Israel’s siege of northern Gaza enters 19th day
- At least two bodies have been retrieved from under the rubble of a residential building in Beit Lahiya after it was bombed by Israeli forces, the enclave’s civil defence has said.
- Gaza’s Health Ministry has appealed to the international community to send blankets as the colder months approach, saying that the blankets they have are being used as shrouds for the dead.
Israeli army says it killed prominent Hezbollah air unit member
The Israeli army has said it killed Khalil Muhammad Amhaz, a Hezbollah fighter central to the group’s air unit. The assassination took place on Tuesday in an attack in the Hermel district in the northeastern Baalbek region, it added.
The unit is also responsible for drone attacks, the military said.
Lufthansa suspends flights to Beirut, Tehran until early 2025
Lufthansa Group has extended the suspension of its flights to Tehran and Beirut until early next year, the group comprising the German flag carrier said amid concerns of a wider conflict in the Middle East.
Flights to Tehran will be suspended till January 31, 2025, and to Beirut till February 28, 2025, said the group, which also includes SWISS and Austrian Airlines.
Blinken urges Israel to move towards Saudi normalisation
Blinken says that Israel should seize the “incredible opportunity” to normalise relations with Saudi Arabia, a process halted by the war in Gaza.
“There remains, despite everything that’s happened, an incredible opportunity in this region to move in a totally different direction,” he said before leaving Tel Aviv for Riyadh, adding: “Saudi Arabia would be right at the heart of that, and that includes potentially normalisation of relations with Israel.”
‘Now is the time’ to end Gaza war: Blinken
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has urged Israel to use the opportunity created by its success in dismantling much of Hamas’s capacity in Gaza and the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to reach a longer-term solution to the conflict.
“Now is the time to turn those successes into enduring, strategic success,” Blinken said, adding that this includes the return of all captives and an end to the war “with an understanding of what will follow”.
Blinken added that Israel should avoid “greater escalation” in its response to Iran’s October 1 missile attack.
“It’s also very important that Israel respond in ways that do not create greater escalation,” the secretary of state told reporters in Israel before leaving for Saudi Arabia, the next stop on his Middle East tour.
Civilians flee Lebanon’s Tyre after Israeli evacuation warning
Lebanese civilians have fled the southern city of Tyre after the Israeli army issued warnings for residents to evacuate large parts of the city, which is home to thousands of displaced people.
“The situation is very bad, we’re evacuating people,” said Mortada Mhanna, who heads Tyre’s disaster management unit.
Bilal Kashmar, the unit’s media officer, told AFP news agency that many were fleeing the city and heading towards the suburbs.
“You could say that the entire city of Tyre is being evacuated,” he said, adding that the once vibrant southern hub had already been emptied of most of its residents.
Only about 14,500 people were still in Tyre on Tuesday, thousands of them displaced from other parts of the south, he told AFP.
“Some families, who had not left the city of Tyre before, began leaving their homes to stay clear from areas that the Israeli enemy threatened to target,” Lebanon’s official National News Agency said.
Hospitals are beacons of hope and must be protected: Red Cross official
Shawky Amine Eddine, from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Lebanon, says medical facilities must be protected during armed conflict.
“Hospitals are beacons of hope and sanctuary of human life – places where life is meant to be safe,” Eddine told Al Jazeera.
“That is why under international humanitarian law, hospitals and medical personnel are assigned exclusively for medical purposes and must be respected and protected,” Eddine said.
The ICRC deployed a surgical team in the Rafik Hariri University Hospital, Lebanon’s biggest public health facility, to establish a trauma centre to care for the wounded and to relieve some of the healthcare professionals who have been responding nonstop for the past couple of weeks.
On Tuesday, at least 13 people, including a child, were killed in an Israeli air strike near the facility in southern Lebanon. At least 57 people were wounded.
“I would like to take this chance to remind all parties of their obligation under humanitarian law that they must respect these obligations – doctors and nurses must be spared because they cannot save life while they worry for their own,” he added.
Palestinian man dies after being shot by Israeli forces near Jenin
The Palestinian man, named as Shadi Kamil, has succumbed to his injuries after being shot by Israeli forces in the city of Qabatiya, south of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, the Quds News Network reports.
Israeli forces have also shot a second Palestinian man during clashes in the town of Halhul, north of Hebron, Wafa reports. Medical staff have described his condition as “moderate”.
Hezbollah says it targeted Israeli army base near Tel Aviv
Hezbollah says it bombed an Israeli military intelligence base in the suburbs of Tel Aviv.
The message on the group’s Telegram channel comes soon after sirens sounded in areas surrounding Tel Aviv and Haifa.
The Israeli army said it intercepted two rockets launched from Lebanon. No casualties or damage were reported.
