Palestinian factions in Lebanon call for 'day of anger' in refugee camps: Israel-Hamas war, day 25

Thank you for following our LIVE coverage of Day 25 of the Hamas vs Israel conflict.

We'll be back tomorrow with more news updates and analysis, right here at L'Orient Today.

Palestinians search for survivors in the rubble of a building in the Nuseirat refugee camp, in the central Gaza Strip on Oct. 31, 2023, amid relentless Israeli bombardment of the Palestinian enclave.

Thousands of civilians, both Palestinians and Israelis, have died since October 7, 2023, after Palestinian Hamas militants based in the Gaza Strip entered southern Israel in an unprecedented attack triggering a war declared by Israel on Hamas with retaliatory bombings on Gaza. (Credit: Mahmud Hams/ AFP)

The Rafah border crossing will be opened Wednesday for several Palestinians who were injured in Gaza to complete their treatment in Egyptian hospitals, Egyptian medical and security sources as well as a Palestinian border official said Tuesday.

The Palestinian factions in Lebanon have called for Wednesday to be a "day of anger" in the refugee camps across the country.

The leadership of Palestinian factions, along with national and Islamic forces in Lebanon, urged people in the camps to express their anger at the Israeli war against Gaza by organizing marches and sit-ins in all Palestinian camps across Lebanon.

The White House said 66 trucks of humanitarian assistance entered Gaza in the last 24 hours on Tuesday and that dozens more are expected to be cleared for their deliveries.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that President Joe Biden would speak later with Jordan's King Abdullah about Gaza.

The United States is sending an additional 300 troops to the Middle East with a focus on providing support in areas like explosive ordnance disposal and communications, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Patrick Ryder said the troops would be going from the United States, but would not be in Israel.

"They are intended to support regional deterrence efforts and further bolster US force protection capabilities," Ryder said. 

In a video published by Hamas' media bureau, spokesperson Abou Obeida said the group informed mediators that they would release some foreign hostages in the coming days.

The Israeli army on Tuesday attacked "a terrorist unit that tried to launch anti-tank missiles from Lebanese territory towards Israel," Haaretz reports.

According to the army's statement, the members of the unit were killed in the attack. In addition, the Israeli army attacked military targets belonging to Hezbollah in response to the rockets fired earlier Tuesday from Lebanon.

Lebanon will file a complaint with the United Nations Security Council against Israel for its use of white phosphorus "in repeated aggressions against Lebanon" and its deliberate intent "to burn Lebanese forests," announced the caretaker Foreign Affairs Minister Abdallah Bou Habib. 

The Israeli army announced Tuesday that two of its soldiers were killed in combat in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, as reported by AFP.

The army stated in a press release that the two soldiers "fell in combat in the northern part of the Gaza Strip," shortly after reporting "fierce fighting" with Hamas in that area. 

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday appealed for the protection of civilians caught in the conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas and stressed the need for proportionality and precaution by all parties.

"Protection of civilians on both sides is paramount and must be respected at all times," Guterres said in a statement. "International humanitarian law establishes clear rules that cannot be ignored. It is not an a la carte menu and cannot be applied selectively." 

Senior Hamas official Abu Marzook: "We built the tunnels to fight from them, [the] UN is responsible for protecting civilians."

Three additional staffers for the UN agency dedicated to Palestinian refugees were killed in the last 24 hours while in houses with their families, bringing the death toll to 67, UNRWA said in a statement.

Two Israeli soldiers were killed during combat operations in northern Gaza on Tuesday, the Israeli army said, as Israel expanded its campaign inside the besieged Palestinian territory.

"Two Israeli soldiers killed during combat in north Gaza," the army said in a statement.

Rockets targeted the northern outskirts of the town of Aitaroun, South Lebanon, a security source told L'Orient Today.

The source noted that this is the second time this location has been targeted. The Israeli artillery is targeting the area of Wadi al-Aliq, located between the towns of Al Bustan and Marwahin, with incendiary shells, the source added.

A Lebanese Army base in Wadi Honein, South Lebanon, was targeted by six shells fired by the Israeli army, without causing any injuries, an army source told L'Orient Today. 

A security source told L'Orient Today that Wadi al-Fallahin, an area located between the towns of Bustan and Yarine, was hit by Israeli artillery fire. Earlier, the vicinity of Bustan was targeted by projectiles containing phosphorus.

This image grab taken from AFPTV video footage shows Palestinians looking for survivors in a crater following an Israeli strike on a refugee camp in Jabalia on the southern Gaza Strip, on Oct. 31, 2023, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (Photo by Fadi Alwhidi / AFP)

Since Oct. 7 and Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, Israel has relentlessly bombed the Gaza Strip.

In addition to an overwhelming human death toll, material damage caused by the air raids is colossal. View our video comparing satellite images of parts of the enclave, before and after Israeli attacks.

Israel is assuming a defensive posture on the Lebanese front to avoid overstretching its forces as it focuses on waging war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said in a briefing on Tuesday.

Hanegbi added that "the day after Hamas," Israel will apply "the lessons learned" against Hezbollah militants. He said this would have operational aspects, but did not elaborate further.

"At 4 p.m. ... fighters of the Islamic Resistance targeted an Israeli infantry unit near the Jaradah location with artillery shells, causing confirmed casualties," Hezbollah said in a statement.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced Tuesday that at least 50 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike in a refugee camp in northern Gaza.

The airstrike, which could potentially result in a significantly higher death toll, according to the same ministry, destroyed "at least 20 buildings" in the Jabaliya refugee camp. When contacted by AFP, the Israeli military did not immediately respond.

The Israeli army announced that mortar bombs were fired from Lebanon towards the Arab Bedouin village of Aramsha, Haaretz reported.

The bombs were detected falling in open areas, and no casualties were reported. The Israeli army responded with artillery fire toward the launch site.

Israeli official: Focus of Gaza combat is on north, the south's turn "will come later," reports Reuters.

Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says 50 people were killed in Israeli strike.

A girl looks on as she stands by the rubble outside a building that was hit by Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Oct. 31, 2023 amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (Credit: Mohammed Abed/AFP)

Israel's response to Hamas attacks must adhere to international law, says Jens Stoltenberg, NATO's Secretary-General.

He emphasized the importance of preventing an escalation of the Gaza conflict, reports Reuters

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian warned on Tuesday that pro-Iranian groups in the region could not remain "silent" in the face of the war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas, stressing the urgency of ending the war, according to AFP.

"It is normal for resistance groups and movements not to remain silent in the face of the crimes" committed in the Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip, said the Iranian Foreign Minister, during a visit to Qatar.

Hezbollah says it targeted and destroyed an Israeli Merkava tank with guided missiles as the tank traveled in the vicinity of the Pranit barracks, the headquarters of the Israeli army Galilee Division and opposite Lebanon’s Rmaysh.

The attack, which happened at 2:30 p.m., killed and wounded the soldiers in the tank, according to a Hezbollah party statement.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian will pay an official visit to Ankara on Wednesday to discuss the conflict between Israel and Hamas, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

The foreign ministers of Turkey and Iran will also hold talks on bilateral ties and other regional issues, the ministry said in a statement, Reuters reported.

Tens of people were just killed by Israeli strikes in Jabaliyah Camp in the Gaza Strip, reports Al Jazeera correspondent Wael Al Dahdouh.

The town of al-Bustan (Sour district) has been violently targeted by phosphorous shells in the past hour, town mayor Adnan Ahmad confirmed to L'Orient Today. He added that the shells are landing between houses and in valleys in the area.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese state-run National News Agency reported that Wadi al-Aleq, located between the towns of Marwahin and al-Bustan, is being bombarded with phosphorous and incendiary shells.

The same source claimed that incendiary shells were also fired near Alma al-Shaab.

The NNA also reported that Israel fired four missiles at a garden in the town of Maroun al-Ras (Bint Jbeil district).

Meanwhile, Hezbollah targeted the Israeli “al-Marj” site in the Hounin Valley, opposite the town of Markaba (Marjayoun district), with guided missiles. The NNA has reported that Israel is bombing the eastern outskirts of the town of Markaba and a site called "al-Raheb," which is opposite the town of Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil district).

Norway believes Israel may have broken international law in its bombardment of Gaza that has leveled neighborhoods and killed thousands of Palestinians, its foreign minister says.

Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide told Reuters in an interview that while Oslo supports Israel's right to self-defense, humanitarian law must be adhered to. Click here for more.

The Israeli military says it used its Arrow Aerial Defense System for the first time in the ear to intercept a surface-to-surface missile in the Red Sea, Reuters reports.

In a post on the X platform (formerly Twitter), the Israeli army added that one of its fighter jets successfully intercepted an additional aerial threat in the same area earlier today. It also noted that no infiltrations into Israeli territory had been identified.

Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for targeting with guided missiles an Israeli army unit positioned in the vicinity of the Israeli site of al-Assi, which is opposite to the Lebanese town of Mays al-Jabal. Hezbollah claims that the attack, which happened at 12:22 p.m., killed or wounded all of the unit's members.‏

Hezbollah's Al-Manar channel reported that the Israeli site of Bayyad Blida was targeted and that Israel is shelling the town of Blida in the Marjayoun district of south Lebanon.

L'Orient Today contacted the mayor of Blida, but he was not immediately available for comment.

Meanwhile, Haaretz reported that sirens sounded in the Israeli city of Metula.

 Amnesty International has also accused the Israeli army of using white phosphorus in the border towns Aita al-Shaab and al-Mari, in southern Lebanon.

"Two videos verified by Amnesty International’s Crisis Evidence Lab filmed on 10 October around al-Mari show ignited felt wedges descending to the ground and instigating widespread fires, almost certainly indicating the use of white phosphorus," the charity said in a statement on its website.

"Amnesty International also verified one video and five photos showing the shelling of Aita al-Shaab on 15 October, which very likely show the use of a mixture of white phosphorus rounds and standard high explosive artillery projectiles," it added.

Amnesty International's statement comes after L'Orient Le Jour found exclusive proof of white phosphorous being used in Dhayra. Lucile Wasserman and Lyana Alamadine spoke to multiple sources who confirmed its use. Click here to watch the full investigation.

Israel's use of phosphorous in an attack on the southern Lebanese town of Dhayra must be investigated as a "war crime" says human rights organization Amnesty International.

In a report published on its website, Amnesty says the Israeli army "unlawfully" fired artillery shells containing white phosphorus in an "indiscriminate attack" that injured at least nine civilians and "damaged civilian objects" in the town of Dhayra on Oct. 16.

“It is beyond horrific that the Israeli army has indiscriminately used white phosphorous in violation of international humanitarian law. "The unlawful use of white phosphorus ... has seriously endangered the lives of civilians, many of whom were hospitalized and displaced, and whose homes and cars caught fire,” said Aya Majzoub, deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.

Click here to read more on Israel's alleged use of white phosphorus in south Lebanon.

GAZA DEATH TOLL UPDATE: 8,525 Palestinians have been killed, including 3,542 children, in Israeli strikes on Gaza since Oct. 7, the Health Ministry in the enclave says, Reuters reports.  

The military wing of Hamas, the al-Qassem Brigades, announced today via its Telegram account that it had targeted "an Israeli tank that infiltrated east of the Zeitoun neighborhood [situated in the east of Gaza] with a 'Yasin 105' rocket, causing it to catch fire.”

Some 940 children have been reported missing in Gaza amid the Israeli bombardment of the enclave that began on Oct. 7, UNICEF says, according to Reuters.

Image: People gather around a charging station for cell phones, portable power supplies, and car batteries connected to a fuel-based electric generator on the side of a street in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Oct. 31, 2023. (Credit: Mohammed Abed/AFP)

The World Health Organization says that Gaza is an "imminent public health catastrophe" with overcrowding, mass displacement, as well as damage to water and sanitation infrastructure, according to Reuters.

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels fired drones towards Israel today in retaliation for its war against Hamas, AFP cites a senior official from the group as telling the news agency.

"These drones belong to the state of Yemen," Abdelaziz bin Habtour, prime minister of the Houthi government, said when asked about drones launched towards Eilat in southern Israel, AFP reports.

Infant death due to dehydration in Gaza is a growing threat as there is just 5 percent of normal daily water output, a UNICEF spokesperson has highlighted, Reuters reports.

Hamas' Ezzeddine al-Qassem Brigades have announced that they bombarded the Israeli towns of Nirim and Al Ain al Thalitha, using Hawn-type shells, in a message published on the movement's Telegram channel.

Demonstration in Beirut: Hamas, the SSNP (Syrian Social Nationalist Party), Ba'ath, Mourabitoun and other Palestinian factions were well represented in the demonstration they organized today.

Although Hezbollah also called for participation in the rally, it insisted that it would not be held "in its name," which explains the absence of the party's flag in the crowd, reports our journalist on the ground, Matthieu Karam.

Ali, a 42-year-old Lebanese-Palestinian from Fatah, called for "the [French] ambassador to be expelled."

"What are we waiting for? We can't do anything here, the Lebanese state hosts us. But let them open the borders so that we can go to Palestine," he said, as the demonstrators chanted slogans against France: "Macron, agent," "Death to France."

"We are here to condemn Macron, who is banning pro-Palestinian demonstrations in France," shouted one man on his megaphone.

Nayla, a Palestinian from Burj al-Barajneh who lies in Demark, said she was just passing through Lebanon. "Nobody supports us. The Lebanese people are the ones who support us the most. European and Islamic countries must also support the Palestinian cause. We have to make our voice heard," she said, echoing what she describes as an Arab saying, "The bullet that doesn't kill, mutes."

Image: Credit: Matthieu Karam

Demonstration in Beirut: At 11:45 a.m., protesters began dispersing away from the area in front of the National Museum, not far from the French Embassy. The demonstration has just ended, according to our on-site journalist, Matthieu Karam.

Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi has called on the international community to "conduct an independent investigation into the Israeli aggression and bring [Israel] to justice, for deliberately targeting Gaza civilians and their facilities, depriving them of their humanitarian needs, starving them and subjecting them to collective punishment," Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reports.

Demonstration in Beirut: At 11 a.m., in front of the National Museum, close to the French Embassy, some 300 demonstrators chanted their support for Palestine, our journalist Matthieu Karam reports.

“Palestine remains. Israel and those who support it are disappearing,” one banner brandished by demonstrators read. So far, the demonstration, which was called by Hezbollah and pro-Palestinian factions, is proceeding calmly. 

Demonstrators are waving Palestinian and Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) flags. No Hezbollah flags have been seen for the moment.

"Death to Israel, death to the United States"; "Shame on the Arab leaders," could be heard among the chants of protesters, as well as "the military is repressing the revolutionaries" and "Palestine, we are with you to death."

Image: Credit: Matthieu Karam

The southern Lebanese towns of Ramia and Aita al-Shaab were hit by white phosphorus bombs fired by the Israeli army this morning, the Lebanese state-run National News Agency (NNA) reports.

Last night, Israel also shelled the towns of Naqoura, Alma al-Shaab, Rmaish, Dhayra, Chihine, Yater, Zibqine and Jabal al-Botm, according to NNA. The shells landed close to homes and one house was damaged in Baraachit.

Villages along the Blue Line were also targeted on Monday evening, as well as an area near a Lebanese Army base in Ras Naqoura, the NNA continued.

The Israeli army also launched flares and phosphorus bombs that set fire to the woods near the Blue Line and prompted UNIFIL to sound its sirens on several occasions.

Around a hundred demonstrators have gathered near the National Museum, close to the French Embassy, to participate in a demonstration planned for 11 a.m. at the call of Hezbollah and pro-Palestinian factions, our journalist on the ground, Matthieu Karam, reports. Security is significant in the area, and the streets leading to the embassy itself are blocked. Protesters are waving Palestinian and Syrian Socialist Nationalist Party (SSNP) flags.

Yad Vashem chairman Dani Dayan has criticized Israel's UN ambassador, Gilad Erdan, who wore a yellow star at a Security Council meeting yesterday, saying he was "sorry to see" the move by the Israeli delegation in New York.

"This act disgraces the victims of the Holocaust as well as the state of Israel," Dayan said in a Hebrew-language post on X, formerly Twitter.

"The yellow star symbolizes the helplessness of the Jewish people and their being at the mercy of others. We now have an independent state and a strong army. We are the masters of our own fate. Today we will fasten to our lapel a blue and white flag, not a yellow star." 

Click here for more details.

Image: Israeli United Nations Ambassador Gilad Erdan speaks during a Security Council meeting on the Israel-Hamas war at UN headquarters on Oct. 30, 2023 in New York City. (Credit: Michael M. Santiago / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

The military wing of Hamas, al-Qassem Brigades, announced this morning at 10:08 a.m. on their official Telegram page that they were “engaging in a confrontation” with the Israeli army “in the northwest of Gaza.”

The group confirmed the “targeting of two vehicles with ‘Yasin 105’ rockets, resulting in them catching fire.”

The Israeli army demolished the West Bank home of senior Hamas official Saleh Arouri in Arura, near Ramallah, this morning, Haaretz reported.

The building had been vacant for several years.

Arouri, the deputy leader of Hamas and founding member of its armed wing, met last week with Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nassrallah and the head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad Ziad Nakhaleh, according to Hezbollah's Al-Manar channel.

The Kuwaiti crown prince, Mishal al-Ahmad al-Jaber, has called for opening "the crossing points" connecting Gaza to the outside world and for humanitarian aid to be sent to Gaza, according to several Arabic-speaking media outlets. The crown prince also condemned Israel's bombing campaign.

For the moment, only the Rafah crossing linking the Gaza Strip to Egypt has been opened several times over the last 10 days —  each time for a short period. Just 117 truckloads of humanitarian aid has  been permitted to pass through to the enclave. The population of the Gaza Strip is 2.4 million inhabitants, including more than 1.4 million displaced people who fled the bombings.

Israel's warplanes destroyed a residential building in al-Zeitoun neighborhood in the southeast of Gaza, according to Palestinian news agency WAFA.

According to the same source, there is a large number of dead and wounded, the majority of whom are children, women and elderly people, lying under the rubble.

Hezbollah's al-Manar channel also reported violent Israeli raids in the al-Dahdouh area in al-Zeitoun neighborhood.

Smoke rises following an Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip, seen from Israel, Oct. 31, 2023. (Credit: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)

Air raid sirens sounded in the area of the Red Sea city of Eilat this morning, and Israel's military siad the alert concerned a possible hostile aircraft intrusion, Reuters reports, adding that the military offered no further detail.

Shortly after the sirens sounded, Israel Radio reported that Israeli air defenses had shot down a drone over the Red Sea.

The Israeli army says it struck 300 Hamas targets overnight from Monday to Tuesday, according to Haaretz. Targets reportedly included “rocket and anti-tank missile launch sites” and “tunnels.”

Thailand's foreign minister begins an urgent visit to Qatar and Egypt today for talks on the fate of 22 Thais taken hostage by Hamas in its attack on Israel, AFP reports.

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said yesterday that his government was working hard to get Thai citizens home.

He has dispatched Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara to meet the Qatari prime minister and foreign minister today, before talks with the Egyptian foreign minister tomorrow.

Parnpree will "discuss the situation of Thai nationals being held hostage as a result of the ongoing violence in Israel and Gaza," the ministry said in a statement.

About 30,000 Thais were working in Israel, many in the agricultural sector, when the conflict erupted. At least 32 Thais have been killed in the conflict and 19 wounded, according to the ministry.

Two armed drones targeted Iraq’s Ain al-Asad airbase, which hosts US forces, but there were no casualties or damage, Reuters cites a security source and a government source as saying.

The Israeli army this morning reported further airstrikes in Lebanon targeting Hezbollah.

“Fighter planes recently attacked the infrastructure of the terrorist organization Hezbollah on the territory of Lebanon,” the army said on X (formerly Twitter). “Among the infrastructure attacked, weapons, positions and sites used by the organization were destroyed,” the army added, according to AFP.

The Palestinian Red Crescent expressed alarm in the early hours of this morning about strikes near one of its hospitals in the north of the Gaza Strip, where civilians have taken refuge to protect themselves from Israeli bombings.

“Continued artillery and airstrikes in the Tel al-Hawa area of ​​Gaza where al-Quds hospital is located,” the organization wrote on the social network X (formerly Twitter). “The building is shaking and the displaced civilians and the teams at work are in fear and panic.” 

The Palestinian Red Crescent also reported bombings in this area on Sunday evening.

To catch up on what happened yesterday, click here to read our Morning Brief.

Image: A picture taken from southern Lebanon near the border with Israel shows smoke rising near the northern Israeli Kibbutz of Kfar Giladi on Oct. 30, 2023, after Lebanese shelling amid increasing cross-border tensions. (Credit: AFP)

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Thank you for joining us as we resume our live coverage of events related to the war between Israel and Hamas.