The ‘nightmare in Gaza is intensifying’ as ‘horrifying scenes’ unfold in northern Gaza – UNThe UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Tor Wennesland, has issued the following statement, in which he says “relentless Israeli strikes” are being launched in Gaza where nowhere is safe for civilians to escape bombardments.He said:
The nightmare in Gaza is intensifying. Horrifying scenes are unfolding in the northern Strip amidst conflict, relentless Israeli strikes and an ever-worsening humanitarian crisis.
In Beit Lahia last night, dozens were reportedly killed in Israeli airstrikes. This follows weeks of intensified operations resulting in scores of civilian fatalities and near total lack of humanitarian aid reaching populations in the north. Nowhere is safe in Gaza.
I condemn the continuing attacks on civilians. This war must end, the hostages held by Hamas must be freed, the displacement of Palestinians must cease, and civilians must be protected wherever they are. Humanitarian aid must be delivered unimpeded.
The path ahead will require courage, political will and renewed dialogue. We owe it to the families suffering in Gaza and Israel. The war must stop now.
ShareKey eventsShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureMedecins Sans Frontieres on Israel’s siege in north Gaza: ‘Purely and simply a collective punishment’Medecins Sans Frontieres has condemned Israel’s siege on the last remaining hospitals in Gaza, saying:“This is purely and simply a collective punishment imposed on Palestinians in Gaza, who must choose between being forcibly displaced from the North or killed. We fear that this will not stop.”Adding to the statement, Anna Halford, MSF emergency coordinator in Gaza, said:
“The ever-worsening escalation of violence and non-stop Israeli military operations that we have been witnessing over the past two weeks in northern Gaza have horrifying consequences.”
Tens of thousands of people remain trapped in Jabalia refugee camp amid daily Israeli attacks while more than 350 patients are reported to be trapped inside Indonesian, Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals. Those include pregnant women and people who just underwent surgical operations.ShareFaisal AliThe Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), an intergovernmental body representing the world’s Muslim-majority countries, has condemned Israel’s airstrikes in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, which killed at least 70 civilians on Saturday night and injured many more.In a statement the OIC said it “views this atrocity as a continuation of the many massacres, acts of genocide, and ethnic cleansing perpetrated against the Palestinian people”, and said it called on the UN security council to impose a ceasefire in Gaza.ShareHezbollah said on Sunday that it launched rockets at Haifa in Israel following the latest Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon, Agence France-Presse reports.According to the group, its fighters launched a “rocket salvo” at the “city of Haifa,” adding that it was “in response to the aggressions on [Beirut’s] southern suburbs” from Sunday morning.ShareFaisal AliAnother war of words (or tweets) has erupted between the Turkish and Israeli governments, following foreign minister Israel Katz tagging Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a post on X with a picture of Yahya Sinwar’s corpse, accompanied by a caption that read: “@RTErdogan, take back your rapist and murderer friend Sinwar.”Turkey’s official foreign ministry account then shared a post in response with images of people carrying dead bodies and participating in funerals in Gaza, saying its government would “continue to work to ensure that those responsible for this genocide receive the punishment they deserve.”Soykırımcı Netanyahu ve Hükümetinin eli kanlı mensubu @Israel_katz‘ın masum Filistinlilere yönelik eylemlerinden örnekler…Bu soykırımın sorumlularının hak ettikleri cezaları almaları için çalışmaya devam edeceğiz. pic.twitter.com/88UdPC92po— T.C. Dışişleri Bakanlığı (@TC_Disisleri) October 18, 2024On Saturday, Turkey’s public broadcaster reported that AKP spokesperson Ömer Çelik weighed in on the flare-up in defence of Erdoğan accusing Katz of being a member of a “murder network”. He added: “Our President is a defender of human values.”ShareUpdated at 17.34 CESTThe Israeli foreign minister has lashed out at France following its decision to ban Israeli firms from exhibiting stands or showing equipment next month’s naval arms show in Paris.In a statement on X, Israel Katz wrote:
I asked the Israeli ministry of foreign affairs to take legal and diplomatic measures against the decision of French president Emmanuel Macron to prevent Israeli companies from presenting their products at the @SalonEuronaval show in Paris next month.
The boycott of Israeli companies and this, for the second time, with the imposition of unacceptable conditions, are undemocratic measures that in our eyes are not acceptable, moreover between friendly nations. I urge president Macron to cancel them completely.”
J’ai demandé au ministère israélien des Affaires étrangères de prendre des mesures juridiques et diplomatiques contre la décision du président français @EmmanuelMacron d’empêcher les entreprises israéliennes de présenter leurs produits au salon @SalonEuronaval à Paris le mois…— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) October 20, 2024

This marks the second time Israeli firms have been banned from a defense show. In May, France prohibited Israeli companies from showcasing their products in the Eurosatory military trade show as Macron called for a ceasefire in Gaza.Since last October, Israel has killed at least 43,000 Palestinians – including healthcare workers and journalists – across Gaza while forcibly displacing 2 million survivors across the narrow strip amid severe shortages in food, water and medical supplies due to Israeli aid restrictions. Israel’s expanded invasion into Lebanon has also killed at least 2,300 people while displacing an additional 1.2 million people across the country in recent weeks.ShareHere are some recent pictures coming out of Gaza that have been sent to us over the newswires:Aftermath of Israeli strikes on houses and residential buildings in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip. Photograph: Abdul Karim Farid/ReutersPeople flee from Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, amid intense Israeli attacks around the area. Photograph: Xinhua/REX/ShutterstockPalestinian people fill containers with water in Gaza city. Photograph: Mahmoud Issa/ReutersShareLeak of classified documents on Israel’s attack plans against Iran expected to be discussed at security cabinet meetingTehran is still bracing for Israeli retaliation for Iran’s missile attack on the country on 1 October 2024. The strikes, which Iran said were aimed at military bases, were largely thwarted by Israel’s aerial defences with support from its western allies. Iran said the attack was launched in retaliation for Israel’s assassination of senior Hamas and Hezbollah leaders and Israel’s war on Gaza and assault on Lebanon.The US is now investigating a leak of highly classified US intelligence about Israel’s plans for retaliation against Iran. Israel has not said how it will respond, but it could try to strike Iran’s cluster of missile and drone bases, its economic infrastructure or its oil terminals/facilities. Washington has not denied that the leaked files, which appear to be the US’s assessment of Israel’s preparations, are authentic.As my colleague, Bethan McKernan, writes in this story, the papers supposedly date from 15 and 16 October, and allege that Israel has fortified underground warplane bunkers at the Hatzerim airbase, where there are signs of preparation for arming plane-launched ballistic missiles.An Israeli source told Haaretz that the US had apologised to Israel for the leak. US House speaker Mike Johnson said on Sunday there was an investigation underway into the leak, telling CNN: “There’s a classified-level briefing… we are following it closely.” The leak is expected to be discussed in the Israeli security cabinet meeting, chaired by the country’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at 7:30 pm local time (5.30pm BST, 12.30pm ET) tonight.ShareUpdated at 15.53 CESTEmily DuganEmily Dugan is a senior reporter for the GuardianA return of Islamic extremist terror attacks on British soil could be triggered by the killings of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, the former head of MI6 has said.Sir John Sawers said police and intelligence agencies in Britain should be “on their toes” after changes of leadership at terrorist organisations in the Middle East.On Thursday Israeli troops confirmed the assassination of the Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar, who masterminded the Palestinian militant group’s 7 October attacks last year.In an interview with Sky News’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Sawers said:
Islamic terrorism may actually get a further boost, if that’s the right word, from events in the Middle East. The frustrations that we’ll be seeing because of the lack of movement on the Palestinian question, because of the violence people are witnessing every day.
And it could be that Hezbollah and Hamas, the new leaderships there, are focused so much on violence that they become not just terrorist organisations designated by western countries and aimed against Israel, but they could revert back to international terrorism, including here in the UK.
You can read the full story here:ShareHezbollah said it launched rocket salvos at Israeli troops in two villages inside Lebanese territory, near the southern border, on Sunday.Fighters from the Lebanese militant group launched “a rocket salvo” at Israeli “enemy forces” on the outskirts of the village of Markaba, as well as on soldiers nearby, “west of the village of Adaisseh”, the group said.Israel’s military says around 160 projectiles have been launched from Lebanon as of 15:00 local time (many of which have been successfully intercepted).ShareThree Lebanese soldiers killed in Israeli strike in southern Lebanon, army saysThree Lebanese soldiers were killed in an Israeli strike on an army vehicle in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese military said. The troops were killed on a road connecting the border village of Ain Ebel to the nearby town of Hanin, the army said.ShareSummary of the day so far..

Israel struck dozens of south Lebanon villages and towns overnight, according to reports. There were also airstrikes reported in Beirut’s southern suburbs, with residents in Haret Hreik and Hadath ordered to evacuate on Sunday morning.

The Israeli military said it hit the “command centre of Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters” and underground weapons facility in Beirut and that it killed three Hezbollah militants in other strikes. It later said about 70 projectiles fired from Lebanon crossed into Israel within a matter of minutes, and that it intercepted some of them.

There were reports that the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza, has seen intense Israeli bombing and gunfire for several hours, risking patient and staff safety. Hussam Abu Safia, the hospital’s director, said medical services were severely disrupted after Israeli airstrikes damaged the hospital’s water tanks and electricity grid.

At least 87 people were killed in Israeli strikes in the city of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza yesterday, according to figures provided by the territory’s health ministry earlier today.

At least 42,603 Palestinian people have been killed and 99,795 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the health ministry said in a statement.

The UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Tor Wennesland, said in a statement that “the nightmare in Gaza is intensifying” as “relentless Israeli strikes” are being launched in Gaza where “horrifying scenes are unfolding in the northern strip”.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said not enough aid is being allowed into Gaza. “We can’t run a humanitarian operation at the scale needed with just a few unreliable and poorly accessible crossing points.”

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, is set to convene his security cabinet at 7:30 pm local time (5.30pm BST, 12.30pm ET) in Tel Aviv.
ShareUpdated at 15.27 CESTThe Lebanese army says three soldiers have been killed in an Israeli strike on a military vehicle in southern Lebanon, according to a snap from the Reuters news agency. We’ll have more detail shortlyShareDaniel BoffeyThe London School of Economics has been criticised by a UN rapporteur and accused of Islamophobia after raising an allegation that students behind a pro-Palestine demonstration in July had prompted fears of a repeat of the 7/7 terrorist attacks. Chief reporter Daniel Boffey writes:
A total of seven students, four of them female, have been put under “precautionary measures”, restricting their access to the university’s campus, over allegations relating to a noisy protest on 7 July in the atrium of the LSE student services centre.
In letters informing the group of the action and the potential for further disciplinary measures, the university said that “several witnesses, including security guards, and members of staff, expressed concerns, fear and distress” over their conduct.
One staff member quoted by the university claimed that the demonstration had led “many in the room” to fear a “physical attack”. This feeling was said to have been “heightened” by its coincidental timing on the 19th anniversary of the 2005 bombings.
The students, who had been calling for the LSE to divest from companies that work with the Israeli military, deny the claims, which they say have been used to stifle free expression.
ShareBenjamin Netanyahu is set to convene his security cabinet at 7:30 pm local time (5.30pm BST, 12.30pm ET) in Tel Aviv, according to reports in Israel.The Times of Israel says the meeting comes as Israel prepares to strike Iran in response to the 1 October ballistic missile attack.ShareThe ‘nightmare in Gaza is intensifying’ as ‘horrifying scenes’ unfold in northern Gaza – UNThe UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Tor Wennesland, has issued the following statement, in which he says “relentless Israeli strikes” are being launched in Gaza where nowhere is safe for civilians to escape bombardments.He said:
The nightmare in Gaza is intensifying. Horrifying scenes are unfolding in the northern Strip amidst conflict, relentless Israeli strikes and an ever-worsening humanitarian crisis.
In Beit Lahia last night, dozens were reportedly killed in Israeli airstrikes. This follows weeks of intensified operations resulting in scores of civilian fatalities and near total lack of humanitarian aid reaching populations in the north. Nowhere is safe in Gaza.
I condemn the continuing attacks on civilians. This war must end, the hostages held by Hamas must be freed, the displacement of Palestinians must cease, and civilians must be protected wherever they are. Humanitarian aid must be delivered unimpeded.
The path ahead will require courage, political will and renewed dialogue. We owe it to the families suffering in Gaza and Israel. The war must stop now.
ShareThe Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said about 30 rockets have been launched from Lebanon at northern Israel. Some were intercepted by the airforce, while others crashed into areas, sparking fires, the IDF said in a post on X.בהמשך להתרעות בשעות 12:28-12:31 במרחב הגליל העליון, זוהו כ-30 שיגורים שחצו משטח לבנון.חלקם יורטו על ידי חיל האוויר, זוהו נפילות במרחב.כוחות כיבוי פועלים על מנת לכבות מספר שריפות שהתפתחו במרחב.בהמשך להתרעה שהופעלה בשעה 12:08 במשגב עם, מדובר בזיהוי שווא— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) October 20, 2024

ShareUN says lack of aid routes into Gaza means it can’t run a ‘humanitarian operation at the scale needed’The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the occupied Palestinian territory said not enough aid is being allowed into Gaza.It said:
We can’t run a humanitarian operation at the scale needed with just a few unreliable and poorly accessible crossing points.
Aid has only been facilitated when it has reached the people who need it, when they need it.
Last week, the US warned Israel that it faces possible punishment, including the potential stopping of American weapons transfers, if it does not take immediate action to let more humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.Humanitarian groups have made repeated calls for increased deliveries of food and medicine to the territory amid fears that Israel may be trying to force Palestinians to leave northern Gaza using starvation.Since Israel began a renewed assault on northern Gaza a fortnight ago, charities have said virtually no aid has entered the area (the UN said on Monday that Israel blocked all food aid entering northern Gaza from 2-15 October). Israel officials have denied accusations that aid is being deliberately blocked from reaching northern Gaza.People flee from Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip. Photograph: Xinhua/REX/ShutterstockShareUpdated at 13.03 CESTInternet connectivity went down in northern Gaza last night and, as of midday today, has not been restored.ShareIn the past two days, Israeli forces have detained at least 30 Palestinians across the occupied West Bank, according to a joint statement from the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society and the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs.The detentions were reported to have taken place in the areas of Hebron, Nablus, Ramallah, Jenin, Jericho, Jerusalem and Salfit, among others. It is estimated that over 11,300 Palestinians have been arrested in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since last October.Human rights groups and international organisations have alleged widespread abuse of inmates detained by Israel in raids in the West Bank.They have described alleged abusive and humiliating treatment, including holding blindfolded and handcuffed detainees in cramped cages as well as beatings, intimidation and harassment.ShareUpdated at 12.38 CEST