Live: Five Palestinian journalists killed, Gaza media office says

Lebanon's health ministry said four people including a child were killed on Monday evening in Israeli strikes near the country's biggest public hospital, close to the southern suburbs of Beirut.

"The Israeli enemy strike near the Hariri Hospital killed, in a preliminary toll, four people, including a child, and injured 24," the ministry said, adding it had caused "significant damage to the hospital".

The Israeli military said about 170 projectiles were fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon into Israel on Monday. 

The strikes underscore Hezbollah's ability to keep firing into Israel despite Israeli air strikes that have eliminated senior leadership and weapons facilities. 

"Approximately 170 projectiles that were fired by the Hezbollah terrorist organisation have crossed from Lebanon into Israel today," the Israeli military said in a statement.

A group of approximately 50 Black Muslim leaders have signed a statement urging Black and Muslim American voters to shun Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in her bid for the White House and instead back candidates who support a ceasefire in Gaza and an arms embargo on Israel.

The letter, first reported by Middle East Eye's Umar Farooq, warned voters not to choose Vice President Harris in the upcoming November election over her unwillingness to commit to policy changes that would hold Israel accountable for its ongoing war on Gaza and now Lebanon, which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and Lebanese people.

"Although some Muslim Americans have nevertheless argued that our community must support Vice President Harris because of her positions on domestic issues or their belief that Donald Trump might be even worse on issues like Gaza, we respectfully disagree with their conclusion," the letter said.

"We simply cannot support a candidate who participated in a genocide and now refuses to lay out any plan to end that genocide".

Read More: 'Genocide must be our red line': Black Muslim leaders shun Harris for US president

At least three people were killed and dozens injured by Israeli strikes on Beirut on Monday night local time, a Lebanese security source told Reuters.

Lebanese state media reported earlier that Israeli strikes hit across south Beirut including for the first time in the Ouzai district, shortly after the Israeli army warned residents of several districts to leave.

"An Israeli air strike targeted the Ouzai area. This is the first targeting of the Ouzai district since the start of the Israeli aggression on Lebanon," the National News Agency said.

Lebanese state media also reported strikes on the Haret Hreik neighbourhood, just south of Ouzai, and near Lebanon's largest public hospital.

Iran lashed out at the US on Monday, saying that US President Joe Biden was "instigating, inciting and enabling" an attack on its soil.

Iran's mission to the United Nations cited remarks by Biden in Germany last week, in which he said he knew of Israel's plan to attack Iran. Iran said the US leader had given "tacit approval and explicit support for Israel's unlawful military aggression". 

"The United States will bear full responsibility for its role in instigating, inciting and enabling any acts of aggression by Israel against the Islamic Republic of Iran ... as well as for the catastrophic consequences on regional and international peace and security," Iran's UN mission said in a letter to the UN Security Council. 

An Israeli strike hit near Beirut's Rafik Hariri University Hospital in southern Beirut late on Monday, according to Reuters. 

A source told Reuters the strike hit the hospital's parking lot.

The AFP reported that the strike occurred immediately after Israel issued a forced displacement order for the area. 

Israel has issued a new forced displacement order for southern Beirut. 

The order applied to Haret Hreik and Burj al-Barajneh in southern Beirut.

Former US President Donald Trump criticised his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, for campaigning with Liz Cheney, the daughter of former US Vice President Dick Cheney, an advocate of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq. 

"Arab Voters are very upset that Comrade Kamala Harris, the Worst Vice President in the History of the United States and a Low IQ individual, is campaigning with 'dumb as a rock' War Hawk, Liz Cheney, who, like her father, the man that pushed Bush to ridiculously go to War in the Middle East, also wants to go to War with every Muslim Country known to mankind," he wrote on his Truth social media platform. 

Sixty members of Congress have penned a letter calling on Israel to allow independent access to Gaza for American and international journalists.

"At a time when reliable information is more critical than ever, the restrictions on foreign reporting undermine the very foundation of press freedom and democratic accountability," the lawmakers wrote. 

The letter was spearheaded by Democratic Congressman Jim McGovern. 

The US said it is seeking clarification from Israel after UN peacekeepers (Unifil) said that Israeli tank fire destroyed one of their watchtowers in southern Lebanon over the weekend.

“We’ve asked our colleagues in the IDF for additional information and I will let the Israeli Ministry of Defence answer any questions about those operations,” State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said. 

“We have been clear with all parties that there needs to be protections of Unifil personnel and facilities. Unifil operates in Lebanon under a mandate from the UN Security Council, and these facilities and these individuals must not be harmed,” he added.

The head of Sahel hospital in Beirut's southern suburbs denied an Israeli claim that Hezbollah buried at least half a billion dollars in gold and cash under the building, as he called on Lebanon's army to visit the site and debunk the claim.

Israel earlier said that Hezbollah had buried funds underneath the hospital.

Hospital director Fadi Alameh told Reuters on Monday that the hospital is evacuating patients, following the claim. 

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. 

The Palestinian Civil Defence is clearing bodies from the rubble, with several children believed to be among the casualties. 

The wounded have been taken to al-Ahli Baptist hospital in Gaza City. 

The White House said it was "deeply concerned" by an intelligence leak that showed Israel preparing to attack Iran. 

The leaked pair of highly classified intelligence documents described Israel's preparations for a retaliatory strike on Iran. 

The leak also made a reference to Israel possessing nuclear weapons. 

Israel has rejected a UN request for the fourth day to access the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, according to Al Jazeera. 

Israel has requested the UN's appeal to access the camp to help rescue Palestinians under the rubble of Gaza's destroyed buildings and infrastructure. It has also requested the UN's appeal to allow food and medicine into the besieged camp. 

Israel is conducting what rights groups and activists say is an "extermination mission" in the camp. 

The US has launched a review of an Israeli military unit over alleged human rights violations, Axios has reported.

The investigation is looking at the so-called "Force 100" unit, several members of which are standing trial for allegedly raping a Palestinian at Sde Teiman prison. 

The US submitted a list of questions to the Israeli foreign ministry regarding the alleged human rights violations, Axios said.