Live: Lebanon condemns 'deliberate' Israeli strike on Nabatieh which killed mayor

Members of the Palestinian civil defence in the Gaza Strip are trapped in the northern district alongside tens of thousands of citizens who have been under Israeli siege and attacks for 11 days, the organisation has said. 

"The Israeli occupation army continues to target our crews with drones to hinder our access to the wounded," the civil defence said on Tuesday, according to Al Arabi TV. 

"A large number of victims are still under the rubble and we are unable to reach them." 

The death toll from Israeli air strikes on various parts of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday morning have killed at least 45 Palestinians, medical source said, according to Al Jazeera Arabic. 

The death toll includes those killed as of 10:20 am local time.

Deadly Israeli bombardment was reported in Jabalia refugee camp, Gaza City, Khan Younis and the Nuseirat refugee camp.

Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, said on Tuesday that Israel deliberately chose to expand what he called its "aggression" to implement pre-planned schemes in the occupied West Bank and Lebanon.

Reporting by Reuters

Good morning Middle East Eye readers, 

Here are the latest updates from the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza and Lebanon, now in its 375th day: 

• Israeli air strikes have killed at least 29 Palestinians in separate attacks across the Gaza Strip in the early hours of Tuesday, according to Al Jazeera Arabic. Strikes were reported in Khan Younis, Gaza City and the Nuseirat refugee camp. 

• Hezbollah said its fighters were engaged in close-quarters combat with Israeli soldiers in the Rab Thalathine village in southern Lebanon at dawn on Tuesday. The Lebanese movement said clashes were ongoing. 

• The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will listen to the United States but will decide its actions according to its own national interest, according to Reuters, after a Washington Post report said Netanyahu had told US President Joe Biden's administration Israel would strike Iranian military, not nuclear or oil, targets.

Our live coverage from Gaza and Lebanon will shortly be closing until tomorrow morning.

Here are some of the day's key developments:

• Israeli forces have killed at least 62 Palestinians and wounded 220 in the past 24 hours, according to the Palestinian health ministry

• This brings the death toll since 7 October 2023 to 42,289, with more than 98,684 wounded and at least 10,000 still missing, likely dead and buried under the rubble

• A pre-dawn Israeli air strike hit the yards of the al-Aqsa Martyr's hospital in the central Gaza Strip's Deir al-Balah on Monday, causing a fire in makeshift tents used by displaced people

• The fire engulfed several shelters while people slept inside. Eyewitness described civilians burning to death with people unable to stop the fire due to lack of equipment

• Gaza endured "another night of horror" after Israeli forces shelled a hospital courtyard, leading to a deadly fire in makeshift tents, and bombed a school designated as a polio vaccination site, killing 22 people, Unrwa said on Monday

• The number of journalists killed by the Israeli army in Gaza has risen to 177 following the death of photojournalist Ayman Muhammad Ruwaished

• The Lebanese Red Cross said that Israel's attack on a building in Aitou in north Lebanon's Zgharta district killed at least 18 people

• The Lebanese health ministry reported that 21 people were killed and eight wounded during an Israeli air raid on the town of Ayto in northern Lebanon

• The European Union's member states have taken too long to condemn Israel's attacks on Unifil peacemakers in Lebanon, the European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Monday, describing the attacks as "completely unacceptable"

• Israeli shelling on a food distribution centre killed 10 Palestinian aid seekers on Monday in the Jabalia refugee camp, which has been under an Israeli siege blocking the entry of food and water for nine days

• Italy, Britain, France, and Germany issued a statement on Monday demanding Israel stop its attacks on the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (Unifil), calling the actions a violation of international humanitarian law

• The spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, John Kirby, said on Monday without presenting evidence that Hamas was "operating near the hospital" where Palestinians were burned alive by Israeli strike

A fire has erupted in a building located in the al-Faluja area, west of Jabalia camp, following an Israeli airstrike, Al Jazeera reported.

Reports from the ground indicate that the building is home to children and elderly women, but rescue teams are currently unable to reach the site due to ongoing risks from the attack. 

Australia has advised its citizens to avoid traveling to Israel and urged those already there to leave while commercial flights are still operational, Reuters reported.

The warning follows Israel's ongoing wars on Gaza and Lebanon.

"The Australian government has serious concerns the security situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories could deteriorate rapidly," Foreign Minister Penny Wong stated in a post on X late Monday.

Officials from the US Agency for International Development (USAid) have been attending daily meetings to discuss humanitarian aid to Gaza at an Israeli military base where Israeli guards have allegedly tortured Palestinian detainees, according to a report on Monday by The Guardian.

Citing three USAid officials, The Guardian reported that Israel's humanitarian relief hub, known as the joint coordination board (JCB), has been operating out of Sde Teiman since 29 July, and coordinates its logistics with the US, United Nations and "a number of international NGOs".

An internal USAid document reviewed by the newspaper referred to “the present JCB location on Sde Teiman IDF base”, which is located near Beersheba in southern Israel.

Sources told The Guardian that two USAid officials hold daily meetings with Israeli and UN officials at Sde Teiman.

In a request for comment, USAid told Middle East Eye: "Due to security considerations, we do not comment on the specific locations of our staff."

Read more: US officials held meetings at Sde Teiman prison where Palestinians were tortured by Israel: Report

Al Jazeera Arabic sources have reported that Israeli forces are planting explosive barrels in neighbourhoods in al-Faluja, west of Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, with the intent of demolishing residents' homes.

The sources added that dozens of families, including many women, children and the wounded, are being besieged in al-Faluja.

Medical teams are unable to reach or remove the injured due to ongoing Israeli drone and artillery fire.

Israeli forces are reportedly targeting anyone attempting to move in the areas of Jabalia al-Balad, al-Nazla, Beit Lahia, and Beit Hanoun.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on international leaders to apply pressure on Israel to stop its military operations in Gaza and Lebanon.

In an address to supporters in Johannesburg, Ramaphosa highlighted the urgent need for an "immediate ceasefire", the release of captives, and the provision of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.

He also announced that South Africa will soon present its case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and condemned the Israeli war on Gaza, calling it a "genocide".

Additionally, Ramaphosa expressed concern over Israel’s air strikes in Lebanon, calling for an end to the attacks in neighbouring countries.

Sha'ban al-Dalou, a 19-year-old software engineering student at Al-Azhar University in Gaza and a memoriser of the Quran, was burned alive after an Israeli air strike hit Al-Aqsa Hospital which killed three others.

Sha’ban, who was forcefully displaced last year after Israeli forces destroyed his home, had just started his university studies in September 2023.

Last week, Sha'ban miraculously survived an Israeli strike on a mosque that claimed 20 lives.

Sha'ban and his mother perished in a fire after Israel attacked the hospital engulfing the tent camp for displaced civilians in Gaza.

The spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, John Kirby, said on Monday without presenting evidence that Hamas was "operating near the hospital" where Palestinians were burned alive by Israeli strikes. 

Kirby said the White House has asked Israel "to do more to avoid civilian casualties" in the Gaza Strip, after Israeli strikes set on fire the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah which killed four people and wounded scores of others. 

"The images and video of what appear to be displaced civilians burning alive following an Israeli air strike are deeply disturbing and we have made our concerns clear to the Israeli government," Kirby said.

"Israel has a responsibility to do more to avoid civilian casualties - and what happened here is horrifying, even if Hamas was operating near the hospital in an attempt to use civilians as human shields," added Kirby, without giving evidence of whether Hamas was indeed operating in the vicinity.

A fresh Israeli air strike targeted a house in the Jabalia refugee camp, resulting in the deaths of at least four Palestinians.

The attack struck a home near al-Hindi Mosque, located in the al-Faluja area of the camp.

Former speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi criticised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he has "never believed in peace or a two-state solution".

Speaking at London’s Chatham House, the veteran Democratic politician expressed doubts about the viability of a two-state solution, particularly in light of Israel's ongoing war on Gaza, which has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians.

She added that Netanyahu has consistently opposed the peace process and a two-state solution.

No aid has been allowed into northern Gaza since 1 October, a government official in Gaza told Al Jazeera.

While trucks reached Gaza City, they were unable to enter Jabalia camp or the besieged areas.

The official described the situation as "extremely difficult" due to shortages of food and water.

The United Nations is attempting to bring aid into Jabalia, but Israeli forces are blocking access, the official added.