Gallant sacked as defence minister, Israeli airstrikes kill at least 54 across Gaza

Protests have erupted in Tel Aviv tonight following the decision of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to sack Yoav Gallant as defence minister.

Though the ICC requested arrest warrants for Gallant, along with Netanyahu, for potential war crimes in Gaza, he is considered to be more receptive to a captive release and ceasefire deal. 

Thousands are pouring into the streets. Reserve soldiers on duty are messaging from the Gaza and Lebanon borders, saying, "Go in my place." https://t.co/Vl3ewX2IXI

— נדב איל Nadav Eyal (@Nadav_Eyal) November 5, 2024

The United States on Tuesday praised sacked Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant, a key intermediary with Washington fired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"Minister Gallant has been an important partner on all matters related to the defense of Israel. As close partners, we will continue to work collaboratively with Israel's next minister of defense," a State Department spokesperson said.

An Israeli strike targeting a residential building in a town south of Beirut on Tuesday killed at least 15 people, Lebanon's health ministry said.

"The initial toll from the raid by the Israeli enemy on Barja is 15 dead," the ministry said of the coastal town some 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of the capital, adding that rescue operations were under way.

Prime Minister Netanyahu has appointed Foreign Minister Israel Katz as Israel's new Defense Minister, while Gideon Saar will take on Katz’s former role as Foreign Minister.

This reshuffling follows less than 24 hours after Defense Minister Gallant approved the Israeli army’s recommendation to issue an additional 7,000 draft notices to ultra-Orthodox men.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fired Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, as the premier said there had been "too many gaps" between him and Gallant over managing the wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

Israel Katz has been appointed as the new defence minister, and Gideon Saar has taken over as foreign minister.

Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed at least 3,013 people and injured 13,553 others since 8 October 2023, the Lebanese government said on Tuesday.

Several airstrikes targeted a house in Saadnayel in east Lebanon's Beqaa Valley Tuesday night.

Local media said some of the strikes were conducted by drones but this could not be immediately verified.

Photos shared online showed the purported building levelled and some reports said there were confirmed deaths and injuries. Rescue teams rushed to the site of the attack.

The Red Cross on Tuesday urgently appealed for more than $115 million to address towering needs in Lebanon amid Israel's dramatic military escalation.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said it had launched an appeal for 100 million Swiss francs ($115.8 million) to help provide immediate and long-term relief to around 600,000 people affected by the conflict.

The money would also go to supporting the vital ambulance services run by the Lebanese Red Cross (LRC) in the conflict-torn country.

"Humanitarian needs in Lebanon are growing by the day," IFRC Secretary-General Jagan Chapagain, who is currently visiting Beirut, said in a statement.

"The funds raised in this appeal will allow the Lebanese Red Cross to sustain their life-saving programmes and to reach far more people with far more positive impact," he said.

A preliminary probe found that Israeli commandos used a speedboat equipped with radar-jamming devices to abduct a Lebanese man accused of being a Hezbollah operative, a Lebanese judicial official told AFP Tuesday.

The initial findings suggest that "the Israeli army used a high-speed vessel equipped with advanced devices capable of jamming radars" belonging to the United Nations peacekeeping force (UNIFIL) that monitors the Lebanese coast, the official said, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

The probe into the abduction operation on Saturday is jointly conducted by the Lebanese police and judiciary.

Municipal workers began demolishing seven homes in occupied East Jerusalem's Silwan neighbourhood on Tuesday, Palestinian residents and the municipality said, after an Israeli court called their construction illegal.

"This morning the Jerusalem Municipality, with a security escort from the Israel police, began its enforcement against illegal buildings in the Al-Bustan neighbourhood in Silwan," Jerusalem's Israeli-controlled city hall said in a statement.

Activist Fakhri Abu Diab, one of those affected by the demolition, confirmed that "at least seven homes have been demolished, and the operation is ongoing". He said that both houses and apartments were affected.

He said around "40 people, including children, were affected by the demolitions in the neighbourhood, leaving them homeless".

من هدم الاحتلال لمنزل عائلة "عايد" في حي البستان ببلدة سلوان في القدس المحتلة. pic.twitter.com/zfp7KT8lod

— أخبار الأردن (@AkhbarOrdon) November 5, 2024

At least one person was killed and 20 others wounded in the Israeli strike on Lebanon's coastal town of Jiyeh on Tuesday, the Lebanese health ministry said.

Sky News reported that the target was a "leading figure" in Hezbollah. It is not clear if he was the person killed.

Jiyeh, about 23 km south of Beirut in the Chouf district, has been hit at least twice before.

Ireland accepted the appointment of a full Palestinian ambassador for the first time on Tuesday, after Dublin formally recognised a Palestinian state earlier this year.

Senior ministers confirmed that Jilan Wahba Abdalmajid would step up from her current position as Palestinian Head of Mission to Ireland.

In May Dublin said it was recognising Palestine as "a sovereign and independent state" comprising the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and agreed to establish full diplomatic relations.

The upgrade means that the diplomatic mission will now have the full range of privileges and immunities applicable under the Vienna Convention.

At least seven people were killed on Tuesday during an Israeli military raid and airstrikes on the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said.

Five of the seven people were killed in two separate Israeli attacks in and near the city of Qabatiya, while the two others were killed in the Tammoun area, the ministry said.

An earlier toll said four people had been killed.

Seven Israeli missiles destroyed Hezbollah warehouses in the industrial zone of the Syrian town of Al-Qusair near the Lebanese border, UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told Al-Hadath TV.

The strikes were reportedly heard from a far distance and sent large plumes of smoke into the sky.

قتلى وجرحى نتيجة غارات عنيفة استهدفت مستودعات تابعة لحزب الله بمدينة #القصير السورية#حمص #لبنان #سوريا #حزب_الله pic.twitter.com/OfGWreTBFO

— Oras Shukur (@orasshukor) November 5, 2024

An Israeli airstrike hit a Syrian town near the border with Lebanon on Tuesday, Syrian state media said, less than a week after deadly strikes on the same area.

"An Israeli aggression targeted the industrial zone in Al-Qusayr" in Homs province, the official SANA news agency said. There was no immediate news of casualties or damage.

While Israel has frequently attacked Syria during the country's more than 13-year war, airstrikes have become more frequent since the conflict escalated with Lebanon's Hezbollah in September.

غارات إسرائيلية استهدفت مواقع عسكرية لميليشيا حزب الله في القصير بريف حمص pic.twitter.com/WO7LLBVfKJ

— Nour Golan (@Nuorgolan) November 5, 2024

Violent clashes are happening between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli forces on the western outskirts of the border villages of Ain Ebel and Hanin, Lebanon’s pro-Hezbollah Al Manar TV said.

Videos have surfaced on X depicting Israeli forces demolishing residential buildings in the south Lebanon border village of Meiss el-Jabal.

The footage captures a significant explosion occurring in the area. Al Jazeera English has reported that this video has been verified by Sanad, its fact-checking agency.

Israel has already detonated several villages across the border, destroying thousands of homes.

מיס אל ג'בל, דרום לבנון
חלק קטן ממה שעשה שם גדוד ההנדסה 5280 של חטיבת אלכסנדרוני pic.twitter.com/zE8davKJVd

— ינון מגל (@YinonMagal) November 5, 2024

Gaza's health ministry said on Tuesday that at least 43,391 people have been killed by Israel in the more than year-old war.

The toll includes 17 deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to the ministry, which said 102,347 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began on October 7, 2023.

Injuries have been reported in the Israeli strike in the coastal town of Jiyeh on Tuesday, an area 23 km south of Beirut. It is unclear if anybody was killed.

The strike, which heavily damaged the last floor of a building as seen in photos shared online, was reportedly an attempted assassination. It is not clear who was targeted.

صور للمبنى المستهدف في #الجية pic.twitter.com/wSsDj6R8ic

— Future TV :: News (@futuretvnews) November 5, 2024

Three people were killed when an Israeli drone strike hit their car along a road between the villages of Hawr Taala and Talya in east Lebanon Baalbek district.

مراسل "النهار": ضحايا نتيجة استهداف مسيرة لسيارة في منطقة بين #طليا و #حورتعلا. pic.twitter.com/OIwX0x13jX

— Annahar النهار (@Annahar) November 5, 2024

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.

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

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) November 4, 2024

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
بعد اندلاع اشتباكات عنيفة

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

— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) November 5, 2024