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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Israel mulls using private security contractors to deliver aid to Gaza

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.

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No 10 says Starmer ‘shares public anger’ at early prisoner releases but system facing paralysis without it – as it happened

Downing Street says government ‘shocked’ at inheriting prisons crisis as hundreds of prisoners get early release. This live blog is closed

The funeral of Alex Salmond, the former Scottish first minister who died suddenly earlier this month after delivering a speech in North Macedonia, will be held on Tuesday 29 October, his family has announced.

The funeral will be at Strichen parish church in Aberdeenshire. It will be conducted by Rev Ian McEwan, a friend of the family, and only family and close friends are invited. Salmond will be laid to rest in Strichen cemetery.

According to the Eurostat data, England and Wales had 144 prisoners per 100,000 head of population, the 8th highest rate among EU countries and the highest amongst western European jurisdictions. Scotland had the 9th highest with 137 prisoners per 100,000. Northern Ireland had 76 prisoners per 100,000 of population and was ranked 24th.

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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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US investigation of IDF unit over alleged abuse against Palestinians could jeopardize aid

Nine members of Force 100 investigated over allegations of sexual assaulting prisoner at Sde Teiman detention camp

An Israeli military unit that has been accused of human rights abuses against Palestinian detainees is reportedly under investigation by the US state department in a move that could lead to it being barred from receiving assistance.

The inquiry into the activities of Force 100 was instigated following a spate of allegations that Palestinians held under its guard at a detention centre have been subject to torture and brutal mistreatment, including sexual assault, Axios reported on Monday.

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Palestinians describe being used as ‘human shields’ by Israeli troops in Gaza

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.

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Blasts heard across Beirut after Israel warns it will hit Hezbollah-linked finance group

Hundreds evacuate after Israeli military says it will strike areas linked to Al-Qard Al-Hassan association, a US-sanctioned banking system

Hundreds of Beirut residents fled their homes on Sunday night as blasts were heard across its southern suburbs after Israel’s military said it was preparing strikes on branches of a banking system linked to Hezbollah, a further escalation of Israel’s nearly month-long war against the militant group.

Reuters witnesses saw dense plumes of black smoke billowing in the air in Lebanon’s capital after at least 10 blasts. Witnesses, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said a building located in the Chiyah neighbourhood in the southern suburbs was reduced to rubble and the few people in the area had fled ahead of the explosion, resulting in no casualties.

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Israeli minister taking ‘legal measures’ against French arms fair ban

Emmanuel Macron has banned Israeli companies from the Euronaval Salon defence fair in Paris next month

Israel’s foreign minister has announced he is taking “legal and diplomatic measures” against the decision by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, to ban Israeli companies from showing their wares at an arms fair in Paris next month.

Israel Katz described the “boycott” as an anti-democratic measure that was “not acceptable, especially between friendly nations”.

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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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Netanyahu’s house hit by drone as Israel and Hezbollah trade blows in Lebanon

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.

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Australia to review all 66 military export permits to Israel approved before Gaza conflict

Department of Defence considering international commitments on exports amid ongoing war in Middle East

Australia is carrying out a review of all 66 defence-related export permits for Israel that were approved prior to the Gaza conflict.

Guardian Australia understands the review is being done in a similar manner to the UK government’s recent reassessment of arms licences to Israel, with the outcome to be announced “in coming months”.

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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

This blog has now closed. You can read our latest story here

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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Israel continues to bomb Gaza as hopes fade of Hamas leader’s death ending war

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.

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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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