Live: Five Palestinian journalists killed, Gaza media office says
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A Saudi-owned news channel has come under fire after it aired a report last week characterising Hamas and Hezbollah leaders as “terrorists”.
The report by the MBC broadcaster, which sparked a fierce backlash online, branded several groups and individuals as “the faces of terrorism,” including slain Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar, along with the recently killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, killed in 2020, and al-Qaeda and its late leader Osama bin Laden, killed by US forces in 2011.
Saudi Arabia's media authority ordered an investigation into MBC after the backlash, saying the report violated its media policy.
It added regulators are “continuously monitoring the extent to which media outlets adhere to the kingdom’s media regulations and content controls and will not be lenient in enforcing the rules on any violators".
The report has since been removed from all platforms.
Read more: Saudi broadcaster sparks outrage after branding Hamas leaders as terrorists
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Tuesday to allegedly work on reviving negotiations for the release of captives and to help end the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
At the same time, it is claimed that Blinken wants to moderate Israel's anticipated response to Iran following recent ballistic missile launches directed at Israel.
US officials consider Blinken's prospects for rejuvenating ceasefire negotiations - significantly hindered in July -to be relatively low, even after the recent death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
During his visit, Blinken is expected to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog.
The Israeli military has declared a state of emergency in the Tel Aviv area, and all air traffic at Ben Gurion Airport has been halted, according to reports from Al Jazeera Arabic citing Israeli media.
Earlier reports indicated that Hezbollah claimed to have bombed the Nirit area in the suburbs of Tel Aviv with missiles, causing significant explosions.
Israeli media reports that 16 soldiers who were injured during fighting in southern Lebanon have been transferred to Ziv Hospital in Safed.
The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for bombing the "Stella Maris" naval base, located northwest of Haifa.
Hezbollah also shared a photo on its Telegram channel, stating that a missile struck an area north of Caesarea, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home is located, though it did not explicitly claim responsibility for the attack.
Earlier reports indicated Hezbollah launched a missile salvo at the Glilot military base near Tel Aviv, as well as another attack on a Tel Aviv suburb.
Israeli authorities have declared a state of emergency in the Tel Aviv area, but no casualties have been reported.
The Israeli military launched a drone strike on a group of Palestinians in Beit Lahiya, a city in northern Gaza, killing at least 15 people, according to a report by the Wafa news agency.
Amongst the dead are women and children, with several others injured, Wafa reported.
The Wafa news agency reports that Israeli forces targeted Jabalia Preparatory School with "artillery shelling," killing at least 10 people and wounding 30 others.
The school, located in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, was serving as a shelter for displaced Palestinians.
In a separate incident, three people were killed and several others injured after Israeli forces bombed a shelter for displaced Palestinians in the centre of Beit Hanoon, another city in northern Gaza, according to Wafa.
At least 640 Palestinians have been killed since Israel began its siege of northern Gaza 17 days ago.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is once again travelling to the Middle East as Israel's war on Gaza intensifies, alongside continued attacks in Lebanon.
"On my way to Israel and other stops in the Middle East for intensive discussions about the importance of ending the war in Gaza, returning the hostages to their families, and alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people," Blinken shared on social media.
This marks Blinken's 11th visit to the region since the Gaza conflict began in October of last year.
President Joe Biden hs refused to halt weapons transfers and impose conditions on aid to Israel amid its military campaign in Gaza.
Washington remains firmly supportive of Israel's wars, providing at least $3.8 billion in annual military aid, with the Biden administration recently approving an additional $14 billion to support the Gaza war onslaught.
Good morning Middle East Eye readers,
Here are the latest updates from the Israeli war on Gaza and Lebanon:
- Lebanon’s health ministry reports that Israeli air strikes have killed four people and wounded 24 in at least 13 attacks targeting three sites in southern Beirut
- Sahel General Hospital is being evacuated after Israel claimed a Hezbollah bunker filled with cash was hidden beneath the facility – a charge denied by the hospital's director
- Israel’s military says a strike in Damascus has killed a Hezbollah commander involved in transferring weapons from Iran
- The head of Unrwa, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, accuses Israel of preventing humanitarian aid from reaching northern Gaza, which remains under siege for over two weeks
- Gaza's health ministry reports that Israeli forces continue to encircle the last three functioning hospitals in the north of the Strip
- Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin confirms the deployment of an advanced US missile defence system in Israel, aimed at boosting the country's attack capabilities
Good evening Middle East Eye readers,
On Monday Israel launched 13 strikes across southern Beirut, in one of the deadliest night's for the Lebanese capital in days. One Israeli strike targeted the parking lot of the Rafik Hariri Hospital and killed at least 4 people.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza, particularly in the enclave’s north, continued to deteriorate. Meanwhile, at least seven Palestinians were killed and 25 wounded by an Israeli strike in the Sheikh Ridwan neighbourhood of central Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials.
Here's what else you need to know about today's developments:
- The White House said it was "deeply concerned" by an intelligence leak that showed Israel preparing to attack Iran
- The US has launched a review of an Israeli military unit over alleged human rights violations, Axios has reported
- On a visit to Beirut, US envoy Amos Hochstein said fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has "escalated out of control”
- Israel said it has killed 2,000 Hezbollah members since October 2023 and destroyed 70 percent of its missiles
- A female Israeli captive held prisoner by Hamas has been killed in a combat zone in northern Gaza, a senior source in Hamas's armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, told Al Jazeera
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is slated to arrive in Israel on Tuesday in what is likely to be a final effort by the Biden administration to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza before the 2024 US elections.
Blinken wrote on X that he is visiting Israel and other countries in the region “for intensive discussions about the importance of ending the war in Gaza, returning the hostages to their families, and alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people.”
The humanitarian crisis caused by Israel's offensives on Gaza and Lebanon has deteriorated so much that the heads of the United Nations World Food Programme and UN's children's agency Unicef privately appealed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a reprieve, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Monday.
"Effective and meaningful humanitarian action is possible with your political will and commitment," Unicef Executive Director Catherine Russell and WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain wrote in a letter to Netanyahu earlier in October.
The direct appeal underscores how Israel has brushed aside pleas from other world leaders to address the crisis and the US's decision not to wield leverage to change Israel's behavior.
"We call on your support, as Prime Minister, to ensure that the government of Israel upholds its obligations and commitments to enable effective emergency relief operations, and to protect the safety and security of our staff and the civilians they serve," the letter said.
The head of the Norwegian Refugee Council decried the scale of Israel's bombardment in the Gaza Strip as "truly shocking".
Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said NRC workers in Gaza City were able to speak with Palestinians who fled northern Gaza, which is under tight siege.
"Testimonies they heard from people there included elderly parents unable to reach the bodies of their dead children for burial, of the sick & desperate with zero access to essential medicine, & of people now destitute having spent entire life savings just trying to survive," he wrote on X.
Lebanon’s health ministry accused Israel of conducting a "hostile raid" on Rafik Hariri Hospital in Beirut, even as it said healthcare workers would be deterred from their work.
“The ongoing Israeli aggression against Lebanon records a series of daily attacks that affect the Lebanese health sector. The latest of these occurred this evening with the targeting of two major hospitals in the capital and Mount Lebanon,” the ministry said in a statement.
“After the Israeli enemy threatened the Sahel Hospital in the southern suburbs of Beirut, which was still partially operational despite extremely difficult security conditions, a hostile raid hit one of the entrances of Rafik Hariri University Hospital," the statement said, adding that the hospital continues to operate normally.
Lebanese state-run media reported 13 air strikes on Monday evening on Beirut's southern suburbs, in one of the most intense nights of Israeli attacks in weeks.
"Thirteen strikes have been launched so far by Israeli warplanes on the southern suburbs of Beirut," the National News Agency said.
The strikes come shortly after US envoy Amos Hochstein wrapped up meetings in the Lebanese capital.
