavy weight of the large pieces of concrete that collapsed on their heads while they were sleeping,” Mahmoud reports.
“There are other people who actually have gone missing, as some people are talking about other members of their families who do not exist any more.
“They are simply pulverised by the intensity of the explosion because we’re talking about a building that at some point was standing five storeys now turned into a pile of rubble.”
29 Oct, 2024 02:00pm
60 Palestinians killed in Israeli strike on Gaza’s Beit Lahiya, says official
At least 60 Palestinians were killed with 17 others missing under the rubble after an Israeli strike on a residential building in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya, Gaza health ministry official Marwan Al-Hams told a press conference, Reuters reports.
29 Oct, 2024 01:28pm
Turkiye says Israel’s move to ban UNRWA violates international law
Turkiye’s foreign ministry said that Israel’s decision to ban the UN relief agency UNRWA from operating inside of the country was a clear violation of international law that aimed to prevent displaced Palestinians from returning home, Reuters reports.
In a statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said the move aimed to disrupt efforts to reach a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, adding UNRWA provided vital help to Palestinians.
“It is the legal and moral obligation of the international community to take a strong stance against attempts to ban UNRWA, which was established by a UN General Assembly resolution,” the ministry said. “As the Chair of the Working Group on the Financing of UNRWA, Turkiye will continue to provide political and financial support to the Agency,” it added.
29 Oct, 2024 01:11pm
Iran to raise military budget by around 200pc: govt spokesperson
Iran’s government plans to raise its military budget by around 200 per cent, the country’s government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani has said, Reuters reports citing Iran state media.
29 Oct, 2024 12:52pm
CNN guest thrown off air after telling journalist Mehdi Hasan ‘I hope your beeper doesn’t go off’
CNN has said it will no longer feature appearances from writer Ryan Girdusky, after he made a comment amid a chaotic and bad-tempered panel discussion appearing to say he hoped that Muslim journalist Mehdi Hasan got blown up in a bomb attack, The Independent reports.
“There is zero room for racism or bigotry at CNN or on our air,” the network said in a statement, which was also shared by its journalist Abby D. Phillip.
She said in a post on X, “I take this very seriously and want to again apologize to [Mehdi Hassan] and I hope he’ll join us another time.”
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29 Oct, 2024 12:45pm
At least 55 Palestinians killed in strike on Beit Lahiya: Gaza emergency service
The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service has said that at least 55 Palestinians were killed and dozens others wounded in an Israeli strike on a residential building in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya, Reuters reports.
It added that many victims were believed to still be trapped under the rubble. The official Palestinian news agency Wafa and Hamas media reported had earlier reported the same figure.
Many of those killed in the strike were women and children, Wafa reported, citing medics.
There was no immediate Israeli comment.
29 Oct, 2024 10:20am
CIA boss floats 28-day Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal: report
CIA Director Bill Burns has floated a deal for a 28-day Gaza ceasefire, the freeing of around eight hostages by Hamas and the release of dozens of Palestinian prisoners by Israel, Axios reports, citing three Israeli officials.
Burns discussed the idea during a meeting on Sunday with Israeli and Qatari counterparts, Axios said.
29 Oct, 2024 12:36pm
Netanyahu says Israel not received 2-day Gaza ceasefire proposal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he had not received a proposal for a two-day truce in the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza that would include a hostage release, his office said according to AFP.
Netanyahu told his party that Israel “has not received a proposal for the release of four hostages in return for a 48-hour ceasefire in Gaza. If such a proposal had been raised, the prime minister would have accepted it immediately,” his office said in a statement, referring to a proposal revealed by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday.
29 Oct, 2024 10:01am
PHOTOS: Smoke rises after Israel attacks Lebanese city of Tyre
29 Oct, 2024 09:38am
Germany ‘sharply’ criticises Israeli bill to ban UN Palestinian refugee agency
The German government said it “sharply” criticised a bill passed by Israel’s parliament to ban the UN agency for Palestinian refugees from working in Israel and occupied east Jerusalem, AFP reports.
Germany’s Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Assistance, Luise Amtsberg, also warned the move would “effectively make UNRWA’s work in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem impossible […[ jeopardising vital humanitarian aid for millions of people”.
Amtsberg said the implementation of the law as it currently stands “would be a fateful step” and that “our efforts to bring peace to the Middle East would be hindered”.
“The Israeli action against a UN-mandated organization that has been doing vital work since 1950 is a dangerous signal of disrespect for the United Nations and for international cooperation,” she said.
Amtsberg acknowledged that “UNRWA has taken measures to address allegations of support for terrorist organisations by individual staff members and to reform internal procedures”.
She said the UN agency “must continue to implement these reforms as a high priority and further strengthen its neutrality”.
29 Oct, 2024 09:15am
Netanyahu vows Israel ‘ready’ to provide aid to Gaza as it bans UN agency
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to “stand ready” to provide humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza after the Israeli parliament voted to ban the UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees from working in Israel, AFP reports.
“Sustained humanitarian aid must remain available in Gaza now and in the future […] We stand ready to work with our international partners to ensure Israel continues to facilitate humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not threaten Israel’s security,” Netanyahu said in a post on social media platform X.
29 Oct, 2024 09:12am
Israel parliament approves bill banning UN Palestinian refugee agency
Israel’s parliament approved a bill banning the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) from working in Israel, despite objections from the United States, AFP reports.
Lawmakers passed the bill with 92 votes in favour and 10 against, after years of harsh Israeli criticism of UNRWA, which has only increased since the start of the war in Gaza following Hamas’s October 7 attacks last year.
29 Oct, 2024 09:09am
UK ‘gravely concerned’ by Israeli bill banning UN Palestinian refugee agency: Starmer
Britain is “gravely concerned” about Israel’s parliament on Monday passing a bill banning the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said according to AFP.
“This legislation risks making UNRWA’s essential work for Palestinians impossible, jeopardising the entire international humanitarian response in Gaza and delivery of essential health and education services in the West Bank,” Starmer said in a statement.
29 Oct, 2024 08:59am
WATCH: Cat rescued from under rubble in Beirut following Israeli attack
28 Oct, 2024 11:19pm
‘Disregard for humanity must stop’ in north Gaza
UN humanitarian chief Joyce Msuya has said, “what Israeli forces are doing in besieged North Gaza cannot be allowed to continue” as “hundreds of Palestinians have reportedly been killed, and tens of thousands have been forced to flee yet again”, Al Jazeera reports.
In a statement, she said hospitals in northern Gaza have been hit and health workers detained.
“Shelters have been emptied and burned down. First responders have been prevented from saving people from under the rubble. Families have been separated, and men and boys are being taken away by the truckload,” she said.
“The entire population of North Gaza is at risk of dying. Such blatant disregard for basic humanity and for the laws of war must stop.”
28 Oct, 2024 10:37pm
Biden says Gaza conflict ‘should end’
US President Joe Biden has said that Israel’s offensive in Gaza “should end”, adding that he is renewing efforts for a ceasefire after Egypt proposed a two-day truce, AFP reports.
“We need a ceasefire. We should end this war. It should end, it should end, it should end,” Biden told reporters after casting his early vote in the US presidential election.
He said that he was going to “get out of here, get on a secure line, and follow up on that”.
28 Oct, 2024 10:32pm
South Africa files evidence of genocide by Israel with ICJ: presidency
The office of President Cyril Ramaphosa has said in a statement that South Africa has filed evidence of a genocide committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip with the International Court of Justice, AFP reports.
The document “contains evidence which shows how the government of Israel has violated the genocide convention by promoting the destruction of Palestinians living in Gaza”, the presidency said amid claims that Israel has denied.
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28 Oct, 2024 09:25pm
Netanyahu’s office says Mossad chief returns from Qatar, discussions to continue
Mossad chief David Barnea has returned from Doha after meetings with Qatar’s prime minister and the CIA chief, where the parties discussed a new outline that combines previous proposals and takes into account recent developments, Al Jazeera reports.
“In the coming days, the discussions between the mediators and with Hamas will continue to examine the feasibility of talks and a continued attempt to promote a deal,” Netanyahu’s office said on X.
28 Oct, 2024 08:42pm
Israel wants more peace deals with Arab countries after the conflict, Netanyahu says
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed hopes to reach peace deals with more Arab countries once operations against Hamas and Hezbollah are complete.
“I aspire to continue the process I led a few years ago of the signing of the historic Abraham Accords, and achieve peace with additional Arab countries,” Netanyahu said in a speech in parliament.
“These countries, and other countries, see clearly the blows we are landing on those who attack us, the Iranian axis of evil,” he said. “They aspire, like us, for a stable, secure and flourishing Middle East.”
28 Oct, 2024 08:09pm
Hezbollah says rockets fired at navy base near Israel’s Haifa
Hezbollah has said it fired a barrage of advanced rockets towards a naval base in the area of Haifa, a northern Israeli city.
The Iran-backed group said it launched “a rocket barrage at … a naval base” in the Haifa area after Israeli strikes hit Tyre after an evacuation warning.
28 Oct, 2024 07:40pm
Israel launches fresh strikes on Tyre after 7 killed in earlier raid
Israel launched fresh strikes on Tyre, Lebanese state media said, after the Israeli military told swathes of the southern city to evacuate and following an earlier raid that killed seven people, AFP reports.
The National News Agency (NNA) reported “a series of strikes” on the ancient coastal city, beginning with a raid on a residential apartment.
An AFP video journalist reported thick clouds of smoke covering parts of Tyre, including rising from a building along the seafront.
The fresh strikes came after a raid in the centre of the city killed seven people and wounded 17 others, according to a health ministry statement.
The AFP video journalist saw emergency personnel rush a survivor to an ambulance on a stretcher, while other rescuers worked to put out a fire at the site, where a residential apartment block had collapsed.
28 Oct, 2024 07:34pm
Citigroup shifts some staff out of Lebanon amid conflict
US bank Citigroup has moved a “very small” number of its employees from Lebanon into Turkey as the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah escalates, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Beirut, Lebanon’s capital and home to Citi’s local office, has also come under attack.
“The safety and well-being of our people remains our top priority and we have taken every measure to ensure our colleagues’ safety,” a spokesperson for the bank said.
“We continue to monitor the situation and have resources in place to support our colleagues and their families.”
28 Oct, 2024 07:32pm
PHOTOS: Palestinians recieve treatment at Gaza Hospital amidst Israeli raids on facility
31 Oct, 2024 06:12pm
At least 30 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes, hospital hit: Gaza ministry
Gaza’s health officials said that at least 30 Palestinians were killed in Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip, mostly in the north where one attack hit a hospital, torching medical supplies and disrupting operations, Reuters reports.
28 Oct, 2024 07:30pm
2 bodies retrieved from rubble in Gaza’s Rafah City
Two bodies have been recovered from the rubble of the al-Shaer family home hit by an Israeli drone in the Khirbet al-Adas area in southern Gaza’s Rafah City, according to the civil defence, Al Jazeera reports.
The rescue service said on Telegram that the victims were a father and his son.
28 Oct, 2024 07:15pm
2 killed in Israeli attack on Gaza City’s Sabra area
An Israeli air strike on Gaza City’s Sabra neighbourhood has killed two people and injured many others, according to the Palestinian Wafa news agency.
One more person was killed in the Israeli air attack on Khirbet al-Adas area north of Rafah City in southern Gaza, the agency said.
Earlier, three people were killed and three others injured in an Israeli drone attack on a group of people near the Fashara roundabout in Jabalia, northern Gaza, it said.
28 Oct, 2024 07:00pm
Displaced Gazans sew winter clothes from blankets
As Gaza braces for a cold, wet winter, displaced Palestinians living in tents and makeshift shelters by the sea are sewing clothes from blankets in a desperate effort to stay warm.
Nidaa Attia, 31, and others measure, cut and sew the clothing in a tent near the beach at Al-Mawasi in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip.
The work is entirely manual and labour-intensive. Lacking electricity, they generate power by using the pedals of a bicycle connected by a belt to their sewing machine.
“Winter is coming for the second time (since the start of the war) and people are without any (warm) clothes,” Attia said.
“There are no clothes coming into the Gaza Strip, so we thought a lot about how we could find a solution to the lack of fabrics, and we came up with the idea of recycling thermal blankets into winter clothes,” Attia said.
Her “Needle and Thread” initiative, launched in September, relies mostly on volunteers, though some receive a small payment. The clothes are sold for between 70 and 120 shekels ($18-$30) but prices are lower for those who bring blankets.
Read the full Reuters story here.
28 Oct, 2024 06:40pm
Palestinian presidency warns on dangers of Israeli legislation against UNRWA: report
The Palestinian presidency has warned on the dangers of Israeli legislation against UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees), noting that the legislation violates international law and is a provocation to the international community, the Wafa news agency reports.
“The presidency stressed that UNRWA is a red line, that the refugee issue is the core of the Palestinian issue, and that there is no solution without a just solution to the refugee issue in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions and international law, noting that UNRWA was established according to a UN resolution on December 18, 1949,” Wafa said.
28 Oct, 2024 06:31pm
‘Largest’ cultural boycott against Israeli institutions launches: statement
More than 1,100 authors have launched “a mass boycott of Israeli publishers complicit in the dispossession of the Palestinian people”, a coalition of solidarity groups has said in a press statement, Al Jazeera reports.
The declaration is the biggest cultural boycott against Israeli institutions in history, it said, adding that “signatories have stated that they cannot in good conscience engage with Israeli institutions without interrogating their relationship to apartheid and displacement”.
Signatories include winners of the Nobel Prize, Booker Prize, Pulitzer Prize, and National Book Award.
Read more here.
28 Oct, 2024 06:20pm
Israel to spend $530m on ‘Iron Beam’ laser defence
Israel’s defence ministry said it has earmarked $530 million to accelerate development of the laser air defence system known as “Iron Beam”, AFP reports.
“The Ministry of Defence has signed a major deal worth approximately 2 billion shekels to significantly expand procurement of the laser interception systems, ‘Iron Beam,’,” a statement said.
The system is aimed at improving the interception of drones and other projectiles, which Hezbollah in Lebanon has fired at Israel since the start of the onslaught in Gaza in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas.
Iron Beam would supplement other aerial defence capacities such as the more well-known Iron Dome. These have been unable to intercept every projectile launched by the Lebanese armed group, resulting in both civilian and military casualties.
The defence ministry will work with defence companies Rafael and Elbit, the statement said.
28 Oct, 2024 05:48pm
Palestinians say 100,000 residents trapped in Israel’s north Gaza assault
Israeli tanks thrust deeper into two north Gaza towns and a historic refugee camp, trapping around 100,000 civilians, the Palestinian emergency service said, in what the military said were operations to root out regrouping Hamas fighters.
The Israeli military said soldiers captured around 100 suspected Hamas militants in a raid into Kamal Adwan hospital in the Jabalia camp. Hamas and medics have denied any militant presence at the hospital.
The Gaza Strip’s health ministry said at least 19 people were killed by Israeli airstrikes and bombardment on Monday, 13 of them in the north of the shattered coastal territory.
The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said around 100,000 people were marooned in Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun without medical or food supplies. Reuters could not verify the number independently.
Read the full Reuters story here.
28 Oct, 2024 05:25pm
Lebanon state media says Israel strikes Tyre after warning
Lebanese official media said Israel struck Tyre after the military issued an evacuation call for swathes of the ancient coastal city, already hit earlier in the day, AFP reports.
“Enemy aircraft launched their first strike after the Israeli warning for the city of Tyre and targeted a residential apartment,” the National News Agency said, subsequently reporting “a series of strikes” on the city.
28 Oct, 2024 05:04pm
Middle East aid workers say ‘rules of war’ being flouted
Flagrant violations of the laws of war in the escalating conflict in the Middle East are setting a dangerous precedent, aid workers in the region warn, AFP reports.
“The rules of war are being broken in such a flagrant way… (it) is setting a precedent that we have not seen in any other conflict,” Marwan Jilani, the vice president of the Palestine Red Crescent (PCRS), told AFP.
Speaking last week during a meeting in Geneva of the 191 national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, he lamented a “total disregard for human life (and) for international humanitarian law”.
Amid Israel’s devastating retaliatory operation in the Gaza Strip, local aid workers are striving to deliver assistance while facing the same risks as the rest of the population, he said.
The PCRS has more than 900 staff and several thousand volunteers inside Gaza, where more than 43,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Hamas-ruled territory’s health ministry, and where the UN says virtually the entire population has been repeatedly displaced.
28 Oct, 2024 04:50pm
Two killed in Israeli attack on Gaza City’s Sabra area
An Israeli air strike on Gaza City’s Sabra neighbourhood has killed two people and injured many others, Al Jazeera reports according to the Palestinian Wafa news agency.
One more person was killed in the Israeli air attack on Khirbet al-Adas area north of Rafah City in southern Gaza, the agency said.
28 Oct, 2024 04:23pm
Gaza death toll crosses 43,000 since Oct 7, 2023, health ministry says
More than 43,020 Palestinians have been killed and 101,110 injured in Israel’s military offensive in Gaza since October 7, 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement, Reuters reports.
The toll includes 96 deaths in the previous 48 hours, the statement added.
28 Oct, 2024 04:21pm
EU renews call for ‘immediate ceasefire’ in Lebanon
The EU foreign policy chief on Monday renewed calls for an “immediate ceasefire” in Lebanon and condemned Israel’s “unacceptable attacks” on UN peacekeepers in its offensive against Hezbollah, AFP reports.
The European Union calls “for an immediate ceasefire across the blue lines” Unifil monitors and the respect of relevant UN Security Council resolutions, foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told a forum in Barcelona.
Borrell also spoke of “condemning the unacceptable attacks” by Israeli forces against Unifil structures and personnel.
Referring to UN warnings that Gaza’s humanitarian crisis was the worst since World War II, Borrell said the forum gathering leaders from the Mediterranean region must do more than “just expressing concern”.
“The way this war is being taken against civilians has grave concerns and put too many unanswered questions.”
28 Oct, 2024 04:20pm
Lufthansa extends suspension of Tel Aviv flights to Nov 25
German airline group Lufthansa said Monday it was extending the suspension of flights to Tel Aviv to November 25 as Israel is waging an offensive in Gaza and Lebanon, AFP reports.
“The Lufthansa Group airlines Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa and SWISS have decided to extend the suspension of its flights to Tel Aviv up to and including November 25, 2024,” it said in a statement.
It also confirmed that Eurowings flights to Tel Aviv are suspended until November 30.
28 Oct, 2024 04:11pm
Israel army urges evacuation in Lebanon’s Tyre city ahead of attack
The Israeli army told residents in parts of Lebanon’s southern city of Tyre to leave immediately, warning that it would attack Hezbollah targets there.
“Hezbollah’s activities force the (Israeli army) to act against it forcefully,” military spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on X that included a map of targeted areas in the coastal city, urging residents to “head north”.
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Israeli troops arrested around 100 Hamas fighters in northern Gaza hospital: military
Israeli soldiers arrested around 100 suspected Hamas fighters during a raid in Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza, the military has said in a statement according to Reuters.
“The soldiers apprehended approximately 100 terrorists from the compound, including terrorists who attempted to escape during the evacuation of civilians. Inside the hospital, they found weapons, terror funds, and intelligence documents and in the surrounding area,” the military said.
Gaza health officials have denied any fighters’ presence at the hospital.
Israel ‘deliberately prolonging’ conflict, says Palestinian foreign ministry says
The Palestinian foreign ministry has said that Israel was “deliberately prolonging the war to disrupt international consensus on resolving the Palestinian issue”.
Child among 3 shot dead by Israeli drone in Maghazi refugee camp: report
Three civilians, including a child, have been killed in the Israeli bombing of the Bureij and Maghazi refugee camps in central Gaza, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reports.
According to local sources, the child was shot by an Israeli drone in the Maghazi camp.
In the other attack on the Bureij camp, Israeli artillery killed two civilians and injured others, the sources said.
Iran media says Israeli strikes killed civilian
Iranian media said a civilian was killed during the Israeli strikes over the weekend which targeted military sites, although authorities had not previously reported civilian deaths, AFP reports.
“The martyr Allahverdi Rahimpour, a civilian who was killed near Tehran during the recent attack by the Zionist regime, has been buried,” the local Fars news agency reported. Tasnim news agency also reports
Israel arrested ‘all medical staff’ at Kamal Adwan Hospital: Palestinian Ministry of Health
Gaza’s Ministry of Health says Israel has “arrested and deported all the medical staff” at Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Strip, except one paediatrician, Al Jazeera reports.
“Accordingly, the Ministry appeals to international institutions to quickly send surgical medical teams to the hospital,” it was said in the statement.
The ministry has also called on anyone with surgical skills to assist at Kamal Adwan Hospital, to “save as many wounded and sick as possible”
12 Palestinians arrested in occupied West Bank
The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society has reported that arrests took place in the governorates of Hebron, Nablus and Bethlehem, Al Jazeera reports.
Iran says it will ‘use all available tools’ to respond to Israel’s attack
Tehran will “use all available tools” to respond to Israel’s weekend attack on military targets in Iran, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said, Reuters reports.
Speaking at a weekly televised news conference, Baghaei said: “(Iran) will use all available tools to deliver a definite and effective response to the Zionist regime (Israel)”.
The nature of Iran’s response depends on the nature of the Israeli attack, Baghaei added, without elaborating.
Israeli attacks kill 45 in Lebanon in last 24 hours, health ministry says
Israeli attacks killed 45 people in Lebanon in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 2,865 since October 2023, the Lebanese health ministry said, Reuters reports.
Two killed in Israeli attack on Gaza City’s Sabra area
An Israeli air strike on Gaza City’s Sabra neighbourhood has killed two people and injured many others, Al Jazeera reports according to the Palestinian Wafa news agency.
One more person was killed in the Israeli air attack on Khirbet al-Adas area north of Rafah City in southern Gaza, the agency said.
Gaza death toll crosses 43,000 since Oct 7, 2023, health ministry says
More than 43,020 Palestinians have been killed and 101,110 injured in Israel’s military offensive in Gaza since October 7, 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement, Reuters reports.
The toll includes 96 deaths in the previous 48 hours, the statement
EU renews call for ‘immediate ceasefire’ in Lebanon
The EU foreign policy chief on Monday renewed calls for an “immediate ceasefire” in Lebanon and condemned Israel’s “unacceptable attacks” on UN peacekeepers in its offensive against Hezbollah, AFP reports.
The European Union calls “for an immediate ceasefire across the blue lines” Unifil monitors and the respect of relevant UN Security Council resolutions, foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told a forum in Barcelona.
Borrell also spoke of “condemning the unacceptable attacks” by Israeli forces against Unifil structures and personnel.
Referring to UN warnings that Gaza’s humanitarian crisis was the worst since World War II, Borrell said the forum gathering leaders from the Mediterranean region must do more than “just expressing concern”.
“The way this war is being taken against civilians has grave concerns and put too many unanswered questions.
Lufthansa extends suspension of Tel Aviv flights to Nov 25
German airline group Lufthansa said Monday it was extending the suspension of flights to Tel Aviv to November 25 as Israel is waging an offensive in Gaza and Lebanon, AFP reports.
“The Lufthansa Group airlines Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa and SWISS have decided to extend the suspension of its flights to Tel Aviv up to and including November 25, 2024,” it said in a statement.
It also confirmed that Eurowings flights to Tel Aviv are suspended until November 30.
Reference Link:- https://www.dawn.com/live/gaza-invasion