Live: At least 22 Palestinians killed in strike on Gaza shelter, Hezbollah hits military base inside Israel

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says it has recovered the body of a senior Quds Force general killed in a massive air strike in Beirut last month alongside Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Brigadier General Abbas Nilforoushan is understood to have flown from Tehran to Beirut for a meeting with Nasrallah on the same evening that both were killed in the Israeli strike on Hezbollah’s operations room in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital on 27 September.

In a statement late on Friday, reported by Iranian media, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said: “With hard work and efforts around the clock, the body of martyr Abbas Nilforoushan has been discovered.

“The time of transferring the body of martyr Nilforoushan to the Islamic homeland and the funeral and burial plans will be announced later.”

The IRGC’s statement comes with Iranian authorities facing continuing questions regarding the whereabouts of Esmail Qaani, the head of the Quds Force, who has not been seen in public since before the deaths of Nasrallah and Nilforoushan.

Read more: Iran says body recovered of general killed in Lebanon alongside Nasrallah

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, accompanied by two Hezbollah legislators, visited the site of the Israeli air raid in central Beirut, according to the AFP news agency.

The raid, which took place on Thursday night in the densely populated Basta area, killed at least 22 people.

It targeted Hezbollah's security chief, Wafiq Safa, but his current status remains unclear, according to multiple reports citing Hezbollah sources.

The Israeli air force intercepted two drones en route to Israel from Lebanon, the Israeli army reported on Saturday.

The Israeli army stated that the drones did not enter Israeli territory, and no casualties were reported.

Palestinian factions have praised Nicaragua’s decision to sever diplomatic relations with Israel.

Hamas called the move “a courageous step towards isolating this fascist entity, criminalising its behaviour, and exposing its widespread violations of international laws and humanitarian norms.”

Similarly, the Islamic Jihad Movement hailed Nicaragua's action, attributing it to Israel’s massacres against the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine also applauded the decision, viewing it as a welcome step towards Israel becoming internationally isolated.

The Israeli military has instructed residents of 22 towns and villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate immediately, citing the presence of “Hezbollah elements, facilities, or weapons” in the area.

“You are prohibited from heading south, and any movement towards the south poses a danger to your life,” an Israeli army spokesperson warned on X, urging residents to move north of al-Awali Sea.

Many of the affected towns, including Aita al-Shaab, Ramyah and Hanine, have already suffered extensive bombing from Israeli fighter jets and drones.

The director of Israel's Ziv Hospital in Safed has told CNN that the facility had received more than 100 wounded soldiers in the first days of the ground operation in Lebanon.

The director also confirmed a continuous influx of wounded soldiers being brought to hospitals since the operation began.

The Israeli army has warned that it may target ambulances in southern Lebanon, alleging Hezbollah is using them to “transport fighters and weapons”.

An Israeli army spokesperson claimed that intelligence suggested that “Hezbollah elements are using ambulances to move fighters and arms” and warned that any vehicle found carrying fighters would be at risk.

“The Israeli army will take the necessary measures against any vehicle carrying armed elements, whether it is an ambulance or otherwise,” the spokesperson stated.

The devastation of Israel’s war on Gaza has not spared the besieged Strip's cultural heritage, with museums, mosques, churches and archaeological sites destroyed or heavily damaged.

As of September, Unesco has confirmed damage to 69 cultural heritage sites since the war started in October 2023.

These include 10 religious sites, 43 buildings of historical and artistic interest, two repositories of movable cultural property, six monuments, one museum and seven archaeological sites.

Unesco told Middle East Eye that its preliminary assessment using satellite imagery showed that of these sites, 29 percent (20 sites) appear destroyed, 20 percent (14 sites) severely damaged and 51 percent (35 sites) moderately damaged.

The UN agency said that it had only been able to conduct remote assessments of the damage due to the war. That could mean the extent of the damage on the ground may be more severe.

Read more: Gaza's cultural and religious heritage lies in ruins after a year of attacks by Israel

The Israeli army has reportedly been firing indiscriminately at Palestinians trying to escape from as-Saftawi in northern Gaza.

This follows an earlier warning from the Israeli army, ordering civilians to leave their homes or face potential death.

The death toll in Gaza from Israeli attacks since last October has risen to 42,175, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

An additional 98,336 people have been wounded during this period, the ministry reported.

Good morning, Middle East Eye readers. 

Here are the latest updates from the Israeli war on Gaza, now in its 334th day: 

• The Lebanese military has confirmed that two soldiers were killed and three others injured after Israeli forces attacked a military base in Kafra, southern Lebanon
• At least 22 people died in Jabalia following an Israeli airstrike on Friday, while three more were killed in Gaza City, as northern Gaza is left in “ruins” from week-long Israeli attacks
• Over 100 countries have signed a letter condemning Israel for declaring UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “persona non grata”
• Nicaragua has severed diplomatic ties with Israel, accusing the government of being “fascist” and “genocidal"
• Two Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli drone strike near a fishing port in western Gaza
• One person has been injured in Israeli shelling that hit a house in the al-Faluja area of Jabalia
• Israeli artillery has also targeted eastern areas of Khan Younis city in the Gaza Strip

Our live coverage will shortly be closing until tomorrow morning.

Here are some of the day's key developments:

• The Lebanese military confirmed two soldiers were killed and three others injured after Israeli forces attacked a military base in Kafra, southern Lebanon

• At least 22 people died in Jabalia following an Israeli airstrike on Friday, while three more were killed in Gaza City, as northern Gaza is left in “ruins” from weeklong Israeli attacks

• Over 100 countries signed a letter condemning Israel for declaring UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “persona non grata”

• Nicaragua severed diplomatic ties with Israel, accusing the government of being “fascist” and “genocidal”

• Two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli drone strike near the fishermen’s port in western Gaza

• One person was injured in Israeli shelling that hit a house in the al-Faluja area of Jabalia

• Israeli artillery has also targeted eastern areas of Khan Younis city

The Lebanese Health Ministry has reported seven more deaths on Friday as a result of Israeli air strikes. 

Most of those killed were located in areas south of the city of Sidon, the capital of the South Governorate of Lebanon. 

In its nightly update on Friday, the Palestinian health ministry put the number of known dead in Gaza at 42,126 since 7 October 2023. 

At least 10,000 others are believed missing, with more than 98,000 wounded. 

Nearly 1,000 medical staff have also been killed by the ongoing Israeli assault, the health ministry said. 

In the West Bank and Jerusalem, 751 Palestinians, including 164 children, have been killed. More than 6,250 have been injured. 

The Israeli army says two unmanned aircraft were detected over Tel Aviv late Friday, and one was intercepted by the Israeli air defence system. They are believed to have crossed from the Lebanese border. 

Sirens sounded in the city and video of one of the drones was captured by Israeli journalist Itay Blumental and posted to X:

הכלי הגיע מכיוון הים וצלל להרצליה. בדקות אלה עוד הדי פיצוצים באזור המרכז. בצה"ל טרם יודעים אם יש עוד כלים עויינים באוויר ואם הירוטים עד כה צלחו. נעדכן בהמשך pic.twitter.com/jclN1fFPLu

— איתי בלומנטל 🇮🇱 Itay Blumental (@ItayBlumental) October 11, 2024