Russian president ‘willing to gamble on food security’ by stepping up strikes on grain ships, says UK prime minister
Keir Starmer has accused Vladimir Putin of disrupting food supplies to Gaza after British intelligence suggested Russia had stepped up its attacks on Ukrainian ports.
Starmer said it was clear the Russian president was “willing to gamble on global food security” after several grain ships en route to developing countries were damaged by Russian strikes.
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As Israel continues its war in Gaza and assault on Lebanon, a growing number of international airlines are suspending flights to the region or to avoid affected airspace.
Reuters has helpfully compiled a list of some of them:
Aegean Airlines: The Greek airline cancelled flights to and from Beirut until 6 November and to and from Tel Aviv until 5 November.
AirBaltic: Latvia’s airBaltic cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv until 30 November.
Air Algerie: The Algerian airline suspended flights to and from Lebanon until further notice.
Air France-KLM: Air France extended its suspension of Paris-Tel Aviv flights until 29 October and Paris-Beirut flights until 30 November. KLM extended the suspension of flights to Tel Aviv until the end of this year at least.
Air India: The Indian flag carrier suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv until further notice.
Bulgaria Air: The Bulgarian carrier cancelled flights to and from Israel until 31 October.
Cathay Pacific: Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific cancelled flights to Tel Aviv until 25 October 2025.
Delta Air Lines: The US carrier paused flights between New York and Tel Aviv through March 2025.
EasyJet: The UK budget airline stopped flying to and from Tel Aviv in April and will resume flights on 30 March.
Egyptair: The Egyptian carrier in September said it had suspended flights to Beirut until “the situation stabilises”.
Emirates UAE’s state-owned airline cancelled flights to Beirut through to 31 October and flights to Baghdad and Tehran until 30 October.
Ethiopian Airlines: The Ethiopian carrier suspended flights to Beirut until further notice, it said in a Facebook post on 4 October.
FlyDubai: The Emirati airline suspended Dubai-Beirut flights until 31 October.
Iran Air: The Iranian airline cancelled Beirut flights until further notice.
Iraqi Airways: The Iraqi national carrier suspended flights to Beirut until further notice.
ITA Airways: The Italian carrier extended the suspension of Tel Aviv flights through to 30 November.
LOT: The Polish flag carrier cancelled flights to Tel Aviv until 26 October. Its first scheduled flight to Beirut is planned for 1 April.
Lufthansa Group: The German airline group extended the suspension of flights to Tel Aviv until 10 November, while its low cost carrier Eurowings suspended them until 30 November. Flights for Tehran are cancelled until 31 October and to Beirut until 30 November.
Pegasus: The Turkish airline cancelled flights to Beirut until 28 October.
Qatar airways: The Qatari airline temporarily suspended flights to and from Iraq, Iran and Lebanon, while flights to Amman will operate only during daylight hours.
Ryanair: Europe’s biggest budget airline cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv until the end of December. Group CEO Michael O’Leary said in early October that the suspension was likely to be extended until end-March.
Tarom: Romania’s flag carrier extended the suspension of Beirut flights until 15 November.
United Airlines: The Chicago-based airline suspended flights to Tel Aviv for the foreseeable future.
Virgin Atlantic: The UK carrier extended suspension of Tel Aviv flights until end-March.
Wizz Air: The Hungary-based airline suspended Tel Aviv flights through 14 January.
Continue reading...Discussion about letting private firms bid for contracts comes before Knesset vote on banning UN relief agency from operating in Israel
Israel is weighing the use of private security contractors – possibly involving UK special forces veterans – to deliver aid to Gaza, as conditions in the north of the strip worsen dramatically, the Guardian has learned.
According to an Israeli official, the security cabinet discussed the issue on Sunday, before an expected vote in the Knesset next week on two bills that would ban the UN relief agency, Unrwa, from operating in Israel. If passed, the bills would severely curtail the operations of by far the biggest aid operation in Gaza.
Continue reading...Report says ‘intense military operations in Gaza have left unprecedented humanitarian, environmental and social catastrophe’
Gaza’s economy has been left in “utter ruin” by the year-long war between Israel and Hamas, and it would take 350 years to return to its pre-conflict levels, the United Nations has warned.
In a report on the economic costs of the war prepared by its trade and development wing (Unctad), the UN said the fighting since Hamas killed more than 1,000 Israelis on 7 October last year had devastated the remnants of Gaza’s economy and infrastructure.
Continue reading...US secretary of state urges Israeli PM to capitalise on death of Hamas leader by securing release of hostages and ending conflict
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has arrived in Israel to encourage efforts to revive the stalled Gaza ceasefire negotiations after Israel’s killing of the Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar, last week.
Meeting the Israeli prime minister, Blinken urged Benjamin Netanyahu to capitalise on the death of the Hamas leader by securing the release of the 7 October attack hostages and ending the conflict in Gaza.
Continue reading...Detainees say they were sent into unexplored houses and tunnels before soldiers, in violation of Geneva conventions
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.
Continue reading...This blog is closing now. You can read our full report on the latest Israeli attacks on Lebanon here and our report on the latest Israeli attacks on Gaza here.
At least 42,603 Palestinian people have been killed and 99,795 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
Of those, 84 Palestinians were killed in the latest 24-hour reporting period, according to the ministry, which has said in the past that thousands of other dead people are most likely lost in the rubble of the territory.
Continue reading...UN special coordinator says ‘nightmare in Gaza is intensifying’ and calls for immediate end to violence
At least 87 people have been killed or are missing and 40 injured after intense Israeli airstrikes overnight in the north of the Gaza Strip, part of the country’s ferocious renewed assault on the area, medics in the besieged Palestinian territory have said.
In the past 24 hours 108 people had been killed in bombings across the territory, according to local health officials on Sunday. “The nightmare in Gaza is intensifying. Horrifying scenes are unfolding in the northern strip amidst relentless Israeli strikes and an ever-worsening humanitarian crisis,” Tor Wennesland, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, said in a statement.
Continue reading...Shia group has not claimed responsibility for attack on PM’s home but says it fired several barrages of rockets
Benjamin Netanyahu’s house in the seaside town of Caesarea was hit by a drone on Saturday, causing superficial damage and no casualties, as Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon rage unabated after the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
The Israeli government said that one of the prime minister’s three homes was targeted by three drones, two of which were intercepted, and that neither Netanyahu nor his wife, Sara, were home at the time.
Continue reading...At least 73 killed strike on northern Gaza, health ministry says, after drone attack on Netanyahu’s home. This blog is now closed.
Here are some of the latest images coming in via the news wires:
Naval drills hosted by Iran with the participation of Russia and Oman and observed by nine other countries began in the Indian Ocean on Saturday, Iran’s state TV said, according to Reuters.
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At least 28 people have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on a school turned shelter in the Jabaliya neighbourhood of Gaza City, amid accusations Israel intends to forcibly expel the remaining population in a renewed ground campaign.
The bombing of Abu Hussein school in Jabaliya on Thursday killed 28, including doctors and several children, and injured dozens more, according to health officials, who warned the final toll was likely to be higher. Another 11 people were killed in two separate airstrikes in Gaza City, and it was unclear how many were killed in other strikes in central and southern Gaza.
Continue reading...Deputy leader says group’s conditions for a ceasefire will be maintained, as Israel shows no sign of accepting them
Hamas has acknowledged the death of its leader Yahya Sinwar but vowed to keep fighting, in the face of international calls for an immediate ceasefire.
“We are continuing Hamas’s path,” Khalil al-Hayya, Sinwar’s deputy said from exile in Qatar, adding that the slain leader’s conditions for a ceasefire would not be compromised.
Continue reading...More than 60 deaths recorded in territory in past day as Israel launches more airstrikes and sends in more troops
Israel has launched new airstrikes and sent more troops into Gaza, dashing brief hopes among many residents of the territory that the killing of the Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar, could bring an end to the devastating conflict.
Sinwar, 62, was killed on Thursday by tank fire directed at a building in Rafah in the far south of Gaza after exchanging fire with an Israeli patrol.
Continue reading...Hamas leader’s discovery in Gaza camp may not have been a random twist of fate – his DNA was found in the area in September
• Middle East crisis – live updates
The Israeli soldiers who came across Yahya Sinwar and his two bodyguards were trainee squad commanders from an infantry school unit.
The fact it was a platoon from the infantry commanders and combat training school (Bislamach) that found the Hamas commander and mastermind of the 7 October attacks is all the more ironic in light of the year-long fruitless manhunt conducted by the cream of Israel’s special forces and intelligence units.
Continue reading...Hamas is seeking to frame death of its leader as a victory, but Islamist group’s 17-year hold in Gaza is gravely weakened
Hamas is seeking to frame the death of its leader, Yahya Sinwar, in Gaza as a victory. It is emphasising how the 62-year-old veteran died on Thursday fighting on the frontline, armed and wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh, and how the organisation has survived for 37 years despite the assassination by Israel of a series of its leaders.
In a statement, Bassem Naim, a Hamas spokesperson and member of the leadership council, acknowledged the pain and distress of losing “beloved people, especially extraordinary leaders like ours” but said the group was sure of eventual victory as “this is the outcome for all people who fought for their liberty”.
Continue reading...Other leaders hail the death of the Hamas leader, saying there is opportunity for ceasefire and humanitarian aid
Kamala Harris has hailed the death of Yahya Sinwar as an opportunity to finally end the war in Gaza and prepare for “the day after” when Hamas no longer dominates the territory.
The US vice-president and Democratic nominee said “justice has been served” with the death of the Hamas leader, adding that the US, Israel and the wider world were “better off as a result”.
Continue reading...The mastermind of the 7 October attack that triggered the current war in Gaza has been killed in a neighbourhood of Rafah
Israel has killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in southern Gaza. Here is what we know so far:
Israel’s military said it had killed Sinwar, who is seen as the architect of the 7 October attack in Israel, in Gaza. In a statement, the IDF said: “After completing the process of identifying the body, it can be confirmed that Yahya Sinwar was eliminated.”
The statement came shortly after the Israeli foreign minister, Israel Katz, also said Sinwar had been killed. “Mass murderer Yahya Sinwar, who was responsible for the massacre and atrocities of 7 October, was killed today by IDF soldiers,” Katz said in a statement.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, described Sinwar’s death as “the beginning of the end” but warned the “task before us is not yet complete”. In a press conference, Netanyahu said Israel will continue to work until the end of the war.
To the people of Israel, Netanyahu said that there are “a lot of challenges still facing us” and that “we have to remain resilient” and “stand firm on our ground and to continue to fight”. He added: “We will not stop the war. We will go into Rafah.”
The US president, Joe Biden said Israeli reports that Sinwar had been killed marked a “good day” for Israel, the US and the world and compared it to how Americans felt after Osama bin Laden’s death. Biden said in a statement that DNA tests confirmed Sinwar’s death. Biden reportedly spoke to Netanyahu and they agreed to work towards a deal to free the remaining hostages.
Kamala Harris, the US vice-president, said “justice has been served” after Sinwar’s death was announced. She said “this moment gives us an opportunity to end the war in Gaza” and stressed the need to end suffering in Gaza.
Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, has commended the Israeli military, the Shin Bet intelligence agency, and the security services for the killing of Sinwar. In a post to X, Herzog described Sinwar as the “mastermind” behind the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel and for being “responsible for heinous acts of terrorism against Israeli civilians” for years. He added: “His evil endeavors were dedicated to terror, bloodshed, and destabilizing the Middle East.”
In a statement, the Israeli prime minister’s office said that no hostages were believed to have been present at the site of the killing in the Gaza Strip, where Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said “three terrorists were eliminated”. Some in the defence establishment had believed that Sinwar was likely to have surrounded himself with human shields as he sought to evade Israeli troops.
Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, has recently spoken with his US counterpart, defence secretary Lloyd Austin, according to a US official. The call came moments after Katz announced Sinwar was dead, the official said. According to CNN, Austin was passed a note about Sinwar’s death during a Nato meeting in Brussels earlier today.
Israel’s Kan Radio reported that the Hamas leader was killed “by chance”, and not as a result of intelligence gathering. The station also said the bodies found at the site were found with large amounts of cash and fake IDs.
Continue reading...Death toll of at least 28 reportedly includes doctors and children at site IDF said was used by Islamic Jihad members
At least 28 people have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on a school turned shelter in the Jabaliya neighbourhood of Gaza City, amid accusations Israel intends to forcibly expel the remaining population in a renewed ground campaign.
The bombing of Abu Hussein school in Jabaliya on Thursday killed 28, including doctors and several children, and injured dozens more, according to health officials, who warned the final toll was likely to be higher. Another 11 people were killed in two separate airstrikes in Gaza City, and it was unclear how many were killed in other strikes in central and southern Gaza.
Continue reading...Netanyahu says death of mastermind of 7 October attack that triggered war in Gaza marks ‘beginning of the end’
Hamas’s leader, Yahya Sinwar, has been killed by Israeli forces, ending a year-long hunt for the mastermind of the 7 October attack on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza.
The Israeli foreign minister, Israel Katz, confirmed reports on Thursday in a message sent to counterparts around the world. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said almost immediately after Katz’s statement was reported by Israeli media that Sinwar had been “eliminated”.
Continue reading...Drawn into Islamist activism as a teenager, Sinwar spent 22 years in Israeli jails before return to frontline militancy
Within days of the 7 October attacks last year, Israeli investigators had identified Yahya Sinwar, then the military leader of Hamas in Gaza, as the mastermind. To their increasing astonishment, they learned that not only had Sinwar conceived of what he called Operation al-Aqsa Flood but he had planned and organised the assault almost alone.
Only a handful of close aides had been let in on the plans, some with only days to go before the attack, in which about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and 250 abducted, and which triggered an Israeli offensive that has so far killed 42,500 people, also mostly civilians, and left swaths of Gaza in ruins.
Continue reading...