Thank you for following today's live coverage of the Gaza war. Make sure to return tomorrow for all the latest updates.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the number of aid truck requests to access northern Gaza, rejected by the Israeli army, doubled in August compared to previous months.
WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic told journalists in Geneva that this is not an isolated incident. "We tried four times to reach al-Shifa Hospital (located in the north of the enclave) between Sept. 7 and 10 but were unsuccessful," he explained, noting that this is a "recurring phenomenon."
During the same meeting, Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that only 74 of the 208 attempts to access the north in August had been successful.
On Monday, Israeli forces stopped a convoy carrying vehicles and fuel for the vaccination campaign, as well as a WHO team trying to reach al-Shifa Hospital, forcing the mission to be interrupted, Jasarevic said.
The Israeli raid targeting the village of Tiri caused a fire in a forested area, according to our correspondent.
Firefighters from the Union of Municipalities of Bint Jbeil were deployed to the scene to extinguish the fire and cool the area.
The Gaza Strip press office provided updated figures on the human toll of the Israeli airstrike on the al-Mawassi displaced persons camp, reported Al Jazeera.
Earlier estimates indicated at least 40 people were killed and 60 injured. However, the office revised the numbers upward: "The Israeli occupying forces committed a horrible massacre at dawn... resulting in 40 martyrs and more than 60 by the afternoon," the press office said in a statement. It noted that 19 bodies were transported to the hospital and identified, as confirmed by the enclave's health ministry.
The press office added that the bodies of 22 identified Palestinians could not be recovered because the "giant bombs" used by Israel in the attack had "evaporated" them.
"These bodies melted from the impact of the bombings and the three explosions caused by these giant bombs, meaning none of the bodies of those caught in the blast zone were recovered," the statement said.
- In response to the Israeli attack on the Bekaa Valley, Hezbollah claimed to have targeted the headquarters of the Northern Command reserve and the Galilee Division reserve base, as well as its logistical warehouses in Amiad, using dive drones.
- Hezbollah also attacked surveillance equipment at the site of Ibad.
The Gaza Health Ministry confirmed that the Israeli airstrike on the al-Mawassi refugee camp resulted in at least 19 deaths. Hamas initially reported that "40 people" had been killed in the attack, which the Israeli military deemed an exaggeration.
The Israeli military stated that the strike targeted "senior Hamas commanders" in the humanitarian area near Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Civil Defense, corroborated the figure of 40 deaths and added that more than 20 to 40 tents were completely destroyed, with 60 people injured.
An Israeli drone conducted a raid in the area between Blida and Aitaroun (Bint Jbeil), according to our correspondent.
European Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell warned of the risk that the West Bank, where violence has increased since the Gaza war began, could "become a new Gaza Strip."
"A new front is being opened with a clear objective: to transform the West Bank into a new Gaza Strip by escalating violence, delegitimizing the Palestinian Authority, and encouraging provocations to provoke a strong reaction and openly state that the only way to achieve a peaceful resolution of the conflict is to annex the West Bank and Gaza," Borrell said in Cairo during a joint press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty.
The Public Health Ministry's Emergency Operations Center stated that the final toll of the Israeli airstrike targeting a residential building in Nabatieh was 12 injured.
One of the injured has been hospitalized at Cheikh Ragheb Harb Hospital for treatment, while the others, who suffered minor injuries, were treated in the emergency room of the same hospital.
- Hezbollah claimed to have fired artillery shells at the Israeli site in Abbasieh and targeted a military position at 5:55 p.m. near the Israeli site of Raheb, opposite the Lebanese village of Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil district).
- Sirens sounded in the village of Yiftah in northern Israel, according to Haaretz.
Israeli fighter jets conducted a raid targeting a house on the outskirts of Mansouri and Majdel Zoun (Sour), according to local residents speaking to our correspondent.
- Alarm sirens sounded in the village of Ghajar, on the Lebanese-Israeli border, Haaretz reported.
Latest updates on the Lebanese-Israeli front:
* Israeli warplanes broke the sound barrier over Saida, with reports indicating similar incidents over Beirut and Mount Lebanon, according to our correspondent in the South.
* An Israeli drone targeted the village of Mais al-Jabal in the Marjayoun district, residents told our correspondent.
* Israeli artillery shelling struck the plain of Khiam in the Marjayoun district, residents reported.
* A security source informed our correspondent that Hezbollah launched drones toward the Galilee. Haaretz reported that sirens sounded in the village of Ramot Naftali in the Upper Galilee due to "suspected hostile aircraft intrusion."
Hamas representative in Lebanon, Oussama Hamdane, called for pressure on Israel to "immediately end the aggression and war of annihilation in the Gaza Strip" during the 162nd session of the Arab League Ministerial meeting in Cairo.
"This aggression threatens not only the Palestinians but also Arab national security," he emphasized.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutors are working to confirm the death of Mohammad Deif, the commander of the al-Qassam Brigades, who has been presumed dead since July 13. The Israeli military had claimed to have killed him in an airstrike on Khan Younis in southern Gaza, but the armed wing of Hamas has not confirmed his death.
In May, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan announced arrest warrants for Mohammad Deif, Yahya Sinwar and the former political chief of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated on July 31 in Tehran. The warrants were issued for war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel.
According to a sealed legal document filed on Aug. 2, the ICC will withdraw its request for Mohammad Deif if sufficient and reliable information confirms his death. The Court had previously ended the proceedings against Ismail Haniyeh following his death.
Hezbollah claimed a double attack using "dozens of Katyusha rockets" in retaliation for the "assassination" of its fighter Mohammad al-Shaer in the Bekaa and the bombing of a building in Nabatieh.
The party stated it had targeted, on one hand, "an artillery platform of the 411th Battalion" in Neve Ziv, a northern Israeli locality about 8 km opposite Alma al-Shaab (Sour). On the other hand, Hezbollah struck "the headquarters of the Mount Neria base," which currently hosts "Golani Brigade forces."
Mount Neria is located a few kilometers east of Mount Meron, approximately ten kilometers in a straight line from Rmeish (Bint Jbeil). This marks the fifth time Mount Neria has been hit by Hezbollah, with all attacks on this base occurring since late July, each in response to Israeli strikes that have killed fighters. According to the Israeli army website, the Golani Brigade is known for its "elite fighters."
Here are the latest developments at the Lebanon-Israel border:
- Israeli artillery has heavily shelled residential areas in Naqoura, according to residents reported by our correspondent in South Lebanon.
- Israeli warplanes targeted the outskirts of Bouyout al-Siyad and Mansouri, east of Sour.
- Alarm sirens were sounded at a UNIFIL center in Naqoura.
- Alarm sirens were also heard in the village of Sasa in northern Israel, according to Haaretz. Sasa is located less than three kilometers north of Mount Neria.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced on Tuesday that a Palestinian was killed during an Israeli security forces operation in Tulkarem, in the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Red Crescent added that four other people were injured by gunfire in the area, including one volunteer rescuer from the organization.
This new incident brings the number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank since the start of the war to 663, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The Israeli army said that its warplanes attacked Hamas control and command complexes inside and nearby a building that was previously used as a mosque in the Bureij area in central Gaza.
The army further said that before the attack, various measures were taken to "reduce the chances of harming civilians, including the use of precision weapons."
Latest updates from the Lebanese-Israeli border:
* Israeli warplanes have targeted a house in the village of Rshaf (Bint Jbeil district) and a person has been injured mildly, according to a security source relayed by our correspondent in the South.
* More than ten Israeli artillery shells have fallen on the outskirts of Kfar Shuba (Hasbaya), according to residents.
* Hezbollah announced that it fired artillery shells at the Israeli site of Roueisat al-Alam in the Kfar Shuba hills at 3:55 p.m. This is the first attack claimed by the party today.
* A large number of rockets have been fired from Southern Lebanon towards Israeli sites, a security source told our correspondent in the South. Israeli interceptor missiles have exploded at the border in the western sector of South Lebanon.
* Sirens have sounded in the villages of Zarit and Goren in Northern Israel, according to Haaretz.
The Lebanese Ministry of Health announced that the Israeli raid near Jouwaya resulted in one minor injury.
It also revised the casualty count from the Nabatieh raid, stating that nine people were slightly injured during the bombing.
The Israeli army stated it is "very likely" that its forces "indirectly and unintentionally" killed Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, an American-Turkish activist, on Saturday during a protest in Beita, in the occupied West Bank.
According to an investigation by the Israeli Military Police’s Criminal Investigation Division, the shots were aimed at "the main instigator of the riot," the army said in a statement, calling for an "autopsy." The army also expressed "its deepest regrets" for the death of the 26-year-old woman.
According to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus, where she was taken, Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was killed by "a bullet to the head" while participating in a protest against Israeli settlement expansion, said Neta Golan, co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), of which the young woman was a member. A witness from ISM, who requested anonymity, described it as a "shoot-to-kill" incident, telling AFP he saw "blood flowing from her head."
The U.N. envoy for the Middle East peace process condemned Israeli airstrikes on a humanitarian zone in the Gaza Strip, which killed 40 people according to Gaza’s Civil Defense, AFP reported.
"I strongly condemn today’s deadly airstrikes by Israel in a densely populated area, a humanitarian zone defined by Israel in Khan Younis where displaced people were sheltering," Tor Wennesland said in a statement. He added that "civilians should never be used as human shields," referring to Israeli military claims that the target was a Hamas command center.
Latest updates from South Lebanon, according to residents' testimonies relayed by our correspondent in the South:
* Israeli drones have targeted a house in the center of the village of Houla (Marjayoun district). The village has also been subjected to Israeli artillery shelling.
* Since this morning, a small Israeli drone has been dropping bombs on the village of Kfar Kila (Marjayoun). The last one was dropped near Tal al-Nahas, north of Kfar Kila.
The Ministry of Health has revised the toll of the Israeli raid on a building in Nabatieh, reporting eight minor injuries treated at Martyr Sheikh Ragheb Harb Hospital.
Four of the injured have already returned home. Three others were briefly hospitalized, according to our correspondent, citing a local source.
The Israeli army announced that its air force killed Mohammad Qassem al-Shaer, a "commander in Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force in southern Lebanon."
Hezbollah earlier announced the death of Shaer, without specifying his position in the party.
According to information from L'Orient Today's correspondent in the Bekaa, Shaer is the victim of the targeted strike on the road between Saghbine and Bab Mareh, in the Bekaa.
The health ministry in the Gaza Strip announced a new death toll of 41,020 in the Palestinian territory since the start of the war with Israel, which has entered its twelfth month, reports AFP.
At least 32 people have been killed in the past 24 hours, he said in a statement, adding that 94,925 people had been injured in the Gaza Strip since the war began on Oct. 7.
The targeted strike on a building in Nabatieh left six people injured, according to a preliminary report from the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
It is not yet clear whether the strike was aimed at a specific target, but the mode of operation is reminiscent of some of Israel's targeted assassinations in Lebanon in recent months, including the killing of senior Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur in Beirut's southern suburbs, or that of Saleh al-Arouri in January, also in the southern suburbs.
The strike between Wadi Jilo and Jouwaya caused a fire in the area, according to local residents. So far, the sources contacted by L'Orient Today's correspondent have not reported any casualties.
While local sources initially reported an Israeli drone strike on a residential building in Nabatyeh, on which four missiles were launched, a security source contacted by L'Orient Today's correspondent instead mentioned the firing of intelligent guided missiles from a fighter plane.
The strike in the Wadi Jilo region. (Photo obtained from local residents by L'Orient Today's correspondent Muntasser Abdallah)
An Israeli airstrike also targeted an area between Wadi Jilo and Jouwaya (Sour) according to local residents.
Hezbollah announced the death of one of its members, Mohammad Qassem al-Shaer, born in 1977 and originally from Sohmor, in West Bekaa. According to information from L'Orient Today's correspondent in the Bekaa, he is the victim of the targeted strike on the road between Saghbine and Bab Mareh, in the Bekaa.
Four missiles were launched by an Israeli drone on an apartment in the west of Nabatieh at the level of the road leading to Zebdine, report residents, quoted by L'Orient Today's correspondent. A photo of the building hit shows that the apartment was on the third or fourth floor and was targeted with precision.
A source among the rescuers deployed to the scene reported minor injuries around the targeted building.
Houthi-linked media have reported that a U.S.-U.K. airstrike targeted a school in the al-Jund area of Taiz, Yemen, killing at least two people and injuring five others. The claim was made by the Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV, which attributed the attack to Western forces.
Earlier reports from the U.S. Army’s Central Command (CENTCOM) stated that U.S. forces had successfully destroyed two Iranian-backed Houthi missile systems and a support vehicle in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen over the past 24 hours. Additionally, U.S. forces downed a Houthi unmanned aerial vehicle over the Red Sea, according to a statement posted on X.
This escalation follows the downing of a U.S. MQ-9 drone in Yemen’s Saada province, as claimed by Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree. The Houthis have ramped up their attacks on Israel-linked ships in the Red Sea since November, citing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Turkey denounced the Israeli "war crime" after a strike on the "humanitarian zone" of al-Mawasi in Khan Younis during the night, which left 40 dead and 60 injured according to the Gaza Civil Defense, reports AFP.
"Netanyahu's genocidal government has added a new crime to its list of war crimes," the Turkish Foreign Ministry wrote in a statement.
"Hamas, as a military formation, no longer exists" in the Gaza Strip," Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said after more than eleven months of war, AFP reports.
Now, "Hamas is waging a guerrilla war and we are still fighting Hamas terrorists and hunting down the leaders" of the movement, Gallant added in an interview with journalists on Monday, some of whose comments were authorized for publication on Tuesday.
The Israeli army said the strike on the al-Mawassi humanitarian zone in Khan Younis targeted "senior Hamas commanders" overnight, adding that the group's air operations chief, Samer Ismail Hader Abu Daqqa, was killed as well as Osama Tabesh, head of the group's observation and targeting unit, and Ayman Mabhouh.
The Israeli military also called the claim that 40 people were killed in the strike "exaggerated."
The strike that targeted a two-wheeler in West Bekaa left one person dead, Mohammed al-Shaer, and one injured, reported L'Orient Today's correspondent, informed by residents of Sohmor, where the victim is from. The Ministry of Health confirmed that this strike killed one person and injured two.
A truce agreement in Gaza between Israel and Hamas allowing the release of hostages held in the war-torn Palestinian territory would be a "strategic opportunity" for Israel, the Israeli defense minister said in an interview with journalists, AFP reports.
Bringing back the hostages "is the right thing to do, it is not just one of the objectives of the war, but it also reflects our values," said Yoav Gallant on Monday, for whom "reaching such an agreement is also a strategic opportunity offering us a high probability of changing the security situation on all fronts."
The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office (PNAT) closed a complaint in early September from associations denouncing torture attributed to a Franco-Israeli soldier, based on a video showing men presented as Palestinian prisoners in the context of the war between Israel and Hamas, AFP learned from a judicial source.
The complaint specifically targeted a video that allegedly dates from January but was shared on social media in March, "taken by a supposed Franco-Israeli soldier, filming Palestinian prisoners in a degrading situation and reporting torture," and which allegedly took place in Gaza. But according to the judicial source, the facts denounced appeared "insufficiently characterized."
Two injured people were taken to hospital after the strike that targeted a car in western Bekaa, L'Orient Today's correspondent reported.
Two Jordanian truck drivers were detained in Israel on Monday, a day after another Jordanian killed three Israeli guards at the Allenby Bridge between Jordan and Israel on Sunday. The two men are being investigated in connection with the attack, according to the Jordanian Interior Ministry, quoted by Emirati media outlet The National.
An Israeli drone targeted a car on the road between Saghbine and Bab Mareh in West Bekaa, reported L'Orient Today's correspondent in the region, informed by witnesses. Rescue teams immediately headed to the targeted area.
According to preliminary information, the strike that targeted a two-wheeler missed its target. A car that was at the scene was targeted. The strike reportedly caused injuries.
The United States appears to be rejecting calls for an independent investigation into the death of a Turkish-American woman who was killed by Israeli gunfire in the occupied West Bank last week during a protest.
State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel, according to Al Jazeera, refused to acknowledge that Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was shot by an Israeli soldier and reiterated his call for a “prompt and robust” Israeli investigation. He confirmed that Washington has no plans to conduct an independent investigation, as the victim’s family has demanded.
In southern Lebanon, the night was marked by several strikes:
- At around 1 a.m., two missiles were fired by an Israeli fighter plane at Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil).
- A strike was also reported in Khiam, but the missile did not explode.
- An Israeli bombardment targeted the center of Naqoura. Ambulances went to the scene, but no information was available so far regarding possible casualties.
- Hezbollah claimed responsibility, at around 10:40 p.m., for an artillery strike on "Israeli soldiers who were moving" near Malkia, opposite the Lebanese village of Aitaroun (Bint Jbeil).
Since the morning, several strikes have also been reported in southern Lebanon:
- An Israeli drone launched several explosives on Kfar Kila (Marjayoun).
- Israeli artillery fired two shells at the Ain al-Zarqa area on the outskirts of Alma el-Chaab (Sour).
- Artillery fire hit Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil).
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Associated Press (AP) in an interview that “the death and destruction” in Gaza was the worst he had seen in his more than seven years as U.N. leader. Calling for a cease-fire, Guterres said that “the level of suffering we are seeing in Gaza is unprecedented in my time in office.” “I have never seen this level of death and destruction.”
“It is surreal” to think that the U.N. could play a role in the future of the Gaza Strip, whether in its administration or by deploying peacekeepers there, Guterres added, given that Israel would not accept such a role for the organization. However, the U.N. “will be available to support a cease-fire.”
The Israeli army yesterday ordered the evacuation of several areas in the northwest of the Gaza Strip. Almost the entire population of Gaza has been displaced at least once in nearly a year of war. Tens of thousands of people leave their homes or makeshift shelters with each evacuation, taking their belongings with them, sometimes without knowing where to go.
The Gaza Civil Defense announced that 40 people were killed and 60 injured in the al-Mawassi humanitarian zone in Khan Younis overnight.
"40 martyrs and 60 wounded were recovered and transferred" to nearby hospitals after the strike, a Gaza Civil Defense official, Mohammed Al-Mughair, told AFP. "Our teams are still working to find 15 people missing after the strike that targeted the tents of displaced people in al-Mawassi, in Khan Younis," a city in the south of the Gaza Strip, he added. The strikes created large craters in the humanitarian zone, said the Civil Defense, the organization responsible for emergency services in the Gaza Strip.
"Entire families have disappeared in the Al-Mawassi massacre in Khan Younis, under the sand, in deep holes," another civil defense spokesman, Mahmoud Bassal, said in a statement. "More than 20 to 40 tents have been completely damaged," he added, deploring a shortage of tools and equipment that is hampering rescue operations.
The Israeli military said it targeted the area after identifying the presence of Hamas fighters. An Israeli military aircraft "struck senior Hamas terrorists operating from a command and control center within the Khan Younis humanitarian zone," the Israeli military said. "Terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip continue to systematically abuse civilian and humanitarian infrastructure, including the designated humanitarian zone, to carry out terrorist activities against the State of Israel and Israeli troops," it said in its statement.
Hamas denied having fighters in the humanitarian zone. "The occupation's (Israel's) claims about the presence of resistance fighters are a blatant lie," Hamas said in a statement on the Telegram messaging service.
Israel regularly accuses Hamas of using civilians as human shields, which the group denies.
Make sure to read the Morning Brief so you are caught up with what has been happening.
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