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The Guardian - AU
World
Helen Livingstone (now); Maya Yang, Yohannes Lowe and Tom Bryant (earlier)

Middle East crisis: UN special coordinator reports ‘widespread panic’ in Lebanon after evacuation orders– as it happened

Benjamin Netanyahu Gaza Israel Lloyd Austin Sir Keir Starmer United States Beit Lahiya Beirut CNN G7
Israeli airstrikes hit Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, on Sunday night.
Israeli airstrikes hit Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, on Sunday night. Photograph: Hussein Malla/AP

This blog is closing now. You can read our full report on the latest Israeli attacks on Lebanon here and our report on the latest Israeli attacks on Gaza here. And here’s a summary of the latest key developments:

  • Israel launched a wave of attacks on buildings belonging to al-Qard al-Hassan, a Hezbollah-run banking system that provides loans and banking services primarily to people who live in areas where Hezbollah is popular. Lebanon’s National News Agency reported 11 strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs. Other strikes hit the association in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley and in the country’s south, NNA added. One strike hit close to Beirut’s airport.

  • Israel may be causing the “destruction of the Palestinian population in Gaza’s northernmost governate through death and displacement” with its latest military campaign there, the UN’s human rights office (OHCHR) said. The Israeli military (IDF) has made life in north Gaza “impossible” for Palestinians, many of whom were already facing starvation, while also ordering their displacement and preventing supplies from entering, it said.

  • Several Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured late on Sunday when Israeli airstrikes hit two schools housing displaced people in Jabalia, the area in northern Gaza that Israel has placed under siege for more than two weeks. Other deadly Israeli attacks took place in Beit Lahia and Gaza City’s al-Tuffah neighbourhood, both in northern Gaza, and in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.

  • Israeli forces have “deliberately demolished an observation tower and perimeter fence of a UN position in Marwahin,” Unifil said on Sunday. The UN peacekeeping mission added: “Yet again, we remind the IDF and all actors of their obligations to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and property and to respect the inviolability of UN premises at all times.”

  • The US government is investigating an unauthorized release of classified documents that assess Israel’s plans to attack Iran. The US House speaker, Mike Johnson, confirmed the investigation in remarks to CNN’s State of the Union program on Sunday, saying “the leak is very concerning.”

  • Medecins Sans Frontieres has condemned Israel’s siege on the last remaining hospitals in Gaza, saying: “This is purely and simply a collective punishment imposed on Palestinians in Gaza, who must choose between being forcibly displaced from the North or killed. We fear that this will not stop.”

  • Hezbollah said on Sunday that it launched rockets at Haifa in Israel following the latest Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon, Agence France-Presse reports. According to the group, its fighters launched a “rocket salvo” at the “city of Haifa,” adding that it was “in response to the aggressions on [Beirut’s] southern suburbs” from Sunday morning.

Top Israeli officials have discussed “new ideas” regarding a deal to free hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, the Times of Israel is reporting, citing prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesperson.

The spokesperson’s statement came at the end of an eight-hour meeting that began at 7.30pm according to the paper, which added that it was held in the defence ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv.

The paper said it had been told by an official ahead of the meeting that it would focus on how to “wrap up” the war in Gaza after the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar last week. The official described Sinwar’s body as “another bargaining chip” in negotiations, according to the Times.

However that description of the meeting was not confirmed by Netanyahu’s office, with an official earlier saying:“We are continuing to pressure Hamas militarily … You can see the effects in Jabaliya. We are continuing to kill Hamas members. We are pushing for a psychological collapse.”

It was earlier reported that the meeting was to focus on a potential Israeli strike on Iran.

Sami Zoughaib, a researcher at the Lebanon-based thinktank the Policy Initiative, posits that the intense wave of strikes launched by Israel in the past hours are aimed at putting pressure on Lebanon ahead of a visit by US envoy Amos Hochstein, who is expected in the country on Monday.

Arabic media reported that Lebanon’s House Speaker, Nabih Berri, had told a television interviewer on Sunday that Hochstein’s visit may be the US’ last chance to reach a Hezbollah-Israel ceasefire agreement before the US election on 5 November.

Updated

The UN’s special coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis, has reported “widespread panic” after Israel’s latest evacuation orders in the country which provided only a “brief window” escape. She reminded the parties to the war that “solutions remain available”, adding: “If only opportunities would be seized.”

Israel may be 'causing the destruction of the Palestinian population' in northern Gaza, UN rights office says

Israel may be causing the “destruction of the Palestinian population in Gaza’s northernmost governate through death and displacement” with its latest military campaign there, the UN’s human rights office (OHCHR) has said in a statement.

The Israeli military (IDF) has made life in north Gaza “impossible” for Palestinians, many of whom were already facing starvation, while also ordering their displacement and preventing supplies from entering, it said.

Israel has “continued to relentlessly bomb and attack the area” making it “extremely dangerous” for civilians to flee, the body wrote, adding that it had received reports of civilians being deliberately targeted. It added:

Many Palestinians in the north have also expressed fears that should they flee; they will never be allowed to return to their homes in north Gaza.

Israel has attacked two of the three main hospitals in the area – which were already damaged in previous attacks – and also bombed schools serving as shelters for displaced people, with many casualties appearing to be women and children.

Medical and rescue teams were also reporting that Israel was hindering their movements as well as directly attacking them, OHCHR said.

Palestinian men were meanwhile being detained by the IDF, “raising fears that they may be subjected to arbitrary detention as well as torture” given the previous violations documented by the UN, it continued.

The statement ended by reminding Israel of the provisional measures ordered by the international court of justice in January, which said Israel must ensure it did not commit acts of genocide in Gaza and reminded it that as an occupying power, it has a duty to ensure the provision of food, medicine and shelter to the population.

The al-Qard al-Hassan Association, which Israel says is Hezbollah’s financing arm, has said in a statement it has taken “all of the necessary procedures since the beginning of the war to safeguard your deposits and valuables and can confirm that you should not worry they are safe”, Al Jazeera reports.

The statement ended with “an eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth”, according to the Qatar-based broadcaster.

Hezbollah says it downed an Israeli Hermes 450 drone Sunday, without saying where. The Iran-backed group also says it has fired several rocket salvos at Israeli troops across the border.

Several Palestinians have reportedly been killed and others injured late on Sunday when Israeli airstrikes hit two schools housing displaced people in Jabalia, the area in northern Gaza that Israel has placed under siege for more than two weeks.

The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that the airstrikes targets the Unrwa-run Hafsa school and the Abu Hussein school in Jabalia refugee camp. Civil defence teams were banned from accessing the area to rescue those injured or trapped under the rubble.

A fire also broke out at Hamad school due to an Israeli attack, Wafa reported. The school, which was sheltering displaced people, is adjacent to the Indonesian hospital and the fire reportedly spread to the hospital’s generators.

Several more Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on the al-Fakhura area and Al-Hattab Street in Beit Lahia, both in northern Gaza, according to Wafa. There were further casualties when Israeli forces attacked a group of civilians in Gaza City’s al-Tuffah neighbourhood and three civilians were killed when an Israeli drone hit a vehicle in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza.

It was not possible to independently verify the reports as Israel does not allow foreign media into Gaza.

The attacks come a day after an Israeli attack on the town of Beit Lahiya, north of Jabalia, flattened entire residential blocks and killed at least 87 people.

The commander of an Israeli armoured brigade has been killed in northern Gaza, the Israeli military (IDF) has said.

Col. Ehsan Daxa, the commander of the 401st Armored Brigade, is the highest ranking Israeli officer to have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its war on the Palestinian territory last year, according to Israeli media.

He was killed when an explosive device exploded as he got out of a tank, the IDF said. Three other soldiers were injured.

Israeli strikes hit southern Beirut, including near international airport

Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) has so far reported 11 strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, many of them targeting Al-Qard Al-Hassan, which Israel says is financing Hezbollah’s operations against Israel. AFP reports further:

It said a strike landed near Beirut’s airport, the main entry-point of humanitarian assistance to the country and a major evacuation hub for those fleeing the conflict.

Commercial planes were still seen flying past clouds of smoke over the embattled southern suburbs, said an AFP correspondent, who watched them land at Beirut’s airport, located near targeted areas.

AFP footage showed a column of smoke rising near one of the airports runways, as well as over nearby areas in Beirut’s southern suburbs, hit hard by the nearly month-long war.

In the suburb of Chiyah, the strikes flattened an entire building, AFP footage showed. Excavator’s worked to clear the rubble, as rescuers scoured for survivors.

The building housed a branch of Al-Qard Al-Hassan, according to an AFP correspondent.

NNA also reported strikes targeting the association in Hermel, Riyaq and Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley region in Lebanon’s east.

The strike on Baalbek hit a commercial market housing a building formerly used by Al-Qard Al-Hassan, NNA said. An AFP correspondent said residents quickly evacuated the area after the Israeli army issued a warning.

In south Lebanon, Israeli strikes hit branches near the cities of Sidon and Nabatieh, according to NNA.

Updated

Journalist Leila Molana-Allen has posted footage of what she says are airstrikes right next to Beirut’s airport:

Summary

Here’s a look at where things stand:

  • Israel’s military announced on Sunday night that it will begin striking buildings belonging to al-Qard al-Hassan, a Hezbollah-run banking system that provides loans and banking services primarily to people who live in areas where Hezbollah is popular. Israel said that the institution finances Hezbollah and that “Hezbollah uses this money to finance its terrorist activities,” including purchasing and storing arms.

  • Israeli strikes landed near Lebanon’s only airport, Agence France-Presse reports. AFP cited a security source saying that two strikes landed close to the airport in Beirut as Israel attacked the capital’s southern suburbs after issuing multiple evacuation orders.

  • Israeli forces have “deliberately demolished an observation tower and perimeter fence of a UN position in Marwahin,” Unifil said on Sunday. The UN peacekeeping mission added: “Yet again, we remind the IDF and all actors of their obligations to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and property and to respect the inviolability of UN premises at all times.”

  • The US government is investigating an unauthorized release of classified documents that assess Israel’s plans to attack Iran. The US House speaker, Mike Johnson, confirmed the investigation in remarks to CNN’s State of the Union program on Sunday, saying “the leak is very concerning.”

  • Medecins Sans Frontieres has condemned Israel’s siege on the last remaining hospitals in Gaza, saying: “This is purely and simply a collective punishment imposed on Palestinians in Gaza, who must choose between being forcibly displaced from the North or killed. We fear that this will not stop.”

  • Hezbollah said on Sunday that it launched rockets at Haifa in Israel following the latest Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon, Agence France-Presse reports. According to the group, its fighters launched a “rocket salvo” at the “city of Haifa,” adding that it was “in response to the aggressions on [Beirut’s] southern suburbs” from Sunday morning.

Here are more images coming through the newswires from Beirut following Israeli strikes across the city on Sunday evening:

Israeli strikes landed near Lebanon’s only airport, Agence France-Presse reports.

AFP cited a security source saying that two strikes landed close to the airport in Beirut as Israel attacked the capital’s southern suburbs after issuing multiple evacuation orders.

Videos emerging on social media are showing buildings being leveled and fires starting across Beirut as Israel strikes Lebanon’s capital:

Here is more from Reuters on the scenes from Beirut as residents flee amid Israeli airstrikes on the capital:

Hundreds of Beirut residents fled their homes late on Sunday after Israel said it was preparing attacks on sites linked to the financial operations of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group within hours and told people to leave those areas immediately.

Soon after the Israeli warning, several blasts were heard and a large fire was seen in Beirut’s southern suburbs. There was no immediate information on what caused the explosion, or details of any casualties.

Panicked crowds clogged the streets and caused traffic jams in some parts of Beirut as they tried to get to neighbourhoods thought to be safer, witnesses said.

Here are some images coming through the newswires from Beirut where explosions and smoke are being reported from the city:

Lebanon’s National News Agency is reporting an evacuation of buildings adjacent to the al-Qard al-Hassan branch in Beirut following reports of blasts in the city.

The reported evacuations come after Israel said it will begin striking buildings belonging to al-Qard al-Hassan, a Hezbollah-run banking system that provides loans and banking services mostly to people who live in areas where Hezbollah is popular.

Explosions and smoke seen across Beirut as Israel attacks Hezbollah-run banking systems

A blast was heard across Beirut on Saturday evening, according to Reuters’ witnesses who also saw plumes of smoke across the city.

More details to follow.

Updated

Unifil: IDF deliberately demolishes observation tower in Marwahin

Israeli forces have “deliberately demolished an observation tower and perimeter fence of a UN position in Marwahin,” Unifil said on Sunday.

The UN peacekeeping mission added: “Yet again, we remind the IDF and all actors of their obligations to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and property and to respect the inviolability of UN premises at all times.”

In recent weeks, the IDF has targeted Unifil watchtowers and peacekeepers multiple times across Lebanon. Israel has also repeatedly demanded that Unifil vacate its positions along the UN-mandated Blue Line – a demarcation line dividing Lebanon from Israel and the Golan Heights – which Unifil has refused to yield to.

“Despite the pressure being exerted on the mission and our troop-contributing countries, peacekeepers remain in all positions,” the mission said.

Israel to begin striking buildings belonging to Hezbollah-run banking system al-Qard al-Hassan

Israel’s military announced on Sunday night that it will begin striking buildings belonging to al-Qard al-Hassan, a Hezbollah-run banking system that provides loans and banking services primarily to people who live in areas where Hezbollah is popular.

Israel said that the institution finances Hezbollah and that “Hezbollah uses this money to finance its terrorist activities,” including purchasing and storing arms.

Founded in the 1980s, al-Qard al-Hassan provides interest free loans in line with Islamic banking principles. After Lebanon’s 2019 banking crisis which saw commercial banks freeze accounts, al-Qard al-Hassan became more popular in Lebanon, as it gives collateral-based loans on personal assets such as loans.

Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese bank with al-Qard al-Hassan, primarily in areas where Hezbollah is popular, but last year the bank even opened a branch in a Christian town in Hezbollah. The bank has branches all over the country, with at least 15 branches in Beirut alone.

The institution was sanctioned by the US in 2017 during the Trump administration due to the fact that it gave Hezbollah access to the international financial system, according to the US Treasury.

Al-Qard al-Hassan is a branch of Hezbollah’s robust social services network. Analysts have said that the group’s social services are key to its popularity, with a network of hospitals, schools and ambulance corps serving areas where state investment has traditionally been low.

Human rights organisations have said that affiliation with Hezbollah does not make civilian institutions legitimate military targets. Over the past year, Israel has killed dozens of medics and first responders who work in the Islamic Health Committee, a Hezbollah-affiliated health service

Updated

A 41-year-old Israeli colonel was killed and another officer was wounded in combat in northern Gaza on Sunday, the Israeli military said.

Israel’s Channel 12 and public broadcaster Kan reported an explosive device had gone off under a tank.

On a visit near the border of Lebanon, Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant said forces were dismantling Hezbollah tunnels, weapons stores and infrastructure.

“Our goal is to completely ‘clean’ the area so that Israel’s northern communities may return to their homes,” he added.

Updated

Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with former U.S. president Donald Trump, the prime minister’s office said on Sunday.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu reiterated what he has also said publicly: Israel takes into account the issues the U.S. administration raises, but in the end, will make its decisions based on its national interests,” it said.

Trump, speaking later to reporters in Philadelphia, said he had had “a very nice call” with Netanyahu on Saturday.

The Israeli leader had asked his opinion about what to do with Iran, he said. Israel is pondering its military reaction to recent Iranian missile strikes, Reuters reports.

“He was asking what I thought. And I just said, you do what you have to do,” Trump said.

Updated

Here is the full story on Israel’s foreign minister announcing he is taking “legal and diplomatic measures” against the decision by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, to ban Israeli companies from showing their wares at an arms fair in Paris next month.

Minister Israel Katz described the “boycott” as an anti-democratic measure that was “not acceptable, especially between friendly nations”.

Katz did not elaborate on the measures he had in mind and the French government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Organisers of the Euronaval Salon, a naval defence fair due to take place between 4-7 November, told Reuters that after a decision by the French government no Israeli stands or exhibits would be allowed, although delegates could attend.

Updated

The US government is investigating an unauthorized release of classified documents that assess Israel’s plans to attack Iran.

The Guardian’s Richard Luscombe reports:

The US House speaker, Mike Johnson, confirmed the investigation in remarks to CNN’s State of the Union program on Sunday, saying “the leak is very concerning”.

“There’s some serious allegations being made there,” the Republican from Louisiana said. “The investigation’s underway, and I’ll get a briefing on that in a couple of hours.”

Three US officials had earlier told the Associated Press about the investigation into the leak. A fourth US official said the documents in question appear to be legitimate.

The documents are attributed to the US Geospatial Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency, and they note that Israel was still moving military assets in place to conduct a military strike in response to Iran’s blistering ballistic missile attack on 1 October. They were sharable within the “Five Eyes”, which are the US, Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

For the full story, click here:

Medecins Sans Frontieres on Israel's siege in north Gaza: 'Purely and simply a collective punishment'

Medecins Sans Frontieres has condemned Israel’s siege on the last remaining hospitals in Gaza, saying:

“This is purely and simply a collective punishment imposed on Palestinians in Gaza, who must choose between being forcibly displaced from the North or killed. We fear that this will not stop.”

Adding to the statement, Anna Halford, MSF emergency coordinator in Gaza, said:

“The ever-worsening escalation of violence and non-stop Israeli military operations that we have been witnessing over the past two weeks in northern Gaza have horrifying consequences.”

Tens of thousands of people remain trapped in Jabalia refugee camp amid daily Israeli attacks while more than 350 patients are reported to be trapped inside Indonesian, Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals. Those include pregnant women and people who just underwent surgical operations.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), an intergovernmental body representing the world’s Muslim-majority countries, has condemned Israel’s airstrikes in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, which killed at least 70 civilians on Saturday night and injured many more.

In a statement the OIC said it “views this atrocity as a continuation of the many massacres, acts of genocide, and ethnic cleansing perpetrated against the Palestinian people”, and said it called on the UN security council to impose a ceasefire in Gaza.

Hezbollah said on Sunday that it launched rockets at Haifa in Israel following the latest Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon, Agence France-Presse reports.

According to the group, its fighters launched a “rocket salvo” at the “city of Haifa,” adding that it was “in response to the aggressions on [Beirut’s] southern suburbs” from Sunday morning.

Another war of words (or tweets) has erupted between the Turkish and Israeli governments, following foreign minister Israel Katz tagging Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a post on X with a picture of Yahya Sinwar’s corpse, accompanied by a caption that read: “@RTErdogan, take back your rapist and murderer friend Sinwar.”

Turkey’s official foreign ministry account then shared a post in response with images of people carrying dead bodies and participating in funerals in Gaza, saying its government would “continue to work to ensure that those responsible for this genocide receive the punishment they deserve.”

On Saturday, Turkey’s public broadcaster reported that AKP spokesperson Ömer Çelik weighed in on the flare-up in defence of Erdoğan accusing Katz of being a member of a “murder network”. He added: “Our President is a defender of human values.”

Updated

The Israeli foreign minister has lashed out at France following its decision to ban Israeli firms from exhibiting stands or showing equipment next month’s naval arms show in Paris.

In a statement on X, Israel Katz wrote:

I asked the Israeli ministry of foreign affairs to take legal and diplomatic measures against the decision of French president Emmanuel Macron to prevent Israeli companies from presenting their products at the @SalonEuronaval show in Paris next month.

The boycott of Israeli companies and this, for the second time, with the imposition of unacceptable conditions, are undemocratic measures that in our eyes are not acceptable, moreover between friendly nations. I urge president Macron to cancel them completely.”

This marks the second time Israeli firms have been banned from a defense show. In May, France prohibited Israeli companies from showcasing their products in the Eurosatory military trade show as Macron called for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Since last October, Israel has killed at least 43,000 Palestinians – including healthcare workers and journalists – across Gaza while forcibly displacing 2 million survivors across the narrow strip amid severe shortages in food, water and medical supplies due to Israeli aid restrictions. Israel’s expanded invasion into Lebanon has also killed at least 2,300 people while displacing an additional 1.2 million people across the country in recent weeks.

Here are some recent pictures coming out of Gaza that have been sent to us over the newswires:

Leak of classified documents on Israel’s attack plans against Iran expected to be discussed at security cabinet meeting

Tehran is still bracing for Israeli retaliation for Iran’s missile attack on the country on 1 October 2024. The strikes, which Iran said were aimed at military bases, were largely thwarted by Israel’s aerial defences with support from its western allies. Iran said the attack was launched in retaliation for Israel’s assassination of senior Hamas and Hezbollah leaders and Israel’s war on Gaza and assault on Lebanon.

The US is now investigating a leak of highly classified US intelligence about Israel’s plans for retaliation against Iran. Israel has not said how it will respond, but it could try to strike Iran’s cluster of missile and drone bases, its economic infrastructure or its oil terminals/facilities. Washington has not denied that the leaked files, which appear to be the US’s assessment of Israel’s preparations, are authentic.

As my colleague, Bethan McKernan, writes in this story, the papers supposedly date from 15 and 16 October, and allege that Israel has fortified underground warplane bunkers at the Hatzerim airbase, where there are signs of preparation for arming plane-launched ballistic missiles.

An Israeli source told Haaretz that the US had apologised to Israel for the leak. US House speaker Mike Johnson said on Sunday there was an investigation underway into the leak, telling CNN: “There’s a classified-level briefing... we are following it closely.” The leak is expected to be discussed in the Israeli security cabinet meeting, chaired by the country’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at 7:30 pm local time (5.30pm BST, 12.30pm ET) tonight.

Updated

Emily Dugan is a senior reporter for the Guardian

A return of Islamic extremist terror attacks on British soil could be triggered by the killings of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, the former head of MI6 has said.

Sir John Sawers said police and intelligence agencies in Britain should be “on their toes” after changes of leadership at terrorist organisations in the Middle East.

On Thursday Israeli troops confirmed the assassination of the Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar, who masterminded the Palestinian militant group’s 7 October attacks last year.

In an interview with Sky News’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Sawers said:

Islamic terrorism may actually get a further boost, if that’s the right word, from events in the Middle East. The frustrations that we’ll be seeing because of the lack of movement on the Palestinian question, because of the violence people are witnessing every day.

And it could be that Hezbollah and Hamas, the new leaderships there, are focused so much on violence that they become not just terrorist organisations designated by western countries and aimed against Israel, but they could revert back to international terrorism, including here in the UK.

You can read the full story here:

Hezbollah said it launched rocket salvos at Israeli troops in two villages inside Lebanese territory, near the southern border, on Sunday.

Fighters from the Lebanese militant group launched “a rocket salvo” at Israeli “enemy forces” on the outskirts of the village of Markaba, as well as on soldiers nearby, “west of the village of Adaisseh”, the group said.

Israel’s military says around 160 projectiles have been launched from Lebanon as of 15:00 local time (many of which have been successfully intercepted).

Three Lebanese soldiers killed in Israeli strike in southern Lebanon, army says

Three Lebanese soldiers were killed in an Israeli strike on an army vehicle in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese military said. The troops were killed on a road connecting the border village of Ain Ebel to the nearby town of Hanin, the army said.

Summary of the day so far..

  • Israel struck dozens of south Lebanon villages and towns overnight, according to reports. There were also airstrikes reported in Beirut’s southern suburbs, with residents in Haret Hreik and Hadath ordered to evacuate on Sunday morning.

  • The Israeli military said it hit the “command centre of Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters” and underground weapons facility in Beirut and that it killed three Hezbollah militants in other strikes. It later said about 70 projectiles fired from Lebanon crossed into Israel within a matter of minutes, and that it intercepted some of them.

  • There were reports that the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza, has seen intense Israeli bombing and gunfire for several hours, risking patient and staff safety. Hussam Abu Safia, the hospital’s director, said medical services were severely disrupted after Israeli airstrikes damaged the hospital’s water tanks and electricity grid.

  • At least 87 people were killed in Israeli strikes in the city of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza yesterday, according to figures provided by the territory’s health ministry earlier today.

  • At least 42,603 Palestinian people have been killed and 99,795 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the health ministry said in a statement.

  • The UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Tor Wennesland, said in a statement that “the nightmare in Gaza is intensifying” as “relentless Israeli strikes” are being launched in Gaza where “horrifying scenes are unfolding in the northern strip”.

  • The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said not enough aid is being allowed into Gaza. “We can’t run a humanitarian operation at the scale needed with just a few unreliable and poorly accessible crossing points.”

  • Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, is set to convene his security cabinet at 7:30 pm local time (5.30pm BST, 12.30pm ET) in Tel Aviv.

Updated

The Lebanese army says three soldiers have been killed in an Israeli strike on a military vehicle in southern Lebanon, according to a snap from the Reuters news agency. We’ll have more detail shortly

The London School of Economics has been criticised by a UN rapporteur and accused of Islamophobia after raising an allegation that students behind a pro-Palestine demonstration in July had prompted fears of a repeat of the 7/7 terrorist attacks. Chief reporter Daniel Boffey writes:

A total of seven students, four of them female, have been put under “precautionary measures”, restricting their access to the university’s campus, over allegations relating to a noisy protest on 7 July in the atrium of the LSE student services centre.

In letters informing the group of the action and the potential for further disciplinary measures, the university said that “several witnesses, including security guards, and members of staff, expressed concerns, fear and distress” over their conduct.

One staff member quoted by the university claimed that the demonstration had led “many in the room” to fear a “physical attack”. This feeling was said to have been “heightened” by its coincidental timing on the 19th anniversary of the 2005 bombings.

The students, who had been calling for the LSE to divest from companies that work with the Israeli military, deny the claims, which they say have been used to stifle free expression.

Benjamin Netanyahu is set to convene his security cabinet at 7:30 pm local time (5.30pm BST, 12.30pm ET) in Tel Aviv, according to reports in Israel.

The Times of Israel says the meeting comes as Israel prepares to strike Iran in response to the 1 October ballistic missile attack.

The 'nightmare in Gaza is intensifying' as 'horrifying scenes' unfold in northern Gaza - UN

The UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Tor Wennesland, has issued the following statement, in which he says “relentless Israeli strikes” are being launched in Gaza where nowhere is safe for civilians to escape bombardments.

He said:

The nightmare in Gaza is intensifying. Horrifying scenes are unfolding in the northern Strip amidst conflict, relentless Israeli strikes and an ever-worsening humanitarian crisis.

In Beit Lahia last night, dozens were reportedly killed in Israeli airstrikes. This follows weeks of intensified operations resulting in scores of civilian fatalities and near total lack of humanitarian aid reaching populations in the north. Nowhere is safe in Gaza.

I condemn the continuing attacks on civilians. This war must end, the hostages held by Hamas must be freed, the displacement of Palestinians must cease, and civilians must be protected wherever they are. Humanitarian aid must be delivered unimpeded.

The path ahead will require courage, political will and renewed dialogue. We owe it to the families suffering in Gaza and Israel. The war must stop now.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said about 30 rockets have been launched from Lebanon at northern Israel. Some were intercepted by the airforce, while others crashed into areas, sparking fires, the IDF said in a post on X.

UN says lack of aid routes into Gaza means it can't run a 'humanitarian operation at the scale needed'

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the occupied Palestinian territory said not enough aid is being allowed into Gaza.

It said:

We can’t run a humanitarian operation at the scale needed with just a few unreliable and poorly accessible crossing points.

Aid has only been facilitated when it has reached the people who need it, when they need it.

Last week, the US warned Israel that it faces possible punishment, including the potential stopping of American weapons transfers, if it does not take immediate action to let more humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

Humanitarian groups have made repeated calls for increased deliveries of food and medicine to the territory amid fears that Israel may be trying to force Palestinians to leave northern Gaza using starvation.

Since Israel began a renewed assault on northern Gaza a fortnight ago, charities have said virtually no aid has entered the area (the UN said on Monday that Israel blocked all food aid entering northern Gaza from 2-15 October). Israel officials have denied accusations that aid is being deliberately blocked from reaching northern Gaza.

Updated

Internet connectivity went down in northern Gaza last night and, as of midday today, has not been restored.

In the past two days, Israeli forces have detained at least 30 Palestinians across the occupied West Bank, according to a joint statement from the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society and the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs.

The detentions were reported to have taken place in the areas of Hebron, Nablus, Ramallah, Jenin, Jericho, Jerusalem and Salfit, among others. It is estimated that over 11,300 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.

Updated

Death toll in Gaza reaches 42,603, says health ministry

At least 42,603 Palestinian people have been killed and 99,795 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

Of those, 84 Palestinians were killed in the latest 24-hour reporting period, according to the ministry, which has said in the past that thousands of other dead people are most likely lost in the rubble of the territory.

Updated

At least 87 people killed or missing after Israeli strikes on Beit Lahiya, health ministry says

Gaza’s health ministry said 87 people were killed or missing under the rubble after the Israeli attack on Saturday on Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza. More than 40 others were injured, the ministry said. The Israeli military said they were checking the report. Officials in Gaza last night said 73 people had been killed in the airstrikes, which you can read more about here. Israel earlier claimed that these figures were “exaggerated”, without elaborating.

Updated

Reports of 'intense bombing' and gunfire at Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza

Al Jazeera is reporting that the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza, is being attacked by Israeli forces.

Hussam Abu Safia, the hospital’s director, said medical services were severely disrupted after Israeli airstrikes damaged the hospital’s water tanks and electricity grid.

The area surrounding the hospital, which offers paediatric intensive care facilities and a malnutrition clinic, has seen intense bombing and gunfire for several hours, risking patient and staff safety, he added.

Dr Eid Sabbah, Kamal Adwan hospital’s director of nursing, has spoken to the BBC. He said Israeli attacks on hospitals must stop “before it’s too late” and “our nation is exterminated”. Dr Sabbah said Israeli airstrikes in Beit Lahiya targeted an entire residential square in between Abu Jidian roundabout and Al Qassam mosque.

He said dozens of people were killed in the attacks, which reportedly also destroyed several residential buildings, and many other Palestinian people were injured, “some of whom reached the hospital, some of whom remain under the rubble”.

Israeli officials accuse Hamas of building command centres under hospitals and other civilian infrastructure. Hamas denies the charge. The latest Israeli attack on the Kamal Adwan hospital comes amid an intensifying of air and artillery strikes that have hit northern Gaza – especially Jabalia – over the last two weeks.

Doctors at the Kamal Adwan, al-Awda and Indonesian hospitals have refused to leave their patients despite evacuation orders issued by the Israeli military.

All three hospitals are facing dire shortages of fuel and other supplies, according to the UN, which said no humanitarian supplies entered northern Gaza from Israel’s crossing for the first two weeks of this month.

The entirety of northern Gaza is under Israeli evacuation orders. The Israeli army, which says it is targeting regrouping Hamas fighters, has ordered residents to flee towards the so-called “humanitarian zone” of al-Mawasi, even though it has been targeted in deadly airstrikes and is severely overcrowded.

Updated

The Israeli military said about 70 projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israel within minutes on Sunday.

The military said in a post on X:

Following the alerts that were activated at 11:09 (0809 GMT) and 11:12 in the western and upper Galilee areas, about 70 launches were detected that crossed the territory of Lebanon.

Some of them were intercepted by the air force, several crashes were detected in the area.

Firefighters are working to put out several fires that have developed in the area.

Hezbollah has warned that its fighting with Israel is now entering a new phase. The Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group has not detailed exactly what this will entail.

Updated

Israeli troops 'blew up' neighbourhood in Lebanese village close to the border - report

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) has said “Israeli troops blew up the Tarrash neighbourhood in Mais al-Jabal… after booby-trapping it with highly explosive materials.” The troops “bulldozed the cemetery in the village of Blida” nearby, the NNA added in its reporting, which has not yet been verified by the Guardian.

Mais al-Jabal is a village in Lebanon less than two kilometers away from the border with Israel. It has been a frequent target of Israeli attacks. Most residents have been evacuated from the village to avoid the trading of fire between Hezbollah and Israel, which has happened almost daily since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza last October.

Updated

As we mentioned in the opening summary, the Israeli military has launched another round of airstrikes on the Lebanese capital, targeting Beirut’s southern suburbs in particular. Here are some of the latest images of the aftermath of the attacks sent to us over the newswires:

Updated

Israeli military attacks dozens of south Lebanon villages and towns overnight

Israel struck dozens of south Lebanon villages and towns overnight and targeted Nabatiyeh city for a third time this week, Lebanese state media reports.

“Warplanes struck... the city of Nabatiyeh seven times,” Lebanon’s official National News Agency said, adding that Israeli jets “conducted strikes” on over 50 towns and villages. It is not yet clear how many people were killed or injured in the Israeli attacks.

Updated

Israeli military says it attacked Hezbollah's intelligence HQ in Beirut

The Israeli military said it has carried out a strike on a Hezbollah command centre and underground weapons facility in Beirut, Lebanon’s capital.

In a statement, the military said:

Earlier this morning (Sunday), the IAF (Israeli air force) conducted an intelligence-based strike on a command centre of Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters and an underground weapons workshop in Beirut.

The Israeli air force said fighter jets killed Alhaj Abbas Salama, who it described as a senior member of Hezbollah’s southern front command, in the Tebinin area of Lebanon, and killed two other Hezbollah figures.

Two Beirut neighbourhoods – Haret Hreik and Hadath – were warned by the Israeli military this morning to evacuate immediately, signalling the resumption of intense airstrikes on the city for a second day. Beirut’s southern suburbs, in particular, have been repeatedly bombed by the Israeli military over the past weeks, killing many civilians.

Updated

At least 759 Palestinian people in the occupied West Bank have been killed by Israeli forces since last October, Wafa, the Palestinian news agency, cited the territory’s health ministry as saying. The ministry said among the victims were 165 children and 18 women. There were over 6,500 recorded injuries. Most of the Palestinians killed in the last year there were killed by Israeli troops and some by settlers, according to local health officials.

Israeli forces have intensified their nearly daily search and arrest raids in the West Bank since its war on Gaza was launched following the Hamas-led 7 October attacks on southern Israel in 2023. The number of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank – which are considered illegal under international law – have hit new records. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu governs with the support of far-right parties that advocate more Israeli settlements in the West Bank and outright annexation.

Updated

Israeli strike on Gaza multi-storey residential building kills 73 people - officials

Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of Israel’s wars on Gaza and Lebanon.

In northern Gaza, an Israeli airstrike hit several houses and a multi-storey residential building in the town of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza on Saturday night, killing at least 73 people, officials said.

The Hamas media office said at least 73 people had been killed. Medway Abbas, a senior health ministry official, said these figures were accurate. There were also reports of more potential casualties trapped under rubble in the densely populated area.

Palestinian health officials said rescue operations were being hampered by the cut-off telecommunication and internet services that have been down for a second day.

  • The US government is investigating an alleged leak about classified US intelligence on Israel’s strikes against Iran, CNN reports. CNN reports that the documents which date from 15 and 16 October started circulating on Friday on Telegram through an account called the Middle East Spectator. The investigation is also examining how the documents were obtained – including whether it was an intentional leak by a member of the US intelligence community or obtained by another method, like a hack – and whether any other intelligence information was compromised, the Associated Press reports.

  • Benjamin Netanyahu’s house in the seaside town of Caesarea was hit by a drone on Saturday, causing superficial damage and no casualties. Neither Netanyahu nor his wife, Sara, were home at the time. “The attempt by Iran’s proxy Hezbollah to assassinate me and my wife today was a grave mistake,” Netanyahu said in a statement, vowing that Iran and its proxies would “pay a heavy price”.

  • The UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, spoke to Benjamin Netanyahu after reports of an attempted drone attack on the Israeli prime minister’s holiday home in Saturday. According to a Downing Street spokesperson, Starmer told Netanyahu that he was alarmed to hear about what Netanyahu called an “assassination attempt” on his life.

  • G7 defence ministers expressed their concern over Israel’s latest attacks on Unifil in Lebanon. The group, which has been meeting in Naples, Italy, said: “We are concerned by the latest events in Lebanon and the risk of further escalation. We express concern over all threats to Unifil’s security.”

  • The US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, spoke to his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, on Saturday, reviewing US forces’ “posture adjustments”. Those include the recent deployment of an anti-missile system to reinforce Israel’s defences against regional threats, the Pentagon said in a statement.

  • The US would like to see Israel scale back some of its strikes in and around the Lebanese capital of Beirut, Austin said. “The number of civilian casualties have been far too high,” Austin told reporters at a G7 defence gathering in Naples.

  • Two Israeli airstrikes targeted south Beirut early on Sunday, Lebanese state media reports. “Enemy (Israeli) airplanes carried out two strikes this morning on Beirut’s southern suburbs, one of them hitting a residential building in Haret Hreik” near a mosque and a hospital, the National news agency reported. There were no immediate details of casualties or property damage.

  • The Israeli army ordered civilians located near buildings it claimed were “affiliated with Hezbollah” in two neighbourhoods in south Beirut to immediately evacuate early this morning.

Updated

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