‘I will be the last one to leave’: Fighting at Lebanon-Israel border creates a ghost town
Najib al Amil, a 72-year-old priest in the Lebanese town of Rmeish, on the border with Israel, raced to harvest his olive trees as the sound of shelling rumbled in the distance. Soon, his olive groves could be a battlefield, he worried, and there would be no trees left to harvest.
“We put our faith in God,” he said.
Only a short distance from his home, clashes have been intensifying between Israel and Hezbollah, the powerful Lebanese militant group that dominates the surrounding countryside.
The skirmishes have raised fears of a wider conflict that could further devastate Lebanon after years of crisis and that could push Israel to fight on another front even as it prepares for an anticipated ground war in the Gaza Strip. Israel has already evacuated more than 152,000 people near the border, while more than 20,000 people have so far been displaced in Lebanon, according to the U.N. migration agency.
Rmeish, a Maronite Christian town that, two weeks ago, was home to 10,000 people, has become a ghost town. More than three-quarters of its population has fled. Schools are closed. Shops are empty. And the only medical facility that remains open is a field hospital staffed by a skeleton crew of volunteer doctors and nurses.
Even before the fighting, the town was surviving on just a few hours of state-provided electricity per day. Now, residents are running out of fuel for their generators, too.
“The village needs help,” Milad al Alam, the town’s mayor, said over the phone. “The government is just not available for us,” he said, adding that they were also running out of lifesaving medication.
Lebanon, which endured years of civil war and has fought multiple conflicts with Israel, has struggled further since a financial meltdown in 2019 precipitated by years of corruption and mismanagement sunk the country into one of the world’s worst economic crises in 150 years.
Calling for a humanitarian pause in the Gaza conflict, Canada Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said that there is little time left to get the Canadian nationals and hostages out and deliver aid, news agency Reuters reported. "Time is running out. We need an agreement from all parties to get foreign nationals out, including Canadians. To release all hostages. And to allow food, fuel and water into Gaza," she said.
Five Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank on Monday, the Palestinian health ministry said. Four Palestinians were killed in heavy clashes after dozens of military vehicles and two bulldozers entered the town of Jenin and and the adjacent refugee camp of the same name for an arrest raid. Israeli media reported that the battle included drone strikes — a once rare, but now increasingly common attack mode used in the West Bank.Another Palestinian man was killed in a military raid near Hebron. Violence has surged in the West Bank since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out on Oct. 7. Since then, Israeli forces and settlers killed 122 Palestinians, according to the health ministry. (AP)
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Hamas has released a video purporting to show three women captured during its Oct. 7 attack inside Israel. One of the women delivers a brief statement, likely under duress, criticizing Israel’s response to the hostage crisis.Palestinian militants captured around 240 people during the deadly raid and have said they will release them in return for thousands of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. (AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin called a meeting of top security and law enforcement officials today, a day after a mob stormed the airport in the region of Dagestan after a plane from the Israeli city of Tel Aviv landed there. Hundreds of angry men rushed onto the tarmac of the airport in Makhachkala, the capital of the predominantly Muslim region, late on Sunday, looking for Israeli passengers, according to Russian news reports. Dagestan’s Ministry of Health said more than 20 people were injured, with two in critical condition. (AP)
The Israeli forces attacked northern Gaza's main city from both the eastern and western sides, news agency Reuters reported. Israel begans its ground operation against Gaza three days ago, with its military claiming that it has struck more than 600 militant targets over the last few days. 'IDF troops killed dozens of terrorists who barricaded themselves in buildings and tunnels, and attempted to attack the troops,' the military said, adding that four prominent Hamas operatives were among them. Israel has accused Hamas of locating command centres and other military infrastructure in Gaza hospitals, which the group denies. (Reuters inputs)
German-Israeli dual citizen Shani Louk, who had gone missing after the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, has been found dead, news agency AP reported her mother Ricarda Louk as saying. Ricarda Louk told German news agency dpa on Monday that she was informed by the Israeli military of the death of her daughter. She said her daughter’s body hasn’t been found, but a splinter of a skull bone was located and submitted for a DNA test.Louk believes her daughter died on Oct. 7, when she was at a music festival in southern Israel that was attacked by militants from Gaza. Videos that circulated at the time appeared to show the young woman face-down on a pickup truck.The German government has said that a “low two-digit number” of German Israeli dual citizens are believed to be held in Gaza. (AP)
The Kremlin said on Monday that the storming of an airport in the capital of the southern Russian region of Dagestan by an anti-Israeli mob on Sunday was the result of "outside influence". In a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "It is well known and obvious that yesterday's events around Makhachkala airport are largely the result of outside interference, including information influence." Peskov said that "ill-wishers" had used widely seen images of suffering in Gaza to stir people up in the predominantly Muslim region in the north Caucasus. He did not specify who the Kremlin believed had engineered the violence, or why. (Reuters)
Hundreds of people stormed into the main airport in Russia's Dagestan region and rushed onto the landing field, chanting antisemitic slogans, on the arrival of a flight from Tel Aviv, the Associated Press reported citing Russian news agencies. Russian news reports said the crowd on Sunday surrounded the airliner, which belongs to Russian carrier Red Wings. Dagestan’s Ministry of Health said more than 20 people were injured, with two in critical condition. (AP)
Israel was "gradually moving ahead according to plan" in the Gaza Strip, chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said during a regular press briefing. Hagari said the forces killed dozens of Gaza militants overnight but refused to confirm the location of the ground forces after images on social media appeared to show Israeli tanks advancing on a main road in Gaza. (Reuters)
Dozens of Gaza militants were killed in overnight operations, Israel's military spokesperson said, news agency Reuters reported.
'We are gradually moving ahead according to plan. Forces are deployed along Northern border. Prepared for any scenario,' the spokesperson said.
Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, during a press briefing on Monday, said the forces killed dozens of Gaza militants overnight but refused to confirm the location of the ground forces after images on social media appeared to show Israeli tanks advancing on a main road in Gaza. (Reuters)
Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Monday said that US should refrain from blaming Tehran for Hamas' October 7 attacks on Israel.
"Stop it," Nasser Kanaani said, when asked by a journalist about statements by US officials, including President Joe Biden, accusing Iran in relation to developments in Gaza. (Reuters)
United Kingdom Foreign Secretary James Cleverly Monday said that they are working extensively with the Egyptians, Israelis and others to try and have a humanitarian pause to get humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, news agency Reuters reported.
'It is right that Israel takes action to defend itself and protect its citizens. We expect Israel to act with professionalism, with restraint, and to abide by international law. We have had reassurances from Israel to act with professionalism, with restraint, and to abide by international law. We all have an interest to see a resolution between the Israelis and the Palestinians,' Cleverly said.
Cleverly said that they have spoken with political leadership of Israel's neighbours, including Lebanon. 'We are working to make sure this does not become a regional conflict,' Cleverly added. (Reuters)
Israeli troops and armor pushed deeper into the northern Gaza Strip on Monday, reaching built-up areas as the UN and medical staff warned that airstrikes are hitting closer to hospitals, where tens of thousands of Palestinians have sought shelter alongside thousands of wounded, news agency AP reported.
The increasing ground operations came a day after 33 trucks carrying food, medicine and other supplies entered Gaza from Egypt, the largest convoy of humanitarian aid since the war between Israel and Hamas began. Relief workers said Monday the assistance still fell far short of needs in Gaza, which has been under siege for weeks. (AP)
For 34 hours, the vast majority of the more than 2 million Palestinians who live in Gaza had no way to reach the outside world, or one another.
They had no way to know whether their loved ones were alive or dead. Emergency phone lines stopped ringing. Desperate paramedics tried to save people by driving toward the sound of explosions. Wounded people were left to die in the street.
On Friday at sunset, three weeks into Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza — and as Palestinians braced themselves for an impending Israeli ground invasion — the weak phone and internet service that had allowed some semblance of life to continue inside the blockaded enclave was suddenly severed. Read more here.
Save the Children organization said that over 3,200 children have been killed in Gaza with another thousand missing, The Spectator Index reported.
Palestinians in northern Gaza reported fierce air and artillery strikes early Monday as Israeli troops backed by tanks pressed into the enclave with a ground assault that prompted more international calls for civilians to be protected, news agency Reuters reported.
Israeli air strikes hit areas near Gaza City's Shifa and Al-Quds hospitals, and Palestinian militants clashed with Israeli forces in a border area east of the city of Khan Younis, in the enclave's south, the Palestinian media said.
There was no comment from Hamas or the Israeli military on Monday's fighting. Reuters was not able to confirm the reports.
The bombardments came hours after Israel released images of battle tanks on the west coast of the Palestinian enclave, signalling a potential effort to surround Gaza's main city two days after the Israeli government ordered expanded ground incursions across its eastern border.
Israel's self-declared 'second phase' of a three-week war against Iranian-backed Hamas militants has been largely kept from public view, with forces moving under darkness and a telecommunications blackout cutting off Palestinians. (Reuters)
The French Minister of the armed forces will meet with officials in Lebanon from Wednesday, including caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, as well as visit a base of United Nations peacekeepers, his cabinet announced on Sunday.
The trip comes amid rising border tensions between the crisis-shaken Arab country and its southern neighbour Israel since the start of the Gaza conflict earlier this month.
The minister seeks to reaffirm France's "commitment to the stability of Lebanon", his office told news agency AFP in a statement later confirmed to Reuters by his spokesperson.
Lecornu will also visit the United Nations peacekeeping force UNIFIL, which on Saturday saw its headquarters near the Lebanese coastal town of Naqoura damaged by a shell that landed inside the base.
The U.S. believes Israel should take every means possible to distinguish between Palestinian civilians and Hamas militants in its military operation in Gaza, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday.
In an interview with CNN, Sullivan also called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "rein in" extremist Jewish settler violence against innocent people in the West Bank. (Reuters)
United Nations peacekeeping force UNIFIL said on Sunday that one of its members was injured after shells hit the mission's base near the village of Houla on the Lebanese-Israeli border on Saturday.
The Israeli army and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon have been exchanging fire on a daily basis since the start of the Gaza conflict three weeks ago.
UNIFIL said on Saturday that its headquarters near the Lebanese coastal town of Naqoura was also damaged by a shell that landed inside the base. (Reuters)
The Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza says over 8,000 Palestinians have been killed since war broke out on October 7.
It said on Sunday that the toll has risen to 8,005 Palestinians, including more than 3,300 minors and over 2,000 women.
The Health Ministry is part of the Hamas-run government but includes doctors and veteran civil servants who are not affiliated with the group. Its tolls from previous wars have held up to UN scrutiny, independent investigations and even Israel’s tallies.
The ministry released detailed records last week showing the names, ages and ID numbers of most of the deaths it has recorded, saying some bodies have not yet been identified. (Read More)
Pope Francis on Sunday called for a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas and renewed an appeal for the release of hostages held by the militant group in Gaza.
"Let no-one abandon the possibility of stopping the weapons," he said at his weekly blessing in St. Peter's Square.
"Ceasefire ... we say 'ceasefire, ceasefire'. Brothers and sisters, stop! War is always a defeat, always," he added. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday took a jab at his intelligence chiefs on the X platform, saying they never warned him Hamas was planning its wide-scale attack on Oct. 7, but later retracted his comments and issued an apology.
The remarks, posted on X at 1 a.m. on Sunday (around 2300 GMT on Saturday), caused a political uproar and a rift within the war cabinet of Netanyahu, who has drawn public ire for not taking responsibility over intelligence and operational failures relating to Hamas’ rampage through southern Israel.
While top officials – from the heads of the military and the Shin Bet domestic spy service to his finance minister – have all acknowledged their failures, Netanyahu has not. (Read More)
Israel would allow a dramatic increase in aid to Gaza in the coming days, an official said on Sunday, calling on Palestinian civilians to head to what he described as a "humanitarian" zone in the south of the territory.
"In the coming week we were planning to increase dramatically the amount of assistance" headed for Gaza from Egypt, said Colonel Elad Goren of Cogat, the Israeli Defence Ministry agency that coordinates with the Palestinians.
"We have marked a humanitarian zone in the southern Gaza Strip in the Khan Younis area ... we still recommend that the civilian population that evacuated will go to this zone," he told media during an online briefing.
Goren did not say whether the humanitarian zone was new or an existing area. (Reuters)
On Saturday (October 28), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the country’s military has begun the “second stage” of conflict by sending ground forces into Gaza and intensifying attacks from the ground, air and sea. Despite calls by the United Nations and the mounting number of civilian deaths, a ceasefire seems nowhere in sight.
While pledging support for Israel to exercise its right to self-defence, US President Joe Biden had earlier made a strong appeal to Tel Aviv not to be “consumed” by rage in its response to the attack by Hamas. Speaking in the Israeli capital towards the end of his one-day visit to the region last week, Biden compared Israel’s situation after the October 7 massacre of over 1,300 of American citizens to Washington’s predicament after the 9/11 attacks. His country, Biden said, had “sought and got justice”, but also “made mistakes”. (Read the full explained here)
A Jewish settler shot dead a Palestinian man harvesting olives near the West Bank city of Nablus, the man’s uncle said Sunday.
Tayseer Mahmoud said his nephew, Bilal Saleh, was working in the grove in the village of Sawiya with his wife and their four children on Saturday when a group of settlers attacked them.
Saleh, concerned about the safety of his children, tried to leave the area, but a settler shot him in the chest, Mahmoud said. Mahmoud said he didn't witness the confrontation but was close by and reached the scene within minutes of the shooting.
Settler leader Yossi Dagan said in a video posted on the social media platform Facebook Saturday that the shooter was accompanied by family members and fired in self-defense after they were “attacked with rocks by dozens of rioting Hamas supporters. (AP)
According to news agency Reuters, the Palestinian Red Crescent said on Sunday it has received warnings from Israeli authorities to immediately evacuate al-Quds hospital in the Gaza Strip.
"Since this morning, there has been raids 50 meters away from the hospital," it added in a statement on Facebook.
Thousands of Gaza residents broke into warehouses and distribution centres of the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) seizing flour and "basic survival items", the organisation said on Sunday.
"This is a worrying sign that civil order is starting to break down after three weeks of war and a tight siege on Gaza," UNRWA said in a statement.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi Saturday discussed the escalating security and humanitarian crisis resulting from the Israel-Hamas conflict.
They also acknowledged the urgency of restoring peace and stability in the region. During a phone conversation, both leaders expressed shared concerns regarding terrorism, violence, civilian casualties, and highlighted the importance of enabling humanitarian aid for those affected.
Has a post-Hamas scenario in Gaza been contemplated? Evidently, not! Israel had itself walked out of Gaza in August-September 2005, in line with a disengagement proposed two years prior to that by then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and approved by the Israeli Knesset in February 2005 (a Disengagement Plan Implementation Law). After the current conflict ends, analysts say there is a very slim chance that Tel Aviv would want to step back into an administrative role in the province that had 2.2 million Palestenians packed into the 360 sq km enclave before the October 7 fighting began.
What happens after the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict ends?
Israeli warplanes early on Sunday conducted airstrikes near Gaza's largest hospital, which currently houses numerous patients and serves as shelter for tens of thousands of Palestinians. Israel claims that Gaza's militant Hamas rulers have a command post situated under the hospital, without providing much evidence.
The airstrikes occurred following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's announcement of a 'second stage' in Israel's conflict with Hamas. Over the weekend, Israeli ground forces moved into Gaza while the territory faced extensive bombardment from air, land, and sea.
Residents said the latest airstrikes destroyed most of the roads leading to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, which is part of the northern half of the besieged territory, which Israel has told people to evacuate, AP reported. Israel says most residents have fled to the south, but many remain in the north, in part because Israel has also bombarded targets in so-called safe zones.
India abstained in a UN General Assembly vote on a resolution that called for an immediate humanitarian truce in the Israel-Hamas conflict on Friday (October 27). The resolution, which does not contain the words ‘Hamas’ and ‘hostage’, was carried with 120 votes in favour and 14 against.
Before this vote, an amendment to the text proposed by Canada, naming Hamas, was rejected because it failed to get the support of two-thirds of members present and voting. India voted in favour of this amendment, along with 86 other nations.
India’s abstention in the vote exemplified the balancing act it has adopted on the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip. Here are four broad takeaways from the proceedings at the UNGA, and India’s response — broken down into specific components.
Three Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank overnight, the Palestinian health ministry said early on Sunday. (Reuters)
With the Israel and Gaza war nearing a month, the combined death toll in both the regions has exceeded the total number of casualties in all four previous Israel-Hamas clashes, estimated at around 4,000, as per AP.
On Saturday (October 28), Israel entered a new phase of its war, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claiming that the military has began the “second stage” of conflict by sending ground forces into Gaza and intensifying attacks from the ground, air and sea. Despite calls by the United Nations and the mounting number of civilian deaths, ceasefire seems nowhere in sight.
The relentless bloodshed has also sparked fears of a wider battle and instability in the Arab world, with the war getting a pushback from US allied nations and ones that were working on peace deals with Israel.
Here are the top developments from the region as the war enters its 23rd day
As an Israeli ground offensive in the Gaza Strip looms in its most devastating war yet with Hamas, one of the greatest threats to both its troops and the 2.3 million Palestinians trapped inside the seaside enclave is buried deep underground.
An extensive labyrinth of tunnels built by the Hamas militant group stretches across the densely populated strip, hiding fighters, their rocket arsenal and over 200 hostages they now hold after an unprecedented Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Clearing and collapsing those tunnels will be crucial if Israel seeks to dismantle Hamas. But fighting in densely populated urban areas and moving underground could strip the Israeli military of some of its technological advantages while giving an edge to Hamas both above and below ground.
Read more
Two days after cellular and internet service suddenly vanished for most of Gaza amid an intense Israeli bombardment, the besieged territory experienced a welcome resurgence in online connectivity on Sunday as communications systems were gradually being restored.
This marked a significant relief for the crowded enclave which had plunged into a blackout that began late Friday as Israel escalated its ground operations.
In the Israel-Hamas war, the conflict is over land. All Palestinians — some of whom are represented by the Hamas — believe that the Jewish people have usurped their land. The land was called Palestine and was occupied by Arabs, Jews and Christians. The state of Israel was created under the mandate of the United Nations and the Jewish people were settled, since 1948, on the land. Modern Israel has become a strong state that has the capacity to defend itself against hostile neigbours. It is the only nuclear power in the region. History may be on the side of the Palestinians but the reality is that the state of Israel cannot be wiped off the face of earth.
Read on
The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier and its associated strike group have traversed the Strait of Gibraltar, positioning two American carriers in the Mediterranean Sea, an uncommon occurrence in recent times.
The USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group is already stationed in the eastern Mediterranean, contributing to the increased deployment of forces as the United States provides support to Israel in its conflict with Hamas, AP reported.
On Saturday, the Eisenhower entered the Mediterranean and is scheduled to transit the Suez Canal en route to the U.S. Central Command region. This move signifies the expansion of American forces in the Middle East, aiming to discourage Iran and its affiliated militant groups from escalating the conflict.
The Palestinian death toll has risen to 7,700, most of them women and children, as per the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza. In the West Bank, more than 110 Palestinians have been killed. Over 1,400 people lost their lives in Israel during a surprise incursion by Hamas militants. This includes at least 310 soldiers, according to the Israeli government.
The Israeli military has sought to reassure the public that it is capable of pursuing both objectives in its conflict with Hamas at the same time—overthrowing the militant rulers in the strip and securing the release of approximately 230 hostages taken from Israel.
As the military intensifies airstrikes and ground actions in the besieged territory, causing significant destruction to entire neighborhoods in anticipation of a larger-scale invasion, families of the hostages are increasingly anxious that these objectives might clash, resulting in dire consequences.
During a televised speech on Saturday evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged the distress of the hostage families, assuring that their release is a crucial aspect of Israel's military operations, as significant as the aim to dismantle Hamas. Meanwhile, Hamas leaders are engaged in talks with mediators from Egypt and Qatar, seeking to negotiate the freedom of some Israeli civilians currently trapped.
Israel’s military on Saturday said that its warplanes struck 150 underground Hamas targets in northern Gaza. This includes tunnels, combat spaces and other infrastructure. However, the extensive labyrinth of tunnels built by Hamas is believed to stretch for hundreds of kilometers, hiding fighters, an arsenal of rockets and now more than 200 Israeli hostages, AP reported.