35 Palestinians killed by Israeli airstrikes on Gaza
The death toll of Palestinians killed by Israeli strikes since Monday night has risen to 35, Palestinian medics and media reported on Tuesday.
Israeli forces issued new evacuation orders in the north of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday and carried out military strikes.
Since their last update, medics said on Tuesday that at least five others were killed in an Israeli strike on a house in Jabalia north of Gaza City.
In a statement issued earlier, Israel’s military claimed that during its operations in the north of Gaza it has “eliminated dozens of terrorists during close-quarters encounters and aerial strikes and dismantled terrorist infrastructure sites.”
It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
Key events
Israel demolishes 7 Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem
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”.
“They demolished my home, which I had renovated after it was previously demolished earlier this year, as well as my son’s house, Haitham Ayed’s family home, and four homes belonging to the Al-Ruwaidi family,” Abu Diab told the Associated Foreign Press. He said around “40 people, including children, were affected by the demolitions in the neighbourhood, leaving them homeless”.
An AFP photographer saw at least four bulldozers operating on Tuesday at demolition sites in the neighbourhood under tight Israeli police supervision.
In a statement, Jerusalem city hall pointed to court orders that call for the demolition of the buildings due to zoning laws that make them illegal.
“The buildings, like most of the buildings in the neighbourhood, are located on an area that is a green designation, that is, an open public area and where there is no possibility for zoning,” the municipality said, adding that the area would become a green zone instead.
Abu Diab said the true aim of the demolitions was “to reduce the percentage of Arabs and alter the demographic composition of Jerusalem in favour of (Israeli) settlers”.
230,000 Israeli settlers live in East Jerusalem, according to the UN. Another 3,000 live in Palestinian neighbourhoods within East Jerusalem’s boundaries, according to Israeli rights organisation Peace Now.
Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan in the six-day war of 1967 and later annexed it in a move not recognised by most of the international community. Permanent settlement of territory occupied militarily is illegal under international law.
More details have come through about an attack on the Syrian city of Al Qusayr. Syria’s state TV reports that an Israeli attack targeted an industrial zone and some residential buildings in the town of Al Qusayr in central Syria on Tuesday.
The outlet quoted the Homs province’s health director as saying there were no injuries as a result of the attack.
A previous “Israeli aggression” on Qusayr on Thursday wounded a number of civilians and caused material damage, state media reported.
Israel’s military, which typically does not comment on specific reports of strikes in Syria, said in a statement in reference to that attack that it had hit weapons storage facilities and command centres used by militant group Hezbollah.
“Hezbollah’s munitions unit is responsible for the storage of weapons in Lebanon and has recently expanded its activities into Syria in the area of Qusayr. This is a further example of Hezbollah establishing logistical infrastructure to transfer weapons from Syria to Lebanon through smuggling routes,” the statement said.
Israel says it has been carrying out strikes to reduce the transfer of weapons from Iran through Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The claims have not been independently verified.
35 Palestinians killed by Israeli airstrikes on Gaza
The death toll of Palestinians killed by Israeli strikes since Monday night has risen to 35, Palestinian medics and media reported on Tuesday.
Israeli forces issued new evacuation orders in the north of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday and carried out military strikes.
Since their last update, medics said on Tuesday that at least five others were killed in an Israeli strike on a house in Jabalia north of Gaza City.
In a statement issued earlier, Israel’s military claimed that during its operations in the north of Gaza it has “eliminated dozens of terrorists during close-quarters encounters and aerial strikes and dismantled terrorist infrastructure sites.”
It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
Ireland approves Palestinian ambassador for first time
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.
Spain and Norway recognised a Palestinian state the same day as Ireland, with Slovenia following a week later, drawing retaliatory moves from Israel.
Formal diplomatic relations between Ireland and the State of Palestine were established in September.
The upgrade means that the diplomatic mission will now have the full range of privileges and immunities applicable under the Vienna Convention.
Summary of the day so far …
It is approaching 5pm in Beirut, Tel Aviv and Gaza City, and 6.30pm in Tehran. Here are the latest headlines …
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At least 30 people have been reported killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza on Tuesday, including children and people killed after tents housing displaced civilians were struck. In its daily update, the Hamas-led health ministry at least 43,391 people have been killed in total
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More than 100 patients including children suffering from trauma injuries and chronic diseases are due to be evacuated from Gaza on Wednesday, per the World Health Organization. It said 12,000 people were awaiting transfer on medical grounds
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Israeli planes have dropped leaflets over Beit Lahiya in the far north of Gaza ordering residents who have not yet left their homes and shelters housing displaced families to leave the town. Al Jazeera, citing Gaza’s civil defence, reports that Israeli forces continue to disrupt humanitarian and medical services in northern Gaza for the 14th day in a row
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Action For Humanity (AFH), a UK-based charity which is operating in Gaza, has published a report in which it has claimed that 24% of people it spoke to in Gaza have been displaced ten times or more times over the past year by Israeli military action
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Israel’s military reported that as of 3pm local time (1pm GMT) it had recorded “approximately 40 projectiles” crossing over into Israel from Lebanon today. It also issued an operational update on its ground incursions inside Lebanese territory in which it claims to have located and destroyed an underground structure belonging to Hezbollah
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Lebanon’s Nation News Agency reported the Israeli army “is booby-trapping and destroying entire neighbourhoods in cities and towns, such that more than 37 towns have been wiped out and their homes destroyed, and more than 40,000 housing units have been completely destroyed”. Israel has repeatedly claimed it is carrying out limited intelligence-led raids
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Israel’s army and the Shin Bet have announced that they have arrested what they described as over 60 members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Lebanon. In a statement they said senior figures were among those arrested. At least four Palestinians were killed by Israeli security forces during the course of their operations inside the West Bank on Tuesday
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Syria’s state TV has reported that the city of Al Qusayr has been targeted by “Israeli aggression”. Al Qusayr is to the north-east of Lebanon, on the approach to Homs from Baalbek
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Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araqchi spoke to his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty, and according to the Tasnim news agency “reaffirmed that Iran has a right to respond to any violation of its security and territorial integrity in line with the principle of legitimate self-defence”
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Russia was evacuating about 100 of its citizens from Beirut to Moscow on a special flight
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The Times of Israel is reporting that an unnamed Israeli official has told it that nothing will happen on the ground in terms of a ceasefire or hostage deal until the result of the US election is known
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A protest in Tel Aviv by relatives and friends of those still being held hostage in Gaza by Hamas blocked the southern Ayalon highway. In a statement the protestors said “A government that conducts psychological warfare against its own people, while continuously forsaking them, has no mandate to continue a war. Only signing a hostage deal and ending the war in Gaza will bring everyone home”
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Alon Nimrodi, the father of an IDF soldier Tamir Nimrodi who was seized and abducted into Gaza during the 7 October attack has been highly critical of the government’s handling of the hostage situation, and in an interview described some members of Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet as “human garbage”
Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that Israeli security forces have shot dead three men in Qabatiya. It said “soldiers had fired live bullets at a car after it had deliberately collided with a military vehicle, to force it to stop.”
Israeli authorities have reportedly demolished three homes in the al-Bustan neighbourhood of occupied East Jerusalem’s Silwan area.
Al Jazeera reports that, according to the Jerusalem Governorate, this is the seventh house demolished in the area in the last year.
Al Jazeera was banned earlier this year from operating in Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, and its offices in Ramallah were raided.
Reuters has a quick snap that Syria’s state TV is reporting that the city of Al Qusayr has been targeted by “Israeli aggression”.
Al Qusayr is to the north-east of Lebanon, on the approach to Homs from Baalbek.
More details soon …
The Times of Israel is reporting that an unnamed Israeli official has confirmed to it that Hamas had rejected a proposal for a short-term ceasefire and hostage release deal. They told the Times of Israel that “Nothing is happening on the ground until we know the results of the US elections”. Because of the way the US electoral system works, and how tight the race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump appears to be, that could be some time.
The official also appeared to have confirmed an earlier story in Israeli media that Benjamin Netanyahu’s government are offering the captors of hostages money and safe passage in return for their release.
Despite brokering efforts by Egypt, Qatar and the US, nobody has been able to bring Hamas and Israel to agree a ceasefire and hostage release deal since the last pause in fighting collapsed late last year.
Israel’s military reports that as of 3pm local time (1pm GMT) it had recorded “approximately 40 projectiles” crossing over into Israel from Lebanon today.
Here are some of the latest pictures sent to us over the news wires from Gaza.
Lebanese media is reporting further Israeli airstrikes on Aitat, which is to the south-east of Beirut, and Aanquon, which is further south.
Lebanon’s National News Agency is reporting that seven people were injured in the earlier Israeli airstrike on Jiyeh, which is on the coast to the south of Beirut. The injured have been transported to the Siblin governmental hospital.
In a daily update, the health ministry in Gaza said on Tuesday that at least 43,391 people have been killed.
The toll includes 17 deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to the ministry, which added that approximately 102,347 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip.
Lebanese media reports a strike on a residential building
Lebanese state media reported a strike on an apartment in the Jiyeh coastal area south of Beirut on Tuesday.
The official National news agency said “a raid targeted a residential apartment in a building in the town of Jiyeh,” where an Associated Foreign Press correspondent said a large plume of grey smoke covered the area.
Israel’s military has issued an operational update on its ground incursions inside Lebanese territory in which it claims to have located and destroyed an underground structure belonging to Hezbollah.
In the statement, the IDF says it has “destroyed dozens of military structures and assembly sites belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organisation, eliminated terrorists with guidance of Israeli Air Force aircraft, and located numerous weapons and terrorist infrastructure.”
The claims have not been independently verified.
Israel’s military has also permitted publication of images of its soldiers operating inside northern Israel after some members of the media were given a tour by the military on Monday which included visiting the Israeli town of Metula.
Tens of thousands of Israelis have been forced from their homes by repeated rocket fire coming from inside Lebanon. Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has made their safe return one of its war aims.
The National news Agency in Lebanon has reported that a plane loaded with humanitarian relief, including food and supplies for shelters, has arrived in Beirut from Saudi Arabia. It reports it is the 19th such shipment since Israel stepped up its aerial attacks on Lebanese territory.
This pictures shows Palestinians in Beit Lahiya in the north of the Gaza Strip burying bodies on Tuesday in a mass grave after people were killed by Israeli airstrikes.
The IDF this morning issued evacuation orders to people who have remained in the north of the territory.
Israel’s military reports that warning sirens are sounding again in northern Israel.