Summary of the day
Israeli attacks in the past day have killed at least 53 people and injured 161 others, Lebanon’s health ministry said, bringing the total to 3,103 deaths and 13,856 injuries as a result of those attacks since last October.
The Lebanese army said three of its troops were injured in an Israeli airstrike near an army checkpoint in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon. The army said the airstrike killed three Lebanese citizens.
The UN’s cultural agency, Unesco, has said it will hold a meeting on 18 November to consider enhanced protection of cultural sites in Lebanon as the deadly Israeli bombing campaign across the country continues. The session will consider the inscription of Lebanese cultural properties on Unesco’s international list of sites under “enhanced protection” as well as more funding, the UN cultural body said. The announcement came after over 100 Lebanese lawmakers appealed to Unesco to ensure the preservation of heritage sites in areas heavily bombed by Israel in recent weeks.
At least 43,469 Palestinian people have been killed and 102,561 injured in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza since 7 October 2023, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
An Israeli airstrike killed at least 12 Palestinians in a school housing displaced people in al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, according to Gaza’s civil defence agency.
Ireland intends to join South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the international court of justice (ICJ) before the end of the year, its foreign minister, Michael Martin, said.
The Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, reportedly said the result of the US election did not matter to his country.
Israel’s military announced it was expanding its ground offensive in Gaza, saying that “troops started to operate in the area of Beit Lahia” after it claimed that “prior intelligence information and a situational assessment indicating the presence of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure”.
The Israel defence ministry said it had signed an agreement to acquire 25 next generation F-15 fighter jets from Boeing as part of a broader package of US aid approved by the outgoing Biden administration.
Israel’s ousted defence minister, Yoav Gallant, has reportedly said the army has achieved all its objectives in Gaza and that Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a hostages-for-peace deal against the advice of his own security establishment.
The French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot abandoned a visit to a holy site in Jerusalem under French control after armed Israeli police entered the site and briefly arrested two French gendarmes.
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Trump will give Israel ‘blank check’ which may mean all-out war with Iran, says ex-CIA chief
Donald Trump will as president give Benjamin Netanyahu a “blank check” in the Middle East, possibly opening the way for all-out war between Israel and Iran, the former CIA director and US defense secretary Leon Panetta predicted.
“With regards to the Middle East, I think he’s basically going to give Netanyahu a blank check,” Panetta said of Trump, who won the presidential election this week and will take office again in January.
“‘Whatever you do, whatever you want to do, whoever you want to go after, you have my blessing.’ I mean, he basically said that [before the election].”
The Israeli prime minister has overseen attacks on Iran and its assets as part of a growing conflagration since Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October last year. He and the US president-elect were reported to have spoken during the US election campaign. Netanyahu congratulated Trump on Wednesday, after Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris was confirmed.
Gaza’s health ministry has said that over 1,500 Palestinian people have been killed by the Israeli military during its renewed assault on northern Gaza, which was launched on 6 October 2024.
“The Israeli army has killed more than 1,500 Palestinians during its military operations in northern Gaza,” Munir al-Bursh, the health ministry’s director-general told Anadolu news agency.
“The army continues to commit massacres and target shelters and civilians in northern Gaza, causing fatalities amid a strained healthcare system.”
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have nominally held complete control of northern Gaza since January, but launched a new assault on the area last month that they claimed was aimed at stopping Hamas militants from regrouping.
Yoav Gallant reportedly says Israeli army has nothing left to do in Gaza
Israel’s ousted defence minister, Yoav Gallant, has reportedly said the army had achieved all its objectives in Gaza and that Benjamin Netanyahu had rejected a hostages-for-peace deal against the advice of his own security establishment.
Gallant was speaking to hostages’ families on Thursday, two days after being sacked by Netanyahu, and reports of his remarks quickly surfaced in Israeli media.
“There’s nothing left in Gaza to do. The major achievements have been achieved,” Channel 12 news quoted him as saying. “I fear we are staying there just because there is a desire to be there.”
He reportedly told the families that the idea that Israel must remain in Gaza to create stability was “an inappropriate idea to risk soldiers’ lives over”.
You can read the full story by the Guardia’s senior international correspondent, Julian Borger, here:
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, plans to keep working to end the wars in Gaza and Lebanon in his time remaining before handing over to whoever Donald Trump appoints when he reenters the White House in January, the US State Department said.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters:
We will continue to pursue an end to the war in Gaza, an end to the war in Lebanon, a surge of humanitarian assistance (to Gaza), and that is our duty to pursue those policies right up until noon on January 20 when the president-elect takes office.
Updated
Israeli forces have detained at least 18 Palestinians across the occupied West Bank since last night, the Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society said in a joint statement.
According to Wafa, the Palestinian news agency, the detentions were carried out in Hebron, Ramallah, Qalqilya and Tubas.
It is estimated that at least 11,600 Palestinians have been arrested in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since last October.
Human rights groups and international organisations have alleged widespread abuse of inmates detained by Israel in raids in the West Bank.
They have described alleged abusive and humiliating treatment, including holding blindfolded and handcuffed detainees in cramped cages as well as beatings, intimidation and harassment.
A renewed Israeli assault was launched on the northern part of the Gaza Strip last month, with the Israeli military claiming it was to stop Hamas fighters regrouping there.
The blockage of aid and food deliveries and the targeting of civilian infrastructure, however, have led to accusations that Israel is committing the war crime of seeking to forcibly displace the remaining population.
The entirety of northern Gaza is under Israeli evacuation orders but it is unclear how many people remain. Last month, the UN estimated there were about 400,000 civilians unable or unwilling to follow Israeli evacuation orders to the south.
Our video team has put together this video showing the scale of devastation caused by Israel’s assault on northern Gaza, which has been most intense in Jabalia in recent weeks.
Israeli airstrike kills 12 people in school sheltering displaced people in Gaza City – civil defence agency
Gaza’s civil defence agency said that 12 people were killed in the Israeli airstrike on a school housing displaced people in the al-Shati refugee camp west of Gaza City, according to Al Jazeera. Medics said earlier that 10 Palestinian people had been killed in the airstrike.
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Ireland to join South Africa's genocide case against Israel
Ireland intends to join South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the international court of justice (ICJ) before the end of the year, its foreign minister, Michael Martin, has said.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) has the following report:
South Africa in December brought a case before the ICJ, arguing that the war in Gaza breached the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention, an accusation Israel has strongly denied.
Several nations have added their weight to the proceedings, including Spain, Bolivia, Colombia, Mexico, Turkey, Chile and Libya.
Ireland had said it would file a submission to the court once South Africa had submitted a document supporting its claims, which it did on Monday.
“The government’s decision to intervene in the South African case was based on detailed and rigorous legal analysis,” Martin told lawmakers in the Irish parliament, the Dail.
“Ireland is a strong supporter of the work of the court and is deeply committed to international law and accountability.”
South Africa announced on Monday that it had filed a so-called memorial with the ICJ claiming “evidence” of a “genocide” committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip.
The document cannot be made public but was “over 750 pages of text, supported by exhibits and annexes of over 4,000 pages”, said the office of President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Two French officials deployed to a historic site under the country’s administration in Jerusalem were briefly arrested by Israeli police on Thursday, France’s foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said (see post at 12.21 for comments he gave during a press conference alongside outgoing Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz earlier today).
The incident occurred when Barrot was due to visit the compound of the Church of the Pater Noster, located on the Mount of Olives in the city’s historic east, Reuters reported.
Barrot told journalists Israel’s action action was “unacceptable”, adding that he refused to enter the site in protest over Israeli police presence. His ministry said the Israeli ambassador to Paris will be summoned in coming days.
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Israeli attacks on Lebanon kill over 3,100 people since October 2023 – health ministry
Israeli attacks on Lebanon killed at least 53 people and injured 161 during the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 3,103 deaths and 13,856 injuries since October 2023, the Lebanese health ministry has said in an update.
Hezbollah, the Iranian backed Lebanese militant group, began firing rockets into northern Israel in support of Palestinians on 7 October 2023, the day after its ally Hamas’s attack on southern Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage.
The Israeli military unleashed its assault on Lebanon in October, claiming its aim was to return tens of thousands of people evacuated from homes in northern Israel due to the cross-border hostilities.
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Hezbollah says it targeted the “strategic Stella Maris naval base for monitoring and surveillance” in northern Israel with missiles. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
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Unesco to convene meeting to consider 'enhanced protection' of Lebanon cultural sites amid Israeli bombing
The UN’s cultural agency, Unesco, has said it will hold a meeting later this month to consider enhanced protection of cultural sites in Lebanon as the deadly Israeli bombing campaign across the country continues.
A session of a Unesco committee will be held at the body’s Paris base on 18 November to consider the inscription of Lebanese cultural properties on Unesco’s international list of sites under “enhanced protection” as well as more funding, the UN body said.
It comes after more than 100 Lebanese lawmakers issued an appeal to the UN earlier today, demanding the preservation of heritage sites in areas heavily bombed by the Israeli military in recent weeks.
“During the devastating war on Lebanon, Israel has caused grave human rights violations and atrocities,” a letter addressed to Unesco’s chief said, demanding “the protection of Lebanon’s historic sites in Baalbek, Tyre, Sidon, and other invaluable landmarks currently at risk due to the escalation of the atrocities”.
More than 100 Lebanese MPs issued an appeal to UNESCO demanding the preservation of heritage sites in areas heavily bombed by Israel
— Zeina Khodr (@ZeinakhodrAljaz) November 7, 2024
“During the devastating war on #Lebanon, Israel has caused grave human rights violations and atrocities,” the letter demanded “protection of… https://t.co/XXZGXHSREt
At least 40 people were killed in Israeli air strikes in eastern Lebanon on Wednesday, which struck in the governorates of Baalbek and Bekaa, according to reports.
An Israeli airstrike hit nearby Baalbek’s Unesco-listed Roman ruins, a famous heritage site with some of the largest Roman temples outside of Rome, an official said yesterday.
Israel last month reportedly bombed between major heritage sites in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, including the Hippodrome, a Unesco world heritage site, and some seaside sites linked to the Phoenicians and the Crusaders.
Updated
Photos are emerging of the aftermath of an Israeli strike on a car at a Lebanese army checkpoint at the entrance to the southern city of Sidon, which killed three people and wounded three Lebanese soldiers and four members of a UN peacekeeping contingent, the Lebanese army said in a statement.
A Reuters reporter at the scene said a bus with United Nations markings that was part of a large convoy of UN peacekeepers had sustained damage in the strike. Unifil, the peacekeeping force, said in a statement that five newly-arrived peacekeepers were lightly injured in the Sidon drone strike and treated on the spot.
Hezbollah believes it will make little difference who is in the White House when it comes to a ceasefire, spokesperson Ibrahim al-Moussawi told the Reuters news agency.
“It might be a change in the party who is in power, but when it comes to Israel, they have more or less the same policy,” Moussawi said. “We want to see actions, we want to see decisions taken.”
US diplomatic efforts to halt fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which included a 60-day ceasefire proposal, faltered last week ahead of the US election on Tuesday in which former president Trump recaptured the White House.
Moussawi acknowledged the heavy toll of Israeli attacks that have blown apart thousands of buildings, mostly in Lebanon’s Shi’ite Muslim-dominated south and east and the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut. But he said the group’s military capabilities remained strong.
“Our hearts are broken - we are losing very dear lives. This feeling that [Israel] cannot be punished or brought to international justice is a result of US support which renders them immune to accountability,” he said. “America is a full partner in what’s happening because they can exercise influence to stop this destruction.”
Iran says result of US election 'does not matter to us at all'
The Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has said the result of the US election did not matter to his country, according to reports on state media. Earlier Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said the presidential election result in the US was a chance for a new administration to “review the wrong approaches of the past”.
“To us it does not matter at all who has won the American election, because our country and system relies on its inner strength and a great and honourable nation,” Pezeshkian said late on Wednesday, quoted by the state news agency IRNA and reported by Reuters.
“We will not be close-minded in developing our relations with other countries [while] we have made it our priority to develop relations with Islamic and neighbouring countries,” Pezeshkian said.
It was not immediately clear if Pezeshkian was also referring to the United States, with which Iran does not have diplomatic relations. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all matters of state, has banned holding any direct talks with the United States.
Julian Borger, the Guardian’s senior international correspondent, has been assessing the reaction to Donald Trump’s election success among Palestinians.
“It will not make a big difference,” said Eyad Barghouti, a retired university teacher, expressing a commonly held view as the Gaza war rages on. “What Biden was doing before with a low profile, Trump will be more vocal about.
“Biden would say in public: ‘We’re not trying to starve Gaza, we’re trying to give them food aid,’ all the while supporting Israel’s army. [Trump] will say it in a clear way, that we are trying to get rid of such-and-such people. He will not play the game of trying to make himself sound like a humanitarian.”
Read the full piece here:
Bethan McKernan is Jerusalem correspondent for the Guardian
The Israeli army has distanced itself from comments made by a brigadier general that ground forces are getting closer to “the complete evacuation” of the northern Gaza Strip and residents will not be allowed to return home.
In a media briefing on Tuesday night, the Israel Defense Forces’ Brig Gen Itzik Cohen told Israeli reporters that “there is no intention of allowing the residents of the northern Gaza Strip to return”. He added that humanitarian aid would be allowed to “regularly” enter the south of the territory but there were “no more civilians left” in the north.
International humanitarian law experts have said that such actions would amount to the war crimes of forcible transfer and the use of food as a weapon.
The IDF did not immediately respond to the Guardian’s request for comment on Cohen’s remarks. But on Thursday, a spokesperson said the comments had been taken out of context during a discussion about Jabaliya, and did not “reflect the IDF’s objectives and values”.
The spokesperson said the briefing on Tuesday had been on background, and the brigadier general should not have been quoted in Hebrew media reports that emerged.
You can read the full story here:
Updated
Lebanon’s National News Agency reported earlier that “an enemy drone targeted a car in Araya,” in Lebanon, adding that the airstrike left a route blocked to traffic.
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Death toll from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza reaches 43,469, says health ministry
At least 43,469 Palestinian people have been killed and 102,561 injured in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
Of those, 78 Palestinians were killed and 214 injured in the latest 24-hour reporting period, the ministry said.
Gaza’s health ministry has said in the past that thousands of other dead people are most likely lost in the rubble of the territory.
Here is a statement from Unifil about the Israeli airstrike on the outskirts of Sidon in Lebanon:
This afternoon, a Unifil convoy bringing newly-arrived peacekeepers to south Lebanon was passing Saida when a drone strike occurred nearby.
Five peacekeepers were lightly injured and treated by the Lebanese Red Cross on the spot. They will continue to their posts. The Lebanese army also confirmed three of its soldiers at the nearby checkpoint were injured.
We remind all actors of their obligation to avoid actions putting peacekeepers or civilians in danger. Differences should be resolved at the negotiating table, not through violence.
We remind all actors of their obligation to avoid actions putting peacekeepers or civilians in danger. Differences should be resolved at the negotiating table, not through violence.
— UNIFIL (@UNIFIL_) November 7, 2024
You can read more about Unifil’s function in this useful explainer.
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Lebanese army says 3 troops and 4 UN peacekeepers injured in Israeli airstrike on Sidon
The Lebanese army said three of its troops and four Malaysian UN peacekeepers have been injured in an Israeli airstrike near an army checkpoint in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon. The army said the airstrike killed three Lebanese citizens.
“The Israeli enemy targeted a car while it was passing through the Awali checkpoint in Sidon, which led to the killing of three citizens who were inside it, in addition to the injury of three soldiers manning the checkpoint and four members of the Malaysian” contingent in the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (Unifil) force, the army said in a statement.
Breaking | According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, 3 civilians have been reported killed and others injured due to an Israeli airstrike that targeted a vehicle in Sidon, southern Lebanon. pic.twitter.com/WznN0icrRo
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) November 7, 2024
The UN has said Unifil positions had come under attack many times since the start of Israel’s ground assault on southern Lebanon on 1 October, including by direct fire.
Unifil is located in southern Lebanon to monitor hostilities along the demarcation line with Israel. Israel claims UN forces provide cover for Hezbollah, the Iran backed Lebanese militant group, but the peace force has stayed to continue its work.
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Israeli airstrike kills 10 Palestinians in school sheltering displaced people in Gaza City - medics
An Israeli airstrike has killed at least 10 Palestinians and injured many others in a school housing displaced people in al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, one of the Gaza Strip’s eight historic refugee camps, according to medics.
Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that Israeli forces bombed the al-Shati elementary boys school, which is affiliated with the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa). Unrwa has provided education, health care and other basic services to millions of Palestinian refugees across the region.
Breaking | According to local sources, 10 civilians were slaughtered due to an Israeli airstrike that targeted a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza. pic.twitter.com/i7ie5YYGat
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) November 7, 2024
The Israeli parliament – the Knesset - passed two bills last month banning Unrwa from Israeli territory and prohibiting Israeli state contact with the agency on the basis of allegations that Hamas had infiltrated it.
Unrwa’s commissioner general, Philippe Lazzarini, has previously said his agency had responded promptly and seriously to the initial Israeli allegations that 12 staff members had taken part in the 7 October Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed. He said 10 staff had been sacked immediately and two investigations completed, including one by the former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna.
Unrwa said the new laws – due to come into effect within three months – will cause the supply chain of aid to Gaza to “fall apart”, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis caused by Israel’s war on the territory.
Updated
As we reported in an earlier post, several large Israeli airstrikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs early on Thursday, including one on a site adjacent to Lebanon’s only international airport, Rafic Hariri.
The Israeli military had earlier issued an evacuation notice for the site, claiming there were Hezbollah facilities there, without giving more details.
There were no immediate reports of casualties. Here is a video of the huge fireball near Rafic Hariri airport:
Updated
Incoming rocket sirens have been heard in the northern Israeli city of Haifa and in surrounding areas.
The Israel Defense Forces said earlier this afternoon that about 40 rockets were fired from Lebanon, with some being shot down, while others were reported to have struck inside Israel.
The rockets triggered sirens in the upper and western Galilee and Haifa Bay area, according to reporting from the Times of Israel.
Updated
Al Jazeera said the Israeli military has extended the order shutting down its bureau in the occupied West Bank, the Associated Press reports.
Walid al-Omari, the network’s bureau chief, said Israeli soldiers raided the office in Ramallah again early this morning and posted a notice extending the closure for an additional 45 days.
Israel had previously raided the office and shut it down in late September. Earlier this year, authorities barred the Qatar-based network from operating in Israel.
The Israeli military has repeatedly accused journalists from the network of being “terrorist agents” in Gaza affiliated with Hamas or its ally, Islamic Jihad. Al Jazeera, which says it has no affiliation with militant groups, vehemently denies these accusations.
The network says that Israel systematically targets its employees in the Gaza Strip and that Israeli forces have killed several Al Jazeera journalists and their family members in Gaza since Israel’s war began last October.
As of 7 November 2024, preliminary investigations conducted by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) showed at least 137 journalists and media workers have been killed since the war began, making it the deadliest period for journalists since CPJ began gathering data in 1992.
Last week, Al Jazeera Media Network said journalists in Gaza have received “grievous threats” as they continue to report on Israel’s war on the territory (foreign journalists are banned from entering Gaza).
“These systematic attacks extend beyond individual tragedies; they constitute a calculated campaign to silence those who dare to document the realities of war and devastation and a direct assault on the fundamental right to information,” the network said.
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France sees 'window' to end wars in Gaza and Lebanon after Trump win - minister
France’s foreign minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, who met hostage families earlier today, has been speaking to journalists in Jerusalem, alongside Israel Katz, the outgoing foreign minister who is due to replace Yoav Gallant as defence minister.
He expressed hope that president-elect Donald Trump’s victory in the US election would increase the likelihood of Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon being brought to an end.
Citing Trump’s “wish to see the end of the Middle East’s endless wars”, he said:
I believe a window has opened for putting an end to the tragedy in which Israelis, Palestinians and the entire region have been immersed since 7 October.
“Diplomatic solutions are possible to free the hostages, protect civilians and ensure the safety of all,” the French foreign minister wrote on X, shortly before meeting Katz. “It is time to end the tragedy that began on October 7.”
Trump has promised to bring “peace” to the Middle East, but not specified how. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was among the first of the world’s leaders to call Trump with congratulations on Wednesday, has called him the “best friend that Israel has ever had in the White House”.
In this analysis piece, my colleague, Julian Borger, explains why Trump’s election night victory over Kamala Harris has been so welcomed by Netanyahu. Here is an extract from it:
The incoming administration will almost certainly not defend Unrwa. Trump cut off US funding to the agency in 2018 and it was only restored by Biden three years later. The UN and the whole relief effort in the region could well face a funding crisis.
The restoration of Trump also removes a substantial barrier to Israel’s full control and potential annexation of at least part of Gaza and the West Bank. The incoming president has shown himself unburdened by the weight of international law and UN security council resolutions when it comes to territory. His administration recognised Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights in 2019.
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Summary of the day so far …
It is approaching 2pm in Beirut, Tel Aviv and Gaza City, 3.30pm in Tehran and 7am in Washington DC. Here are the latest headlines …
Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that three children are among the latest victims of Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, killed in an attack in the east of Rafah
Israel’s military has announced it was expanding its ground operation in Gaza, saying that “troops started to operate in the area of Beit Lahia” after, it said, “prior intelligence information and a situational assessment indicating the presence of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure”. Israel said that in the past day it had conducted 110 airstrikes combined in Gaza and Lebanon
Overnight the IDF released the name of a solider it said was killed in fighting in southern Lebanon
A 22-year-old Palestinian was reported killed by Israeli security forces in the Tulkarm refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Others were wounded when an Israeli drone attacked the camp
Lebanon’s transport minister said the country’s only international airport was operating normally after Israeli strikes on the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut, including one on an area near the hub
Lebanon’s National News Agency reports that during the night at least ten locations were the subject of Israeli airstrikes, while heavy artillery fire continued on locations in the south of the country near the UN-drawn blue line that separates Lebanon and Israel.
Gali Baharav Miara, the attorney general of Israel, has written to Israel’s high court to say that Benjamin Netanyahu was within his powers to fire defense minister Yoav Gallant earlier this week. The move by Netanyahu sparked protests across Israel and a legal challenge
Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei has said acts of jihad in Lebanon, Gaza, and Palestine “will definitely lead to the victory of the Resistance Front”
Iran’s foreign minister has criticised the EU for what he described as a failure to take action over Israel’s “heinous crimes and genocide in Palestine and Lebanon”. Abbas Araqchi was speaking to Finland’s foreign minister Elina Valtonen. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson has said the presidential election result in the US was a chance for a new administration to “review the wrong approaches of the past”
The Palestinian Authority’s ambassador to the UK, Husam Zomlot, has called on US president-elect Donald Trump to act immediately to intervene in the Middle East conflict, and not wait until he takes office in January. Speaking on Israel’s Channel 12 news, a spokesperson for the US Republican party said she believed Trump wanted the conflict in the Middle East to end with “a decisive victory” for Israel
The Israeli defence ministry said on Thursday it had signed an agreement to acquire 25 next generation F-15 fighter jets from Boeing as part of a broader package of US aid approved by the outgoing Biden/Harris administration
French interior minister Bruno Retailleau has said he is not ruling out sanctions against the football club Paris Saint-Germain after their fan unveiled a large “Free Palestine” banner ahead of last night’s Uefa Champions League tie against Spain’s Atlético Madrid
Beirut airport operating normally after 'minor damage' from Israeli strike
Lebanon’s transport minister said the country’s only international airport was operating normally after Israeli strikes on the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut, including one on an area near the hub.
Minister Ali Hamie told AFP that planes were taking off and landing without any issue.
The overnight strike in Beirut caused “minor damage” to some buildings but “not inside the terminal building”, an airport official told AFP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to media.
He said the strike had affected a maintenance building belonging to a subsidiary of Middle East Airlines, Lebanon’s national carrier which is practically the only airline still operating flights, although aid deliveries have been using the airport.
A witness to the strike told AFP “The entire car park shook. People were carrying their luggage on their shoulders and running. When I made it to the street there was so much smoke I had to turn the headlights [of my taxi] on.”
Another nearby resident told the agency “We’ve had to flee our homes several times. Sometimes we sleep in the car. Death has become a matter of luck.”
An AFP photographer said a heater factory next to the airport’s perimeter wall had been badly damaged.
Three children in Rafah among Palestinians killed in Gaza by Israeli airstrikes – reports
Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that three children are among the latest victims of Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, killed in an attack in the east of Rafah.
The agency also reports that four people were killed and an unknown number of others wounded when Israeli forces bombed two houses in Jabalia in the north of the Gaza Strip.
Another ten people were reported killed in earlier strikes on Thursday. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
Israel’s military has announced that it was expanding its ground operation in Gaza, saying that “troops started to operate in the area of Beit Lahia” after, it said, “prior intelligence information and a situational assessment indicating the presence of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure.”
Israel said that in the past day it had conducted 110 airstrikes combined in Gaza and Lebanon.
Reporting from Deir el-Balah for Al Jazeera, Hind Khoudary wrote:
The situation continues to be indescribable in the north. We are talking about more than a month of the Israeli army targeting densely populated houses.
Most of the people living in the Jabalia refugee camp evacuated to Beit Lahiya, so these are already displaced Palestinians from Jabalia, and now Israeli forces are targeting them.
Palestinians there say Beit Lahiya and Jabalia have been transformed into rubble after Israeli forces have been bulldozing agricultural land, wiping out and bombing residential houses.
Civil defence teams are also not allowed to enter – so whoever needs to be rescued or taken from under the rubble can’t be assisted.
Gaza’s civil defence said it was the 16th consecutive day that Israeli forces had prohibited access to the north of Gaza.
Updated
Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei has been speaking this morning, and his social media account has just posted this brief summary of his words, in which he said that victory over Israel was assured.
The post, in English, states:
These acts of jihad, which are continuing with strength and power in Lebanon, Gaza, and Palestine today, will definitely lead to the victory of the Resistance Front. This is what we understand from the overall events and also from what God has promised.
These acts of jihad, which are continuing with strength and power in Lebanon, Gaza, and Palestine today, will definitely lead to the victory of the Resistance Front. This is what we understand from the overall events and also from what God has promised.
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) November 7, 2024
In Israel there has been some legal challenge to Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision earlier this week to fire defense minister Yoav Gallant and replace him foreign minister Israel Katz, but that appears to have run out of road.
Gali Baharav Miara, the attorney general of Israel, who has had her own recent clashes with Netanyahu, has written to Israel’s high court to back the decision to sack him, saying that the prime minister has broad authority to fire a minister of government, and that the court’s ability to intervene is limited.
Speaking on Israel’s Channel 12 news, a spokesperson for the US Republican party said she believed that president-elect Donald Trump wanted the conflict in the Middle East to end with “a decisive victory” for Israel.
Asked about comments that Trump made this week, when he said “I’m not going to start a war, I’m going to stop wars”, Elizabeth Pipko said:
I would say he expects [Israel] to end it by winning it, one hundred percent, that’s how he always talks about ending wars.
Donald Trump always says he wants less innocent people to die — that is his stance whether we’re talking about the war in Gaza, whether we’re talking about Russia in Ukraine or anywhere else.
So I do believe he wants the war to end as soon as possible, like all rational people do, but he wants it to end with a decisive victory.
Israel’s military has reported that a short while ago it intercepted a rocket fired into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that a 22-year-old Palestinian was killed by Israeli security forces in the Tulkarm refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The agency adds “an occupation drone bombed sites in the camp twice, resulting in five citizens being injured by shrapnel, one of whom was a woman and her disabled son.”
Wafa also reports that Israeli security forces have made 18 arrests in the Israeli-occupied West Bank since last night.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Here are some of the latest images of Lebanon to be sent over the news wires.
Iran’s foreign minister has criticised the EU for what he described as a failure to take action over Israel’s “heinous crimes and genocide in Palestine and Lebanon.”
In a read-out of a call between Abbas Araqchi and Finland’s foreing minister Elina Valtonen, the Tasnim news agency reports Araqchi told her that the root cause of conflict in the Middle East was the “war-mongering and genocide” of Israel.
He said Iran “deplored the dual and contradictory approach of some European countries towards the Israeli crimes” and that the EU had taken “no proper action to deal with those law violations.”
Tasnim reports that Valtonen expressed concern over the humanitarian crisis in the region, and hoped that peace could be restored by continued talks among the parties.
The National News Agency in Lebanon reports that a 20th plane load of humanitarian aid from Saudi Arabia has landed in Beirut.
More than one million Lebanese people are believed to have been internally displaced since Israel stepped up attacks it claims are targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Tens of thousands of Israelis have also been forced from their homes in northern Israel by near constant rocket fire coming from inside Lebanon.
French interior minister Bruno Retailleau has said he is not ruling out sanctions against the football club Paris Saint-Germain after their fan unveiled a large “Free Palestine” banner ahead of last night’s Uefa Champions League tie against Spain’s Atlético Madrid.
The Times of Israel reports that, speaking to Sud Radio, Retailleau described the banner as “unacceptable”, and said on the issue of punishment “I am not ruling out anything. I will demand explanations from PSG.”
The club has said it had no advance knowledge of the banner. Alongside the “Free Palestine” message another banner saying “War on the pitch, but peace in the world”, and then later, during the match, another banner reading “Does a child’s life in Gaza mean less than another?” was displayed.
France are due to play Israel at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis on the outskirts of Paris on 14 November.
Israel’s military has posted to its official Telegram channel to claim that the targets it recently struck in the densely populated Beirut suburbs were Hezbollah “command centres and terrorist infrastructure sites.”
In the message Israel claimed that “numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including issuing advance warnings to the civilian population in the area,” and said the location of the targets was “a further example of how Hezbollah systematically embedded its military infrastructure in civilian areas.”
The claims have not been independently verified.
The IDF had issued an instruction for civilians to leave the area yesterday. About 1.2 million people are already believed to have been internally displaced by Israeli attacks inside Lebanon according to Lebanese authority figures.
The Palestinian Authority’s ambassador to the UK, Husam Zomlot, has called on US president-elect Donald Trump to act immediately to intervene in the Middle East conflict, and not wait until he takes office in January.
Speaking on Al Arabiya News, Zomlot said:
There is no time to waste now. And we do not expect president-elect Trump to wait until January. That will not be delivering his promise. That will be the worst start. Because people are losing their lives in huge numbers. Their livelihoods are being destroyed. So, we need it now and this is the real test.
Zomlot admitted that Palestinians had a mixed experience during Trump’s first term in office, saying “President Trump at that time promised peace. However, what we received was not exactly what we would accept, and we made our position absolutely bluntly clear.”
He said that the whole world knew the cause of the conflict, and that the US should actively pursue the cause of Palestinian statehood. He told viewers:
The root cause is very well known to the world and to everyone. The root cause is the illegal occupation, is the illegal colonisation, the besiegement, the subjugation of the people, the system of apartheid that is imposed on the Palestinian people for decades.
Our engagement has got to be based on a US position that is clear to be in alignment with international law, with international consensus, clear that it wants to establish a state of Palestine. If the new administration goes with that, of course they will have partners in us.
Iran: Trump election result is chance for US to 'review the wrong approaches of the past'
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson has said the presidential election result in the US is a chance for a new administration to “review the wrong approaches of the past”.
Reuters quotes Esmaeil Baghaei saying “We had bitter experiences with various US governments’ past policies and approaches. Elections are an opportunity to review the wrong approaches of the past. What is important for Iran will be how we evaluate the actions of the US government.”
President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign messaging on foreign policy has been mixed, promising to end US involvement in “forever war”, but also suggesting he would give Israel stronger post-7 October backing than the Biden/Harris administration has done.
During his first term as president, Trump pulled the US out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iran nuclear deal, which had ended 12 years of deadlock over Tehran’s nuclear programme.
Palestinian news agency Wafa has reported eight Palestinians have been killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza today, giving the locations of the strikes as the Nuseirat refugee camp, and the Tabat Zare area, east of Rafah.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Lebanese media is reporting that an Israeli drone strike has targeted a vehicle in southern Lebanon.
More details soon …
Here are some of the latest images from the southern suburbs of densely populated Beirut, showing damage from Israeli airstrikes.
Overnight Israel’s military released the name of a soldier it said was killed on the northern front in IDF operations targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The army also said that one soldier was “severely injured during combat” in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
The IDF says that 368 troops have been killed since it launched its ground operation inside Gaza on 27 October 2023, and that 262 IDF personnel are currently hospitalised with injuries.
It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
Israel acquiring 25 F-15 fighter jets as part of US aid package granted by Biden/Harris administration
The Israeli defence ministry said on Thursday it had signed an agreement to acquire 25 next generation F-15 fighter jets from Boeing, Reuters reports.
It said the $5.2bn agreement was part of a broader package of US aid approved by the outgoing Biden/Harris administration and US congress earlier this year, and included an option for 25 additional aircraft.
Lebanon’s National News Agency reports that during the night at least ten locations were the subject of Israeli airstrikes, while heavy artillery fire continued on locations in the south of the country near the UN-drawn blue line that separates Lebanon and Israel.
There are also unconfirmed Lebanese reports of Israeli soldiers being injured when their vehicle overturned near the Lebanese village of Maroun al-Rasma.
The National News Agency reports:
Reconnaissance, drone and military aircraft continued to fly intensively over the villages in the Tyre and Bint Jbeil districts, and flares were fired over the villages of the western and central sectors, reaching the outskirts of Tyre.
The claims have not been independently verified.
In an operational update issued via its official Telegram channel, Israel’s military has claimed that its air operations on Baalbek and north of the Litani River in Lebanon had “eliminated” what it claimed were “approximately 60 Hezbollah terrorists” in attacks on what it said were 20 targets.
The claims have not been independently verified. The Lebanese health ministry yesterday put the death toll in strikes on Baalbek at 40 people.
Israel's parliament passes law to allow deportation of families of people it deems terrorists
Israel’s parliament passed a law early Thursday that would allow it to deport family members of Palestinian attackers to the Gaza Strip or other locations.
The law, which was championed by members of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and his far-right allies, passed with a 61-41 vote, but is likely to be challenged in court.
It would apply to Palestinian citizens of Israel and residents of annexed east Jerusalem who authorities claim knew about their family members’ attacks beforehand or who “express support or identification with the act of terrorism.”
Welcome and opening summary …
Welcome to the Guardian’s continuing live coverage of Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon and the wider Middle East crisis. Here are the latest headlines.
Israel launched new strikes on southern Beirut early on Thursday. Hours earlier, Benjamin Netanyahu said he spoke to US president-elect Donald Trump and they “agreed to work together for Israel’s security”.
The Israeli prime minister was one of the first world leaders to congratulate Trump, calling the re-election “history’s greatest comeback”.
Over the phone on Wednesday, the pair “agreed to work together for Israel’s security” and “discussed the Iranian threat”, Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
Not long after, the Israeli military launched its latest strikes on Iran-backed Hezbollah’s main bastion of south Beirut, with AFP reporting its footage showing orange flashes and plumes of smoke over the densely populated suburb.
The Israeli army had issued evacuation orders ahead of the strikes, calling on people to leave four neighbourhoods, including one near the international airport.
In eastern Lebanon, Israeli strikes killed 40 people and injured 53 in the city of Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley on Wednesday, with rescuers combing the rubble for survivors, the country’s health ministry said.
Hezbollah had said the US election result would have no bearing on the war with Israel. In a speech aired after Trump’s victory, new Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said that only developments on the battlefield – not political moves – would bring an end to Hezbollah-Israeli hostilities, appearing to rule out any ceasefire negotiations unless Israel first stopped its attacks.
In other news:
The Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, congratulated Donald Trump on his election victory, expressing confidence that he would support Palestinians’ “legitimate aspirations” for statehood. Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, spoke to Trump to congratulate him, while Egypt – the first Arab state to sign a peace deal with Israel – also congratulated him
Four Israeli opposition leaders made a joint statement condemning Benjamin Netanyahu for firing defence minister Yoav Gallant. There were protests for a second night in a row in Jerusalem on Wednesday over the sacking. Many protesters are calling for Netanyahu to resign and demanding the new defence minister prioritise a hostage deal
The United Nations responded to Israel’s decision to cut ties with the UN’s aid agency for Palestinians (Unrwa) by saying it had no responsibility to replace the agency’s operations in Gaza and the West Bank, signalling it was Israel’s problem as the occupying power, according to a letter excerpt seen by Reuters. Separately, Unrwa’s head said the agency was facing its “darkest hour”. “Without intervention by member states, Unrwa will collapse, plunging millions of Palestinians into chaos,” Philippe Lazzarini said
Hezbollah said on Wednesday it had fired missiles at an Israeli military base near Ben Gurion airport. Israeli media reported a rocket had landed near the airport.
Later, the Israeli military said dozens of projectiles had crossed into Israel from Lebanon, some of which were interceptedUN agencies said they had completed the administration of a second dose of polio vaccine to the overwhelming majority of children in Gaza. In all, 556,774 children under the age of 10 received the second dose, amounting to 94% of the total population of that age group
Israel and the World Health Organization said about 230 people in Gaza – both patients and their carers – were evacuated to the United Arab Emirates or Romania on Wednesday for medical treatment. “This is the largest number of patients and caregivers who have left through the Kerem Shalom crossing in recent months,” the Israeli defence ministry body Cogat said. The operation was carried out in cooperation with the UAE, the EU and the WHO, it added
Lebanon said it had filed a complaint with the UN’s labour agency over the deadly attacks on communication devices across the country in September, which it blames on Israel. Lebanese labour minister Mustafa Bayram called the attack – which Israel has not admitted – an “egregious war against humanity, against technology, against work”
