At least 30 Palestinians were killed early on Tuesday in Israeli airstrikes on tents housing displaced people in several areas of Gaza, including Beit Lahiya, Deir Al-Balah and the town of Al-Zawayda, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
According to WAFA, 20 people were killed in a heavy airstrike on a home in Beit Lahiya, located in the northern part of Gaza, two people were killed when a tent in central Deir al-Balah was hit and four people were killed and others injured in a similar attack on a tent in Al-Zawayda.
In Lebanon, where Israeli strikes have continued across the country's south and east, the health ministry says just over 3,000 people have been killed during 13 months of fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group. At least 13,492 have been injured.
Most of the civilian deaths have happened since the conflict dramatically escalated on 23 September with intense Israeli airstrikes on south and east Lebanon as well as Beirut’s southern suburbs. Over a thousand of the casualties are Hezbollah fighters.
Border clashes between Israeli forces and Hezbollah continue, as the Israeli military has struggled for weeks to push deeper into southern Lebanon. Ceasefire talks between Tel Aviv and Beirut being mediated by Washington have failed to make any progress.
An Israeli strike has hit the Lebanese coastal town of Jiyeh about 23 km south of Beirut.
Videos shared online showed plumes of smoke rising from the town which lies in the Mount Lebanon Chouf district.
The town has been targeted at least twice before. Tuesday's target or casualties were not immediately known.
غارة إسرائيلية تستهدف منطقة الجيّة pic.twitter.com/uBhmueRipd
— Al Jadeed News (@ALJADEEDNEWS) November 5, 2024
An Israeli drone strike hit a car in the village of Talya in east Lebanon's Baalbek district killing two people, state-run NNA said.
More than 36,000 Lebanese refugees arrived in Iraq, and 11,000 among those have left, the Iraqi interior ministry said Tuesday.
The Israeli military's ground operations in southern Lebanon "may last weeks," Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said.
It claimed that several brigades have been called back, signalling "progress" in ceasefire talks that could lead to a settlement between the two countries.
Iran is not seeking "escalation" but has the right to "legitimate defense", its foreign minister said Tuesday in Pakistan, vowing to respond to last month's Israeli strikes on its military sites.
"Unlike Israel, the Islamic Republic of Iran doesn't seek escalation, however, we reserve our inherent right to legitimate defence," Abbas Araghchi said during a news conference, alongside his Pakistan counterpart.
"We will certainly respond to the Israeli aggression in a proper time and in a proper manner," and "in a very measured and well-calculated manner", said Araghchi who is on a two-day official visit to Pakistan.
Since the strikes, Israel has warned Iran against retaliating, while Tehran vowed to respond.
More than 100 patients including children suffering from trauma injuries and chronic diseases will be evacuated from Gaza on Wednesday in a rare transfer out of the war-ravaged enclave, a World Health Organization official said.
"These are ad hoc measures. What we have requested repeatedly is a sustained medevac (medical evacuation) outside of Gaza," said Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, adding that 12,000 people were awaiting transfer.
The patients will travel in a large convoy on Wednesday via the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel before flying to the United Arab Emirates, he added, and then a portion will travel to Romania.
Egypt has condemned Israel's decision to ban the United Nations agency for Palestinians, calling it an "unacceptable disregard" for the UN, its agencies and the international community.
"Egypt strongly condemns Israel's withdrawal from the agreement governing the operations of UNRWA and its formal suspension of operations," Egypt's foreign ministry said in a statement posted on Facebook late Monday.
The ministry called the move a "dangerous development" aimed at erasing the Palestinian cause, particularly the issue of refugees and their right of return.
It added that the decision represented "a new chapter in Israel's blatant and systematic violations of international law and international humanitarian law".
The ministry warned of "serious consequences for innocent Palestinian civilians", saying the decision could lead to "the complete collapse of humanitarian efforts and vital services" provided by UNRWA.
The ministry held the Israeli government "fully responsible for the repercussions of this decision" and emphasised UNRWA's role "cannot be replaced or dispensed with".
Russia's Emergencies Ministry is evacuating around 100 Russian citizens on a special flight from Beirut to Moscow, the Interfax news agency cited the ministry as saying on Tuesday.
Israel's ambassador to the United Nations on Monday accused Turkey of "malice," after Ankara submitted a letter signed by 52 countries calling for a halt in arms deliveries to Israel over the war in Gaza.
"What else can be expected from a country whose actions are driven by malice in an attempt to create conflicts with the support of the 'Axis of Evil' countries," said Ambassador Danny Danon, using a pejorative term to describe the Arab countries who signed the letter.
Turkey's foreign ministry said Sunday it had submitted the letter to the United Nations, with the signatories including the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
Turkey's letter, seen by AFP Monday, called the "staggering" civilian death toll "unconscionable and intolerable."
"We therefore make this collective call for immediate steps to be taken to halt the provision or transfer of arms, munitions and related equipment to Israel, the occupying Power, in all cases where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that they may be used in the Occupied Palestinian Territory," the letter said.
It added that the UN Security Council (UNSC) must take steps to ensure compliance with its resolutions "which are being flagrantly violated."
The Islamic Resistance of Iraq, a coalition of pro-Iran armed groups, claimed responsibility for a drone attack Tuesday against a "vital target" in southern Israel.
The group said its fighters had carried out a "drone attack on a vital target in the south" of Israel, claiming it was the sixth such attack on Tuesday alone. The Israeli military said earlier it had intercepted a drone approaching from the east.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday and urged further actions to substantially increase humanitarian aid in Gaza, the State Department said in a statement.
Blinken "urged further actions to substantially increase and sustain humanitarian aid – including food, medicine, and other essential supplies – to civilians across all of Gaza," the State Department said after the call.
"The Secretary emphasized the importance of ending the war in Gaza and bringing all of the hostages home, as well as charting a path forward in the post-conflict period that allows the Palestinian population in Gaza to rebuild their lives and advances governance, security, and reconstruction," the State Department said.
Hamas said on Monday it held talks with rival Palestinian faction Fatah in Cairo to discuss the war in Gaza and moves towards national consensus.
"A meeting was held with the brothers in the Fatah movement at a generous Egyptian invitation. They discussed various national issues, especially the war on Gaza and pathways for national action," senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said in a video message.
Hamdan said among the ideas discussed was "the formation of a body to follow up on Gaza's affairs and its needs in various issues until conditions are created for the formation of a national consensus government".
He added that the talks were "positive and frank".
The chief of the World Health Organization on Monday denounced Israel's decision to cut ties with the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees, saying it would not make the country safer while increasing civilian suffering in Gaza.
"Let me be clear: There is simply no alternative to UNRWA," the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a video posted on X.
"This ban will not make Israel safer. It will only deepen the suffering of the people of Gaza and increase the risk of disease outbreaks," Tedros added.
There is simply no alternative to @UNRWA.
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) November 4, 2024
The ban of UNRWA will not make #Israel safer, it will only deepen the suffering of the people of #Gaza and increase the risk of disease outbreaks and other health issues. pic.twitter.com/Jj3iEqj7wy
A U.S. Army soldier who was in critical condition after suffering non-combat injuries while supporting the military's pier off the coast of Gaza has died, the U.S. military said on Monday.
Sergeant Quandarius Davon Stanley, who recently retired from the military, suffered critical injuries in May while supporting operations at sea of the U.S.-built pier designed to increase flows of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.
In a statement, the U.S. Army confirmed that Stanley had died, though it did not specify when. He was receiving treatment in a long-term care medical center.
"Stanley was an instrumental and well respected first line leader in the 7th Transportation Brigade Expeditionary (TBX), especially during the mission to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza," Colonel John "Eddie" Gray, commander of the unit, said.
At least four people were killed on Tuesday during an Israeli military raid and airstrikes on the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
The Palestinian ministry said two people had been killed in the city of Qabatiya and two others in the Tammoun area.
#صور
— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) November 5, 2024
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استشهد الشابان الشيخ المعلم محمد عصعوص والشاب شوقي عصعوص إثر اغتيالهما في غارة جوية استهدفت مسيرة قرب مثلث الشهداء جنوب مدينة جنين. pic.twitter.com/2ugxn9UIrr
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