Israeli prison staff accused of assaulting Marwan Barghouti

Prominent Palestinian detainee, a former high-ranking member of Fatah party, attacked in his cell, say rights groups

Palestinian prisoner rights organisations have accused Israeli prison authorities of “brutally assaulting” Marwan Barghouti, the most prominent Palestinian detainee in Israeli custody.

Prison staff assaulted Barghouti in his solitary confinement cell at Megiddo prison in northern Israel on 9 September, the Palestinian Commission of Detainees’ Affairs, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club and a support group for Barghouti said in statements.

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Iran mocks Israel’s ‘weak’ attacks as hardliners call for reprisal

Political elite under pressure from variety of sources, with US urging Iran to step back from the brink

The Iranian government has belittled the scale and effectiveness of the Israeli attack on its military sites, but hardliners in the parliament insisted the strikes breached Iranian red lines and required a swift response, preferably at a time when Israel is already enmeshed in Lebanon and Gaza.

The internal Iranian debate on how to respond to the long-awaited Israeli attack turns on whether to treat Israel’s breach of Iranian national sovereignty as too grave to be ignored, or instead to heed the advice coming from the region and from the US to acknowledge the relatively limited nature of the attack and to step back from the brink by not launching reprisals.

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Southern Beirut hit by airstrikes – as it happened

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We’ve launched video footage of the blasts and light flashes in Tehran early today and Iran’s air defences appearing to be at work. See here:

Meanwhile in Gaza, many believe Israel’s new offensive in the north – along with a tightening of its siege – is following a blueprint for removing the remaining population.

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Blasts reported near Imam Khomeini international airport in Iran – as it happened

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Lebanon’s health minister, Firass Abiad, has told reporters that over 163 rescuers and health workers had been killed and 272 injured in Israeli airstrikes during more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Hezbollah, the Iranian backed Lebanese militant group, began firing rockets into northern Israel in support of Palestinians on 7 October 2023, the day after its ally Hamas’s attack on southern Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed.

We have been very clear that this cannot lead - should not lead - to a protracted campaign and that Israel must take the necessary steps to avoid civilian casualties and not endanger UN peacekeepers or the Lebanese armed forces.

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US warns against ‘protracted’ campaign in Lebanon as Israel strikes Beirut

In a visit to the region, secretary of state Antony Blinken said the US was working to progress ceasefire talks for Gaza and Lebanon

Israeli strikes hit Beirut on Thursday evening, after the US warned against Israel being led into a “protracted” campaign in Lebanon and efforts got under way to hold renewed talks over a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza.

Lebanese state media said several strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs on Thursday, about half an hour after Israel issued evacuation warnings for the Hezbollah bastion after intense strikes the night before.

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Israeli airstrike reported in south Beirut; Gaza is ‘dying’, aid group chief says – as it happened

This blog has now closed. You can read our full coverage of the continuing conflict in the region here.

Warning sirens have again sounded in northern Israel.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reports that later today India will deliver 33 tons of medical aid to Lebanon.

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At least 17 killed in Israeli strike on school turned shelter in Nuseirat

Deaths in central Gaza come as Al Jazeera accuses Israel of targeting its journalists working in the war zone

At least 17 people, nearly all women and children, have been killed in Israeli bombing of a school turned shelter in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, medics in the territory have said.

The strike, the latest bombing of a school sheltering displaced people across Gaza, came as the Qatari television network Al Jazeera accused Israel of turning its journalists reporting from north Gaza into targets after the Israeli military claimed a day earlier that six reporters were members of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

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Israeli assault on northern Gaza forces postponement of polio vaccination campaign

WHO says ‘escalating violence’ in northern Gaza has led to postponement of vaccines to more than 100,000 children

Israeli strikes across Gaza killed 42 people on Wednesday as the military intensified a siege on northern parts of the Palestinian territory, forcing the World Health Organization to pause the latest phase of its polio vaccination campaign, medics and officials said.

Israeli forces began the operation in the north about three weeks ago with the declared aim of preventing Hamas fighters from regrouping. The operation has intensified since the killing of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar a week ago, despite hopes from the US that his death could provide a fresh impetus for peace.

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Hezbollah claims to have hit Tel Aviv factory – as it happened

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In a statement on its official Telegram channel, Israel’s military has claimed that overnight it struck at weapons storage facilities in Beirut in Lebanon.

In the message, the IDF said the targets were “manufacturing facilities and command centres belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization which were located within civilian infrastructure.”

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Israel says it killed Hezbollah’s presumed next leader in early October – as it happened

This blog has now closed. You can read our latest report on the conflict in the Middle East here and all our coverage from the region here.

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.

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Blinken meets Netanyahu in renewed US push for Gaza ceasefire

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.

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Middle East crisis: UN special coordinator reports ‘widespread panic’ in Lebanon after evacuation orders– as it happened

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.

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More than 100 people killed in latest Israeli bombings in Gaza, say medics

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.

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Israel has its Bin Laden moment, but it can’t be sure killing Sinwar will see off Hamas | Jason Burke

The history of ‘decapitation strategies’ tells us it is almost impossible to know what effect assassinating a key figure such as Yahya Sinwar will have

Israelis and others have ­welcomed the killing of Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas and the ­master­mind of the 7 October 2023 attacks, as an “Osama bin Laden moment”. This reflects how many in Israel feel about the death of a man responsible for the ­murder of 1,200 people, mostly civilians and their compatriots, but ­terrorism experts have long debated the ­efficacy of eliminating the ­leaders of violent extremist groups, with some suggesting the strategy is counter-productive.

The truth is that no one is sure.

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‘All of this is to displace people’: Nabatieh reels from Israeli attacks on Lebanon

Airstrikes Israel says are targeting Hezbollah have killed the city’s mayor as well as civil defence workers

Hussein Jaber, the head of Nabatieh’s civil defence station, picked his way through a mess of shattered concrete and twisted metal piled knee high, surveying what was left of the city’s Ottoman open-air market, built in 1910 and destroyed by Israeli airstrikes last Saturday.

“When we were kids, everyone would come here to buy their things. This market wasn’t just for Nabatieh, but for all the villages around,” said Jaber, 30, gesturing at the ruined promenade, still smoking five days later.

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Middle East crisis live: Death toll from Israeli strike on Beit Lahiya rises; Starmer ‘alarmed’ by attempt on Netanyahu’s life – as it happened

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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Middle East crisis: Biden, Starmer and Macron say ‘immediate necessity’ to end Gaza war – as it happened

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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.

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Hamas recognises death of leader Yahya Sinwar but vows to keep fighting

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.

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Yahya Sinwar’s final moments and the Israeli trainees who found him

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.

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Upbeat Hamas rhetoric over Sinwar cannot obscure Israel’s damage to it

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”.

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