Closing summary
We’re winding up our live coverage of the Middle East crisis for today. It’s 10pm in Jerusalem, Beirut and Gaza City, 8pm in the UK and 3pm in Washington DC. You can read our report on the news that the Israel will not be allowing Palestinians to return to their homes in northern Gaza here and analysis on what Donald Trump’s election win may mean for the Middle East here. Here’s a recap of the keys events that unfolded through today:
Israel’s government welcomed the election of Donald Trump as the next president of the US. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America”. President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas also congratulated Trump, expressing confidence that he would support Palestinians’ “legitimate aspirations” for statehood.
The UN’s aid agency for Palestinians is facing its “darkest hour,” its chief has said, as he implored member states to defend it against an Israeli decision to cut ties. “Without intervention by member states, Unrwa will collapse, plunging millions of Palestinians into chaos,” the head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, Philippe Lazzarini said.
Four Israeli opposition leaders made a joint statement condemning Netanyahu for firing defence minister Yoav Gallant yesterday. There were protests for a second night in a row in Jerusalem over the sacking. Many protesters are calling for Netanyahu to resign, and demanding the new defence minister prioritise a hostage deal.
Hezbollah’s recently appointed new leader Naim Qassem has said it is not possible for Israel to win a war against the Iran-backed group, and said that peace will only be achieved on the battlefield, appearing to rule out any ceasefire negotiations unless Israel stopped its attacks first. He threatened nowhere in Israel was “off limits” to the Iran-backed militant group’s missiles.
United Nations agencies said they had completed the administration of a second dose of polio vaccine to the overwhelming majority of children in the Gaza Strip. 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.
Lebanon said it had filed a complaint with the United Nations’ 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 an “egregious war against humanity, against technology, against work”, saying his country had filed the complaint with the UN’s International Labour Organization in Geneva.
Hezbollah said it launched attack drones at a military base south of Tel Aviv in Israel, adding it was targeting this military position for the first time.
Fighters launched a “squadron of attack drones at the Bilu base (belonging to the reserve paratroopers brigade...) south of Tel Aviv, for the first time,” Hezbollah said in a statement, AFP reported.
