By Guardian -Yohannes Lowe/Tom Ambrose- Mon 21 Oct 2024

Israeli authorities still preventing humanitarian missions from reaching areas of Gaza. Philippe Lazzarini says critical supplies including medicine and food must reach civilians, children and hostages

Israeli authorities are still preventing humanitarian missions from reaching areas of northern Gaza with critical supplies including medicine and food for people under siege, the head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency Unrwa said on Monday.

Hospitals have been hit and are without power while injured people are left without care, Philippe Lazzarini said on X.

“@Unrwa remaining shelters are so overcrowded, some displaced people are now forced to live in the toilets. According to reports, people attempting to flee are getting killed, their bodies left on the street. Missions to rescue people from under the rubble are also being denied,” he added.

There was no immediate comment from Israel on the Unrwa statement, Reuters reported.

ShareUpdated at 14.25 BST

Iran complains to UN nuclear watchdog about threatened Israeli attack on its nuclear sites

Patrick Wintour is diplomatic editor for the Guardian

Iran has written to the UN nuclear watchdog to complain formally about a threatened Israeli attack on its nuclear sites, urging its officials to warn Israel that such an attack would not only be illegal but be a breach of UN resolutions.

The International Atomic Energy Authority responsible for oversight of Iran’s nuclear program has so far said little about the crisis, and its relations with Tehran have been strained recently.

The warning outlined by the Iranian foreign ministry came as unnamed military sources stepped up their warnings that Iran would pursue building a nuclear weapons if what it insists is its civil nuclear program is attacked by Israel.

The threat reported in Tasnim News, one of the sites closest to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Council, comes after 35 parliamentarians wrote to Iran’s national security commission urging a re-examination of Iran’s religious opposition to a bomb.

But the foreign ministry spokesperson Ismail Baqaei, responding to media speculation, insisted that Iran has no plan to change the Fatwa against the use of nuclear weapons issued by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as far back as 2003. The Fatwa is based on Islamic teaching, as much as foreign policy.

But the leak of the US classified documents over the weekend setting out how Iran might be attacked is widely seen in Iran either as an effort inside the Biden administration to warn Israel off from mounting such a large attack on Iran, or else an attempt to persuade Iran to back down. The mood in Tehran is that an attack is imminent, and trust in US assurances that Iran’s nuclear sites will be spared is low. Baqaei said Iran’s planned response to any Israeli attack was already in place.

The recent call to abandon the Fatwa was originally led by an Iranian MP Mohammad Reza Sabaghiani who said “to preserve the deterrent capability and ensure national security, the ability to develop nuclear weapons is necessary. While having nuclear weapons is possible for Israel, Iran must pursue nuclear weapons for self-defense”.

On Monday, a second MP, Fathollah Tousi, who is a member of the parliament’s economic commission, said Iran had the ability to make a bomb, but the decision rested with the Supreme Leader.

It has also been noticed in Iran that their leaked documents implicitly assume that Israel has a nuclear weapon, something that had been widely assumed in Tehran.

The Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi was continuing with his regional tour visiting Bahrain and Kuwait as part of his effort to form a united front against Israel and explain Iran’s support for the so-called axis of resistance in Lebanon and Gaza.

He has also been seeking assurances that Gulf States will not cooperate in any Israeli attack on Iran by allowing its airspace to be used. The foreign ministry said: “We are sure that the countries of the region, understanding the sensitivity of the region and the conditions, will not allow their space to be used to attack an Islamic country.”

Updated at 15.33 BST

The Israeli military said air force helicopters and fighter jets intercepted five drones in the Mediterranean Sea before they crossed into the country.

ShareUpdated at 15.34 BST

Israel’s airport authority briefly halted the takeoff and landing of flights at the country’s main airport – Ben Gurion – this afternoon.

“In coordination with the security system, landings and takeoffs at the airport were stopped,” the airport authority said in a statement earlier, without elaborating further. Israeli media reported that a suspicious object had been seen near the airport, though this has not officially been confirmed. Services have now resumed at the

ShareUpdated at 15.35 BSTSupport the Guardian

The conflict in the Middle East continues to destroy countless lives. The scenes since 7 October from Gaza and Israel have haunted millions around the world and the crisis is being felt with an increasing intensity in Lebanon and the West Bank. 

As the war reaches a new stage, understanding what is happening – and what comes next – is more important than ever.

With correspondents on the ground and reporters updating this liveblog around the clock, the Guardian is well-placed to provide comprehensive, fact-checked reporting, to help all of us make sense of a terrible war which has already reshaped global politics. 

38m ago15.00 BST

Peter Beaumont

Israel’s police and intelligence agencies claimed to have broken up a network of Israeli citizens who have been providing military intelligence useful for missile targeting to Iran and were paid hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The investigation claimed the network had been active for around two years, and according to reports in the Israeli the suspects are accused of photographing and collecting information on IDF bases and facilities, including the Kirya defence headquarters in Tel Aviv and the Nevatim and Ramat David airbases.

The Nevatim base was targeted in both Iranian missile attacks this year, and Ramat David has been targeted by Hezbollah. According to a statement released on Monday, the seven Israeli citizens were arrested for gathering sensitive information on Israeli Defense Force bases and energy infrastructure.

According to Haaretz, the suspects allegedly received hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash transfers from Russian tourists, as well as in crypto currencies. Three of the suspects were apprehended while photographing sensitive sites in southern Israel, and the police discovered dozens of documents in their possession.

“Investigations revealed that over a period exceeding two years, the suspects executed multiple security missions under the direction of two Iranian intelligence agents known as ‘Alkhan’ and ‘Orkhan’. The network members were aware that the intelligence they provided compromised national security and could aid enemy missile attacks.

“The network conducted extensive reconnaissance missions on IDF bases nationwide, focusing on air force and navy installations, ports, Iron Dome system locations, and energy infrastructure such as the Hadera power plant. These activities were financially compensated with payments totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars, often facilitated through cryptocurrencies.

“The operation involved photographing and documenting strategic sites, with the collected data being transferred to Iranian agents. Network members utilised advanced equipment procured specifically for these tasks under Iranian guidance.”

The arrested were also allegedly tasked with collecting intelligence on several Israeli citizens at the behest of Iranian agents. This included conducting surveillance on targeted individuals.

Some members were apprehended while attempting to gather intelligence on an Israeli citizen residing near their location, with security assessments indicating potential Iranian plans to harm this individual.

The latest arrests, which follow previous recent arrests of Israeli citizens for allegedly spying fpor Iran, suggests that the well-developed intelligence operations run by Israel targeting Iran, Gaza and Hezbollah have not been a one way street, with Iran and its proxies also running operations in Israel.

1h ago14.39 BST

Israel’s security services have broken up a spy ring that was gathering information on behalf of Iranian intelligence in the latest attempt by Tehran to recruit Israelis for espionage, the Shin Bet and police said on Monday.

Seven Israelis from Israel’s north, including the port city of Haifa, were arrested after an investigation found they had gathered intelligence on Israeli military bases and energy and port infrastructure, a joint Shin Bet and police statement said.

Israeli police said the security breach was among the most serious ever seen by Israel, Reuters reported.

“The assessment is that the activity of the members of the ring has caused security damage to the security of the state,” a senior source with the Shin Bet security service said.

Iran’s foreign ministry was not immediately available for comment.

1h ago14.17 BST

2h ago13.44 BST

Israeli authorities still preventing humanitarian missions from reaching areas of Gaza

Israeli authorities are still preventing humanitarian missions from reaching areas of northern Gaza with critical supplies including medicine and food for people under siege, the head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency Unrwa said on Monday.

Hospitals have been hit and are without power while injured people are left without care, Philippe Lazzarini said on X.

“@Unrwa remaining shelters are so overcrowded, some displaced people are now forced to live in the toilets. According to reports, people attempting to flee are getting killed, their bodies left on the street. Missions to rescue people from under the rubble are also being denied,” he added.

There was no immediate comment from Israel on the Unrwa statement, Reuters reported.

Updated at 14.25 13.17 BST

Dan Sabbagh

Fabian Hinz, a Middle East expert and missile analyst with the International Institute for Strategic Studies thinktank, described the leak as “quite damaging” because it reveals previously secret Israeli weapons and capabilities.

The air-launched Golden Horizon ballistic missiles have never been disclosed before and so key details, their range, payload and degree of manoeuvrability mid-flight are unknown, he said.

Because they would be launched from a long way away – possibly from over Iraqi airspace – “defending against them is quite difficult,” Hinz said, particularly for Iran whose air defence systems are not considered particularly robust.

Israel was not known to possess a covert long-range drone, which the documents say is used for long-range reconnaissance. Its existing Heron and Hermes drones are thought to be vulnerable to Iranian detection, Hinz said.

The US monitoring is described as sophisticated because a high degree of understanding is required to make sense of military movements as recorded by satellite imagery and other means. “Everybody knows spying happens. But when you have a country, the closest ally of Israel, shown publicly to be spying [on its ally], that’s embarrassing.”

3h ago12.50 BST

Germany calls for Israel to 'clarify every incident' involving Unifil in Lebanon

Germany on Monday demanded Israel “clarify every incident” involving the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (Unifil), including the reported destruction of a Unifil observation tower and fence.

UN peacekeepers on Sunday said an Israeli “army bulldozer deliberately demolished” a UN observation tower and fence in southern Lebanon.

Israel launched ground and air attacks on Lebanon in September, saying it wanted to crush Hezbollah, a powerful political party and armed group.

Berlin voiced “great concern” about the latest in a series of incidents reported by the Blue Helmet force, which have sparked international condemnation.

The German government expects “the Israeli side to clarify every incident” and to release “the results of the investigations into this specific incident”, said foreign ministry spokesperson Kathrin Deschauer. “The safety of an operation mandated by the UN security council and its personnel must not be endangered,” she added.

Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz has said the country and its military have “no intention” of harming the peacekeepers.

Unifil has accused Israel of attacking their members multiple times in recent weeks.

3h ago12.37 BST

Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon hit branches of Hezbollah-linked bank

William Christou

Israel carried out a series of airstrikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut, south Lebanon and the Bekaa valley early on Monday morning, striking buildings belonging to the Hezbollah-run banking institution Al-Qard Al-Hassan.

At least 10 airstrikes were carried out in the southern suburbs of Beirut, with an entire building collapsing and a jet of fire streaming into the air in the Chiyah neighbourhood of greater Beirut. A building close to Lebanon’s only commercial airport was also struck, video footage showing a smoke plume billowing while a nearby airplane sat on the runway.

“They struck empty buildings in residential neighbourhoods, and destroyed those surrounding neighbourhoods. These weren’t military centres or weapons caches,” Ma’an Khalil, the mayor of Ghobeiry municipality in the southern suburbs of Beirut, said.

Flames and smoke rise form an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on Sunday.

Israel issued several warnings via X prior to the bombings, pinpointing buildings belonging to Al-Qard Al-Hassan in the southern suburbs of Beirut and across Lebanon, warning people to move at least 500 metres away from these buildings. Streets from the affected areas were soon choked with traffic as people fled in anticipation of Israeli bombing.

Al-Qard Al-Hassan has branches across Lebanon, with 15 in greater Beirut alone.

Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon hit branches of Hezbollah-linked bankRead

3h ago12.25 BST

French president Emmanuel Macron told Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he sees the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar as a chance for a possible new phase of negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza, Macron’s office said on Monday.

Macron, whose government has had increasingly tense public exchanges with Israel over the past few weeks, also reiterated previous calls for ceasefires in Lebanon and Gaza and condemnations of Israeli army action towards UN forces in Lebanon.

Macron also expressed solidarity with Netanyahu after a drone was launched towards the prime minister’s home, the French president’s office said.

3h ago12.11 BST

US envoy Amos Hochstein said on Monday that a UN security council resolution that ended the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah conflict would be the basis of a new ceasefire, but would require more than just commitments from the warring parties.

“The commitment that we have is to resolve this conflict based on (UN Resolution) 1701 that is what the solution is going to have to look like,” Hochstein told reporters, adding that “both sides simply committing to 1701, is just not enough” after years of weak implementation.

3h ago12.10 BST

Arab League secretary general Ahmed Aboul Gheit said on Monday in Beirut that the league’s priority was to achieve an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon, and he called for Israel’s prompt withdrawal from any Lebanese territories it has occupied or entered.

Aboul Gheit was also asked if Hezbollah could be destroyed, to which he replied: “You cannot destroy an idea.”

Updated at 12.18 BST

After they burned down his family home in northern Gaza, Israeli troops separated Ramez al-Skafi from his family and detained him. They had a particular job in mind for him, he said.

For the next 11 days in early July, the 30-year-old Palestinian said he was sent into one house after another in his home district, Shuja’iya, watched by his Israeli military minders. According to the account he gave the Guardian, they turned him into a human shield against booby-traps and Hamas gunmen.

“I tried to resist their proposal, but they started beating me and the officer told me it was not my choice to make and that I have to do whatever they want,” Skafi said. “He told me that my work would be searching the houses and telling them information about the homeowners. After some extreme pressure, I was left no choice.

“The next day I was told to go out on patrol with the Israeli soldiers, and I was very scared because of the tanks in front of me and the planes in the sky above me,” he continued. “When [his minders] noticed my fear, they assured me: ‘They know you are with us.’”

Palestinians describe being used as ‘human shields’ by Israeli troops in Gaza.

Blinken heads for Israel hoping to kickstart ceasefire negotiations

US secretary of state Antony Blinken will depart for the Middle East on Monday, the state department said, as Washington is pushing to kickstart ceasefire negotiations to end the Gaza war after the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

The top US diplomat’s latest trip to the region, his eleventh since the 7 October 2023 attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas that triggered the Gaza war, comes even as Israel has intensified its military campaign in Gaza and in Lebanon against Iran-aligned militia Hezbollah.

Blinken will discuss with regional leaders the importance of ending the Gaza war, ways to chart a post-conflict plan for the Palestinian territory, as well as how to reach a diplomatic solution to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the state department said in a statement.

The top diplomat’s trip will start with Israel, the state department said, but did not provide the other exact destinations.

“Throughout the region, secretary Blinken will discuss the importance of bringing the war in Gaza to an end, securing the release of all hostages, and alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people,” the state department said in a statement.

Updated at 11.54 BST

Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati said there was no alternative to UN Resolution 1701, but added that “new understandings” could be reached to implement it, a statement issued by his office cited him as saying on Monday.

A UN peacekeeping mission is mandated by Security Council Resolution 1701, adopted in 2006, to help the Lebanese army keep its southern border area with Israel free of weapons or armed personnel other than those of the Lebanese state.

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