MIddle East Escalation

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has congratulated Donald Trump on his victory in the US presidential elections, saying he hopes that “regional and global crises and wars, especially the Palestinian issue and the Russian-Ukrainian war, will come to an end”.

He said on X that he believes “more efforts will be made for a more just world.

“I hope that the elections will be beneficial for our friendly and allied people in the United States and for all of humanity,” Erdogan added.

The Israeli army says at least 10 rockets have been launched from Lebanon at central and northern Israel.

Some of the projectiles were intercepted, it said, adding that at least one rocket fell in the centre of the country.

The Times of Israel reported an impact near Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport, without elaborating on the details.

There are no reports of injuries, according to the army.

“The Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza has become a besieged war zone,” UNICEF in the MENA region said in a post on X.

“The last neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) remaining in the north has been damaged in heavy attacks in recent days. In the past year, 4,000 babies have been cut off from lifesaving newborn care because of sustained attacks on the hospitals,” the organisation added.

Trump’s victory puts to test his earlier statements that he can stop the war in Gaza within hours, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said to the Reuters news agency.

The Democratic party’s loss is the natural price for its leadership’s “criminal stance” towards Gaza, Abu Zuhri also said.

“We urge Trump to learn from Biden’s mistakes,” the official told Reuters.

Meanwhile, another senior Hamas official told the AFP news agency that the US, under Trump, who claimed victory in the presidential election, must end its “blind support” for Israel in the war in Gaza.

“This blind support for the Zionist entity must end because it comes at the expense of the future of our people and the security and stability of the region,” Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, told AFP.

The Palestinian Environment Quality Authority says the Israeli army has dropped more than 85,000 tonnes of bombs on the Gaza Strip since October 7 last year, according to the Wafa news agency.

The continuous bombing has caused the destruction of vast areas of agricultural land and contaminated soil with toxic chemicals, which will hinder agriculture in the enclave for decades, the Palestinian Authority-run body told Wafa.

It highlighted the use of white phosphorus by Israel, which is prohibited under the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons.

The bombings have also polluted Gaza’s water sources, the authority added and called on the UN to urge Israel to end its ongoing bombing campaign.

______________________________________________ 

The Israel Democracy Guard and the Movement for Quality Government (MQG) watchdogs have filed petitions to the High Court of Justice against Defence Minister Yoav Gallant’s dismissal, according to the Times of Israel newspaper.

“The firing of the defense minister in the midst of a war, and while the State of Israel is under an unprecedented multifront threat, was made out of ulterior and narrow political motives …,” the report cited MQG as saying.

The Israel Democracy Guard has demanded for the court to freeze Gallant’s dismissal until a ruling is made, the newspaper said.

Here are the latest developments:

• At least 15 people have been killed in the Israeli attack on a building housing displaced people in Gaza’s Beit Lahiya town, according to our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic.
• Israel attacked various parts of Lebanon, including the towns of Aaitat and Wadi Jilo in the Mount Lebanon governorate, as well as the villages of Jebchit and Kfar Sir in the Nabatieh governorate, and the southern town of Deir Qanoun en-Nahr on the eastern outskirts of Alma ash-Shaab in Lebanon’s Tyre district.
• Israeli drones bombed a house in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp, injuring at least six people, including two women and three children, according to the Palestinian Information Center.
• Israeli forces shot and injured a man while storming the village of Abu Shakhidim, northwest of Ramallah, according to the Wafa news agency.

That’s according to our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic.

The Israeli attack targeted a building housing displaced people in the al-Manshiyya area in Beit Lahiya.

We will keep you updated.

Israeli warplanes have raided the Mount Lebanon governorate’s towns of Aaitat and Wadi Jilo, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA).

This coincided with the flight of reconnaissance and drone aircraft in the skies of the Tyre district and its surroundings in southern Lebanon, the agency added.

Shortly before that, Israeli warplanes launched raids on the villages of Jebchit and Kfar Sir in the Nabatieh governorate, NNA said.

Israeli warplanes have bombed a house in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya town, killing a woman and her three children, according to the Wafa news agency.

The Palestinian Information Center (PIC) identified the woman as Shurooq al-Radhi, wife of Naseem al-Radhi, who is imprisoned by Israeli authorities.

It shared a video on X, showing columns of smoke rising in Beit Lahiya following the attack.

Translation: Air strike and smoke columns rising in the western roundabout area of ​​Beit Lahiya city, north of the Gaza Strip.

Israeli drones have bombed a house in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp, according to the Palestinian Information Center (PIC).

The attack injured at least six people, including two women and three children, according to Nuseirat’s al-Awda Hospital, the outlet reported.

Israeli forces have shot and injured a man while storming the village of Abu Shakhidim, northwest of Ramallah, according to Wafa.

Local sources told the news agency, Yousef Thaer Qandah was shot in the foot.

The Israeli army raided houses in Birzeit, Kuber, Barham, and Abu Shakhidim, located northwest of Ramallah, as well as the town of Silwad, northeast of Ramallah, Wafa reported.

Israeli artillery has targeted the eastern outskirts of the Alma ash-Shaab village in the Tyre district of southern Lebanon, according to the Lebanese television station Al-Manar.

The broadcaster also reported heavy machinegun fire in the area.

We will keep you updated.

Israel is targeting the al-Fakhoura area south of Beit Lahiya, with artillery bombardment, Palestinian sources say.

At the same time, Israeli forces are attacking northern Gaza.

The Israeli army is also invading the al-Shaimaa area west of Beit Lahiya and trying to advance towards the Al Fakhoura school west of the Jabalia refugee camp, the sources said.

Earlier, we reported that dozens of people have been fleeing Beit Lahiya, the latest forced displacement by Israel’s military, which has also been shelling the Kamal Adwan Hospital.

Israeli warplanes have raided the southern town of Deir Qanoun en-Nahr in Lebanon’s Tyre district.

Severe damage to private and commercial properties was reported by Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA).

Israeli warplanes also struck the town of Yohmor al-Shaqif and the village of Arnoun in the Nabatieh governorate, NNA reported.

Israeli forces have shot a Palestinian man in the neighbourhood of Balata al-Balad, east of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Information Center reports.

The man’s condition is not currently known.

As we reported earlier, the Israeli military is also engaged in violent clashes with Palestinian fighters in the city of Jenin. Those clashes continue, according to local media reports, while Israeli bulldozers are destroying infrastructure in the city.

Translation: Occupation bulldozers destroy infrastructure and property in Jenin camp.

Let’s bring you up to speed:

• Israel has killed at least 20 people in a strike on the Lebanese coastal town of Barja, the country’s Health Ministry says.
• Israel’s assault on Gaza has continued, including in northern Gaza City, where it killed five people in an attack on an apartment building in the Tuffah neighbourhood.
• Israeli forces have also killed four people after shelling a house in al-Fukhari, southeast of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
• Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters are clashing in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin. Israeli forces have killed six people in the area in recent hours.
• About 40 people have been arrested in Tel Aviv as Israeli police violently dispersed crowds of demonstrators protesting Prime Minister Netanyahu’s sacking of Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

The national chairman for Arab Americans for Trump, Bishara Bahbah, says he believes the Republican nominee could impose an arms embargo on Israel if Netanyahu ignores calls to end his war on Gaza.

“If he says to Netanyahu: ‘End the war by the time I enter office,’ and Netanyahu fails to do so, there’s nothing stopping Trump from stopping the flow of arms to Israel,” Bahbah told The Times of Israel in Dearborn, Michigan – home to the US’s largest Arab American population.

When asked about Trump’s pledge to end the ongoing Middle East conflict, Bahbah acknowledged that the Republican offered few details on his plan but that he was confident because Trump had “significant influence over Netanyahu”.

Bahbah continued that Trump – a vocal Netanyahu backer who encouraged the Israeli prime minister to “finish the job” in Gaza in June – is very different from “the Trump of 2016 and 2020″.

Divisions between Prime Minister Netanyahu and the now-dismissed Defence Minister Gallant have stretched since before Israel’s war on Gaza.

• Earlier this year, Gallant said that Israeli military force had created the necessary conditions for at least a temporary deal that could bring home captives held by armed Palestinian groups in Gaza, while Netanyahu continued his demands for more war on Gaza.
• In May, Gallant said Israel should not be involved in governing Gaza once the fighting ends. Netanyahu scorned him, responding that he was not “prepared to exchange Hamastan for Fatahstan”, referring to Hamas and Fatah, the groups governing Gaza and the West Bank, respectively.
• As the war progressed, Gallant insisted on a full investigation into the security failures of October 7, saying it was the only way to ensure the government would learn what to avoid. Netanyahu objected, saying it should come when the war is over.
• Last month, Gallant had to cancel a visit to the US Pentagon as Israeli media reported that his trip to the US had not been approved and that Netanyahu wanted first to speak with US President Joe Biden.
• Months before, Israeli media had widely reported that Netanyahu was preparing to fire Gallant.
• In March 2023, Netanyahu fired Gallant over a disagreement on plans to change how Israel’s judiciary worked. An overwhelming public outcry resulted in Gallant being reinstated.

As we previously reported, Israeli police have removed protesters demonstrating outside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem.

Footage of the demonstrations shows dozens of people – waving Israeli flags, chanting and playing musical instruments – peacefully protesting Netanyahu’s decision to remove Defence Minister Yoav Gallant from his position.

Watch the footage below:

Translation: Protests near Netanyahu’s home in Jerusalem.

Gideon Saar has been named Israel’s new foreign minister in a cabinet shuffle following Netanyahu’s dismissal of Defence Minister Gallant earlier today.

A former lawyer and journalist, Saar was first brought into politics 20 years ago by Netanyahu, who made him his cabinet secretary during his first term in office.

He was considered a rising star in Netanyahu’s Likud party and one of the few independent voices in a party that has largely been synonymous with the prime minister and his policies.

Saar defected from Likud after unsuccessfully challenging Netanyahu for the party’s leadership. Late in 2020, Saar formed his own political movement dubbed New Hope.

In 2021, he joined the government of former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett as justice minister with the title of deputy prime minister. His political star has, however, dimmed in recent years.

While he participated in the emergency government formed after the October 7 attack, he joined the opposition in March after failing to get a seat in the war cabinet.

New Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has been labelled a “bulldozer” for his direct, sometimes harsh, style and is considered close and loyal to Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Katz, 69, vowed to defeat Israel’s enemies and achieve the country’s war goals after his appointment.

During his post as foreign minister, Katz attacked world leaders and international organisations that opposed Israeli military actions, particularly in Gaza.

A member of Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party, and a one-time president of the party’s convention, Katz has held multiple cabinet roles going back to 2003.

He was responsible for spearheading a diplomatic battle against the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), which Israel’s parliament last month banned from working in Israel and occupied east Jerusalem.

An Israeli strike on the Lebanese town of Barja has killed at least 20 people, the Health Ministry says.

Barja is a coastal town in the Mount Lebanon governorate about 20km (12 miles) south of the capital.

Earlier, a strike targeting another residential building in Jiyeh, near Barja, killed one person, according to the Health Ministry.

Israel has killed at least 3,013 people and wounded 13,553 in its attacks on Lebanon since the war on Gaza began.

As we have been reporting, the Israeli army has carried out incursions and air attacks on locations in the occupied West Bank, killing at least eight people.

Six people were killed in attacks in the Jenin governorate, while two more were killed in the Tammun area of Tubas.

UN chief’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Israeli assaults on Jenin “involved lethal war-like tactics”, including the use of air strikes and “shoulder-fired explosive projectiles”.

Here are more details on those attacks from Wafa:

• Israeli forces opened fire on a vehicle in the town of Qabatiya, near Jenin, shooting and killing two men inside, after it allegedly intentionally rammed Israeli forces.
• Israeli forces shot a third man on the roof of his family home in Qabatiya. He was transferred to the al-Razi Hospital in Jenin with serious injuries, where he died.
• A fourth man, a 22-year-old, was also killed in Qabatiya. Wafa has not provided details on the circumstances around his death.
• Two men were killed in the village of Muthalath al-Shuhada, south of Jenin. The circumstances around their deaths are unclear.
• Two men were also killed in Tammun south of Tubas after Israeli forces besieged and fired “Energa” shells at a building in the town.

Israeli police have used skunk water and other extreme measures to disperse protesters demonstrating against the dismissal of Defence Minister Yoav Gallant by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli media reports.

There have been increasing disagreements between the right-wing government and the military, with the latter favouring reaching a deal that would stop Israel’s assault on Gaza and bring Israeli captives home.

Protesters have blocked a major highway in Tel Aviv and set off fireworks on the roads.

Police have also reportedly removed protesters near Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Netanyahu sacked Defence Minister Gallant, appointing former Foreign Minister Israel Katz in his place.

Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed at least 61 people in the 24 hours between dawn on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Forty-six of those deaths occurred in northern Gaza, the Health Ministry reports, where the Israeli military’s weeks-long siege continues.

The Wafa news agency has also provided details on two more attacks over recent hours:

• Two Palestinians were killed and an unspecified number injured after Israeli warplanes bombed an apartment in the al-Hamed al-Rifi building in Gaza City’s Tuffah neighbourhood.
• Israeli fighter jets have launched two raids on houses in al-Jnaina neighbourhood, east of Rafah city in southern Gaza, resulting in an unspecified number of casualties and wounded.

• Israel’s PM Netanyahu has dismissed Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
• He appointed former Foreign Minister Israel Katz as defence minister while Gideon Saar took over Katz’s position.
• In Tel Aviv, hundreds of Israelis are protesting against Netanyahu’s government following Gallant’s firing.
• Israeli forces killed at least 61 people in attacks across Gaza on Tuesday.
• Israeli forces also killed at least seven people in a raid and air attacks on the occupied West Bank.
• Israel also killed at least 15 people in a strike on the central Lebanese town of Barja, the Health Ministry says.
• Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed at least 3,013 people and wounded 13,553 since October 2023, the Lebanese government says.