Live: Over 200 Lebanese children killed in two months of Israeli attacks

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates from the Israeli war on Gaza and Lebanon, now in its 410th day:

• Israeli bombardment across the Gaza Strip continued overnight and into the early hours of the morning, with air strikes reported in the southern city of Rafah, the northern town of Jabalia and the central Nuseirat refugee camp, according to Palestinian reports. 

• Israeli fighter jets also bombed a residential building in the southern suburb of Beirut in a pre-dawn raid, wounding several people. 

• Meanwhile, Israeli troops raided the occupied West Bank city of Jenin also overnight, with heavy clashes with local armed groups reported on local media. 

Our live coverage from Israel's war on Gaza and Lebanon will shortly be closing until tomorrow morning.

Here are some of the day's key developments:

• The Gaza Health Ministry said the death toll in the Strip has now reached 43,922

• More than 103,898 are injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since 7 October attacks

• At least 76 Palestinians were killed and 158 wounded in the last 24 hours

• The death toll in Lebanon from Israeli attacks has reached 3,516, with 14,929 wounded since October 2023, the Lebanese health ministry reported

• A convoy of 109 trucks was violently looted on Nov. 16 after crossing into Gaza, resulting in the loss of 98 trucks, an UNRWA aid official told Reuters on Monday

• Gaza’s interior ministry reported on Monday that at least 20 people were killed in an operation targeting “gangs” accused of looting United Nations aid trucks in the famine-stricken territory, where an Israeli blockade has severely restricted most goods and services

• Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan renewed his call for an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza, emphasising the severe humanitarian crisis in the region

• Lebanon and Hezbollah have agreed to a US ceasefire proposal with Israel, offering some comments on its content, according to a senior Lebanese official. The official described the effort as the most serious attempt yet to end the ongoing conflict

• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that Israel will maintain military operations against Hezbollah, even if a ceasefire agreement is reached in Lebanon

• Amos Hochstein, the US envoy to Lebanon, is expected to travel to the Lebanese capital Beirut on Tuesday, according to Reuters citing Lebanese sources

• Unesco has granted "provisional enhanced protection" to 34 heritage sites in Lebanon, providing stronger legal safeguards amid ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah

• A large fire broke out in downtown Tel Aviv on Monday after air raid sirens sounded across the city. Video footage showed flames engulfing the area, reportedly caused by a rocket strike from Lebanon that hit a shopping centre in Ramat Gan

• Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati has called for the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which was adopted in 2006, to end a month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah and establish a buffer zone in southern Lebanon

The UK's newly elected Labour government continued to export F-35 fighter jet components destined for Israel, despite suspending other arms licences, because of concerns that halting their delivery would “undermine US confidence in the UK and Nato”, the UK's high court has heard.

The revelation came in a written submission from the government’s lawyer for a hearing in the legal challenge brought by two organisations, Al Haq and the Global Legal Action Network, over British arms exports to Israel.

According to the submission from barrister James Eadie, Defence Secretary John Healey advised the Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds on 18 July that it would not be possible to suspend licences for the components for Israel’s use “without wide impacts to the whole F-35 programme”.

“Such a suspension of F-35 licensing leading to the consequent disruption for partner aircraft, even for a brief period, would have a profound impact on international peace and security,” Healey advised Reynolds.

“It would undermine US confidence in the UK and Nato at a critical juncture in our collective history and set back relations. Our adversaries would not wait to take advantage of any perceived weakness, having global ramifications.”

Read more: UK government feared Israel arms ban would 'undermine US confidence'

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that Israel will maintain military operations against Hezbollah, even if a ceasefire agreement is reached in Lebanon.  

“The most important thing is not [the deal that] will be laid on paper,” Netanyahu told the Israeli parliament. “We will be forced to ensure our security in the north and to systematically carry out operations against Hezbollah’s attacks … even after a ceasefire.”  

Israel has emphasized that any truce must ensure the absence of Hezbollah forces in southern Lebanon near the Israeli border.  

“We will not allow Hezbollah to return to the state it was in on October 6, 2023”—the day before its Palestinian ally Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel—Netanyahu said.

Lebanon’s health ministry reported that the death toll from the Israeli strike on Beirut's Zuqaq al-Blat area remains at five but is expected to rise.  

The number of wounded has increased to 31, up from 24, while two people remain missing, the ministry added.

On Wednesday, the US Senate will hold a vote on whether to approve the Pentagon’s request to send another $20bn in armaments to Israel, among them 120mm tank rounds, high explosive mortar rounds, F-15IA fighter aircraft, and joint direct attack munitions, known as JDAMs, which are precision systems for otherwise indiscriminate or "dumb" bombs. 

Separate resolutions are being brought forward for each weapon type, including its cost to US taxpayers. However, together, the initiative is known as the Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRDs). 

Congress, as the nation’s purse, regulates the sale and export of weapons through the Foreign Assistance Act and the Arms Export Control Act. By law, it cannot transfer weapons to governments or entities committing human rights violations.

But year after year, Washington has made its ally Israel the exception. 

As a result of intensive lobbying from groups like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and The Democratic Majority For Israel, no arms transfer to Israel has been blocked.

Read more: US Senate to vote on Bernie Sanders-led effort to stop arms sales to Israel

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan renewed his call for an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza, emphasising the severe humanitarian crisis in the region. 

“Once again, I call for an immediate and lasting ceasefire in the face of the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Gaza,” Erdogan said during his speech at the G20 leaders’ summit in Brazil.

Highlighting the dire situation, Erdogan noted that 96 percent of Gaza’s population lacks access to clean food and water. 

“The risk of famine in Gaza has reached disaster levels according to international classifications,” he said. “With the increasing attacks and the approaching winter season, the conditions of the people in Gaza are worsening by the day.” 

Lebanon and Hezbollah have agreed to a US ceasefire proposal with Israel, offering some comments on its content, according to a senior Lebanese official. The official described the effort as the most serious attempt yet to end the ongoing conflict.

Ali Hassan Khalil, an aide to parliament speaker Nabih Berri, confirmed that Lebanon had submitted a written response to the US ambassador on Monday. White House envoy Amos Hochstein is expected to arrive in Beirut to continue negotiations. 

"Lebanon presented its comments on the paper in a positive atmosphere," Khalil said, without elaborating on the details. He said that Lebanon’s comments reaffirm adherence to UN Resolution 1701 and all its provisions.

Khalil noted that the initiative’s success depends on Israel’s willingness to cooperate. If Israel does not want a solution, "it could make 100 problems," he said. He also criticised Israel for escalating its bombardment of Beirut and Hezbollah-controlled areas, stating, "This won't affect our position."

There has been no immediate response from Israel.

Gaza’s interior ministry reported on Monday that at least 20 people were killed in an operation targeting “gangs” accused of looting United Nations aid trucks in the famine-stricken territory, where an Israeli blockade has severely restricted most goods and services.

The ministry stated, “More than 20 members of gangs involved in stealing aid trucks were killed in a security operation carried out by security forces in cooperation with tribal committees.”

It added, “Today’s security operation will not be the last. The phenomenon of truck thefts… has severely impacted society and led to signs of famine in southern Gaza.”

The ministry described the operation as “the beginning of a broad security campaign that has been long planned and will expand to include everyone involved in the theft of aid trucks.”

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric confirmed in a press briefing that only 11 of the 109 trucks in the convoy reached their destination.

The US Treasury Department on Monday announced it was imposing sanctions on an Israeli settler group accused of "perpetrating violence" in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli settler violence against Palestinians has risen over the past several years.

The sanctions target the Amana settler group, which the Treasury Department describes as a "key part of the Israeli extremist settlement movement".

The department said the group also "maintains ties to various persons previously sanctioned by the US government and its partners for perpetrating violence in the West Bank".

The sanctions will also target one of Amana's subsidiaries, Binyanei Bar Amana, which the US said is a company that builds and sells homes in Israeli settlements and settler outposts.

The UK imposed sanctions on Amana last month.

Read more: US imposes sanctions on Israeli settler group over violence against Palestinians

A fire broke out in central Tel Aviv after a missile strike, according to the district police commander. 

Israeli media outlet Kann News reported that the police commander said, “It is not fragments of an interceptor, but a heavy missile hit.” This follows reports of a long-range missile fired from Lebanon that Israel's air force allegedly intercepted.

The Israeli military confirmed that shrapnel from the intercepted missile fell in the Ramat Gan area of Tel Aviv, sparking a significant fire in a building.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati has called for the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which was adopted in 2006, to end a month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah and establish a buffer zone in southern Lebanon.

“All countries and decision-makers are required to end the bloody and destructive Israeli aggression on Lebanon and implement international resolutions, most notably Resolution 1701,” Mikati said in a post on X on Monday, shortly after an Israeli strike on Beirut’s Zuqaq al-Blat neighbourhood.

The resolution has resurfaced in discussions as part of a US proposal for a ceasefire agreement, aiming to halt 13 months of ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

One of the world’s leading scholars on genocide, Willian Schabas, on Monday denounced British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy for refusing to label Israel's actions in Gaza as genocide.

“These people are hypocrites. They speak with a forked tongue. They do not interpret or apply the Genocide Convention in a consistent manner,” Schabas told Middle East Eye.

“The statements of British parliamentarians vary depending upon whether they are referring to their friends or their enemies,” said Schabas, who is president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars and the author of more than 20 books on genocide and other international law topics.

Last week, Starmer was asked to share his definition of genocide and to outline what action he was taking to save the lives of people in Gaza.

In response, he said he was "well aware of the definition of genocide" and that this explains why he has "never described or referred to [the situation in Gaza] as genocide". 

Read more: Top genocide scholar calls Starmer and Lammy ‘hypocrites’ over Gaza stance

The Israel Electric Corporation reported on Monday that a high-voltage line was damaged, disrupting the power supply in the affected area.

Following the attack on the electricity infrastructure in the Bnei Brak Ramat Gan area, the company said, "A high-voltage line was damaged, affecting the electricity supply in the streets near the strike."

The company added, “The teams are on their way to repair the damage to the network and restore electricity to the residents.”

Four people were injured when shrapnel struck a main street in a Tel Aviv suburb. 

The fragments fell after the Israeli military intercepted a missile launched from Lebanon over central Israel, according to the ambulance service.