LIVE UPDATES – 14/10/2024
Disclaimer: Independent Press takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing developments on the Israel-Hezbollah conflict. However, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.
- In Gaza, at least 42,289 people have been killed and 98,684 wounded in Israeli attacks since October 2023. At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel on October 7, 2023, and more than 200 people taken captive.
- At least 18 people have been killed in an Israeli air attack on northern Lebanon, the Lebanese Red Cross says.
- At least four Palestinians are killed and dozens wounded after Israeli fighter jets bombed a tent encampment housing displaced Palestinians on the grounds of al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza.
- Twenty-two people are killed and 80 wounded after Israeli tanks shelled a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Nuseirat, also in central Gaza.
- The Israeli military says four soldiers were killed and dozens injured in a Hezbollah drone attack on an army base in Binyamina, in northern Israel.
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Israelis ‘feel safer than during the first month of this war’
Alon Liel, the former director of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, says the feeling in Israel is that the main conflict with Iran is just about to begin.
“We’re getting closer to the date when Iran will be the enemy directly – not the proxies Hamas or Hezbollah. Of course, it’s frightening. We know Iran’s military abilities. We’ve felt it twice for a long period of time when we were in the shelters when rockets from Iran were coming,” Liel told Al Jazeera.
“We know we’re in the middle. We know we’re under attack, and to a certain extent vulnerable. But I would say people feel safer than during the first month of this war.”
UK sanctions Iranian military figures after attack on Israel
Britain has imposed sanctions against Iranian individuals and organisations after Tehran’s attack on Israel on October 1.
The sanctions target senior figures in Iran’s army, air force and organisations linked to Iran’s ballistic and cruise missile development, according to the UK’s Foreign Office.
“Despite repeated warnings, the dangerous actions of Iran and its proxies are driving further escalation in the Middle East,” British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said in a statement.
“Following its ballistic missile attack on Israel, we are holding Iran to account and exposing those who facilitated these acts.”
Iran fired about 200 missiles at Israel on October 1 in what it said was retaliation for the killings of the leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas and a senior general from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Iranian and Omani foreign ministers discuss Israeli attacks on Gaza, Lebanon
As we previously reported, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is on a visit to Muscat, where he said Iran currently sees “no grounds” for its indirect talks with the US via intermediary Oman.
Esmaeil Baghaei, spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, said Araghchi and his Omani counterpart had discussions on issues of mutual interest and concern.
“They exchanged views about [the] alarming situation in the region and urged an immediate end to Israeli regime’s genocide and aggression in Gaza and Lebanon,” Baghaei said on X.
“They also underscored the need for enhanced efforts to mobilize international humanitarian relief for refugees.”
Hezbollah claims killing of Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon
The Lebanese group says it has engaged in fighting with Israeli soldiers in the village of Aita al-Shaab.
According to a statement, Hezbollah fighters targeted an armoured personnel carrier with a guided missile.
The vehicle caught fire and soldiers inside were killed and wounded, it added.
There was no immediate comment by the Israeli army.
Gaza Civil Defence agency says two members injured in al-Mawasi
The rescue workers were “exposed to Israeli bullets and shells” when they responded to a call by wounded Palestinians in the Israeli-designated “safe zone” in southwestern Gaza.
The injured have yet to be rescued, said a spokesman for the Palestinian Civil Defence.
France rebuffs Israeli demand to withdraw UN peacekeepers
France is the latest country to reject demands made by Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu to pull back the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon.
“The protection of peacekeepers is an obligation incumbent on all parties,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Earlier, Spain also refused the demand by Netanyahu, who directly addressed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The statements come after a series of Israeli army attacks on UNIFIL peacekeepers in recent days.
‘Hezbollah war machine has started,’ ex-Guard chief says
The deadly drone attack on the base of Israel’s elite military unit shows Hezbollah’s military capabilities are fully intact after a series of Israeli assassinations in recent months, says the former commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Mohsen Rezaei.
“Hezbollah has restored its combat organisation after facing a wave of assassinations. Now the war machine of Hezbollah has started and hard times are waiting for the Zionists,” Rezaei, now the secretary of Iran’s Expediency Council, was quoted by the Iranian Students’ News Agency as saying.
Lebanese Red Cross: 18 killed in Israeli attack on north Lebanon
The raid hit a residential building in the Christian-majority village of Aitou in the region of Zgharta.
The country’s Health Ministry earlier reported the death toll as nine. It’s the first time the area was attacked by the Israeli army in a year of hostilities, according to Lebanese state media.
The Lebanese Hezbollah group is mainly present in the south of the country and the southern suburbs of Beirut. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military and it wasn’t clear what the target was.
MSF mourns worker who was killed in Gaza’s Jabalia
Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, says one of its workers was killed in northern Gaza on October 8 during a renewed Israeli offensive in the area.
Nasser Hamdi Abdelatif al-Shalfouh, 31, was killed “by shrapnel injuries he suffered to his legs and chest” in Jabalia, MSF said in a statement.
“Nasser died from his injuries on 10 October in Kamal Adwan Hospital. He is survived by his wife and two children,” the organisation added, as it condemned “the tragic killing”.
“[Al-Shalfouh] was unable to receive the necessary level of care due to the hospital’s lack of capacity and an overwhelming number of patients in the facility.”
For more than a week now, Jabalia has been under relentless attack by the Israeli army.
Al-Shalfouh joined MSF as a driver in March 2023 but had not been working since the war started a year ago, as the group’s activities in North Gaza were severely affected, the medical charity said.
Nine people killed in Israeli attack on northern Lebanese town: Ministry
We are receiving updates on the Israeli air attack on the village of Aitou in northern Lebanon.
The attack that targeted a residential building in the village located in the region of Zgharta has killed at least nine people, according to initial information shared by Lebanon’s Health Ministry.
Search and rescue efforts are ongoing, it added in a post on X.
It is the first time the Christian-majority area has been attacked by Israeli forces in a year of hostilities, according to state media.
Photos: Second phase of polio vaccination campaign in Gaza
Projectiles hit Karmiel with initial report of casualties: Israeli police
A statement on X says police have received many reports concerning multiple projectile impacts in the Karmiel area and nearby locations in northern Israel.
It added the incident resulted in property damage “and preliminary reports suggest there may be casualties at the scene”.
‘Advantage’ of small drones on display after deadly Hezbollah attack
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has visited the site of a Hezbollah attack on an army base in Binyamina in northern Israel that killed four Israeli soldiers and wounded 61.
It was the deadliest drone strike that Hezbollah has carried out against Israel in more than a year of clashes. The Lebanese group says it launched a squadron of drones targeting the Israeli army’s Golani Brigade, an elite unit at the forefront of wars in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and now Lebanon.
“The advantage of using drones is they are very small, they fly very low and they are not detected like rockets or missiles. It’s a little bit of a surprise to me we haven’t seen this sort of thing before,” military analyst David Des Roches told Al Jazeera.
Iranian foreign minister says indirect contact with US halted
Abbas Araghchi, who is on a visit to Muscat, has told Iranian state television that indirect contact between Iran and the US through Oman has been halted due to the situation in the region.
The diplomat also said conditions will not be suitable for such communications before the regional crisis is resolved.
Israel hits Aitou in northern Lebanon for first time: State media
The air attack struck a residential apartment in the village located in the region of Zgharta, according to the official National News Agency.
It is the first time the Christian-majority area has been attacked by Israeli forces in a year of hostilities, it added.
Israel’s army claims killing of Hezbollah commander
A military statement says Muhammad Kamal Naim, the commander of the antitank system of the group’s elite Radwan Force, has been killed in an air strike.
He was responsible for planning and carrying out many attacks on Israel, including firing an antitank missile, it said.
The army added that there have been no casualties in recent rocket attacks from Lebanon. Some rockets were intercepted while the rest fell in open areas, it said.
Two people killed in Jenin camp in occupied West Bank
The Palestinians have been shot dead by Israeli forces during their latest incursion into the refugee camp, the Palestinian Health Ministry says.
The Israeli military is carrying out raids in Jenin using bulldozers with snipers reported to be on rooftops and an intense drone presence in the sky.
In August, Israel launched its largest assault on the occupied West Bank since the second Intifada in 2000. Jenin city, home to nearly 50,000 people, was surrounded by Israeli forces as part of a wider attack also on Nablus, Tubas and Tulkarem.
Qassam Brigades claims killing of Israeli soldiers in Rafah
The armed wing of Hamas says its fighters have detonated an antipersonnel device in an attack on Israeli soldiers while they were trying to enter a house in the southern Gaza city.
The incident in al-Jnaina neighbourhood in eastern Rafah killed and wounded a number of soldiers, the group said.
In a separate incident, its fighters attacked two Israeli Merkava tanks with Yassin rockets in the same neighbourhood, the Qassam Brigades said.
There was no immediate comment by the Israeli army.
Spanish PM says ‘no withdrawal’ of UN mission from Lebanon
Sanchez says there will be “no withdrawal” of the UN peacekeeping force from southern Lebanon after repeated Israeli attacks.
The prime minister condemned Israel’s call for the mission to leave after urging EU member states to pull the plug on a free trade agreement with Israel.
Photos: Khan Younis in ruins
‘It’s a horror show’: Doctor describes aftermath of Gaza hospital attack
Dr Mohammed Tahir, a volunteer surgeon, is dealing with the carnage after Israel’s attack on Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza.
Tahir said he and his overwhelmed team were already dealing with another mass casualty incident – the Israeli shelling of a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Nuseirat – when victims from the hospital attack came streaming in.
“We were inundated. We had women, men, children as young as one year of age dying in front of our eyes,” Tahir told Al Jazeera from outside the hospital.
“I have spoken to countless individuals who witnessed some of the horrors. People are traumatised. I think it’s fair to say that people have really got to the point now where they feel there is no hope – no one is coming to help them, no one is coming to save them.”
Tahir said they are dealing with patients with burns on 60 to 80 percent of their bodies – many who won’t survive.
“Patients with significant high percentage burns, unfortunately, their fate is sealed. They won’t even make it to the ICU. They will die.”
“It’s a horror show here. Honestly, sometimes I feel like this is not real life – that this can go on and this degree of suffering is allowed to happen in this world.”
Two drones approaching from Syria intercepted: Israeli military
The Israeli military says it has shot down two drones approaching from Syria, a day after an attack by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) launched by Hezbollah on an Israeli military base killed four soldiers and wounded 60.
“A short while ago, two UAVs that approached Israeli territory from Syria were successfully intercepted by the [air force]. The UAVs were intercepted before crossing into Israeli territory,” it said in a statement.
Sunday’s attack took place near the town of Binyamina, south of the port city of Haifa. Hezbollah said it targeted an Israeli military base with a “swarm” of drones.
LISTEN: Why is Israel targeting UN peacekeepers in Lebanon?
Condemnation from across the world has grown after Israel attacked UN peacekeepers in Lebanon twice.
The multination UNIFIL force has been in southern Lebanon since 1978. So why is Israel targeting the mission? And can it remain in place?
More on Israel’s attack on Gaza food distribution centre
Earlier we reported on an Israeli attack that killed 10 Palestinians and wounded dozens as they waited in line at a food distribution centre in besieged northern Gaza. Casualties include women and children, medics say.
Witnesses said Israeli forces fired artillery shells at civilians waiting for flour at the centre in the Jabalia refugee camp. Ambulances and medical teams are unable to access the area to move victims to hospitals because of restrictions imposed by the Israeli army, witnesses said.
The Israeli army launched another major ground invasion in northern Gaza 10 days ago. More than 300 people have been killed during the siege, health officials say.
Some analysts suggest the attack aims to force Palestinian residents to leave permanently so Israel can establish a military zone.
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Spain urges EU members to suspend free trade deal with Israel
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has called on other countries in the bloc to respond to Spain and Ireland’s request to suspend a free trade deal over Israel’s relentless attacks on Gaza and Lebanon.
For months, both Spain and Ireland have been in talks with other EU countries who want a review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement on the basis that Israel may be breaching its human rights clause.
The EU-Israel Association Agreement was ratified by the parliaments of EU member states, the European Parliament and the Knesset and entered into force in 2000 after decades of evidence of Israeli violations of Palestinian rights.
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed more than 42,200 Palestinians and wounded nearly 99,000 – mostly children, women and the elderly.
‘Gaza is a never-ending hell’: UNRWA chief
The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees says central Gaza went through “another night of horror” after Al-Aqsa Hospital and an UNRWA school were attacked.
“Tents up in flames due to an air strike on the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Hospital where people sought shelter,” Philippe Lazzarini said. “Meanwhile, in the same area, an UNRWA school was hit with 20 people reported killed.”
Lazzarini said the school could not be used for the polio vaccination campaign – which has started today – after it sustained severe damage in the latest Israeli attack on a shelter.
“Gaza is a never ending hell. All of this must not become the new norm. Humanity must prevail.”
Ireland’s foreign minister says Israel undermining UN
Micheal Martin has accused Israel of undermining the UN and its peacekeeping force in Lebanon in the wake of increasing attacks against the Blue Helmets there.
Speaking to reporters before an EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting, the Irish foreign minister criticised a statement by Netanyahu on Sunday that accused UNIFIL of “providing a human shield” to Hezbollah and called for it to leave “the danger zone”.
“On the Middle East and on the remarks of Prime Minister Netanyahu in respect of the UN, Israel is essentially now undermining the United Nations and the United Nations peacekeeping force with the very rules-based international order,” Martin said.
The minister added Israel “needs to step back” and urged the European Council to take a clear stand.
“Today at the meeting I will be saying to my colleagues there can be no equivocation, there can be no hesitation or relaxation of any views in respect of the primacy of the United Nations in terms of the international rules-based order. And it is very, very concerning in terms of both the statement from the prime minister of Israel but also the behaviour and activity on the Blue Line and in respect of UN posts and across Lebanon.”
EU foreign policy head defends UN chief against Israeli claims
Josep Borrell has responded to a statement made by Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, who said the United Nations has become an “anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli body” under Antonio Guterres’s leadership.
“We firmly reject the unjustified attacks against [UN Secretary-General] Antonio Guterres. The repeated accusations of anti-Semitism against him are slanderous,” Borrell said.
He also addressed Netanyahu’s demand that Guterres immediately remove UN peacekeepers from southern Lebanon.
“It is worth recalling to everybody that it is the UN Security Council that decides on UN peacekeeping missions, not the [UN secretary general],” Borrell said.
Second phase of polio vaccination campaign begins in Gaza
The World Health Organization says the second phase of the campaign started in central Gaza.
“We urge all parents and caregivers to ensure that their child receives the vaccine,” it said.
Aid groups carried out a first round of vaccinations last month after a baby was partially paralysed by the type 2 poliovirus in August, the first such case in the territory in 25 years.
Attacks on UNIFIL by Israel ‘unacceptable’: Spanish foreign minister
Attacks by Israel on the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) are “unacceptable” and contrary to international rules, Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares says.
“It is contrary to what we expect from any member state of the United Nations, which is ultimately an organisation that protects world peace,” Albares told reporters.
EU countries, led by Italy, France and Spain, have thousands of soldiers in the 10,000-strong peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, which has been subjected to a number of attacks by Israeli forces in recent days.
Israel has told UN chief Antonio Guterres to immediately move the peacekeepers out of the combat zone. The Spanish foreign minister said only the UN can order the withdrawal of UNIFIL.
Iran’s foreign minister meets senior Houthi official
Abbas Araghchi held talks in Muscat, Oman, with Mohammed Abdulsalam, a senior leader with Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement.
The foreign ministry released photos of the two engaging in talks, the latest in a series of diplomatic trips in the region following Israel’s pledge to retaliate against an Iranian missile attack.
Iran fired about 200 missiles at Israel on October 1 in what it said was retaliation for the killing of allied leaders in the region and a senior general in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Yemen’s Houthi militia, Palestinian Hamas in Gaza, and Hezbollah in Lebanon make up the “axis of resistance” of armed groups arrayed against Israel.
Scenes from Israel’s attack on al-Aqsa Hospital
Al Jazeera’s fact-checking agency Sanad has verified footage from the accounts of Palestinian journalists and activists depicting Israel’s overnight attack on Al-Aqsa Hospital in Gaza’s city of Deir el-Balah.
Dozens of burn victims are now receiving treatment at the overwhelmed hospital with at least four people killed. The Israeli attack was on a displacement camp where people were sheltering and the tents quickly went up in flames.
Translation: People were on fire.
Translation: Save Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, God is sufficient for us, and He is the best disposer of affairs.
Translation: Fire broke out after the [Israeli] occupation bombed the tents of the displaced in Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central Gaza Strip.
Rockets against central Israel intercepted
We are receiving updates on reports of hostile aircraft warning sirens activated in central Israel.
A military statement said all of the rockets launched from Lebanon were shot down by the country’s air defences.
The sirens were heard in the Sharon and Wadi Ara areas, it added.
10 killed, at least 30 injured at food distribution centre in Jabalia
Palestinian medics report 10 people were killed and at least 30 wounded in Israeli air attacks on a food distribution centre in the besieged Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.
Casualties included women and children.
We will bring you more details as we receive them.
At least 62 Palestinians killed in Gaza over the past day
Israeli attacks across the enclave also wounded 220 people, according to a statement by Gaza’s Health Ministry.
At least 42,289 Palestinians have been killed and 98,684 injured in Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip since October 2023, it added.
The death toll from Israel’s yearlong war on Gaza is likely far higher with thousands of bodies buried in the rubble of the vast destruction throughout the Palestinian territory.
Israeli drones wound 13 Palestinians in Jabalia camp
The civil defence agency says the attack was carried out by Israeli “quadcopters” around al-Fouqa School, which houses displaced people, in the refugee camp in northern Gaza.
A statement on Telegram said rescuers transferred the wounded to the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya.
Israel has carried out a large-scale military incursion in northern Gaza for the past 10 days, mainly against the Jabalia refugee camp.
UN peacekeepers remain at base after Israeli attack in south Lebanon
This Israeli attack on the UNIFIL base is extremely serious. They used a tank to burst down a gate and then launched bombs that were chemical in nature – as the injuries to the peacekeepers suggest.
They were taken for treatment. This is a very serious escalation.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has doubled down, saying the UN peacekeepers have to leave. We don’t know if they’ll leave or not. But right now they remain in their base.
Getting rid of an observer force would make the international community blind to what’s happening. This is very concerning for the Lebanese army and the United Nations.
Warning sirens sound in central Israel after fire from Lebanon
Hostile aircraft warning sirens have been heard in central Israel after a number of projectiles were fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory.
The Israeli military said in a statement sirens sounded in the city of Netanya and the surrounding settlements.
Gaza ministry slams Israel’s attack on Al-Aqsa Hospital
Gaza’s Health Ministry condemned the “direct targeting” of the hospital in Deir el-Balah in an attack that killed four people and injured dozens.
The Israeli attack “caused a large fire in the tents of the displaced and the hospital facilities”, a statement said. There are serious cases among the wounded, most of whom are displaced children and women, it added.
“We reiterate our appeal to the international and UN institutions as well as the concerned parties to intervene urgently to protect hospitals and health workers from the brutality and crimes of the [Israeli] occupation.”
Bombed school to have been used as polio vaccination site: UNWRA
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says an Israeli attack on one of its schools sheltering displaced families in central Gaza’s Nuseirat was to be used as a polio vaccination site.
Gaza’s Government Media Office said 22 were killed and 80 wounded in the Nuseirat attack.
The UN agency also condemned Israel’s overnight attack on Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Deir el-Balah that inflicted dozens of casualties when a major fire erupted in a tent encampment.
Ten rockets launched from Lebanon on Haifa: Israeli army
The military says most of the projectiles launched towards the coastal city in northern Israel were intercepted. One dropped in an open area, an army statement said, adding there were no reports of casualties.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah group confirmed the attack in a statement on its Telegram channel. Hezbollah has intensified its cross-border attacks after the Israeli army’s ground incursion into southern Lebanon.
Four soldiers were killed and 58 injured in a Hezbollah drone attack on an army base in northern Israel on Sunday.
Hezbollah’s deadly drone attack is ‘painful’, Israeli army chief says
Herzi Halevi says the Hezbollah attack on a training base that killed at least four soldiers and injured 58 was “difficult and painful”.
“We are at war and an attack on a training base on the home front is difficult and the results are painful,” he told soldiers during a visit to the Golani Brigade base that was hit.
It is located in the Binyamina area, south of the port city of Haifa, on the Mediterranean coast. Hezbollah said a “swarm of drones” was used to target the facility, in response to Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon.
‘So many charred bodies all over the place’
Palestinians in Gaza are waking up to the aftermath of the Israeli attack on Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah, which killed at least four people and injured dozens as fire swept through tents where displaced people were sheltering.
“What happened was that we woke up to smoke, flames, fire and burning pieces falling on the tents from every direction. The explosions terrified us in our tents and outside where we live behind Al-Aqsa Hospital,” Om Ahmad Radi, a survivor at the scene, told Al Jazeera.
“The fire trucks couldn’t get here. There were so many burned and charred bodies all over the place. The amount of fire and explosions was enormous. We witnessed one of the most horrible and brutal nights.”
EU alarmed by Israeli attacks on UN mission in Lebanon
The European Union has condemned Israeli attacks on UN peacekeepers stationed in southern Lebanon.
It expressed “particularly grave concern regarding the attacks” by the Israeli military against the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which wounded several peacekeepers.
“Such attacks against UN peacekeepers constitute a grave violation of international law and are totally unacceptable,” a statement said.
“We urgently await explanations and a thorough investigation from the Israeli authorities about the attacks against UNIFIL, which plays a fundamental role in the stability of south Lebanon.”
The EU also expressed concern for Hezbollah’s “continued launch of rockets into Israel” and Israeli raids on densely populated areas of Lebanon, “causing a heavy toll on civilians and the displacement of many”.
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Many Al-Aqsa Hospital victims are children and women: Doctor
Dr Fahd al-Haddad, the head of the emergency department at Al-Aqsa Hospital, says many of the victims of the Israeli attack are children and women with third-degree burns.
Many patients are being treated on the floor of the hospital as it has run out of space for medical care, he said.
“This is the seventh time there’s been an attack inside Al-Aqsa Hospital. We received about 50 injured people inside the emergency department. We need a burn unit, which is not available inside the hospital. But we’re trying our best to give them what we can to save their lives,” al-Haddad told Al Jazeera.
Without specialized care, at least five patients face complications such as sepsis and organ failure, he said.
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Israeli military carries out more West Bank arrests
The Israeli military’s arrest campaign continues across the occupied West Bank, the Wafa news agency reports.
Here’s a breakdown:
- 10 people were arrested in Jaba town, south of Jenin
- four people were arrested in Kafr Malek village, east of Ramallah
- two people were arrested in Yabad town, south of Jenin
- two men were arrested in Nablus city
Earlier, we reported that Israeli forces arrested 25 Palestinians in locations across Bethlehem governorate.
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The Israeli Army Radio says, quoting a military source, that the Binyamina attack we just reported on was a Hezbollah drone attack.
A separate report said the Israeli Air Force is investigating why warning sirens were not activated ahead of the attack.
Israeli army says tank entered UNIFIL base after evacuating injured soldiers
The Israeli army has issued an explanation surrounding an incident at a UNIFIL base in southern Lebanon earlier this morning which drew widespread condemnation.
UNIFIL had earlier said Israeli tanks “forcibly entered” its peacekeeping base.
The Israeli army now says a “massive” anti-tank missile was fired against Israeli soldiers.
“In the shooting, two soldiers were seriously injured and needed to be evacuated. For the sake of evacuating the wounded, two tanks drove backward, in a place where they could not advance otherwise in light of the threat of shooting, a few meters towards the UNIFIL position,” the army said in a statement.
Once the shooting was over and the wounded were evacuated, the tanks left their positions, it said.
Throughout the incident, the army said it “maintained continuous contact with UNIFIL,” adding that its actions posed no threats to the UN force.
Two children wounded in Israeli army raid in occupied West Bank
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) says two children suffered bullet injuries in an Israeli raid on Beit Furik, southeast of Nablus in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli army has stepped up its raids, mass arrests and home demolitions in towns across the occupied Palestinian territory since the start of the war on Gaza.
More than 750 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces and settlers since last October.
At least 20 injured in drone attack on northern Israel
Israeli media is reporting that at least 20 people have been injured, including five in serious condition, after a drone attack hit near the Israeli town of Binyamina in the northern Haifa district.
Stay with us as we bring you more on this as we get it.
At least 34 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks today
Our colleagues on the ground are reporting, quoting medical sources, that at least 34 people have been killed in Israeli air attacks across Gaza since dawn on Sunday.
This includes five children who were killed when an Israeli drone struck them as they were playing near a cafe in Shati refugee camp.
Israel bombs and kills Palestinian children playing football in north Gaza
An Israeli drone attack just targeted children playing football in the al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City. At least six Palestinians were killed including five children and a woman. Many wounded were taken to al-Ahli Hospital.
Endless air strikes, explosions, quadcopters – people in northern Gaza say they’re trying to call local and international organisations to rescue the injured from the bombed-out buildings. But it has been extremely difficult for Palestinian Civil Defence workers to reach those trapped.
At least 400,000 Palestinians are stranded in the north during the latest Israeli onslaught. They’re surrounded by Israeli forces and under constant fire daily.
The Israeli military issued orders for people to evacuate, but whoever tries to move is being targeted and shot.
People who were able to leave their houses were blocked by sandbag barricades. It’s been nine days without food, water, electricity. Residents tell us there were many Palestinians shot and their bodies are on the streets with no one able to remove them.
Pentagon confirms anti-missile system being sent to Israel
Following US media reports of an anti-missile system being sent to Israel along with US troops to operate it, the Pentagon has confirmed that it will deploy a high-altitude anti-missile system and its US military crew to Israel.
At the direction of US President Joe Biden, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin “authorised the deployment of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery and associated crew of US military personnel to Israel to help bolster Israel’s air defenses following Iran’s unprecedented attacks against Israel on April 13 and again on October 1”, Pentagon press secretary Pat Ryder said in a statement.
Five children killed in Israeli attack on northern Gaza
At least five children were killed in an Israeli air attack in northern Gaza, the Palestinian Wafa news agency has reported.
An Israeli drone struck the group of children playing near a cafe in Shati refugee camp, the report said, adding that several people were also wounded in the attack.
Gaza’s Civil Defence said at least three people were killed in the al-Faluja area in a separate attack.
In the last 10 days, Israeli forces have renewed their attacks on northern Gaza.
According to UNRWA, about 400,000 people are trapped in the north as residents trying to flee southward have been shot at.
Those who have decided to remain due to the lack of safe areas in the south have also been repeatedly hit.
US planning on sending anti-missile system to Israel
US media is reporting that the Biden administration is planning on sending an advanced anti-missile system to Israel along with US troops to operate it.
There has been no comment from the US government yet.
Israel’s Gallant: Hezbollah won’t be allowed to return to south Lebanon
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant says Hezbollah will not be allowed to return to southern Lebanon’s border villages as the army continues its ground assault on the area.
“We will not allow the terrorists back to these places. This is vital to ensure the safety of [Israel’s] northern residents,” Gallant said in a video statement from the Israel-Lebanon border.
The Israeli army’s two-week incursion has so far been costly, with troops being killed and wounded and no apparent strategic gains. At least 25 soldiers were injured during fighting with Hezbollah along the border on Sunday.
What’s next after Israeli troops again target UN base?
International concerns continue to rise after the Israeli military’s latest assault on UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon.
UNIFIL’s task with more than 10,000 soldiers has been to monitor compliance with a ceasefire following the 2006 Lebanon war. It has so far refused Israeli army orders to leave.
“The time has come for you to withdraw UNIFIL from Hezbollah strongholds and from the combat zones,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier. He accused UN chief Antonio Guterres of refusing to do so.
The United States and European countries have demanded that Israeli forces stop firing at the peacekeepers. On Friday, US President Joe Biden said he was “absolutely, positively” telling Israel to stop.
‘Shocking violations’: UN peacekeepers demand Israel to explain attacks
The Israeli army must obey its “obligation to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and property” at the Lebanon border, the force said after the latest attack.
The peacekeepers said in addition to the assault this morning, Israeli forces denied passage of a “critical UNIFIL logistical movement” yesterday.
“Breaching and entering a UN position is a further flagrant violation of international law and Security Council resolution 1701,” UNIFIL said in a statement.
“We have requested an explanation from the [Israeli military] from these shocking violations.”
UNIFIL: Israeli forces crossed Blue Line, ‘destroyed’ main base gate
The United Nations says Israeli tanks burst through the gates of its peacekeeping force base in southern Lebanon after three platoons of Israeli soldiers crossed the Blue Line.
The UN peacekeepers said in a statement at 4:30am (01:30 GMT), two Israeli army Merkava tanks “destroyed” their main gate and “forcibly entered the position” while peacekeepers were asleep.
“The tanks left about 45 minutes later after UNIFIL protested through our liaison mechanism, saying [the Israeli military] presence was putting peacekeepers in danger,” it said.
At 6:40am (03:40 GMT), peacekeepers reported several rounds being fired about 100 metres (328 feet) north of their position in what appeared to be an attack with some sort of chemical agent.
“Despite putting on protective masks, 15 peacekeepers suffered effects including skin irritation and gastrointestinal reactions after the smoke entered the camp. The peacekeepers are receiving treatment.”
UNIFIL: Israeli forces crossed Blue Line, ‘destroyed’ main base gate
The United Nations says Israeli tanks burst through the gates of its peacekeeping force base in southern Lebanon after three platoons of Israeli soldiers crossed the Blue Line.
The UN peacekeepers said in a statement at 4:30am (01:30 GMT), two Israeli army Merkava tanks “destroyed” their main gate and “forcibly entered the position” while peacekeepers were asleep.
“The tanks left about 45 minutes later after UNIFIL protested through our liaison mechanism, saying [the Israeli military] presence was putting peacekeepers in danger,” it said.
At 6:40am (03:40 GMT), peacekeepers reported several rounds being fired about 100 metres (328 feet) north of their position in what appeared to be an attack with some sort of chemical agent.
“Despite putting on protective masks, 15 peacekeepers suffered effects including skin irritation and gastrointestinal reactions after the smoke entered the camp. The peacekeepers are receiving treatment.”
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About 115 Hezbollah projectiles fired into Israel
The Israeli military says as of 3pm (13:00 GMT), about 115 rockets were fired by Hezbollah into Israel today.
Earlier, Hezbollah announced it carried out a rocket attack on the Kiryat Shmona settlement in northern Israel and hit an army base in the Tzurit settlement.
The fighting in the region that includes all of Iran’s allied armed groups – Hezbollah, Yemen’s Houthis, and Iraqi groups – has raised fears the United States and Iran will be sucked into a full-scale conflict in the Middle East.
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Israel accused of using cluster bombs in southern Lebanon
The Lebanese group said the Israeli military bombed the area between the towns of Hanine and Tayri with rockets loaded with banned cluster bombs.
“We are not surprised at all by the new barbaric crime, which is added to Israel’s record of crimes against the Lebanese and Palestinian peoples,” Hezbollah said in a statement.
The use of cluster munitions in or near populated areas is prohibited under the Geneva Conventions as they pose a threat to the lives of civilians.
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Second round of Gaza polio vaccine to begin on Monday
Palestinian Health Minister Majid Abu Ramadan says the second round of the polio vaccination drive in Gaza will begin tomorrow, Wafa reports.
The ministry stressed the campaign’s success depends on the continuation of a humanitarian truce with Israel, which would allow health workers to safely administer the necessary vaccines to children under the age of 10.
During the first round of the vaccination campaign, the length of the humanitarian pause was agreed to last from 6am to 3pm (09:00-18:00 GMT) every day in designated areas in Gaza.
The campaign aims to vaccinate 591,700 children through the use of both mobile and fixed teams to ensure comprehensive coverage across Gaza.
‘No military solution’ for Israeli-Hezbollah conflict
With no sign of the war easing, UN peacekeepers in Lebanon warned against a “catastrophic” regional conflict erupting.
Andrea Tenenti, spokesman for the United Nations peacekeeping mission UNIFIL, said he fears Israeli attacks on Hezbollah could soon spiral “into a regional conflict with catastrophic impact for everyone”.
There is “no military solution”, Tenenti added.
Several UN peacekeepers have been wounded in recent days as Israeli forces battle Hezbollah. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, meanwhile, told his US counterpart troops would “continue to take measures to avoid harm to UNIFIL troops”.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the UN chief to remove peacekeepers in southern Lebanon after the force rejected repeated requests to abandon their positions.
Italy leader slams attacks on UN troops in call with Israel PM
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told Prime Minister Netanyahu that attacks on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon are “unacceptable”.
“Prime Minister Meloni reiterated the unacceptability of UNIFIL being attacked by Israeli armed forces,” the Italian government said in a statement.
In a phone call with Netanyahu, Meloni called for the “full implementation” of the UN’s Security Council Resolution 1701 on Lebanon, stressing the urgent need to de-escalate conflict.
Italy is a significant contributor to the UN peacekeeping mission on the Israel-Lebanon border.
Lebanon’s Mikati condemns Netanyahu’s call to move UN peacekeepers
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s demand for UN chief Antonio Guterres to move UN peacekeepers away from Lebanon’s border.
Beirut “condemns Netanyahu’s position and the Israeli aggression against UNIFIL” peacekeepers, Mikati said.
“The warning that Netanyahu addressed to … Guterres demanding the removal of the UNIFIL represents a new chapter in the enemy’s approach of not complying with international [norms],” he added.
Quadcopters in northern Gaza ‘chasing and shooting’ civilians
The trapped civilian population in northern Gaza is being herded under heavy bombardment that has already destroyed the majority of buildings.
This is the third time air raids and ground incursions have occurred in the area since the start of the war. But this time the fear among residents is increasing because there’s no way out. Palestinians were ordered to evacuate but the Israeli military failed to provide a safe corridor.
Quadcopters and attack drones fill the skies of the northern part of the Strip, including Jabalia refugee camp, chasing and shooting at people indiscriminately over the past few days.
Journalists covering the crimes of the Israeli military were also targeted by these quadcopters.
Hezbollah claims new attacks on northern Israel
The Lebanese group says it carried out a rocket attack on the Kiryat Shmona settlement in northern Israel at 1:50pm (10:50 GMT).
Separately, the group said it also hit an army base in the Tzurit settlement, west of Karmiel, with “a large missile salvo” about 15 minutes later.
About 115 rockets and other projectiles were fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon into Israel on Sunday. There were no reports of casualties.
Professor summoned after claiming Iran bought exploding pagers
A university professor close to the Iranian establishment has been summoned by the judiciary after alleging on state television that an Iranian intermediary bought the Hezbollah pagers that exploded last month.
Masoud Asadollahi, a professor at the IRGC-affiliated Imam Hussein University, made the comments as an “expert” on a state TV programme. He said an unnamed Iranian company bought 5,000 pagers and 3,000 were handed over to Hezbollah without necessary checks because nobody expected them to explode.
He did not cite a source or elaborate on the origin of the other 2,000 devices used in the attacks.
Asadollahi could potentially face charges relating to publishing misinformation to negatively affect public opinion, or even national security offences, according to the official news outlet of the Iranian judiciary. It said he has since admitted he was mistaken.
This comes a day after the Civil Aviation Organization of Iran banned pagers and walkie-talkies on all commercial flights, according to local media.
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Pope Francis denounces ‘this great and unnecessary suffering’
Pope Francis reiterated his call for an “immediate ceasefire” and asked for UN peacekeepers in the region to be “respected”.
“I continue to follow with concern what is happening in the Middle East,” the pontiff said during his Angelus prayer from the balcony overlooking St Peter’s Square. “Let’s pursue the paths of diplomacy and dialogue to achieve peace.”
Francis added he feels close to all the peoples involved: Palestine, Israel, Lebanon. He prayed for all the victims, the displaced, and captives saying he hoped they’d be released “immediately”.
“This great and unnecessary suffering generated by hatred and revenge will soon come to an end,” said the pope.
Hamas condemns Israel’s ‘criminal military campaign’ in north Gaza
The Palestinian group denounced the ongoing Israeli incursion as attacks focused on the Jabalia refugee camp in the Palestinian territory.
In a statement, Hamas called out the “criminal military campaign in northern Gaza, the tightening of the siege, the isolation of the area through intense firepower from Gaza City, and the escalation of bombings and massacres targeting unarmed civilians”.
“The silence of the international community over the genocide that has been ongoing for more than a year … constitutes a license” for Israel to “continue it escalate it and expand it to other countries of the region”.
Iraq will not be turned into arena for war, says foreign minister
The foreign ministers of Iran and Iraq have said at a news conference in Baghdad they hope to prevent Israel from dragging the Middle East into full-scale war.
“Communications are ongoing to push the spectre of war away from the region,” Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein told reporters, shortly after welcoming his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi.
“If there is a war, Iraq and its airspace must be kept out of it.”
Araghchi said Tehran is prepared for both a ceasefire and war, but is pushing to stop Israeli aggression against Gaza and Lebanon. His regional tour has also been aimed at ensuring Arab countries of the region do not allow Israel to use their airspace to carry out its promised attack on Iran.
Upon arriving in the Iraqi capital, Araghchi visited the site where Iran’s top general Qassem Soleimani was assassinated by the US in January 2020 while travelling with Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
He is going to Oman next, potentially eyeing a crucial Jordan visit as well.
25 Israeli soldiers wounded in southern Lebanon fighting: Reports
We’re hearing from the Israeli media that about 25 soldiers were injured in battles in southern Lebanon this morning, and they’ve been transferred to hospitals in Israel.
That is one of the bigger numbers of injuries that we’ve seen in a single day certainly, as reported by the Israeli side. The fighting is taking place in three key areas, including Kfar Kila and Odaisseh, which aren’t that far from where I’m standing.
These battles are ongoing and seem to be getting a lot tougher for the Israelis. But Israel still has air superiority and its bombing campaign continues. There were huge attacks on the village of Aita al-Shaab and the market in Nabatieh.
What we’ve also heard is that Israeli soldiers are actually within about 2km (1 mile) of Lebanese territory, and that might suggest why they are sustaining so many injuries – because Hezbollah is fighting them on the ground and firing rockets.
Israel ‘trying to transform’ northern Gaza: Media office
Ismail al-Thawarta, head of the Gaza Government Media Office, accused Israeli forces of stopping rescuers from assisting victims of attacks in Gaza’s besieged north.
“The Israeli army is preventing civil defence teams from recovering bodies and is intentionally trying to destroy the health system,” said al-Thawarta at a news conference.
“The Israeli occupation is committing genocide and killing people by attacking refugee camps and committing barbaric crimes as they continue to target places where women and children are gathered. The Israeli army is continuing to attack northern Gaza and is trying to transform it to a space of only genocide.”
Israeli army orders evacuation of 21 Lebanese villages
The order announced by the military’s Arabic-speaking spokesperson says residents from 21 more Lebanese villages should evacuate, in addition to the previous orders listed.
Residents were told to move to areas north of the Awali River, which flows through southern Lebanon, according to a post on X.
The Israeli army has intensified its attacks on various parts of Lebanon against, it says, the infrastructure of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group.
Palestinians ‘ready to die in their homes’ rather than doing a ‘death march’
Bushra Khalidi, from the British charity Oxfam, says the hunger situation in besieged northern Gaza has deteriorated so drastically that people have resorted to eating animal feed, donkeys and horses just to survive.
The comments come as Israel’s military blocked food from entering northern Gaza for the past 10 days, something she called “unacceptable” as it cuts the area off completely.
“People are not surviving, people are very likely dying of starvation as they have been since the beginning of the war. The problem is we’re talking about levels of destruction that didn’t exist several months ago,” Khalidi told Al Jazeera.
“I don’t know how people will survive. It’s likely they’ll die of starvation, die from the massacres we’re seeing in the north, or die trying to evacuate to the south.”
She said most Palestinians are “ready to die in their homes” rather than doing the “death march” to southern Gaza, where Israeli attacks are also ongoing.
Italy leader slams attacks on UN troops in call with Israel PM
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told Prime Minister Netanyahu that attacks on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon are “unacceptable”.
“Prime Minister Meloni reiterated the unacceptability of UNIFIL being attacked by Israeli armed forces,” the Italian government said in a statement.
In a phone call with Netanyahu, Meloni called for the “full implementation” of the UN’s Security Council Resolution 1701 on Lebanon, stressing the urgent need to de-escalate conflict.
Italy is a significant contributor to the UN peacekeeping mission on the Israel-Lebanon border.
Lebanon’s Mikati condemns Netanyahu’s call to move UN peacekeepers
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s demand for UN chief Antonio Guterres to move UN peacekeepers away from Lebanon’s border.
Beirut “condemns Netanyahu’s position and the Israeli aggression against UNIFIL” peacekeepers, Mikati said.
“The warning that Netanyahu addressed to … Guterres demanding the removal of the UNIFIL represents a new chapter in the enemy’s approach of not complying with international [norms],” he added.
Suez Canal Authority: Red Sea situation an ‘exceptional crisis’
The current situation in the Red Sea constitutes an unprecedented and “exceptional crisis” for the region as navigation through the vital canal to the Mediterranean Sea has plummeted because of Houthi attacks, the chairman of the Suez Canal Authority says.
Osama Rabie told the Global Logistics Forum in Saudi Arabia it’s also a “major security challenge that has had a negative impact and repercussions on the sustainability of global supply chains, ship transit rates through the canal, and the flow of goods”.
The number of ships passing through the canal fell from 25,887 during the fiscal year 2022-23 to 20,148 ships in 2023-24. Revenue decreased from $9.4bn to $7.2bn.
Professor summoned after claiming Iran bought exploding pagers
A university professor close to the Iranian establishment has been summoned by the judiciary after alleging on state television that an Iranian intermediary bought the Hezbollah pagers that exploded last month.
Masoud Asadollahi, a professor at the IRGC-affiliated Imam Hussein University, made the comments as an “expert” on a state TV programme. He said an unnamed Iranian company bought 5,000 pagers and 3,000 were handed over to Hezbollah without necessary checks because nobody expected them to explode.
He did not cite a source or elaborate on the origin of the other 2,000 devices used in the attacks.
Asadollahi could potentially face charges relating to publishing misinformation to negatively affect public opinion, or even national security offences, according to the official news outlet of the Iranian judiciary. It said he has since admitted he was mistaken.
This comes a day after the Civil Aviation Organization of Iran banned pagers and walkie-talkies on all commercial flights, according to local media.
IRGC-AFFILIATED PROFESSOR SUMMONED AFTER CLAIMING IRAN BOUGHT EXPLODING PAGERS
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Pope Francis denounces ‘this great and unnecessary suffering’
Pope Francis reiterated his call for an “immediate ceasefire” and asked for UN peacekeepers in the region to be “respected”.
“I continue to follow with concern what is happening in the Middle East,” the pontiff said during his Angelus prayer from the balcony overlooking St Peter’s Square. “Let’s pursue the paths of diplomacy and dialogue to achieve peace.”
Francis added he feels close to all the peoples involved: Palestine, Israel, Lebanon. He prayed for all the victims, the displaced, and captives saying he hoped they’d be released “immediately”.
“This great and unnecessary suffering generated by hatred and revenge will soon come to an end,” said the pope.
Hamas condemns Israel’s ‘criminal military campaign’ in north Gaza
The Palestinian group denounced the ongoing Israeli incursion as attacks focused on the Jabalia refugee camp in the Palestinian territory.
In a statement, Hamas called out the “criminal military campaign in northern Gaza, the tightening of the siege, the isolation of the area through intense firepower from Gaza City, and the escalation of bombings and massacres targeting unarmed civilians”.
“The silence of the international community over the genocide that has been ongoing for more than a year … constitutes a license” for Israel to “continue it escalate it and expand it to other countries of the region”.
Israel: UN’s Guterres ‘persona non grata’ over Iran stance
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz says UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is persona non grata in the country because of his failure to condemn Iran’s missile attack and what he described as “antisemitic and anti-Israel conduct”.
Katz said on October 2 he was barring Guterres from entering the country because he had not “unequivocally” condemned the attack, in which Iran fired more than 180 ballistic missiles at Israel.
Many were intercepted in flight but some penetrated Israel’s missile defences. No deaths were reported.
The attack on October 1 came in response to a series of Israeli assassinations of Tehran’s allies in the region and during an escalation in fighting between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah group.
Netanyahu tells UN chief to move peacekeepers in Lebanon ‘immediately’
Addressing Guterres, the Israeli prime minister has demanded removing UN peacekeepers deployed in southern Lebanon after many of them were wounded in Israeli attacks.
“Mr secretary-general, get the UNIFIL forces out of harm’s way. It should be done right now, immediately,” Netanyahu said in a video statement issued by his office.
At least five UN peacekeepers have been wounded in recent days as Israeli forces fight against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
Netanyahu’s appeal comes a day after the UN forces in Lebanon refused to withdraw from the border area despite five of its members being wounded in Israeli fire in recent days.
Netanyahu, speaking at a cabinet meeting, said Israeli forces asked UNIFIL several times to leave but it “met with repeated refusals” that provided a “human shield to Hezbollah terrorists”.
“Your refusal to evacuate the UNIFIL soldiers makes them hostages of Hezbollah. This endangers both them and the lives of our soldiers. We regret the injuring of UNIFIL soldiers and we are doing everything in our power to prevent this injuring. But the simple and obvious way to ensure this is simply to get them out of the danger zone.”
US ‘putting troops at risk’ by sending them to Israel: Iran
Washington is “putting lives of its troops at risk” by deploying them to Israel in order to operate US missile systems, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned.
“While we have made tremendous efforts in recent days to contain an all-out war in our region, I say it clearly that we have no red lines in defending our people and interests,” he wrote in a post on X.
Araghchi noted the United States has sent record volumes of arms to Israel during its war on Gaza.
The comments come amid news reports that the US is considering sending its advanced THAAD missile defence system to Israel in order to defend it against a potential Iranian response to a looming Israeli attack on Iran. The system requires US personnel on the ground to operate it.
Photos: Pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Berlin
Australian police threaten students with arrest for pro-Palestine posters
A pro-Palestine activist in the Australian city of Sydney documented police threatening to arrest students who placed pro-Palestine posters in the public Hyde Park.
The video clip below, verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad agency, shows police officers stopping the students and confiscating the posters.
The student who filmed the incident commented: “We are protesting a genocide and we are being targeted as criminals. How outrageous!”
Iran’s foreign minister arrives in Baghdad during war-focused tour
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has arrived in the Iraqi capital as part of a regional tour focused on Israel’s war on Gaza that has also taken him to Lebanon, Syria and Saudi Arabia so far.
Araghchi is to continue “consultations with Muslim countries on critical situations in our region as the result of the Israeli regime’s genocidal attacks and aggressions in Gaza and Lebanon”, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said in a post on X.
The top Iranian diplomat will next travel to Oman, according to Iranian media.
Mapping cross-border attacks between Israel and Lebanon
The exchange of strikes between Israel and Hezbollah has been going on since October 8, 2023, when Hezbollah first launched attacks on Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as Israel waged war on the enclave.
Since then, Israel has launched more than four times as many attacks on Lebanon as Hezbollah has on Israel with at least 9,891 strikes.
Read more here.
Israeli military claims to capture Hezbollah fighter in south Lebanon
Israeli troops seized a Hezbollah fighter from an underground bunker and took him back to Israel for interrogation, the army says.
It released a video purporting to show the operative surrendering and getting out of a tunnel in an unspecified location in southern Lebanon. The man, whose face was blurred out, was told to strip before coming out.
The army said he was found in a space 7 metres (23 feet) underground and had weapons and supplies. Hezbollah has not commented on the claim.
IDF claims it captured a Hezbollah member in a tunnel shaft in southern Lebanon in a first. pic.twitter.com/8BIu4dyaiS
— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) October 13, 2024
42,227 Palestinians killed in Israel’s war on Gaza
At least 42,227 Palestinians have been killed and 98,464 wounded in Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip since October 2023, the Health Ministry says.
Israeli attacks killed at least 52 people and injured 128 others over the past 24 hours, the ministry added.
The death toll from Israel’s yearlong war on Gaza is likely far higher with thousands of bodies buried in the rubble of the vast destruction throughout the Palestinian enclave.
‘A greater Israel minus the Palestinians, this is the mindset’
The UN’s World Food Programme says no food has entered the northern Gaza Strip this month as Israeli attacks continue. It says “the risk of famine is real” for about 400,000 Palestinians trapped there.
Hassan Barari, a professor of international affairs at Qatar University, says Israel’s deadly assault on Gaza’s north is designed to force Palestinian inhabitants permanently out of the area.
“The Israelis have underestimated the Palestinians’ will to stay put. The Israelis from the get-go have wanted them to leave,” Barari told Al Jazeera. “This is part of their ideology. The majority of the government belongs to the extreme right and they saw on October 7 [2023] a golden opportunity to translate some ideas into action.”
He said one of those was “the transfer” of Palestinians from Gaza as a prelude to their expulsion from the occupied West Bank. “They believe in a greater Israel minus the Palestinians. This is part of the mindset of the Israelis.”
Israeli army confirms 2 soldiers seriously wounded in Lebanon fighting
The Israeli military says two soldiers with its Etzioni Brigade were seriously wounded in separate firefights in southern Lebanon. Additional soldiers suffered light to moderate injuries.
It didn’t provide further details as news reports said wounded troops were transferred to the Rambam hospital, in Israel’s northern Haifa city, during its ground invasion of southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah earlier said it inflicted casualties on Israeli troops after fighters detonated an explosive device and engaged in a gun battle with soldiers trying to infiltrate the Ramyah village.
In the past hour, the group said its operatives clashed with Israeli soldiers trying to enter another village, inflicting casualties in close-quarters combat.
Israeli envoy criticises Japan’s atomic bomb survivor’s Gaza comparison
Israel’s ambassador to Japan has criticised a leader of an atomic bomb survivors’ group awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for comparing their experiences with the children of Gaza.
Ambassador Gilad Cohen congratulated the group Nihon Hidankyo for winning this year’s prize, but said in a post on X the comparison drawn by the group’s co-chair Toshiyuki Mimaki “is outrageous and baseless”.
Mimaki said after the prize was announced on Friday the plight of children in Gaza is similar to what Japan faced at the end of World War II. “In Gaza, bleeding children are being held [by their parents]. It’s like in Japan 80 years ago,” Mimaki said.
Iran blasts new US oil sanctions as ‘ransom’ to Israel
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman denounced as “illegal and unjustified” new US sanctions on Iran’s oil sector in response to the Iranian ballistic missile attack on Israel.
Esmail Baghaei said in a statement the sanctions are devoid of any legal or logical basis and referred to them as a form of “ransom payment” to a rogue Israeli state.
“The US, as the most important political backer and top provider of arms used by the Zionist regime in the genocide of Gaza and its aggression against Lebanon, is an accomplice of the regime in the commission of the most severe international crimes,” he said.
Baghaei added Washington is emboldening Israel to continue massacring civilians and endangering regional and global peace and security. US sanctions will not undermine Iran’s “will to defend its sovereignty, territorial integrity, national interests or nationals”, he said.
Funeral to be held for Iran commander killed by Israel
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) plans a funeral procession for one of its most senior commanders killed since the start of the war on Gaza, after finding his body two weeks following his assassination by Israel.
The body of IRGC Deputy of Operations Abbas Nilforoushan will first be taken to the Shia holy cities of Najaf and Karbala in Iraq on Monday before being transferred to Mashhad in northeastern Iran, the IRGC said in a statement.
There will be a procession in Tehran on Tuesday morning before the body is moved to his hometown of Isfahan for a ceremony and burial on Wednesday and Thursday.
Nilforoushan was meeting with Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and other top commanders in the Lebanese group’s underground headquarters in Beirut on September 27 when they were killed by dozens of bunker-buster munitions dropped by Israeli jets. His body was found on Friday, according to the IRGC.
At least 30 Palestinians arrested in occupied West Bank over two days
The detainees included former prisoners, according to a statement by the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society and the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs.
The Palestinians were taken during raids in the Israeli-occupied Jenin, Bethlehem, Nablus, Qalqilya and Ramallah governorates, a statement said.
More than 11,200 Palestinians have been arrested in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since October 7, 2023.
‘Israel is wiping out Jabalia’
Residents in northern Gaza say Israel’s army has isolated the areas of Beit Hanoon, Jabalia and Beit Lahiya from Gaza City, and completed severed access.
Many Jabalia residents are posting about the dire situation on social media with one pledging, “We will not leave, we die and we don’t leave.”
Nasser, a resident of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, said: “As the world is focused on Lebanon and possible Israeli strike against Iran, Israel is wiping out Jabalia.
“The occupation is blowing up roads and destroying residential districts. People also don’t find anything to eat. They are trapped inside their homes, fearing bombs could fall onto their heads.”
Lebanese civil defence crew retrieves 17 bodies
Emergency responders have found 17 bodies and rescued 12 wounded overnight as Israeli air raids on Lebanon continue.
Rescue workers are still operating at the site of an air attack that destroyed two residential buildings in the Basta neighbourhood of Beirut on Thursday evening to find a missing girl, according to the official National News Agency.
Civil defence crews also responded to multiple fires that erupted in the Bekaa Valley, Baalbek and Nabatieh as a result of Israeli attacks.
People in Jabalia killed with ‘unspeakable cruelty and sadism’
Israeli forces are committing “another massacre” in northern Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp, the UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territory says.
Francesca Albanese said Palestinian civilians in Jabalia “are killed – both in groups and one by one – amid unspeakable cruelty and sadism” by Israeli troops “who have accepted to be ‘willing executioners’ of a genocidal plan”.
The Israeli attacks are being conducted with Western support and weapons, Albanese noted.
“It blows my mind to think that WE KNOW what Israel is doing and altogether we cannot stop it. Looking at where we were 100 years ago, no much progress has been achieved,” she said in a post on X.
The Israeli army has been carrying out a large-scale military incursion for nine days in northern Gaza, where the Jabalia camp is located.
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Saudi Arabia condemns Israeli decision to seize UNRWA headquarters
The Saudi Foreign Ministry has expressed “condemnation and strong denunciation” of the Israeli authorities’ decision to confiscate the land of the headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in occupied East Jerusalem and turn it into a settlement.
“The ministry reaffirms the kingdom’s rejection of Israel’s continued violations, which blatantly contravene international laws and resolutions, and its ongoing political and military targeting of United Nations agencies and humanitarian organisations,” it said in a statement on X.
“These actions also place the lives of those working in these organisations, particularly UNRWA staff, at risk as they continue their vital humanitarian mission to aid Palestinian refugees.”
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Hezbollah claims new attack on Israeli army post in Shebaa Farms
The Lebanese group says it carried out an attack on the Zabadin barracks in the Israeli-occupied territory.
A statement on Telegram said the rocket attack took place at 5:30am local time (02:30 GMT).
Hezbollah has intensified its attacks on Israeli troops during their ongoing incursion into southern Lebanon, with helicopters ferrying the wounded to a hospital in northern Israel on Sunday.
The group’s fighters “targeted at 10:10am [07:10 GMT] … a gathering of Israeli enemy forces in the village of Maroun al-Ras with artillery shells”, Hezbollah said in a statement.
Palestinians in north Gaza ‘cut off from the outside world’
Palestinians in northern Gaza, about 400,000 people, are trapped, with the Israeli military not allowing anyone to leave the area despite issuing an evacuation order.
People are stuck in their homes and not getting any food, water supplies or other essentials. They’ve been cut off from the outside world and constantly bombarded.
This is a systematic mass slaughter. At least 200 people have been killed since the beginning of this ground offensive earlier this month. More than 70 bodies are still on the streets of Jabalia, Beit Lahiya, and Beit Hanoon as civil defence workers say they’re unable to retrieve them because of Israeli attacks.
What’s happening now is a continuation of the genocidal acts that began a year ago.
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Israeli strike wounds 4 Lebanese Red Cross paramedics
Four paramedics with the Lebanese Red Cross have just been injured in southern Lebanon as a result of an Israeli air strike, the organisation said in a statement.
The emergency responders were on a rescue mission to a house in the town of Sarbin that was bombed by the Israeli military this morning and coordinated with UN peacekeepers to search for casualties.
But just as ambulances arrived, a second Israeli air strike hit the area, wounding the paramedics, who were taken to hospital but are not in life-threatening condition. “As the team was searching for casualties to rescue, the house was hit for a second time resulting in concussions to the volunteers and damage to the two ambulances,” it said.
Israel has been steadily ramping up its attacks on medics and civil defence crews in Lebanon, openly threatening to hit ambulances based on the claim they may carry Hezbollah fighters or weapons.
Israel’s army says it struck 240 targets in Lebanon and Gaza
A military statement says Israeli forces continued to attack Hezbollah targets over the past day.
The sites included rocket launchers, antitank positions, weapon depots, and other infrastructure, according to the statement.
They also continued to operate in Gaza, where some 40 targets were attacked, weapons were destroyed, and dozens of fighters were killed in the last 24 hours.
Iran sends 3 tonnes of emergency medical supplies to Lebanon
The Red Crescent Society of Iran announced a fourth aid consignment containing three tonnes of medical supplies arrived in Lebanon.
Babak Mahmoudi, an official with the organisation, told state media the aid delivery includes emergency medicine, including for children.
He also confirmed a previous announcement that the Red Crescent aims to establish a new field hospital on Lebanon’s border with Syria following the Israeli military’s bombing of its hospital there a week ago. The new hospital will be built some 40km (24 miles) from the facility targeted by Israel.
Mahmoudi also said at least 11 Iranian Red Crescent aid workers would be deployed to Lebanon in the coming days.
Iran’s parliament speaker and former air force commander, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who piloted a plane to Beirut on Saturday and visited the site of the latest Israeli air attack on the city, said Tehran is prepared to send more supplies if the Lebanese government can secure an air corridor over the capital.
Israel’s army says 5 rockets targeting Haifa intercepted
The rockets were fired from Lebanon towards the northern Israeli coastal city and all were taken down by air defences, according to a military statement.
Aerial defence systems detected the attack at about 9am (06:00 GMT), the military added.
The Israeli media quoting medical sources said there were no casualties.
Israel attempts Jabalia camp takeover after earlier failures: Analyst
Military analyst Elijah Magnier has told Al Jazeera that the Israeli military’s siege of northern Gaza – which has entered its ninth day and resulted in hundreds of Palestinians reported killed so far – is part of the latest attempt by Israel to take control of the Jabalia refugee camp in the north of the Strip.
“The Israeli army pushed their tanks to surround the Jabalia camp. This is the third time they are trying to break into the camp after failing the first and the second time,” Magnier said.
“They bombarded and destroyed large parts of it in the previous attempts, causing large numbers of casualties,” he said.
“And their operation now aims at controlling the Jabalia camp, if they can this time. They have not managed that so far,” he added.
Israeli military ramps up restrictions on movement in West Bank
Israeli forces have intensified restrictions on the movement of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank across multiple governorates.
More roadblocks and checkpoints are now scrutinising people’s movements across cities, towns and villages, particularly around the cities of Ramallah and el-Bireh, according to local sources cited by the Wafa news agency.
The Palestinian news agency also reported that, in Hebron, Israeli soldiers are establishing new military checkpoints at key access points while checkpoints in the northern Jordan Valley are causing major traffic jams. All Israeli military checkpoints leading to occupied East Jerusalem are reported to remain closed.
More than 300 rockets fired from Lebanon towards Israel in 24 hours
Around 5am today, we heard a barrage of rockets from Hezbollah into northern Israel.
What Israel is saying is that over a 24-hour period, some 300 rockets were detected coming from southern Lebanon into northern Israel.
Israeli military transports injured soldiers to hospital in Haifa: Reports
Israeli military helicopters landed at Rambam hospital in Haifa city carrying soldiers wounded during fighting with Hezbollah on the border with Lebanon in northern Israel, our Al Jazeera Arabic colleagues report.
The Quds News Network reports that “at least seven” Israeli soldiers have been hospitalised following the “serious security incident”.
We will bring you more information on the incident when we have it.
Eight confirmed dead in Nuseirat attack, including 6 children
We earlier reported that at least seven people had been killed in an Israeli attack on the Abu Dalal family home in the Nuseirat area of central Gaza.
The Wafa news agency now confirms that at least eight people – six children and their parents – were killed in that attack.
Wafa also reports that six Palestinians, most of them children, were injured when the Israeli military bombed a home in the Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City.
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Macron tells Lebanon parliament speaker that Hezbollah must ‘immediately stop’ attacks
French President Emmanuel Macron calls on Hezbollah to end its strikes on Israel, after Israel’s army said a barrage of projectiles were launched from Lebanon over the Yom Kippur.
“A ceasefire must be implemented in Lebanon immediately,” Macron says during a talk with Lebanon’s parliament speaker Nabih Berri, adding that Hezbollah strikes must “immediately stop.”
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Lebanon’s educational sector hit hard as schools turn into shelters
Ongoing Israeli air strikes across Lebanon are directly affecting the country’s educational sector.
At least 60 percent of the country’s public schools are now being used as shelters for the displaced, meaning that the start of the school year has been pushed back to November 4, affecting more than 300,000 children’s access to education, UN figures show.
More than 40 percent of students have been forced from their homes due to Israeli attacks.