Live: 15 killed in Israeli bombing of camp in central Gaza

The Israeli military on Friday said that two of its soldiers from the elite Golani Brigade had been killed in combat, and two others severely injured in northern Israel, as fighting with Hezbollah fighters continues, Reuters reported.

Israel's army said that two soldiers were killed and 24 others wounded by two drones launched from Iraq towards northern Golan on Tuesday.

The slain soldiers have been named as:

1. Sgt. Daniel Aviv Haim Sofer, 19, a signals officer cadet in the Golani Brigade’s 13th Battalion, from Ashkelon.
2. Cpl. Tal Dror, 19, an IT specialist with the Golani Brigade’s 13th Battalion, from Jerusalem.

An Israeli army probe concluded that two explosive-laden drones were launched from Iraq in the attack on Tuesday, one was shot down by air defences and the second hit an army base in the northern Golan Heights.

Two of the soldiers are seriously wounded, said the army.

Three hospitals in southern Lebanon on Friday announced the suspension of their services due to intensified Israeli air strikes.

Marjayoun Governmental Hospital in the south closed its doors on Friday after its staff was evacuated, according to its director. This came after an Israeli airstrike targeted the hospital’s main entrance, killing four paramedics, according to the National News Agency.

Dr. Mounes Kalakesh, the hospital’s director, stated that the airstrike targeted ambulances at the hospital's main entrance, causing panic among the medical staff and employees. He added, "We had been providing medical services to the area since the war began, but with the shortage of staff, today’s bombing hastened the closure of the hospital."

According to Kalakesh, the hospital had been operating "for four days without an anesthesiologist or lab specialists due to the displacement of people."

The National News Agency reported that the hospital staff had been evacuated and operations ceased. With repeated strikes on paramedics in various areas, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced a series of diplomatic contacts to "pressure the Israeli enemy to allow rescue and relief teams to reach the sites of airstrikes and to facilitate the transport of victims and the wounded." Mikati condemned "the Israeli enemy's violations of international laws and humanitarian norms."

The French government on Friday asked the country's universities to "prevent any risk of unrest" before 7 October, the anniversary of the Hamas-led attack on Israel, and "firmly" condemned recent pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Parisian universities.

In a circular sent to university and higher education presidents, the new French Minister of Higher Education, Patrick Hetzel, warned them of their responsibility in "maintaining order".

The circular reminded them in particular that they are "by virtue of the law, responsible for ‘maintaining order’ and ‘security within the premises of the establishment’" and that it is up to them "to use (their) police powers to prevent any risk of disturbance", "restore order" and "protect users and staff", AFP reported.

The circular also reminds them to report to the courts any "facts (..) appearing sufficiently established and likely to constitute a crime or an offence".

Pro-Palestinian demonstrations took place on Tuesday and Thursday in front of Sciences Po Paris, one of the country's top universities, bringing together around a hundred people, according to the school management.

A demonstration also took place on Thursday in the premises of Inalco (National Institute of Oriental Languages ​​and Civilisations) in Paris, according to the ministry.

Hetzel said in a statement that he "strongly condemns these actions, which go against the principles of neutrality and secularism of the public higher education service."

Government spokesperson Maud Bregeon on Friday called the protests at Sciences Po Paris "unacceptable," asking the management to "take responsibility."

Egypt will evacuate a first batch of nationals from Lebanon on Saturday via the Rafic Hariri Airport in Beirut, the country's embassy in Lebanon said, as Israel continues to bombard the capital and southern Lebanon. 

Egypt's ambassador to Lebanon, Alaa Moussa, said the number of the first batch is 300, and that further flights will be arranged soon, according to the State Information Service. 

Iran will target Israeli energy and gas sites if Israel carries out a counterattack against it, according to comments by Revolutionary Guards deputy commander Ali Fadavi, as reported by the semi-official Iranian news agency SNN on Friday.

"If the occupiers make such a mistake, we will target all their energy sources, installations and all refineries and gas fields," Fadavi was quoted as saying.

Lebanon’s minister of transport Ali Hamieh told Al Jazeera in a live interview that Israel is imposing “an unannounced siege” on Lebanon. 

The minister told Reuters earlier on Friday that an Israeli strike this morning near Lebanon's Masnaa border crossing with Syria cut off a road used by hundreds of thousands of displaced people fleeing Israeli bombardments over the past four days. 

He pointed out that the strike created a four-metre (12 feet) wide crater. The Israeli army has claimed that Hezbollah used the crossing to transport military equipment to Lebanon. 

The Lawyers for Justice Group has condemned the assault of Al Jazeera journalist Laith Jaar by a Palestinian Authority security officer while he was performing his duties.

They highlighted that this incident is part of an ongoing media incitement campaign against Jaar in recent months.

The group is demanding the prosecution of the security officer responsible and the accountability of websites promoting incitement against journalists.

The Palestinian Media Forum also condemned the incitement and assault against Jaar.

They called the attack a serious violation of press freedom, stating, "The blatant incitement against our colleague Laith Jaar and the assault on him is a serious transgression that threatens freedom of the press."

The forum expressed solidarity with Jaar and demanded accountability for those responsible within the Palestinian Authority's security forces.

According to the official National News Agency, four health workers were killed in an Israeli drone strike near the governmental hospital in the town of Marjayoun.

Medical staff were evacuated, and hospital operations were suspended. “No one from the medical staff was wounded, but we have decided to evacuate temporarily until the security situation becomes clearer,” hospital director Mounes Klakesh said.

Israel has escalated its attacks on Lebanon, carrying out its heaviest airstrikes yet, with dozens reportedly killed across the country in the past day.

At least 41,802 people have been killed and 96,844 injured in Israeli military attacks on Gaza since 7 OCtober, said the Palestinian health ministry. 

The ministry reported that in the most recent 24-hour period, 14 Palestinians were killed and 50 others wounded by Israeli attacks.

On Tuesday, Iran fired about 180 missiles at Israel in response to the latter’s recent assassinations of leaders of the Revolutionary Guards, Hezbollah and Hamas. 

There are conflicting reports about how many of the missiles struck their targets and whether there were any deaths. But Israel is now considering a counterattack that could propel it into an all-out war with Iran, with the US in tow. 

For years, Iran has been trying to avoid such a war. That’s why it signed the 2015 nuclear deal with the US, UK, France, Germany, Russia, China and the EU. 

Former US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew his country from the deal in 2018, and despite President Joe Biden’s much-touted differences with Trump, he failed to restore American compliance. 

Instead, he tried to use Trump’s violation of the treaty as leverage to demand further concessions from Iran. This served only to aggravate the schism between the US and Iran, which have had no diplomatic relations since 1980.

Read more: How Biden's Israel policy led us to the brink of war with Iran

Hezbollah said an Israeli strike killed a rescuer at the site of an overnight air raid on Friday in south Beirut

The group accused Israel of deliberately targeting civil defence teams with a drone strike after massive Israeli strikes overnight in the Lebanese capital.

"Israeli aircraft targeted civil defence teams who were working to remove the rubble and rescue the wounded, leading to the death of a civil defence member," they said.

An official from the UN refugee agency reports that most of Lebanon’s nearly 900 shelters are at full capacity, with many people fleeing Israeli strikes now forced to sleep outdoors, reported Reuters.

“Most of the nearly 900 government-established collective shelters in Lebanon have no more capacity,” UNHCR’s Rula Amin said during a press briefing in Geneva. “With the onset of winter, UNHCR is concerned that conditions for those affected by the escalating conflict will only worsen,” she added.

An Israeli air strike on a cafe in Tulkarm overnight resulted in the deaths of four family members: Mohammed Abu Zahra, his wife Sajaa, and their two children, Karam and Sham.

The Israeli army claimed that the air force targeted and killed Zahi Yaser Abd al-Razeq Oufi, the head of Hamas' network in Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian health ministry stated that the strike led to a total of 18 people being killed by Israeli strikes.