Deadly Israeli strike in Gaza amid anger over UN agency ban
An Israeli airstrike on a single residential block killed nearly 100 people on Tuesday, Gaza’s civil defence agency said, leaving rescuers scrambling for survivors as Israel pursued its offensives in Gaza and Lebanon.
Israel’s key ally and backer the US called the strike – which killed a large number of children – “horrifying”.
The bombing came with Israel facing an international backlash after its parliament voted overwhelmingly to ban Unrwa, the main United Nations aid agency working with Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Palestinian rescuers and desperate family members gathered around the demolished five-storey block in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“The number of martyrs in the massacre of the Abu Nasr family home in Beit Lahia has risen to 93 martyrs, and about 40 are still missing under the rubble,” Gaza civil defence agency spokesperson Mahmud Bassal told AFP.
Israel’s military said it was “looking into the reports” of the strike. It earlier reported its forces had killed 40 Hamas fighters, and the loss of four soldiers in Gaza.
Key events
Israel issues evacuation call for Lebanon’s Nabatieh region
The Israeli army urged residents of several villages in the Nabatieh area of south Lebanon to leave immediately on Wednesday, warning it was poised to attack Hezbollah targets, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“Hezbollah’s terrorist activities force the (Israeli army) to act forcefully against it in these areas”, military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a post on X, with Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reporting strikes had already begun on the city of Nabatieh.
The Washington Post reports that the US government has received about 500 reports that American weapons are killing Palestinians.
The reports are received from across the government, global aid organisations, nonprofits groups, media reports and other eyewitnesses. Despite the number of reports, no single case has been acted on.
“They’re ignoring evidence of widespread civilian harm and atrocities to maintain a policy of virtually unconditional weapons transfers to the Netanyahu government,” said John Ramming Chappell, a legal and policy adviser focused on US security assistance and arms sales at the Center for Civilians in Conflict.
“When it comes to the Biden administration’s arms policies, everything looks good on paper but has turned out meaningless in practice when it comes to Israel.”
State department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that the United States was “deeply concerned by the loss of civilian life” and that Washington was seeking a “full explanation”. The Israeli military said it was “aware of reports that civilians were harmed”.
Hezbollah announces that its newly appointed leader, Naim Qassem, will deliver his maiden speech as secretary general today at 1pm GMT.
Hezbollah appointed Qassem on Monday, following Israel’s assassination of his predecessor, Hassan Nasrallah, in Beirut last month and of his presumed successor, Hashem Safieddine, earlier this month.
Photograph: Wael Hamzeh/EPA
American diplomats are developing a plan to pause the fighting between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, starting with a 60-day ceasefire, Reuters reports as the war enters its fourth week.
The sources – a person briefed on the talks and a senior diplomat working on Lebanon – told Reuters the two-month period would be used to finalise full implementation of UN security council resolution 1701, adopted in 2006 to keep southern Lebanon free of arms outside state control.
“We’d like to reiterate that we seek a diplomatic resolution that fully implements 1701 and gets both Israeli and Lebanese citizens back to their homes on both sides of the border,” said Sama Habib, spokesperson at the U.S. embassy in Beirut.
Meanwhile, Israel’s invasion of Lebanon continues to intensify. On Wednesday the Israeli army ordered residents of Baalbek, where tens of thousands of mostly Shia Muslim Lebanese people, including many who had fled other areas, were living.
Iran said on Wednesday that its production of missiles remained intact, after Israeli airstrikes targeting military facilities last week, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“There has been no interruption in the process of producing offensive systems such as missiles,” defence minister Aziz Nasirzadeh told reporters. “The enemy tried to damage both our defensive and offensive systems,” he added.
Israel launched strikes on military sites in Iran on Saturday, citing Tehran’s 1 October missile attack that followed the killing of Iran-backed militant leaders and a Revolutionary Guards commander. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said later that the strikes “hit Iran’s defence capabilities and missile production”.
Iran’s armed forces said the attack killed four soldiers and caused “limited damage” to a few radar systems. Iranian media said a civilian was also killed.
Israel has warned Iran against retaliating, while Tehran, asserting it does not seek war, vowed an “appropriate response”.
Western governments have long criticised Iran’s missile programme which has come under severe sanctions in recent years.
In September, the European Union imposed sanctions on prominent Iranian officials and entities over their alleged involvement in transferring missiles and drones to Russia to use in its war against Ukraine, reports AFP.
Tehran has repeatedly denied the accusations.
Hezbollah’s new leader is to give a speech on Wednesday, a source close to the group said, his first since he was appointed earlier this week.
“A speech by the new secretary general of Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, is scheduled for Wednesday,” the source told Agence France-Presse (AFP), requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
Senior Hezbollah official Hassan Fadlallah said on Wednesday a remark by Israel’s defence minister suggesting the Lebanese armed group’s new chief, Naim Qassem, would not hold the post for long would not deter the group’s resistance, reports Reuters.
Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant posted a photo of Qassem on X on Tuesday with the caption:
Temporary appointment. Not for long.”
Israeli security cabinet discussing terms of truce with Hezbollah in Lebanon, says minister
Israel’s security cabinet is discussing the terms of a truce with Hezbollah in south Lebanon, where Israeli troops are conducting a ground offensive, energy minister Eli Cohen said on Wednesday, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“There are discussions, I think it will still take time”, Cohen told Israeli public radio.
According to Israel’s Channel 12 television, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks with ministers on Tuesday evening on Israel’s demands in return for a 60-day truce.
These include a Hezbollah pullback north of the Litani river, 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the Israeli frontier, the Lebanese army’s deployment along the border, an international intervention mechanism to enforce the truce and a guarantee that Israel will maintain freedom of action in case of threats, reports AFP.
“Thanks to all the army’s operations these past months and particularly these past weeks … Israel can come in a position of strength after the entire Hezbollah leadership was eliminated and over 2,000 Hezbollah terrorist infrastructures were hit”, said Cohen, a former intelligence minister.
According to Israeli media, US president Joe Biden’s Middle East adviser and special envoy Amos Hochstein will head to the region on Wednesday to meet Netanyahu and other Israeli officials to discuss conditions for a ceasefire with Hezbollah.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has described the decision by Israel’s Knesset on Monday to ban the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), as an “unprecedented attack on a UN agency” that “if implemented, would only worsen the humanitarian catastrophe”.
In a statement, the IRC strongly urged for the legislation to not be applied:
Unrwa plays a critical role in serving civilians in desperate need in Gaza. Humanitarian actors rely on coordination with Unrwa to deliver aid and alleviate suffering. Unrwa cannot be replaced by NGOs like IRC.
The bill passed in the Israeli parliament is an unprecedented attack on a UN agency and, if implemented, would only worsen the humanitarian catastrophe.
We strongly urge that this legislation is not applied. We continue to advocate for an immediate ceasefire to get aid in, to release the hostages and to meet the growing and dire needs of the civilian population.
UNRWA plays a critical role in serving civilians in desperate need in Gaza. Humanitarian actors rely on coordination with UNWRA to deliver aid and alleviate suffering. UNWRA cannot be replaced by NGOs like IRC.
— IRC – International Rescue Committee (@RESCUEorg) October 29, 2024
At least 43,163 Palestinians killed in Israeli offensive since 7 October 2023, says Gaza health ministry
At least 43,163 Palestinians have been killed and 101,510 injured in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the Gaza health ministry said on Wednesday.
The ministry said that 102 Palestinians were killed and 287 injured in the past 24 hours.
The ministry does not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants.
Mediators for a ceasefire in Gaza are to propose a truce of “less than a month” to Hamas, a source with knowledge of the talks told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Wednesday.
Meetings between the Mossad head David Barnea, CIA director Bill Burns and Qatar’s prime minister in Doha, which concluded on Monday, discussed proposing a “short-term” truce of “less than a month”, the source said on condition of anonymity because of the talks’ sensitivity.
Israel orders evacuation of Baalbek, Ain bourday and Durous in the Bekaa valley
William Christou
William Christou is a Beirut-based journalist writing for the Guardian.
Israel ordered residents of the cities of Baalbek, Ain bourday and Durous in the Bekaa valley to “immediately” evacuate on Wednesday morning before it started bombing what it said were Hezbollah facilities. This was the first evacuation order issued for the Bekaa valley and Baalbek specifically, a city famed for its ancient ruins, designated as a Unesco world heritage site. Previously, evacuation orders were confined to south Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut.
The mayor of Baalbek, Moustafa al-Chall, said that the evacuation order prompted many families to flee the city.
“A warning of this type naturally scares many people, many are leaving. It’s natural for many people who have no relation to any party or the war, the normal citizens, to leave,” al-Chall said. He added that around half of the city’s population had already left after Israel started an intense aerial campaign all over Lebanon on 23 September.
Previously, Israeli evacuation orders have started in specific areas, before expanding to include entire regions or cities. Over a quarter of the country is under Israeli evacuation orders according to the UN, displacing more than 1.2 million people.
The evacuation orders have come under criticism from Amnesty International, which said that they were often “inadequate” and seemed designed to provoke mass displacement. The rights group added that even if an evacuation order was issued, civilians in that area do not become a legitimate military target.
On Monday night, more than 60 people were killed and more than 120 injured in Israeli strikes in Baalbek-Hermel province, the bloodiest day for the region. Part of the famed Baalbek castle was damaged in the strikes. Last November, Lebanon’s ministry of culture removed the blue shield emblem which indicated Baalbek was a cultural site to be protected during conflict, saying that the destruction in Gaza showed that the shield would not protect the city’s ruins.
Israel criticises UN expert over ‘eradication’ of Palestinians claim
The UN rights expert Francesca Albanese is a “political activist” abusing her mandate “to hide her hatred for Israel”, the country’s mission in Geneva charged on Wednesday, according to a report by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Albanese, UN special rapporteur on rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, reiterated an allegation that Israel is committing “genocide” in Gaza, saying it is seeking the “eradication of Palestinians” from their land.
Albanese said the offensive Israel unleashed after the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks was “part of a long-term international, systematic state-organised forced displacement and replacement of the Palestinians”.
In response, Israel’s Geneva UN mission said in a statement:
According to her hate-filled paradigm, the state of Israel has no historic reason to exist, no right to defend its population, and both the attack of October 7 and the rescue of hostages are merely used by Israel as an excuse.
This distorted reality is a smokescreen to hide her hatred for Israel.
Francesca Albanese is nothing but a political activist who abuses an already discriminatory UN mandate. She is regularly spewing antisemitism, shielding and encouraging terrorism, and distorting the law.
As a UN mandate holder, she has breached every possible rule of the UN code of conduct. She must immediately be held accountable for her continuous abuses.”
Albanese has long faced criticism, allegations of antisemitism and demands for her removal, from Israel and some of its allies, over her relentless criticism and longstanding accusations of “genocide”.
UN special rapporteurs are independent experts appointed by the Human Rights Council. They do not speak on behalf of the UN itself.
Albanese wrote in a report released on Tuesday:
The genocide of the Palestinians appears to be the means to an end: the complete removal or eradication of Palestinians from the land so integral to their identity, and which is illegally and openly coveted by Israel.
Since its establishment, Israel has treated the occupied people as a hated encumbrance and threat to be eradicated, subjecting millions of Palestinians, for generations, to everyday indignities, mass killing, mass incarceration, forced displacement, racial segregation and apartheid.”
Lebanon’s Hezbollah says it targeted Israel base in Haifa
Lebanon’s Hezbollah group said it launched drones at an Israeli base in the port city of Haifa on Wednesday, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Hezbollah fighters “launched an air attack at 7:45 am (0545 GMT) … with a squadron of attack drones” on a “base in southern Haifa”, the group said in a statement.
Lebanon security official says one dead in Israel strike on munitions van
A Lebanese security official told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that an Israeli strike on a van carrying munitions near Beirut killed the driver on Wednesday.
“A van was targeted in an Israeli strike on the Kahhale road and its driver killed,” the official said, adding that the vehicle was carrying munitions. According to AFP, he requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
Lebanese state media said the Kahhale road, which links Beirut to Damascus, had been “blocked in both directions due to a ‘security incident’”.
The Israeli military issued an evacuation warning on Wednesday to residents of the city of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon, Reuters reports citing a social media post on X by a military spokesperson.