West Asia Conflict Highlights | Israeli strike on Lebanese municipality building kills 16

Around 40 people hurt by suspected drone attack in Israel

A drone attack wounded around 40 people around the northern Israeli town of Binyamina on Sunday, N12 News television said.

The head of Israel's ambulance service said four people were in critical condition and five more were seriously hurt.

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Israeli tanks deepen their push into the northern Gaza Strip

Israeli forces widened their raid into northern Gaza and tanks reached the north edge of Gaza City, pounding some districts of the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood and forcing many families to leave their homes, residents said.

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At least 20 dead from Israeli strike in central Gaza school

An Israeli airstrike has killed at least 20 people at a school in central Gaza, according to local hospitals, reported news agency AP.

Israeli forces widened their raid into northern Gaza and tanks reached the north edge of Gaza City, pounding some districts of the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood and forcing many families to leave their homes, residents said.

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Netanyahu tells UN to withdraw peacekeepers

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement addressed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres: "The time has come for you to withdraw UNIFIL from Hezbollah strongholds and from the combat zones."

"The IDF has requested this repeatedly and has met with repeated refusal, which has the effect of providing Hezbollah terrorists with human shields."

Source: Reuters

Lebanese missile falls in open area in Israel: IDF

Hezbollah says shelled Israel forces attempting Lebanon 'infiltration', reports AFP

IDF releases names of soldiers killed in Hezbollah strike

Sergeant Omri Tamari, aged 19.

Sergeant Yosef Hieb, aged 19.

Sergeant Yoav Agmon, aged 19.

Sergeant Alon Amitay, aged 19.

Israeli strike on hospital tent camp kills 4, ignites fire that burns dozens

An Israeli airstrike on a hospital courtyard in the Gaza Strip early Monday killed at least four people and sent flames sweeping through a packed tent camp for people displaced by the war, leaving more than two dozen with severe burns, according to Palestinian medics.

The Israeli military said it targeted militants hiding out among civilians, without providing evidence. In recent months it has repeatedly struck crowded shelters and tent camps, alleging that Hamas fighters were using them as staging grounds for attacks.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah was already struggling to treat a large number of wounded people from an earlier strike on a school-turned-shelter nearby that killed at least 20 people when the early morning airstrike hit and fire engulfed many of the tents.

Source: AP

10 missiles cross from Lebanon into Israel, most intercepted: IDF

Sirens sound in central Israel from projectiles fired from Lebanon

Sirens sounded in central Israel due to a number of projectiles fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory, the Israeli military said.

Via: Reuters

200 Hezbollah targets hit, dozens killed in airstrikes in south Lebanon, says IDF

The Israel Defence Forces on Monday said that its soldiers are continuing limited, localized, targeted raids based on precise intelligence against Hezbollah "terror targets" in southern Lebanon.

"During the raids, the soldiers eliminated dozens of terrorists in close-quarters encounters and aerial strikes. The IAF struck approximately 200 Hezbollah terror targets, including launchers, anti-tank missile launch posts, terrorist infrastructure, and weapons storage facilities containing launchers, anti-tank missiles, RPG launchers, and munitions," it said.

The statement further read that IDF is continuing operations in Gaza Strip as well.

Hezbollah says targeted Israeli base in central Israel

Lebanon's Hezbollah said it targeted a military barracks in central Israel on Monday, the latest attack claim after a deadly drone strike on an Israeli military base a day earlier.

Hezbollah fighters launched "a salvo of rockets" at the barracks "east of Netanya", a statement from the Iran-backed group said.

Source: AFP

Spain PM urges other EU members to suspend free trade agreement with Israel

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Monday urged other members of the European Union to respond to Madrid and Ireland's request to suspend the bloc's free trade agreement with Israel over its actions in Gaza and Lebanon.

We reject unjustified attacks against UN chief: EU foreign policy head

Days after Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that United Nations has become an “anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli body” under Antonio Guterres’ leadership, European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Monday responded to the statement

“We firmly reject the unjustified attacks against the [UN Secretary General, UNSG] Antonio Guterres. The repeated accusations of anti-Semitism against him are slanderous,” said Borrell.

UNIFIL forces in Lebanon must be allowed to continue to carry out their mandate: France

France on Monday rejected demands made by Israel's Prime Minister for UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, to pull back from its position in Lebanon.

"The protection of peacekeepers is an obligation incumbent on all parties", the foreign ministry in Paris said.

Israeli hits north Lebanon region of Aitou for first time

An Israeli strike hit the north Lebanon region of Aitou on Monday, residents and Lebanese broadcasters said, the first time the Christian-majority area has been attacked by Israel in a year of hostilities. (Reuters Photo)

Nine killed in initial toll after Israeli strike in north Lebanon

At least nine people were killed and one person was injured on Monday in an initial toll following an Israeli air strike on the Christian-majority region of Aitou in north Lebanon, the Lebanese health ministry said. (Reuters)

Hezbollah says fires 'big rocket salvo' at north Israel town

Hezbollah said it launched a barrage of rockets at the north Israeli town of Safed on Monday, more than three weeks after Israel intensified its air campaign on the Iran-backed group in Lebanon.

Netanyahu says will 'mercilessly strike' Hezbollah

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday vowed to strike Hezbollah without mercy following a deadly drone strike on a military base in Israel, and retaliation would extend to targets in Beirut.

UK's foreign minister, EU's foreign policy chief condemn Iranian attacks on Israel

British Foreign Minister David Lammy and the European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell condemned Iran's attacks on Israel and its supply of ballistic missiles to Russia for use against Ukraine, UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said in a statement on Monday.

Israel strikes north Lebanon town, UN expresses concern about peacekeepers

Israel expanded its targets in its war with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon on Monday, killing at least 21 people in an airstrike in the north, health officials said, while millions of Israelis took shelter from projectiles fired back across the border.

Netanyahu told US Israel willing to strike Iranian military targets, Washington Post reports

Israel would hit Iranian military, not nuclear or oil, targets Netanyahu's office says

Israel will listen to the United States but will make its own decisions based on its national interest, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement on Tuesday.

The statement was attached to a Washington Post article which said Netanyahu had told President Joe Biden's administration that Israel would strike Iranian military, not nuclear or oil, targets.

Via: Reuters

Struck 230 Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon: IDF

In a statement released on Tuesday, the Israel Defence Forces said that it is continuing targeted operational activity against "Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon" and has hit more than 200 targets on Monday.

"IDF troops eliminated dozens of terrorists in close-quarters combat and in IAF strikes, dismantled Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure, and located vast quantities of weaponry. In one of the strikes, the troops identified multiple terrorists entering a structure in the area. Shortly following the identification, the IAF struck the site and eliminated the terrorists," the statement added.

Israel strikes Lebanon after Netanyahu vows no mercy for Hezbollah

Israel's military launched strikes Tuesday on eastern Lebanon, official Lebanese media reported, as Hezbollah fought Israeli soldiers after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed no mercy for the militant group.

The premier's pledge on Monday came a day after a drone attack by the Iran-backed Lebanese group on an Israeli base killed four soldiers, while volunteer rescuers said another 60 people were wounded.

Source: AFP

To hit back at Iran based on 'national interest': Israel

Jerusalem: Israel will consider the United States's opinion but will act against an Iranian missile attack based on its own "national interests", Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Tuesday.

US President Joe Biden has cautioned Israel against striking Iran's nuclear or oil facilities to avoid a further regional escalation and amid concerns over global energy prices.

"We listen to the opinions of the United States, but we will make our final decisions based on our national interest," the office said.

-AFP

Israel deliberately chose to expand 'aggression' in West Bank, Lebanon: Qatar Emir

Doha: Qatar's Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, said on Tuesday that Israel deliberately chose to expand what he called its "aggression" to implement pre-planned schemes in the West Bank and Lebanon.

Israel had done so "because it sees that the scope for that is available," he said in his annual speech to open the Shura Council.

The Council has legislative authority and approves general state policies and the budget, but has no say in the setting of defence, security, economic and investment policy for the small but wealthy gas producer, which bans political parties.

Amendments to Qatar's constitution will be proposed by the Shura Council and put to a popular referendum vote, Qatar's Emir added.

-Reuters

Israel strikes north Lebanon town, UN expresses concern about peacekeepers

Israel expanded its targets in its war with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon on Monday, killing at least 21 people in an airstrike in the north, health officials said, while millions of Israelis took shelter from projectiles fired back across the border.

So far the main focus of Israel's military operations in Lebanon has been in the Bekaa Valley in the east, the suburbs of Beirut, and in the south, where incidents involving Israeli troops and UN peacekeepers have created tension.

-Reuters

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At least 42,344 Palestinians killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023: Health Ministry

Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed at least 42,344 Palestinians and wounded 99,013 since October 7, 2023, the Palestinian enclave's health ministry said on Tuesday.

-Reuters

Israel kills at least 50 in Gaza, tanks deepen raid in the north

Cairo: Israeli military strikes killed at least 50 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip as Israeli forces tightened their squeeze around Jabalia in the north of the enclave on Tuesday, amid fierce battles with Hamas-led fighters.

Palestinian health officials said at least 17 people were killed by Israeli fire near Al-Falouja in Jabalia, the largest of Gaza's eight historic refugee camps, while 10 others were killed in Bani Suhaila in eastern Khan Younis in the south when an Israeli missile struck a house.

Earlier on Tuesday, an Israeli airstrike destroyed three houses in the Sabra suburb of Gaza City, and the local civil emergency service said they recovered two bodies from the site, while the search continued for 12 other people who were believed to have been in the houses at the time of the strike.

Eight others were killed when a house was struck in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza.

-Reuters

Advanced anti-missile system in Israel to be operational soon: US

Washington: The Pentagon said components for an advanced anti-missile system began arriving in Israel on Monday and that it would be fully operational in the near future, according to a statement on Tuesday.

"Over the coming days, additional US military personnel and THAAD battery components will continue to arrive in Israel," Pentagon spokesperson Major General Pat Ryder said.

"The battery will be fully operational capable in the near future, but for operations security reasons we will not discuss timelines."

-Reuters

UN decries 'worst restrictions' on Gaza aid since start of war

Geneva: Conflict-ravaged Gaza appears to be facing the worst restrictions on aid since Israel's war there began over a year ago, the UN said Tuesday, lamenting the devastating impact on children especially.

"Day after day, the situation for children becomes worse than the day before," said James Elder, spokesman for the UN children's agency UNICEF.

Vast areas of Gaza have been devastated by Israel's retaliatory assault on the territory after the October 7 Hamas attack last year that sparked the war.

And Israel has been intensifying operations in the north of the besieged Palestinian territory, where the UN has warned hundreds of thousands of people are trapped.

Despite a desperate need to increase the amount of aid going in, Elder lamented that aid access was worsening.

-AFP

Hezbollah deputy chief says group adopted new calculation so that Israel feels 'pain'

Beirut: Hezbollah's deputy secretary general Sheikh Naim Qassem said on Tuesday the militant group has adopted a new calculation so that Israel feels 'pain', even though he called for a ceasefire.

-Reuters

Iran cyber attacks against Israel surge after Gaza war, AFP reports

In a sign Israel may expand its ground operations against Hezbollah while bolstering its own defences, its troops have cleared landmines and established new barriers on the frontier between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and a demilitarised strip bordering Syria, security sources and analysts said.

The move suggests Israel may seek to strike Hezbollah for the first time from further east along Lebanon's border, at the same time creating a secure area from which it can freely reconnoitre the armed group and prevent infiltration, the sources said.

While demining activity has been reported, sources who spoke to Reuters - including a Syrian soldier stationed in south Syria, a Lebanese security official and a U.N. peacekeeping official - revealed additional unreported details that showed Israel was moving the fence separating the DMZ towards the Syrian side and digging more fortifications in the area. Military action involving raids from the Israeli-occupied Golan and possibly from the demilitarised zone that separates it from Syrian territory could widen the conflict pitting Israel against Hezbollah and its ally Hamas that has already drawn in Iran and risks sucking in the U.S.

Israel has been trading fire with Tehran-backed Hezbollah since the group began launching missiles across Lebanon's border in support of Hamas after its deadly attack on southern Israel triggered Israel's military campaign on Gaza.

Now, in addition to Israeli aerial strikes that have caused Hezbollah significant damage in the past month, the group is under Israeli ground assault from the south and faces Israeli naval shelling from the Mediterranean to the west. By extending its front in the east, Israel could tighten its squeeze on Hezbollah's arms supply routes, some of which cut across Syria, Lebanon's eastern neighbour and an ally of Iran.

Navvar Saban, a conflict analyst at the Istanbul-based Harmoon Center, said the operations in the Golan, a hilly, 1,200 square km (460 square mile) plateau that also overlooks Lebanon and borders Jordan, appeared to be an attempt to "prepare the groundwork" for a broader offensive in Lebanon. (Reuters)

Israel's demining near Golan signals wider front against Hezbollah

Israel kills at least 50 in Gaza, forces encircle northern Jabalia

Israeli military strikes killed at least 50 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip as Israeli forces tightened their squeeze around Jabalia in the north of the enclave on Tuesday, amid fierce battles with Hamas-led fighters.

Palestinian health officials said at least 17 people were killed by Israeli fire near Al-Falouja in Jabalia, the largest of Gaza's eight historic refugee camps, while 10 others were killed in Bani Suhaila in eastern Khan Younis in the south when an Israeli missile struck a house.

Earlier on Tuesday, an Israeli airstrike destroyed three houses in the Sabra suburb of Gaza City, and the local civil emergency service said they recovered two bodies from the site, while the search continued for 12 other people who were believed to have been in the houses at the time.

Eight others were killed when a house was struck in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza.

The Gaza health ministry said one doctor was killed when he tried to help people wounded by Israeli strikes in Al-Falouja in Jabalia. It added that several medics were wounded when their ambulance came under Israeli fire in the northern and southern Gaza Strip.

Jabalia has been the focus of an Israeli offensive for more than 10 days, with troops returning to areas of the north that came under heavy bombardment in the early months of the year-long war.

The operation has raised concerns among Palestinians and U.N. agencies that Israel wants to clear residents from the north of the crowded enclave, a charge it has denied. Residents said Israeli forces destroyed dozens of houses in the past 10 days. (Reuters)

Italy's Meloni to visit Lebanon, says UN mission should not be withdrawn

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday announced a visit to Lebanon later this week, and said heeding Israel's unilateral demand for U.N. peacekeepers to be withdrawn from the country would be a "grave mistake".

Speaking in the lower house of parliament, she said she expected to be in Lebanon on Friday and said a withdrawal of the UNIFIL mission "would be a grave mistake and undermine the credibility" of the United Nations. (Reuters)

Hezbollah says fired rockets at north Israel town of Safed

Hezbollah said it targeted the north Israeli town of Safed on Tuesday and launched a "big rocket salvo" at a nearby base, more than three weeks into an intense Israeli air campaign on Lebanon.

Fighters launched "a rocket salvo" at Safed, it said and later added it launched a "big salvo of rockets" at a nearby base, saying both attacks were "in defence" of Lebanon and in response to Israeli attacks on the country. (AFP)

Israeli military says it arrested three members of Hezbollah's elite Radwan forces

US warns Israel to boost humanitarian aid into Gaza or risk weapons funding

The Biden administration has warned Israel that it must increase the amount of humanitarian aid it is allowing into Gaza within the next 30 days or it could risk losing access to US weapons funding.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned their Israeli counterparts in a letter dated Sunday that the changes must occur. The letter, which restates US policy toward humanitarian aid and arms transfers, was sent amid deteriorating conditions in northern Gaza and reports Israel had conducted a strike on a hospital tent site in central Gaza that killed at least four people.

A senior defence official said Tuesday that Blinken and Austin sent a letter to their Israeli counterparts as they saw a recent decrease in assistance reaching Gaza. The official said a similar letter sent by Blinken in April triggered a constructive response and “concrete measures from the Israelis”. (AP)

Pentagon says letter about Gaza to Israel was 'private correspondence'

The Pentagon said on Tuesday a letter co-authored by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to Israeli officials about the humanitarian situation in Gaza was "private correspondence" and declined to discuss it in detail. 

(Reuters)

Israeli military says it intercepted drone that approached Israel from the east

The Israeli military said on Tuesday it intercepted a drone that approached Israel from the east, adding it was intercepted before crossing into the country.

US raised concerns with Israel over bombing campaign in Beirut, State Dept says

The United States has raised concerns with Israel over its bombing campaign in Beirut in past weeks, the State Department said on Tuesday, adding that strikes have diminished in recent days and Washington would continue to watch very carefully.

Israel's demining near Golan signals wider front against Hezbollah

 In a sign Israel may expand its ground operations against Hezbollah while bolstering its own defences, its troops have cleared landmines and established new barriers on the frontier between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and a demilitarised strip bordering Syria, security sources and analysts said.

The move suggests Israel may seek to strike Hezbollah for the first time from further east along Lebanon's border, at the same time creating a secure area from which it can freely reconnoitre the armed group and prevent infiltration, the sources told Reuters.

Blinken, Austin wrote to Israel about humanitarian situation in Gaza, State Dept says

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin wrote a letter to Israel on Sunday to make clear Washington's concerns about the levels of humanitarian assistance that have been making it to Gaza, the State Department said on Tuesday.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters at a regular news briefing that the US knows it is possible to get humanitarian aid into Gaza and that bureaucratic and logistical obstacles can be surmounted.

(Reuters)

Israeli military says it arrests three members of Hezbollah's elite Radwan forces

US tells Israel to improve Gaza humanitarian situation or risk military aid

The United States has told Israel it must take steps in the next month to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza or face potential restrictions on U.S. military aid, U.S. officials said, in the strongest such warning since Israel's war with Hamas began a year ago.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin wrote to Israeli officials on Sunday demanding concrete measures to address the worsening situation in the Palestinian enclave amid a renewed Israeli offensive in northern Gaza, U.S. officials said on Tuesday.

(Reuters)

Two drones crossed from Lebanon into northern Israel with no injuries reported, army says

Israel reviewing letter from US urging improvement in Gaza humanitarian situation

A letter from top U.S. officials in which they told Israel to improve Gaza's humanitarian situation or risk military aid is being reviewed by Israel, an Israeli official in Washington said late on Tuesday.

"Israel takes this matter seriously and intends to address the concerns raised in this letter with our American counterparts," the Israeli official said.

Israel Tells US It Won’t Hit Iran’s Oil or Nuclear Sites in Next Attack, Officials Say: NYT

Israeli strike hits Beirut suburbs for first time in days, witnesses say

An Israeli strike hit Beirut's southern suburbs early on Wednesday morning, Reuters witnesses said, after days of the area being spared strikes.

Reuters witnesses heard a blast and saw a plume of smoke. It came after an evacuation order by the Israeli military for a building in the area.

(Reuters)

Israel military issues new evacuation order for south Beirut

On Wednesday, the Israeli military ordered residents to leave part of southern Beirut, a warning which usually precedes strikes on the area pinpointed in the Lebanese capital. (AFP)

Israeli military says it hit Hezbollah weapons storage depot in Beirut suburb

 Israeli jets hit an underground strategic weapons storage depot of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah in its Beirut stronghold of Dahieh on Wednesday, the Israeli military said.

It said advance warnings were given to civilians prior to the strike.  (Reuters)

UN chief Antonio Guterres has been warned by Iran's top diplomat that Tehran is ready for a "decisive and regretful" response if Israel attacks his country in retaliation for a missile attack

(AFP)

IAF conducted a strike on strategic weapons belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization

A short while ago, with the direction of precise IDF intelligence, the IAF conducted a strike on strategic weapons belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization. These weapons were stockpiled by Hezbollah in an underground storage facility in the area of Dahieh, a key Hezbollah terrorist stronghold in Beirut.

Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including advancing warnings to the population in the area. (IDF)

Lebanese officials say death toll from Israeli strike on southern town of Qana has risen to 15

(AP)

Israeli strike kills mayor and 5 others in southern Lebanese town of Nabatieh

The mayor of the southern Lebanese town of Nabatieh was killed along with five others in an Israeli airstrike, two security sources told Reuters on Wednesday.

Lebanon's health ministry had earlier reported that five people were killed in the strike on a municipal building. It added that debris removal efforts were still underway. (Reuters)

Iran says attack on nuclear sites improbable

The probability of an attack on Iran's nuclear sites remains low but any potential damage would be "quickly compensated," state atomic energy agency spokesperson Behrouz Kamalvandi said on Wednesday, according to semi-official Nournews. (Reuters)

Lebanon PM condemns 'deliberate' Israeli strike on Nabatiyeh

(AFP)

Iran warns of 'decisive' response if Israel strikes, urges UN action

 Iran's top diplomat has warned UN chief Antonio Guterres that Tehran is ready for a "decisive and regretful" response if Israel attacks his country in retaliation for a missile attack. (AFP)

Egypt says division in Europe on Gaza, Lebanon sends wrong messages

Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said on Wednesday divisions between European states over conflict in Gaza and Lebanon send wrong messages to Israel and Arab countries, saying it was unacceptable for splits to continue. (Reuters)

How Israel’s bulky pager fooled Hezbollah

An invisible detonator and wafer-thin plastic explosives turned the pager batteries into bombs. In addition, a fake online history was created for the bulky new product. The 'pager attacks' killed 39 and wounded over 3,400; Israel neither confirmed nor denied involvement.

The batteries inside the weaponised pagers that arrived in Lebanon at the start of the year, part of an Israeli plot to decimate Hezbollah, had powerfully deceptive features and an Achilles' heel.

The agents who built the pagers designed a battery that concealed a small but potent charge of plastic explosive and a novel detonator that was invisible to X-ray, according to a Lebanese source with first-hand knowledge of the pagers, and teardown photos of the battery pack seen by Reuters.

To overcome the weakness — the absence of a plausible backstory for the bulky new product — they created fake online stores, pages and posts that could deceive Hezbollah due diligence, a Reuters review of web archives shows.

Lebanese officials say Israeli airstrike on Nabatiyeh hit building during meeting coordinating relief efforts

(AP)

Lebanon state media says Israeli jets' sonic boom rattles Beirut

"Enemy aircraft violently broke the sound barrier twice in the airspace of (Beirut's) southern suburbs" and surroundings areas, the National News Agency, the Lebanese official media outet, reported. (AFP)

UNRWA 'very near' possible breaking point in Gaza operation, head says

 The UN Palestinian refugee agency is close to a possible breaking point for its operations in the Gaza Strip due to increasingly complicated conditions, its head said on Wednesday.

"I will not hide the fact that we might reach a point that we won't be able anymore to operate," UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini told journalists at a news conference in Berlin.

"We are very near to a possible breaking point. When will it be? I don't know. But we are very near of that," he said.

He said the agency was facing a combination of a financial and political threats to its existence, in addition to difficulties in day-to-day operations, as aid is even more desperately needed against the threat of disease and famine.

He said there was a real risk, heading into winter, with people's immune systems weakened, that famine or acute malnutrition could become a likelihood.

UNRWA provides education, health and aid to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

It has long had tense relations with Israel but ties have deteriorated sharply since the start of the war in Gaza.

Israel launched the offensive against Hamas after the Palestinian militant group led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and around 250 taken hostage to Gaza, by Israeli tallies. More than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in the offensive, according to Gaza's health authorities.

Israeli leaders in January accused UNRWA staff of collaborating with Hamas militants in Gaza, leading some donors to suspend funding, although many of those decisions have since been reversed. The UN launched an investigation into Israel's accusations and dismissed nine staff. (Reuters)

EU countries contributing to UNIFIL see mission as 'essential and fundamental': Spanish Minister

The EU countries contributing to the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, dubbed as UNIFIL, say it is "essential and fundamental" and only the UN can decide whether to end it, Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles said on Wednesday after a video call with 15 of her counterparts.

"All the countries that are part of it are firmly supporting the UNIFIL mission, our soldiers, our people who are there," she said in a video statement sent to reporters.

EU countries, led by Italy, France and Spain, have thousands of troops in the 10,000-strong peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, which has said it has repeatedly come under attack from Israeli forces in recent days. Israel has called on the United Nations to move the troops out of the combat zone. (Reuters)

Britain calls UN meeting on Gaza, may sanction ministers

Britain and France have called an urgent meeting at the United Nations Security Council to discuss the humanitarian situation in Gaza and Britain is considering sanctioning two Israeli ministers, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Wednesday.

Food supplies to Gaza have fallen sharply in recent weeks after Israeli authorities introduced a new customs rule.

"We are constantly making representations on this with our partners," Starmer told parliament, when asked about the situation. "There is an urgent need, and has been now for a very long time, for more aid to get into Gaza."

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said in a statement Israel must ensure civilians were protected and routes were open to allow life-saving aid through, and that the United Nations meeting would address these issues. He said Algeria had also joined the call for the urgent meeting.

Starmer also said that Britain was looking at sanctioning Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich and national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir over comments they had made about the conflict.

Asked if his government would sanction Smotrich over comments that starving civilians in Gaza might be justified and Ben-Gvir for saying perpetrators of settler violence in the West Bank were heroes, Starmer said: "We are looking at that because they're obviously abhorrent comments".

"Israel must take all possible steps to avoid civilian casualties, to allow aid into Gaza in much greater volumes and provide the UN humanitarian partners the ability to operate effectively," Starmer said. (Reuters)

UN coordinator for Lebanon says civilian suffering at unprecedented level

UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said on Wednesday civilian suffering was reaching an unprecedented level after an Israeli strike in the south killed at least six people and hurt 43, according to Lebanon's health ministry. (Reuters)

UN special envoy laments Houthis’ role in Mideast war, lists dire consequences

Yemen risks being dragged further into the military escalation in the Middle East that keeps intensifying and could spiral out of control, the UN special envoy for the Arab world’s poorest nation said.

Hans Grundberg told the UN Security Council that regrettably, Yemen is part of the escalation – and he warned that repeated attacks on international shipping by its Houthi rebels “have significantly increased the risk of an environment disaster” in the Red Sea.

Both Grundberg and the UN’s acting humanitarian chief Joyce Msuya urged the Iranian-backed Houthis to halt their attacks on international shipping, which the rebel group began to support fellow Iranian-backed terror group Hamas after its October 7 attack in Israel last year started the ongoing war.

Grundberg told Security Council members “Yemenis continue to yearn and work for peace,” but he said hopes for progress to end the escalating violence in the Middle East “seem distant.” (AP)

Iran Guards say 'will not hesitate to support' regional allies

"The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ... will not hesitate to support the Islamic resistance decisively ... in bravely standing up against this fake regime (Israel)," the Guards said in a statement published by their official Sepah news agency. (AFP)

EU, Gulf leaders meet for first summit against background of Mideast turmoil

The leaders of the European Union and six Gulf nations are meeting in an inaugural summit on Wednesday against a backdrop of turmoil in the Middle East.

The summit is expected to last just a few hours and encompass everything from visas and trade to the situation in the Middle East, and is unlikely to yield more than general commitments to improve cooperation.

“Our message is clear: we are ready to act more and more together in facing common challenges,” said EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell on the eve of the meeting.

The 27-nation EU has long had relations with the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, which include Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Kuwait. (AP)

UNRWA chief warns of 'real risk' of Gaza famine

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees warned Wednesday of the risk of famine in Gaza, a day after the United States said Israel had been warned to improve aid deliveries to the territory.

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini told a press conference in Berlin that "there is a real risk today... that we enter a situation where famine or acute malnutrition is unfortunately again a likelihood," pointing to the upcoming winter and the weakened immune systems of Gaza's population.

Lazzarini painted a dire picture of the humanitarian situation in Gaza, saying it had "become a kind of wasteland, which I would say is almost unliveable".

In relation to aid deliveries to Gaza he said that "over the last two to three weeks there was no convoy entering into the north except yesterday".

"We have a huge drop of convoys in the south with only an average of fifty to sixty for two million people, while we estimate the number needed much, much higher," Lazzarini said.

He pointed out that the convoys which had managed to enter had been subject to looting "because of the total breakdown of law and order".

However, he stressed that with appropriate action a hunger crisis in Gaza "can be avoided" if convoys and food are allowed to enter.

"We have shown that we can have a polio campaign, so why can we not bring food?" he asked. (AFP)

150,000 Gaza children given second polio vaccine dose: WHO

Israeli strikes hit children in Gaza before receiving second polio vaccines, family says

Holding his teddy bear, Gazan mother Asmaa al-Wasifi mourned her 10-year-old son, who was killed in an Israeli strike before he could take his second polio shot.

The United Nations began the second round of its polio campaign in central areas of the enclave on Monday, though many Gazans said the effort was futile given the ongoing Israeli campaign to crush Hamas.

"The time for second vaccine was here, but the (Israeli) occupation did not let them live to continue their lives and their childhood," said Asmaa, crying as she went through her son's clothes and school books.

Yamen, along with four of his cousins - the oldest of whom was 10 - were killed when Israel hit their family home on Sept. 24 in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza.

The children had received their first polio vaccines three weeks earlier in a UN campaign that prompted rare daily pauses of fighting between Israel and Hamas militants in pre-specified areas.

The campaign began after a baby was partially paralysed by the type-2 polio virus in August, in the first such case in the territory in 25 years.

Yamen's grandmother Zakeya, who lost at least 10 of her family members, called for the war that has ravaged the tiny enclave of 2.3 million people for more than a year to end.

"We don't want any drinks or any aid. We want them to give us safety and security - for the war to end," she said.

Efforts to secure a ceasefire so far have faltered, with Israel and Hamas unable to agree on key demands.

Her son Osama, 35, said his wife's body was unrecognisable after the strike that also killed their four children.

The children had just had fresh haircuts to get ready for school, he added.

"They were happy like butterflies... Ten minutes later, the targeting happened. I found them all in pieces," he said. (Reuters)

Jordan tells Iran will not allow anyone to 'violate' its airspace

Jordan's foreign minister on Wednesday told his Iranian counterpart that the kingdom would not allow any parties to violate its airspace, as the region braces for Israel's retaliation for an Iranian missile attack.

Jordan will "not be a battlefield for anyone and will not allow any party to violate its sovereignty and airspace and threaten its citizens' security," Ayman Safadi said in a meeting with Iran's top diplomat Abbas Araghchi. (AFP)

Israeli stands, equipment barred from defence show in France

"The French government informed Euronaval of its decision to approve the participation of Israeli delegations at Euronaval 2024, without any stand or exhibition of equipment," said the organisers of the show, which is due to start on November 4 in Paris. Anti-Israel sentiment is at a high as the war in Gaza and Lebanon rages on. (AFP)

North Gaza hospitals say food, medicines running out as Israel presses offensive

Palestinian health officials called on Wednesday for a humanitarian corridor to three hospitals in northern Gaza that have come close to collapse as Israeli troops have cut off the area during almost two weeks of heavy fighting against Hamas.

Doctors at the Kamal Adwan, Al-Awda and the Indonesian hospitals have refused to leave their patients despite evacuation orders issued by the Israeli military at the start of a major push into the Jabalia area of northern Gaza 12 days ago.

"We are calling on the international community, the Red Cross and the World Health Organization to play their humanitarian role by opening up a corridor towards our healthcare system," said Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital.

"We are talking about more than 300 medical staff working at Kamal Adwan Hospital, and we can't provide even a single meal for them to be able to offer medical services safely."

Jabalia, home to one of Gaza's eight historic refugee camps, was cleared early in the war by Israeli troops pushing through northern Gaza but Palestinian militant Hamas fighters have re-established themselves in the area.

Palestinian health officials said the new Israeli offensive has killed around 350 Palestinians in Jabalia and nearby areas. In Gaza City on Wednesday, an Israeli airstrike on a house killed 13 people, medics said. In its daily update, the Gaza health ministry said Israeli military strikes had killed 65 Palestinians across the enclave in the past 24 hours.

The dire humanitarian situation has prompted worldwide alarm. (Reuters)

Iran atomic agency says Israeli attack on nuclear sites 'unlikely'

Israeli strikes kill 21 in Lebanon in most recent attacks

Israeli airstrikes pounded areas across Lebanon, killing at least 21 people, officials said on Wednesday, including more than a dozen in a southern town where Israeli bombardments in previous conflicts are seared into local memory.

The Israeli military said it targeted Hezbollah command centres and weapons facilities that had been embedded in civilian areas of Nabatiyeh in Wednesday's strikes, without providing evidence. (AP)

Israel defence minister calls Macron a 'disgrace' after France defence show ban

"Macron's actions are a disgrace to the French nation and the values of the free world, which he claims to uphold. The decision to discriminate against Israeli defence industries in France a second time - aids Israel's enemies during war," said Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant in a post on X.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant tweet

Lebanon says Israel strike killed 3, injured 54 in war-scarred southern village of Qana

"Successive Israeli enemy strikes yesterday on the village of Qana killed three people and injured 54," the Lebanese authorities said in a statement, adding that work was still underway to clear the rubble.

Qana, a southern village suffered heavy civilian casualties from Israeli attacks in 1996 and 2000 too. (AFP)

US targets sanctions evasion network tied to Hezbollah

The United States imposed sanctions on Tuesday on what it described as a Lebanon-based sanctions evasion network that funnels millions of dollars to Hezbollah.

The action targeted three individuals linked to Hezbollah's finance arm and four Lebanon-based companies registered to conceal ties to the militant group, according to a Treasury Department statement.

The U.S. also sanctioned three individuals involved in the production and sale of the amphetamine known as captagon, who it said have funded the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and its allies, including Hezbollah.

"Today's action underscores (Hezbollah's) destabilizing influence within Lebanon and on the wider region, as the group, its affiliates, and its supporters continue to finance their operations through covert involvement in commercial trade and the illicit trafficking of captagon,” Bradley T. Smith, acting undersecretary of Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in the statement. (Reuters)

US says Israel must show no Gaza 'policy of starvation'

The United States is watching to ensure that Israel's actions on the ground show that it does not have a "policy of starvation" in the northern Gaza Strip, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the Security Council on Wednesday.

She told the 15-member council that such a policy would be "horrific and unacceptable and would have implications under international law and US law."

"The Government of Israel has said that this is not their policy, that food and other essential supplies will not be cut off, and we will be watching to see that Israel's actions on the ground match this statement," Thomas-Greenfield said.

The United States has told Israel it must take steps in the next month to improve the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave or face potential restrictions on US military aid, US officials said on Tuesday.

Israel "remains committed to working with our international partners to ensure aid reaches those who need it" in the Gaza Strip, Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon told reporters ahead of the Security Council meeting.

"The problem in Gaza is not a lack of aid. The problem is Hamas, which hijacks the aid - stealing, storing and selling it to feed their terror machine, while civilians suffer," he said.

Hamas has repeatedly denied Israeli allegations that it was stealing aid and says Israel is to blame for shortages. (Reuters)

Canada Govt: The Israeli attacks are 'unacceptable and must immediately stop'

Canada on Wednesday condemned Israeli strikes on civilian infrastructure in northern Gaza and United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon and demanded the attacks stop immediately.

In a statement, the government said the increasingly dire humanitarian situation in Gaza was unacceptable. (Reuters)

UNIFIL's EU members want 'maximum pressure' on Israel to stop 'incidents'

EU ministers met Wednesday with peacekeepers in Lebanon and expressed "the shared will to exert maximum political and diplomatic pressure on Israel" to prevent further "incidents" against the UN mission, Italy said.

Italy and France organised a video conference among the 16 EU countries that participate in UNIFIL, where the defence ministers "strongly condemned" attacks the mission has blamed on Israel, the Italian defence ministry said in a statement.

"Another key point that emerged from the meeting was the shared will to exert maximum political and diplomatic pressure on Israel, so that no further incidents occur," it said.

"At the same time, it was made clear that Hezbollah cannot use UNIFIL personnel as a shield in the conflict."

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has strongly condemned the fire against the peacekeepers, who include a significant number of Italians, and is due to visit Beirut on Friday. (AFP)

Israeli jets pummel southern Lebanon and Beirut’s suburbs

(AP)

Israel says Lebanon negotiations will only be held 'under fire'

Israel will not stop fighting a now weakened Hezbollah before it can safely return its citizens to their homes near the Lebanese border and any ceasefire negotiations will be held "under fire", Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday.

"Hezbollah is in great distress," Gallant said near the border, according to a statement from his office. "We will hold negotiations only under fire, I said this on day one, I said it in Gaza and I am saying it here." (Reuters)

Hezbollah says 'violent clashes' with Israeli troops in south Lebanon

Hezbollah said its fighters in southern Lebanon were locked in clashes on Wednesday with Israeli troops "at point-blank range".

The Iran-backed armed group said militants were engaged in "ongoing" and "violent clashes with the Israeli enemy forces in the vicinity of the Al-Qawzah village at point-blank range with various types of machine guns," it said. (AFP)

France's Macron riles Netanyahu with jab on Israel's creation

French President Emmanuel Macron has further strained tense relations with Israel with a comment referring to the creation of the Israeli state, a verbal jab that was rapidly denounced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as 'distorting' history.

"Mr Netanyahu must not forget that his country was created by a decision of the UN," Macron told the weekly French cabinet meeting on Tuesday, referring to the resolution adopted in November 1947 by the United Nations General Assembly to partition Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state.

In a new sign of the tensions between the countries, organisers of the major Euronaval defence show outside Paris next month said that following a decision of the French government, no Israeli stands or exhibits would be allowed at the salon. (AFP)

Cholera confirmed in Lebanon, risk of spread 'very high': WHO

The risk of cholera spreading in Lebanon is "very high", the World Health Organization warned Wednesday, after a case of the acute and potentially deadly diarrhoeal infection was detected in the conflict-hit country.

The WHO highlighted the risk of cholera spreading among hundreds of thousands of people displaced since Israel escalated an air campaign against Hezbollah and launched a ground offensive intended to push the group back from its northern border with Lebanon.

"If the cholera outbreak ... spreads to the new displaced people, it might spread very fast," Abdinasir Abubakar, WHO's representative in Lebanon, told reporters in an online news conference.

WHO demands space to finish Gaza polio vaccination

Hezbollah says fired rockets at Israel's Safed for third time in 24 hours

US opposes attacks on civilian buildings in Lebanon, in touch with Israel over airstrike, State Dept says

The United States does not want to see civilian buildings destroyed and is in touch with Israel's government over an airstrike that destroyed the municipal headquarters in the southern Lebanon town of Nabatieh on Wednesday, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

Miller, speaking at a press briefing, said he could not speak to Israel's intentions with a specific strike, but noted that Hezbollah does at times operate from underneath civilian homes.

Netanyahu held emergency discussion on increasing aid to Gaza, three Israeli officials say

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened an emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss expanding humanitarian aid to Gaza, three officials who attended the discussion said, with aid likely to increase soon.

A spokesperson for Netanyahu did not immediately comment. A fourth Israeli official said the prime minister's security cabinet was expected to further discuss the matter on Sunday.

State Dept affirms Israel's right to target Hezbollah in Lebanon, urges civilian protection

 Israel has a right to target Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah even as it may be hiding in civilian buildings in Lebanon, but should do so in a way that protects civilians, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Wednesday.

Asked at a regular press briefing about an Israeli airstrike that destroyed the municipal headquarters in the southern Lebanon town of Nabatieh that killed 16 people including the mayor, Miller said he could not comment on the specific strike, but "we don't want to see civilian buildings destroyed."

No Gaza ceasefire talks for last 3 to 4 weeks, Qatar says

Qatar's prime minister said on Wednesday that there had been no conversations or engagement with any parties for the last three to four weeks to secure a ceasefire in Gaza.

"On the prospects of the negotiation ... basically in the last three to four weeks, there is no conversation or engagement at all, and we are just moving in the same circle with the silence from all parties," Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told reporters at the end of a summit between the EU and GCC in Brussels.

Israeli military says sirens sounded in southern Israel

The Israeli military said on Wednesday that sirens sounded in Nir Am and Sderot in southern Israel, without giving further details.

The Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, said shortly after that it fired rockets towards Sderot, Nir Am and areas near Gaza.

UNIFIL says Israeli tank fired at peacekeepers watchtower in Lebanon

The UN mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said its peacekeepers at a position near southern Lebanon's Kfar Kela observed an Israeli Merkava tank firing at their watchtower on Wednesday morning.

Two cameras were destroyed, and the tower was damaged, the UNIFIL said in its statement. 

Israeli strike targets Syria's Latakia, fires break out, state media reports

An Israeli strike targeting Syria's Mediterranean port city of Latakia early on Thursday resulted in fires breaking out there, Syrian state news agency SANA reported.

Firefighters are working on extinguishing the fires, SANA added.

Syrian state television reported the country's air defences had confronted Israeli targets over Latakia.

16 dead in Israeli strike on Lebanese municipality building

The mayor of a major town in south Lebanon was among 16 people killed when an Israeli airstrike destroyed its municipal headquarters in the biggest attack on an official Lebanese state building since the Israeli air campaign began.

Lebanese officials denounced the incident, which also wounded more than 50 people in Nabatieh, a provincial capital, saying it was proof that Israel's campaign against the Hezbollah armed group was now shifting to target the Lebanese state.

The Israelis "intentionally targeted a meeting of the municipal council to discuss the city's service and relief situation" to aid people displaced by the Israeli campaign, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said.

Pentagon chief speaks to Israel after letter on Gaza humanitarian situation

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday and discussed Israel's operations in Lebanon and the humanitarian situation in Gaza after a letter earlier this week to Israel from Washington that urged improvement of Gaza's humanitarian situation.

"The Secretary encouraged the Government of Israel to continue taking steps to address the dire humanitarian situation, noting the recent action by Israel to increase the amount of humanitarian assistance entering Gaza," the Pentagon said in a statement on Wednesday.

Israel has a right to target Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah even as it may be hiding in civilian buildings in Lebanon, but should do so in a way that protects civilians, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Wednesday.