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
Key events
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.
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 …
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
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
Overnight the IDF released the name of a solider it said was killed in fighting in southern Lebanon
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
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
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.
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
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”
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”
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
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
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
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.
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 In Israel there has been some legal challenge to Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision earlier this week to fire defense minister Yoav Gallant and replace him foreign minister Israel Katz, but that appears to have run out of road.
Gali Baharav Miara, the attorney general of Israel, who has had her own recent clashes with Netanyahu, has written to Israel’s high court to back the decision to sack him, saying that the prime minister has broad authority to fire a minister of government, and that the court’s ability to intervene is limited.
Speaking on Israel’s Channel 12 news, a spokesperson for the US Republican party said she believed that president-elect Donald Trump wanted the conflict in the Middle East to end with “a decisive victory” for Israel.
Asked about comments that Trump made this week, when he said “I’m not going to start a war, I’m going to stop wars”, Elizabeth Pipko said:
I would say he expects [Israel] to end it by winning it, one hundred percent, that’s how he always talks about ending wars.
Donald Trump always says he wants less innocent people to die — that is his stance whether we’re talking about the war in Gaza, whether we’re talking about Russia in Ukraine or anywhere else.
So I do believe he wants the war to end as soon as possible, like all rational people do, but he wants it to end with a decisive victory.
Israel’s military has reported that a short while ago it intercepted a rocket fired into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that a 22-year-old Palestinian was killed by Israeli security forces in the Tulkarm refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The agency adds “an occupation drone bombed sites in the camp twice, resulting in five citizens being injured by shrapnel, one of whom was a woman and her disabled son.”
Wafa also reports that Israeli security forces have made 18 arrests in the Israeli-occupied West Bank since last night.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Here are some of the latest images of Lebanon to be sent over the news wires.
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.”
In a read-out of a call between Abbas Araqchi and Finland’s foreing minister Elina Valtonen, the Tasnim news agency reports Araqchi told her that the root cause of conflict in the Middle East was the “war-mongering and genocide” of Israel.
He said Iran “deplored the dual and contradictory approach of some European countries towards the Israeli crimes” and that the EU had taken “no proper action to deal with those law violations.”
Tasnim reports that Valtonen expressed concern over the humanitarian crisis in the region, and hoped that peace could be restored by continued talks among the parties.
The National News Agency in Lebanon reports that a 20th plane load of humanitarian aid from Saudi Arabia has landed in Beirut.
More than one million Lebanese people are believed to have been internally displaced since Israel stepped up attacks it claims are targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Tens of thousands of Israelis have also been forced from their homes in northern Israel by near constant rocket fire coming from inside Lebanon.
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.
The Times of Israel reports that, speaking to Sud Radio, Retailleau described the banner as “unacceptable”, and said on the issue of punishment “I am not ruling out anything. I will demand explanations from PSG.”
The club has said it had no advance knowledge of the banner. Alongside the “Free Palestine” message another banner saying “War on the pitch, but peace in the world”, and then later, during the match, another banner reading “Does a child’s life in Gaza mean less than another?” was displayed.
France are due to play Israel at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis on the outskirts of Paris on 14 November.
Israel’s military has posted to its official Telegram channel to claim that the targets it recently struck in the densely populated Beirut suburbs were Hezbollah “command centres and terrorist infrastructure sites.”
In the message Israel claimed that “numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including issuing advance warnings to the civilian population in the area,” and said the location of the targets was “a further example of how Hezbollah systematically embedded its military infrastructure in civilian areas.”
The claims have not been independently verified.
The IDF had issued an instruction for civilians to leave the area yesterday. About 1.2 million people are already believed to have been internally displaced by Israeli attacks inside Lebanon according to Lebanese authority figures.
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 Al Arabiya News, Zomlot said:
There is no time to waste now. And we do not expect president-elect Trump to wait until January. That will not be delivering his promise. That will be the worst start. Because people are losing their lives in huge numbers. Their livelihoods are being destroyed. So, we need it now and this is the real test.
Zomlot admitted that Palestinians had a mixed experience during Trump’s first term in office, saying “President Trump at that time promised peace. However, what we received was not exactly what we would accept, and we made our position absolutely bluntly clear.”
He said that the whole world knew the cause of the conflict, and that the US should actively pursue the cause of Palestinian statehood. He told viewers:
The root cause is very well known to the world and to everyone. The root cause is the illegal occupation, is the illegal colonisation, the besiegement, the subjugation of the people, the system of apartheid that is imposed on the Palestinian people for decades.
Our engagement has got to be based on a US position that is clear to be in alignment with international law, with international consensus, clear that it wants to establish a state of Palestine. If the new administration goes with that, of course they will have partners in us.
France sees ‘window’ to end wars in Gaza and Lebanon after Trump win – minister
Summary of the day so far …
Beirut airport operating normally after ‘minor damage’ from Israeli strike
Three children in Rafah among Palestinians killed in Gaza by Israeli airstrikes – reports
