Israel on Monday killed a top commander of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in a strike on southern Lebanon, adding to fears of a spillover of the conflict in Gaza. On the third day of his latest Middle East tour, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel Monday following meetings with the leaders of the UAE and Saudi Arabia amid mounting criticism in Arab capitals of Israel’s military operation in Gaza. Read our blog to see how the day's events unfolded.
This blog is no longer being updated. For the latest head here.
Summary:
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel Monday night after meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Al Ula and UAE President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi in his latest bid to calm tensions in the region.
- Israel killed a top commander of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in a strike on south Lebanon on Monday, adding to fears the conflict in Gaza could spill over into the wider region.
- Some 249 Palestinians were killed and 510 were injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza in the past 24 hours, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Monday.
- Israeli officials say 1,139 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks in southern Israel, among them 695 Israeli civilians including 36 children. At least 23,084 people have been killed and 58,926 wounded in Israel's ensuing assault on the Gaza Strip, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave.
Yesterday's key developments:
- Israeli air strikes hit Khan Younis and Rafah in southern Gaza early Sunday, killing and wounding several dozen people as the Israel-Hamas war entered its fourth month.
- Two Al Jazeera journalists, Mustafa Thuria – a video stringer who also worked for AFP and other media organisations – and Hamza Wael Dahdouh, the son of Al Jazeera's Gaza bureau chief, were killed.
- Nine Palestinians and two Israelis were killed Sunday in surging violence in the occupied West Bank, sources on both sides said. They included seven Palestinians targeted by an Israeli air strike in Jenin.
Gaza’s health ministry collects data from the enclave’s hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent.
The health ministry does not report how Palestinians were killed, whether from Israeli airstrikes and artillery barrages or errant Palestinian rocket fire. It describes all casualties as victims of “Israeli aggression”.
The ministry also does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Throughout four wars and numerous skirmishes between Israel and Hamas, UN agencies have cited the Hamas-run health ministry’s death tolls in regular reports. The International Committee of the Red Cross and Palestinian Red Crescent also use the numbers.
In the aftermath of war, the UN humanitarian office has published final death tolls based on its own research into medical records. The UN's counts have largely been consistent with the Gaza health ministry’s, with small discrepancies.
For more on the Gaza health ministry’s tolls, click here.
(FRANCE 24 with AP)
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
