Live: Five Palestinian journalists killed, Gaza media office says

Israeli forces stormed the last operational hospital in the besieged north Gaza on Friday after bombing it and killing children inside, according to doctors and media reports. 

The attack on the Kamal Adwan hospital, located in Beit Lahia northwest of Jabalia, was launched around 2am local time, shortly after a WHO delegation left the hospital. 

It began with air strikes targeting the hospital and its courtyards, including the medical oxygen generator, said Dr. Munir al-Bursh, the director general of the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza. 

The bombing led to the death of children inside the hospital and wounded medical staff. 

Israeli troops then raided the hospital around two hours later, calling on all patients, including people in intensive care, to gather in the courtyard. 

READ MORE: Israeli forces storm north Gaza hospital after bombing it and killing children

An Israeli strike on the southeastern Lebanese town of Hasbaya hit a compound where journalists were staying, killing three media workers.

Pan-Arab channel Al Mayadeen said that Ghassan Najar, one of its camera operators, and broadcast technician Mohammed Rida were killed in the strike.

Additionally, Hezbollah's Al Manar TV said that its own camera operator, Wissam Qassim, was also killed.

Hello Middle East Eye readers. On Thursday, Israeli forces launched a major attack on the besieged area of Jabalia in northern Gaza.

The Palestinian civil defence said there was a "massacre" against Palestinians in the Jabalia refugee camp, with more than 150 killed and injured as Israel bombed more than a dozen civilian buildings.

The group said it was no longer responding to rescue civilians after Israel launched attacks on first responders.

In Lebanon, Israel launched fresh new strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut, just shortly after issuing a forced displacement notice for the area's residents.

Israel announced that five of its soldiers were killed in a single day while fighting in Lebanon.

Here's what else you need to know from today's developments:

• The director of the World Health Organisation has said that over 100 health facilities in Lebanon have been forced to close as a result of Israel's war on the country.

• Hamas said that it is ready to stop fighting in Gaza if Israel agrees to a ceasefire deal.

• Lebanon's government said three children are among 12 killed by Israeli strikes on eastern Lebanon.

• The anti-Zionist activist group Jewish Voice for Peace has said Israel is conducting "a holocaust" in the Gaza Strip.

• The chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps called out the US's deployment of a Thaad missile defence system to Israel, saying it wouldn't be able to defend against an Iranian attack.

• Israel "directly" targeted Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, according to hospital director Hussam Abu Safia.

• Israeli soldiers threw Palestinian children into a pit and circled them with a tank, spewing dust and sand into the hole, a Palestinian journalist reported.

• Germany has approved over $100m in military exports to Israel in the last three months.

• At least four people have been killed and others injured in an Israeli air strike on al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza.

• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced $135m in humanitarian aid to Gaza and the West Bank. The US has spent much of the past year taking credit for what Palestinians say is highly inadequate aid reaching Gaza.

Israel's military on Thursday evening said it killed “a Hamas commander”, alleging he was also an employee of the United Nations refugee for Palestinian refguees (Unrwa).

Israel accused the man of being a part of the 7 October 2023 attacks on southern Israel.

Unrwa confirmed the man, Muhammad Abu Atiwi, was a staff member and that his name was included on a list sent by Israel's government to the agency, alleging the people on the list were Unrwa employees and members of Palestinian armed groups including Hamas.

The refugee agency said no evidence had been “authenticated and corroborated” to prove any Unrwa staff members were involved in the 7 October attacks.

The director of the World Health Organisation has said that over 100 health facilities in Lebanon have been forced to close as a result of Israel's war on the country.

This is roughly one-third of all operating health facilities in Lebanon.

"Hospitals and health workers are overwhelmed, and also being attacked," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X on Thursday.

The conflict in #Lebanon has forced the closure of over 100 health facilities, about 1/3 of the country’s total. Hospitals and health workers are overwhelmed, and also being attacked. @WHO calls for:
1. safe, unhindered, and sustained humanitarian access; 2. financing the @UN…

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) October 24, 2024

At least three Palestinians were killed in an Israeli bombing of Khan Younis in Gaza, according to several Palestinian news outlets. A further 20 people were wounded and brought to the Nasser medical complex.

Lebanon state media said an Israeli strike hit Beirut's southern suburbs on Thursday, shortly after Israel issued a forced displacement notice. 

"Israeli warplanes launched a new strike a short while ago on the Choueifat" area, Lebanon's official National News Agency said.

AFPTV footage showed a plume of smoke rising from the targeted site.

The Israeli army on Thursday issued a new forced displacement order for southern Beirut, telling residents in parts of two neighbourhoods to immediately leave. 

"You are located near facilities and sites belonging to Hezbollah, which the Israeli Defence Forces will be targeting in the near future," said the Israeli military's Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee. 

Hamas said on Thursday that it is ready to stop fighting in Gaza if Israel agrees to a ceasefire deal, an official with the group told AFP. 

Earlier on Thursday, Hamas officials met with Egyptian officials in Cairo to discuss "ideas and proposals" related to a truce, according to Arabic media reports. 

"Hamas has expressed readiness to stop the fighting, but Israel must commit to a ceasefire, withdraw from the Gaza Strip, allow the return of displaced people, agree to a serious prisoner exchange deal and allow the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza," the Hamas official told AFP. 

Israel said on Thursday that its Mossad spy chief would meet his CIA counterpart, Egyptian and Qatari officials in Doha on Sunday for truce talks. 

Middle East Eye reported last week that the White House was weighing to send CIA director Bill Burns to the region to revive ceasefire talks. 

Israel's military announced the death on Thursday of a fifth soldier who died fighting in southern Lebanon. 

Israel named four soldiers killed fighting in Lebanon earlier in the day. 

Lebanon's government said on Thursday that three children are among 12 killed by Israeli strikes on eastern Lebanon. 

The announcement comes as Israel issues a new forced displacement order for residents of several apartments in southern Beirut. 

Israel has launched a fresh ground and air attack on Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip, according to Arabic media reports on Thursday. 

The attacks are taking place in the Al-Manara area of Khan Younis. 

The Palestinian civil defence, which earlier this week announced it had been forced to suspend operations in northern Gaza as a result of Israeli attacks, said it cannot respond to distress calls from civilians besieged by a fresh Israeli attack on the Jabalia refugee camp. 

The civil defence said the attack left dozens of people killed and wounded. The attack came after Israel bombed 11 civilian buildings in Jabalia. 

"Until now citizens are facing great difficulty in transporting the martyrs and wounded after the occupation disrupted the work of the civil defense and medical services in the northern Gaza Strip," the group said. 

More details are emerging about what the Palestinian civil defence on Thursday said is a "massacre" against Palestinians in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.

"There is talk of more than 150 martyrs and wounded, and no one is intervening to save them," the Palestinian civil defence in Gaza said. 

The group said it could no longer respond to rescue civilians after Israel launched attacks on first responders. 

The activist group Jewish Voice for Peace has said Israel is conducting "a holocaust" in the Gaza Strip. 

The left-leaning, anti-Zionist group, has been critical of Israel's offensive on Gaza for months.  

In a statement on Thursday, the group shared a statement from its Rabbinical Council.

"Many of us have parents, grandparents and great-grandparents who survived or perished in Nazi death marches and we have all grown up in the shadow of the Nazi holocaust. The state of Israel is currently perpetrating a holocaust, the deliberate mass slaughter of Palestinian people, with weapons provided by the US," the statement said.