Israel’s military has posted to Telegram to claim that a strike on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in the Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza was targeting what it described as “Hamas terrorists who were operating inside a command and control centre in the area”, accusing Hamas of the “systematic abuse of civilian infrastructure in violation of international law.”
17 people have been reported dead after the strike, including children, according to Palestinian news sources.
Key events
Blinken announces additional $135m in aid to Palestinians
US secretary of state Antony Blinken on Thursday announced another $135m in US aid for the Palestinians as he called again for a ceasefire in Gaza, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“Today, we’re announcing an additional $135m in humanitarian assistance, water sanitation, internal health for the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, as well as in the region,” Blinken announced in Qatar, saying it brought the US total to $1.2bn since the 7 October 2023 attack by Hamas.
Blinken says he expects Gaza negotiators to meet in coming days
US secretary of state Antony Blinken said after talks in Qatar on Thursday that he anticipates negotiators will get together in the coming days for discussions on a ceasefire deal to end Israel’s war in Gaza, reports Reuters.
Speaking alongside Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Blinken said the two discussed options to capitalise on the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and move the abortive negotiations forward.
Lebanon’s prime minister Najib Mikati said on Thursday that only the state should carry weapons, as he pushed for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“Lebanese authorities must deploy over [all] Lebanese territory and weapons should be carried only by the state and the Lebanese army,” Mikati said on the sidelines of a Lebanon aid conference in Paris, without explicitly calling for the disarmament of Hezbollah, the only group that did not lay down its arms after the end of the Lebanese civil war.
The European Union will give the Lebanese army €20m (£16.6m / $21.6m) this year and €40m (£33.3 / $43.1m) next year, the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters on Thursday during a conference held in Paris aimed to raise humanitarian aid for Lebanon.
Israel’s military has posted to Telegram to claim that a strike on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in the Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza was targeting what it described as “Hamas terrorists who were operating inside a command and control centre in the area”, accusing Hamas of the “systematic abuse of civilian infrastructure in violation of international law.”
17 people have been reported dead after the strike, including children, according to Palestinian news sources.
Sri Lankan police arrested three men following a US intelligence warning of possible attacks against Israeli tourists visiting the island, the foreign minister said on Thursday.
“We are questioning three local men,” AFP reports Vijitha Herath told reporters in Colombo. “We are taking the US warning seriously and have increased security.”
Yesterday Israel warned its nationals to stay away from certain locations on the island.
The US state department has said that secretary of state Antony Blinken “discussed renewed efforts to secure the release of the hostages and end the war in Gaza” with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.
Qatar, alongside Egypt, has consistently sought to broker a deal between Israel and Hamas for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages who have been held in captivity for over a year.
AFP reports that the death toll after an Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced families in the Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza has risen to 17.
Summary of the day so far …
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16 people, including children, have reportedly been killed by an Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in the Nuseirat refugee camp. Al Jazeera reported that more than one missile was used in the area, which was close to the local market, and that the injured were being taken to two nearby hospitals
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Gaza’s civil defence agency said Thursday it can no longer provide first responder services in the north of the territory, accusing Israeli forces of threatening to “bomb and kill” its crews
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Emmanuel Macron has called for an end to fighting in Lebanon, criticising Israel’s incursion into the south of the country, and calling on Hezbollah to stop its operations. The French president is hosting a conference aimed at bringing together humanitarian and military aid for Lebanon. France has pledged €100m (£83m / $108m) in humanitarian aid
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At the Paris event, Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati has said his country still supports the 21-day ceasefire proposal on the table that was brokered by the US and France. He said the Lebanese army could deploy more troops in the south to support any ceasefire agreement, but needed international resources to bolster their capability
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Hezbollah has claimed to have destroyed at least one Israeli tank in direct clashes in southern Lebanon. Israel’s military has not commented on the claim
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Israel’s military has reported that 95 rockets have been launched aimed at Israel from inside southern Lebanon on Thursday. At least two Israelis have been wounded by shrapnel
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Two people were killed in an Israeli strike on a vehicle on the main road from Beirut to the east of Lebanon in what has been described as an apparent targeted assassination
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Israel’s Arabic language military spokesperson Avichay Adraee has issued a statement in which he claims that Hezbollah is “using ambulances to transport terrorists and weapons” and says that Israel will target vehicles “regardless of its type”. Without providing evidence of the claim, Adraee says Israel “calls on medical teams to avoid dealing with Hezbollah elements and not to cooperate with them”
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Israel’s military has claimed that during its operations inside southern Lebanon it has “discovered an underground hideout” which Hezbollah was using for a planned attack inside Israel
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Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian has told China’s Xi Jinping at the Brics summit in Kazan that Israel is the main threat to peace in the region, and that Tehran would give a firm and decisive response to any act of aggression against it. Russia’s president Vladimir Putin at the summit described the Middle East as being on the bring of all-out war
The IDF has released drone footage from inside Gaza showing Palestinians being forced to flee northern Gaza.
Iranian and Chinese presidents meet at Brics summit
Iran’s Tasnim news agency has reported that president Masoud Pezeshkian met with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping directly during the Brics summit in Kazan.
It reports Pezeshkian told Xi that Iran does not seek clashes and believes that wars do not benefit anybody, but that Tehran would give a firm and decisive response to any act of aggression against it.
Israel is believed to be planning retaliatory strikes for two waves of missiles launched at it by Iran on 1 October. That attack was in turn a response to Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut.
Pezeshkian reportedly told Xi that Israel is the main threat to regional peace, and denounced the unconditional support Israel receives from the US and other western governments.
Reporting on an Israeli strike on a school in Nuseirat in Gaza which is believed to have killed at least 16 people including children, Al Jazeera states the school “was hosting hundreds of internally displaced families when it was directly hit.”
It says “More than one missile was used in the area, which was close to the local market,” and that the injured are being taken to two nearby hospitals.
Al Jazeera has been banned from operating inside Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, but still has correspondents in neighbouring Gaza and Lebanon.
More details soon …
Gaza’s civil defence agency says it can no longer provide first responder services in north of territory
Gaza’s civil defence agency said Thursday it can no longer provide first responder services in the north of the territory, accusing Israeli forces of threatening to “bomb and kill” its crews.
AFP reports Mahmud Bassal, the agency’s spokesperson, said “We are unable to provide humanitarian services to citizens in the northern governorate of the Gaza Strip due to threats from Israeli occupation forces, who have threatened to kill and bomb our teams if they remain inside Jabalia camp.”
He told AFP first responders had been “targeted” by Israeli forces on several occasions, leaving “several members injured, and others are left bleeding on the streets with no one able to rescue them.”
16 killed including children in Israeli strike on school in Nuseirat – reports
16 people have been killed by an Israeli strike on a school in the Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza, Reuters reports.
Earlier Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that at least nine people had been killed, including four children. The Al-Shuhada school was sheltering displaced Palestinians.
More details soon …
Hezbollah has claimed to have hit two Israeli tanks in clashes in southern Lebanon, AFP reports.
The agency states Hezbollah said its fighters were engaged in “heavy clashes in the village of Aita al-Shaab” at close range, adding that they hit a Merkava tank that came to assist the troops after earlier saying it had “destroyed” another tank.
The claims have not been independently verified. There has been no immediate comment on the claims from Israel.
Israel’s military has reported that 95 rockets have been launched aimed at Israel from inside southern Lebanon so far today.