Israeli airstrike kills 10 Palestinians in school sheltering displaced people in Gaza city – medics
An Israeli airstrike has killed at least 10 Palestinians and injured many others in a school housing displaced people in al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, one of the Gaza Strip’s eight historic refugee camps, according to medics.
Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that Israeli forces bombed the al-Shati elementary boys school, which is affiliated with the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa). Unrwa has provided education, health care and other basic services to millions of Palestinian refugees across the region.
Breaking | According to local sources, 10 civilians were slaughtered due to an Israeli airstrike that targeted a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza. pic.twitter.com/i7ie5YYGat
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) November 7, 2024
The Israeli parliament – the Knesset – passed two bills last month banning Unrwa from Israeli territory and prohibiting Israeli state contact with the agency on the basis of allegations that Hamas had infiltrated it.
Unrwa’s commissioner general, Philippe Lazzarini, has previously said his agency had responded promptly and seriously to the initial Israeli allegations that 12 staff members had taken part in the 7 October Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed. He said 10 staff had been sacked immediately and two investigations completed, including one by the former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna.
Unrwa said the new laws – due to come into effect within three months – will cause the supply chain of aid to Gaza to “fall apart”, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis caused by Israel’s war on the territory.
Key events
Unesco to convene meeting to consider ‘enhanced protection’ of Lebanon cultural sites amid Israeli bombing
The UN’s cultural agency, Unesco, has said it will hold a meeting later this month to consider enhanced protection of cultural sites in Lebanon as the deadly Israeli bombing campaign across the country continues.
A session of a Unesco committee will be held at the body’s Paris base on 18 November to consider the inscription of Lebanese cultural properties on Unesco’s international list of sites under “enhanced protection” as well as more funding, the UN body said.
It comes after more than 100 Lebanese lawmakers issued an appeal to the UN earlier today, demanding the preservation of heritage sites in areas heavily bombed by the Israeli military in recent weeks.
“During the devastating war on Lebanon, Israel has caused grave human rights violations and atrocities,” a letter addressed to Unesco’s chief said, demanding “the protection of Lebanon’s historic sites in Baalbek, Tyre, Sidon, and other invaluable landmarks currently at risk due to the escalation of the atrocities”.
More than 100 Lebanese MPs issued an appeal to UNESCO demanding the preservation of heritage sites in areas heavily bombed by Israel
“During the devastating war on #Lebanon, Israel has caused grave human rights violations and atrocities,” the letter demanded “protection of… https://t.co/XXZGXHSREt
— Zeina Khodr (@ZeinakhodrAljaz) November 7, 2024
At least 40 people were killed in Israeli air strikes in eastern Lebanon on Wednesday, which struck in the governorates of Baalbek and Bekaa, according to reports.
An Israeli airstrike hit nearby Baalbek’s Unesco-listed Roman ruins, a famous heritage site with some of the largest Roman temples outside of Rome, an official said yesterday.
Israel last month reportedly bombed between major heritage sites in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, including the Hippodrome, a Unesco world heritage site, and some seaside sites linked to the Phoenicians and the Crusaders.
Photos are emerging of the aftermath of an Israeli strike on a car at a Lebanese army checkpoint at the entrance to the southern city of Sidon, which killed three people and wounded three Lebanese soldiers and four members of a UN peacekeeping contingent, the Lebanese army said in a statement.
A Reuters reporter at the scene said a bus with United Nations markings that was part of a large convoy of UN peacekeepers had sustained damage in the strike. Unifil, the peacekeeping force, said in a statement that five newly-arrived peacekeepers were lightly injured in the Sidon drone strike and treated on the spot.
Hezbollah believes it will make little difference who is in the White House when it comes to a ceasefire, spokesperson Ibrahim al-Moussawi told the Reuters news agency.
“It might be a change in the party who is in power, but when it comes to Israel, they have more or less the same policy,” Moussawi said. “We want to see actions, we want to see decisions taken.”
US diplomatic efforts to halt fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which included a 60-day ceasefire proposal, faltered last week ahead of the US election on Tuesday in which former president Trump recaptured the White House.
Moussawi acknowledged the heavy toll of Israeli attacks that have blown apart thousands of buildings, mostly in Lebanon’s Shi’ite Muslim-dominated south and east and the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut. But he said the group’s military capabilities remained strong.
“Our hearts are broken – we are losing very dear lives. This feeling that [Israel] cannot be punished or brought to international justice is a result of US support which renders them immune to accountability,” he said. “America is a full partner in what’s happening because they can exercise influence to stop this destruction.”
Iran says result of US election ‘does not matter to us at all’
The Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has said the result of the US election did not matter to his country, according to reports on state media. Earlier Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said the presidential election result in the US was a chance for a new administration to “review the wrong approaches of the past”.
“To us it does not matter at all who has won the American election, because our country and system relies on its inner strength and a great and honourable nation,” Pezeshkian said late on Wednesday, quoted by the state news agency IRNA and reported by Reuters.
“We will not be close-minded in developing our relations with other countries [while] we have made it our priority to develop relations with Islamic and neighbouring countries,” Pezeshkian said.
It was not immediately clear if Pezeshkian was also referring to the United States, with which Iran does not have diplomatic relations. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all matters of state, has banned holding any direct talks with the United States.
Julian Borger, the Guardian’s senior international correspondent, has been assessing the reaction to Donald Trump’s election success among Palestinians.
“It will not make a big difference,” said Eyad Barghouti, a retired university teacher, expressing a commonly held view as the Gaza war rages on. “What Biden was doing before with a low profile, Trump will be more vocal about.
“Biden would say in public: ‘We’re not trying to starve Gaza, we’re trying to give them food aid,’ all the while supporting Israel’s army. [Trump] will say it in a clear way, that we are trying to get rid of such-and-such people. He will not play the game of trying to make himself sound like a humanitarian.”
Read the full piece here:
Bethan McKernan
Bethan McKernan is Jerusalem correspondent for the Guardian
The Israeli army has distanced itself from comments made by a brigadier general that ground forces are getting closer to “the complete evacuation” of the northern Gaza Strip and residents will not be allowed to return home.
In a media briefing on Tuesday night, the Israel Defense Forces’ Brig Gen Itzik Cohen told Israeli reporters that “there is no intention of allowing the residents of the northern Gaza Strip to return”. He added that humanitarian aid would be allowed to “regularly” enter the south of the territory but there were “no more civilians left” in the north.
International humanitarian law experts have said that such actions would amount to the war crimes of forcible transfer and the use of food as a weapon.
The IDF did not immediately respond to the Guardian’s request for comment on Cohen’s remarks. But on Thursday, a spokesperson said the comments had been taken out of context during a discussion about Jabaliya, and did not “reflect the IDF’s objectives and values”.
The spokesperson said the briefing on Tuesday had been on background, and the brigadier general should not have been quoted in Hebrew media reports that emerged.
You can read the full story here:
Lebanon’s National News Agency reported earlier that “an enemy drone targeted a car in Araya,” in Lebanon, adding that the airstrike left a route blocked to traffic.
Death toll from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza reaches 43,469, says health ministry
At least 43,469 Palestinian people have been killed and 102,561 injured in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
Of those, 78 Palestinians were killed and 214 injured in the latest 24-hour reporting period, the ministry said.
Gaza’s health ministry has said in the past that thousands of other dead people are most likely lost in the rubble of the territory.
Here is a statement from Unifil about the Israeli airstrike on the outskirts of Sidon in Lebanon:
This afternoon, a Unifil convoy bringing newly-arrived peacekeepers to south Lebanon was passing Saida when a drone strike occurred nearby.
Five peacekeepers were lightly injured and treated by the Lebanese Red Cross on the spot. They will continue to their posts. The Lebanese army also confirmed three of its soldiers at the nearby checkpoint were injured.
We remind all actors of their obligation to avoid actions putting peacekeepers or civilians in danger. Differences should be resolved at the negotiating table, not through violence.
We remind all actors of their obligation to avoid actions putting peacekeepers or civilians in danger. Differences should be resolved at the negotiating table, not through violence.
— UNIFIL (@UNIFIL_) November 7, 2024
You can read more about Unifil’s function in this useful explainer.
Lebanese army says 3 troops and 4 UN peacekeepers injured in Israeli airstrike on Sidon
The Lebanese army said three of its troops and four Malaysian UN peacekeepers have been injured in an Israeli airstrike near an army checkpoint in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon. The army said the airstrike killed three Lebanese citizens.
“The Israeli enemy targeted a car while it was passing through the Awali checkpoint in Sidon, which led to the killing of three citizens who were inside it, in addition to the injury of three soldiers manning the checkpoint and four members of the Malaysian” contingent in the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (Unifil) force, the army said in a statement.
Breaking | According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, 3 civilians have been reported killed and others injured due to an Israeli airstrike that targeted a vehicle in Sidon, southern Lebanon. pic.twitter.com/WznN0icrRo
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) November 7, 2024
The UN has said Unifil positions had come under attack many times since the start of Israel’s ground assault on southern Lebanon on 1 October, including by direct fire.
Unifil is located in southern Lebanon to monitor hostilities along the demarcation line with Israel. Israel claims UN forces provide cover for Hezbollah, the Iran backed Lebanese militant group, but the peace force has stayed to continue its work.
Israeli airstrike kills 10 Palestinians in school sheltering displaced people in Gaza city – medics
An Israeli airstrike has killed at least 10 Palestinians and injured many others in a school housing displaced people in al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, one of the Gaza Strip’s eight historic refugee camps, according to medics.
Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that Israeli forces bombed the al-Shati elementary boys school, which is affiliated with the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa). Unrwa has provided education, health care and other basic services to millions of Palestinian refugees across the region.
Breaking | According to local sources, 10 civilians were slaughtered due to an Israeli airstrike that targeted a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza. pic.twitter.com/i7ie5YYGat
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) November 7, 2024
The Israeli parliament – the Knesset – passed two bills last month banning Unrwa from Israeli territory and prohibiting Israeli state contact with the agency on the basis of allegations that Hamas had infiltrated it.
Unrwa’s commissioner general, Philippe Lazzarini, has previously said his agency had responded promptly and seriously to the initial Israeli allegations that 12 staff members had taken part in the 7 October Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed. He said 10 staff had been sacked immediately and two investigations completed, including one by the former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna.
Unrwa said the new laws – due to come into effect within three months – will cause the supply chain of aid to Gaza to “fall apart”, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis caused by Israel’s war on the territory.
As we reported in an earlier post, several large Israeli airstrikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs early on Thursday, including one on a site adjacent to Lebanon’s only international airport, Rafic Hariri.
The Israeli military had earlier issued an evacuation notice for the site, claiming there were Hezbollah facilities there, without giving more details.
There were no immediate reports of casualties. Here is a video of the huge fireball near Rafic Hariri airport:
Incoming rocket sirens have been heard in the northern Israeli city of Haifa and in surrounding areas.
The Israel Defense Forces said earlier this afternoon that about 40 rockets were fired from Lebanon, with some being shot down, while others were reported to have struck inside Israel.
The rockets triggered sirens in the upper and western Galilee and Haifa Bay area, according to reporting from the Times of Israel.
Al Jazeera said the Israeli military has extended the order shutting down its bureau in the occupied West Bank, the Associated Press reports.
Walid al-Omari, the network’s bureau chief, said Israeli soldiers raided the office in Ramallah again early this morning and posted a notice extending the closure for an additional 45 days.
Israel had previously raided the office and shut it down in late September. Earlier this year, authorities barred the Qatar-based network from operating in Israel.
The Israeli military has repeatedly accused journalists from the network of being “terrorist agents” in Gaza affiliated with Hamas or its ally, Islamic Jihad. Al Jazeera, which says it has no affiliation with militant groups, vehemently denies these accusations.
The network says that Israel systematically targets its employees in the Gaza Strip and that Israeli forces have killed several Al Jazeera journalists and their family members in Gaza since Israel’s war began last October.
As of 7 November 2024, preliminary investigations conducted by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) showed at least 137 journalists and media workers have been killed since the war began, making it the deadliest period for journalists since CPJ began gathering data in 1992.
Last week, Al Jazeera Media Network said journalists in Gaza have received “grievous threats” as they continue to report on Israel’s war on the territory (foreign journalists are banned from entering Gaza).
“These systematic attacks extend beyond individual tragedies; they constitute a calculated campaign to silence those who dare to document the realities of war and devastation and a direct assault on the fundamental right to information,” the network said.
France sees ‘window’ to end wars in Gaza and Lebanon after Trump win – minister
France’s foreign minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, who met hostage families earlier today, has been speaking to journalists in Jerusalem, alongside Israel Katz, the outgoing foreign minister who is due to replace Yoav Gallant as defence minister.
He expressed hope that president-elect Donald Trump’s victory in the US election would increase the likelihood of Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon being brought to an end.
Citing Trump’s “wish to see the end of the Middle East’s endless wars”, he said:
I believe a window has opened for putting an end to the tragedy in which Israelis, Palestinians and the entire region have been immersed since 7 October.
“Diplomatic solutions are possible to free the hostages, protect civilians and ensure the safety of all,” the French foreign minister wrote on X, shortly before meeting Katz. “It is time to end the tragedy that began on October 7.”
Trump has promised to bring “peace” to the Middle East, but not specified how. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was among the first of the world’s leaders to call Trump with congratulations on Wednesday, has called him the “best friend that Israel has ever had in the White House”.
In this analysis piece, my colleague, Julian Borger, explains why Trump’s election night victory over Kamala Harris has been so welcomed by Netanyahu. Here is an extract from it:
The incoming administration will almost certainly not defend Unrwa. Trump cut off US funding to the agency in 2018 and it was only restored by Biden three years later. The UN and the whole relief effort in the region could well face a funding crisis.
The restoration of Trump also removes a substantial barrier to Israel’s full control and potential annexation of at least part of Gaza and the West Bank. The incoming president has shown himself unburdened by the weight of international law and UN security council resolutions when it comes to territory. His administration recognised Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights in 2019.
Summary of the day so far …
It is approaching 2pm in Beirut, Tel Aviv and Gaza City, 3.30pm in Tehran and 7am in Washington DC. Here are the latest headlines …
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Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that three children are among the latest victims of Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, killed in an attack in the east of Rafah
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Israel’s military has announced it was expanding its ground operation in Gaza, saying that “troops started to operate in the area of Beit Lahia” after, it said, “prior intelligence information and a situational assessment indicating the presence of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure”. Israel said that in the past day it had conducted 110 airstrikes combined in Gaza and Lebanon
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Overnight the IDF released the name of a solider it said was killed in fighting in southern Lebanon
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A 22-year-old Palestinian was reported killed by Israeli security forces in the Tulkarm refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Others were wounded when an Israeli drone attacked the camp
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Lebanon’s transport minister said the country’s only international airport was operating normally after Israeli strikes on the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut, including one on an area near the hub
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Lebanon’s National News Agency reports that during the night at least ten locations were the subject of Israeli airstrikes, while heavy artillery fire continued on locations in the south of the country near the UN-drawn blue line that separates Lebanon and Israel.
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Gali Baharav Miara, the attorney general of Israel, has written to Israel’s high court to say that Benjamin Netanyahu was within his powers to fire defense minister Yoav Gallant earlier this week. The move by Netanyahu sparked protests across Israel and a legal challenge
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Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei has said acts of jihad in Lebanon, Gaza, and Palestine “will definitely lead to the victory of the Resistance Front”
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Iran’s foreign minister has criticised the EU for what he described as a failure to take action over Israel’s “heinous crimes and genocide in Palestine and Lebanon”. Abbas Araqchi was speaking to Finland’s foreign minister Elina Valtonen. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson has said the presidential election result in the US was a chance for a new administration to “review the wrong approaches of the past”
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The Palestinian Authority’s ambassador to the UK, Husam Zomlot, has called on US president-elect Donald Trump to act immediately to intervene in the Middle East conflict, and not wait until he takes office in January. Speaking on Israel’s Channel 12 news, a spokesperson for the US Republican party said she believed Trump wanted the conflict in the Middle East to end with “a decisive victory” for Israel
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The Israeli defence ministry said on Thursday it had signed an agreement to acquire 25 next generation F-15 fighter jets from Boeing as part of a broader package of US aid approved by the outgoing Biden/Harris administration
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French interior minister Bruno Retailleau has said he is not ruling out sanctions against the football club Paris Saint-Germain after their fan unveiled a large “Free Palestine” banner ahead of last night’s Uefa Champions League tie against Spain’s Atlético Madrid
Beirut airport operating normally after ‘minor damage’ from Israeli strike
Lebanon’s transport minister said the country’s only international airport was operating normally after Israeli strikes on the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut, including one on an area near the hub.
Minister Ali Hamie told AFP that planes were taking off and landing without any issue.
The overnight strike in Beirut caused “minor damage” to some buildings but “not inside the terminal building”, an airport official told AFP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to media.
He said the strike had affected a maintenance building belonging to a subsidiary of Middle East Airlines, Lebanon’s national carrier which is practically the only airline still operating flights, although aid deliveries have been using the airport.
A witness to the strike told AFP “The entire car park shook. People were carrying their luggage on their shoulders and running. When I made it to the street there was so much smoke I had to turn the headlights [of my taxi] on.”
Another nearby resident told the agency “We’ve had to flee our homes several times. Sometimes we sleep in the car. Death has become a matter of luck.”
An AFP photographer said a heater factory next to the airport’s perimeter wall had been badly damaged.
Three children in Rafah among Palestinians killed in Gaza by Israeli airstrikes – reports
Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that three children are among the latest victims of Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, killed in an attack in the east of Rafah.
The agency also reports that four people were killed and an unknown number of others wounded when Israeli forces bombed two houses in Jabalia in the north of the Gaza Strip.
Another ten people were reported killed in earlier strikes on Thursday. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
Israel’s military has announced that it was expanding its ground operation in Gaza, saying that “troops started to operate in the area of Beit Lahia” after, it said, “prior intelligence information and a situational assessment indicating the presence of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure.”
Israel said that in the past day it had conducted 110 airstrikes combined in Gaza and Lebanon.
Reporting from Deir el-Balah for Al Jazeera, Hind Khoudary wrote:
The situation continues to be indescribable in the north. We are talking about more than a month of the Israeli army targeting densely populated houses.
Most of the people living in the Jabalia refugee camp evacuated to Beit Lahiya, so these are already displaced Palestinians from Jabalia, and now Israeli forces are targeting them.
Palestinians there say Beit Lahiya and Jabalia have been transformed into rubble after Israeli forces have been bulldozing agricultural land, wiping out and bombing residential houses.
Civil defence teams are also not allowed to enter – so whoever needs to be rescued or taken from under the rubble can’t be assisted.
Gaza’s civil defence said it was the 16th consecutive day that Israeli forces had prohibited access to the north of Gaza.
Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei has been speaking this morning, and his social media account has just posted this brief summary of his words, in which he said that victory over Israel was assured.
The post, in English, states:
These acts of jihad, which are continuing with strength and power in Lebanon, Gaza, and Palestine today, will definitely lead to the victory of the Resistance Front. This is what we understand from the overall events and also from what God has promised.
These acts of jihad, which are continuing with strength and power in Lebanon, Gaza, and Palestine today, will definitely lead to the victory of the Resistance Front. This is what we understand from the overall events and also from what God has promised.
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) November 7, 2024
