Closing summary
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the pager and walkie-talkie explosion attacks inside Lebanon and Syria. Omer Dostri, spokesperson for Netanyahu’s office, confirmed Israeli responsibility on Monday. The pager attack killed 39 people and injured more than 3,400 others. Israeli media reported that Netanyahu claimed responsibility during a cabinet meeting, telling ministers senior defence officials and political figures were opposed, but that he went ahead with the operation intended to target Hezbollah operatives. Taiwan said it had closed its probe into the explosions, saying no Taiwanese citizens or companies were involved despite the pagers carrying the name of Taiwanese firm Gold Apollo.
Speaking at the joint Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation summit in Riyadh, Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, said that his country was suffering an “unprecedented” crisis that threatens its existence. Speaking before leaders, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the kingdom renewed “its condemnation and categorical rejection of the genocide committed by Israel against the brotherly Palestinian people, which has claimed the lives of 150,000 martyrs, wounded and missing, most of whom are women and children.”
Iran’s first vice president Mohammad Reza Aref told the summit that the “world is waiting” for Donald Trump’s incoming US government to stop Israel’s wars with Hamas and Hezbollah, as it condemned a wave of Israeli assassinations as “organised terrorism”.
Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed 3,243 people and injured 14,134 since 7 October 2023, the Lebanese health ministry said, adding that 54 Lebanese people had been killed and 56 others injured on Sunday alone.
Israel’s newly appointed foreign minister Gideon Saar said that “certain progress” had been made on ceasefire talks in Lebanon. However, a spokesperson for Hezbollah said they were yet to be directly engaged in talks.
Syria’s main Homs-Damascus highway was temporarily cut off after an Israeli strike targeted an aid gathering centre for displaced Lebanese south of the city of Homs, according to Syria’s state news agency.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s legal team has filed a request to delay the prime minister’s testimony at his corruption trial, saying recent developments in the war have prevented him preparing for the hearing.
Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee issued forced evacuation orders for residents of many towns/villages in southern Lebanon, saying people there must move north of the Awali river.
The amount of aid reaching Gaza has dropped to the lowest level since December, official Israeli figures show, despite the US having issued a 30-day ultimatum last month threatening sanctions if there was no increase in humanitarian supplies reaching the territory.
Updated
Aid to Gaza falls to lowest level in 11 months despite US ultimatum to Israel
Jason Burke is the International security correspondent of the Guardian
The amount of aid reaching Gaza has dropped to the lowest level since December, official Israeli figures show, despite the US having issued a 30-day ultimatum last month threatening sanctions if there was no increase in humanitarian supplies reaching the territory.
The ultimatum was delivered on 13 October, so will expire on Tuesday or Wednesday. It is unclear what measures Israel’s apparent failure to fulfil US demands will trigger, but they may include a temporary halt to the supply of some munitions or other military assistance.
In an apparent last-minute concession on Monday, Israeli authorities announced an extension of the designated “humanitarian zone”, adding inland areas which could partially relieve intense overcrowding and allow some displaced people to move away from the coast as winter approaches.
However, Israel appears to have ignored most of the demands made in a letter sent jointly by Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, and Lloyd Austin, the defence secretary, on 13 October.
Aid officials in Gaza describe the situation in much of the territory, where more than 80% of the population of 2.3 million have been displaced and more than two-thirds of buildings have been destroyed or damaged in 13 months of war, as “apocalyptic”.
You can read the full story here:
Israeli attacks on Lebanon kill over 3,240 people since October 2023 – health ministry
Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed 3,243 people and injured 14,134 since 7 October 2023, the Lebanese health ministry has said, adding that 54 Lebanese people had been killed and 56 others injured on Sunday alone.
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 and 250 taken hostage.
The Israeli military unleashed its assault on Lebanon in October, claiming its aim was to return tens of thousands of people evacuated from homes in northern Israel due to the cross-border hostilities.
Updated
Iran says 'world is waiting' for Trump administration to stop wars in Lebanon and Gaza
Iran’s first vice president, Mohammad Reza Aref, has been speaking at the joint Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation summit in Saudi Arabia.
He said “the world is waiting” for Donald Trump’s incoming US government to “immediately” end Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
Aref told the summit:
The American government is the main supporter of the actions of the Zionist regime (Israel), and the world is waiting for the promise of the new government of this country to immediately stop the war against the innocent people of Gaza and Lebanon.
He also condemned Israel’s recent assassinations of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders as “organised terrorism” (In September, Israel assassinated long-time Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Brig-Gen Abbas Nilforoushan, a high-ranking Iranian official, in Beirut. Israel’s military said last month it had killed former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who is seen as the architect of the 7 October attack in Israel, in Gaza.
Aref said:
The operations that are conceptualised with the deceptive phrasing of ‘targeted killing’, and during which Palestinian elites and leaders of other countries in the region are killed one by one or en masse, are nothing but lawlessness and organised terrorism.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s newly reinforced position now Trump has won the US presidency could lead to further intensification of Israel’s wars – although the incoming US president has said he wants to swiftly end both conflicts.
Updated
Israeli military issues new urgent evacuation order for southern Lebanon
Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee has issued forced evacuation orders for residents of southern Lebanon, saying people there must move north of the Awali river, which meets the coast about 50km (30 miles) from the border with Israel.
The order was aimed at the towns of Sheheen, al-Jebbayn, Tayr Harfa, Abu Shash, Beit Shama, Majdal Zoun, al-Mansouri, Zebqin, Rashidieh, Barghliyeh, Qasmiyeh, al-Bayyaada, Naqoura, Bint Jbeil, Ainata, Kounine, Aitaroun, Taybeh, Rab Thalathin, Markaba, and Bani Hayyan.
In a post on X, Adraee wrote:
For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and move to the north of the Awali river. For your safety, you must evacuate without delay.
Anyone who is near Hezbollah elements, facilities or weapons is putting his life in danger. You are prohibited from heading south. Any movement south could be dangerous to your life.
We will inform you of the appropriate time to return to your homes as soon as the conditions are suitable for this.
#عاجل بيان عاجل إلى سكان #جنوب_لبنان في القرى التالية:
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) November 11, 2024
🔸 شيحين, جبين, طير حرفا, ابو شاش, شاما, مجدل زون, المنصوري, زبقين, الراشدية, البرغلية, قاسمية, البياضة, الناقورة, بنت جبيل, عيناتا, كونين, عيترون, الطيبة, رب الثلاثين, مركبة, بني حيان
🔸نشاطات حزب الله الارهابي تجبر جيش… pic.twitter.com/Mkh7N9BdFe
Israel’s minister of strategic affairs, Ron Dermer, will meet with the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, on Monday in Washington at 5pm ET (2200 GMT), the State Department said.
The US government said in a letter on 13 October that Israel had 30 days to take specific steps to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The letter was sent to Yoav Gallant, the former Israeli defence minister, and Dermer, and came to light after being posted on social media by Barak Ravid, an Israeli journalist who works for Axios, after apparently being leaked.
Since that letter, Blinken has urged Israel to substantially increase humanitarian aid. Earlier this month, he was said to have spoken to Dermer and discussed a diplomatic solution to Israel’s assault on Lebanon as well as ending its war on Gaza.
Humanitarian groups have made repeated calls for increased deliveries of food and medicine to Gaza amid accusations that the Israeli military is blocking food aid deliveries.
Israel has been accused of putting into practice a blueprint known as the “generals’ plan”, a “surrender or starve” campaign aimed at depopulating northern Gaza. Israel denies it is carrying out the plan.
Updated
We have some more of what the Lebanese caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, said at the Arab-Islamic summit in Riyadh earlier (see post at 13.40 for more details).
He said Israel’s war has caused “unprecedented losses” with more than 3,000 having been killed, including 775 women and children.
He said the war also had caused $8.5bn in losses, including $3.4bn caused by the destruction or damage of about 100,000 housing units in different parts of the country.
“No state can take the burden of this huge destruction,” Mikati said, adding that Beirut is about to set up a fund that will be funded by friendly states for the reconstruction process.
He said, according to the Associated Press, that the fund will be under international supervision and subject to international auditing.
Updated
Israel says some progress made on Lebanon ceasefire, but Hezbollah says not directly involved in talks
William Christou reports from Beirut for the Guardian
Israel’s newly appointed foreign minister Gideon Saar said on Monday that “certain progress” had been made on ceasefire talks in Lebanon, where Israel has been engaged in fighting Hezbollah for over 13 months, however a spokesperson for Hezbollah said they were yet to be directly engaged in talks.
“We will be ready to be there if we know, first of all, that Hezbollah is not on our border, is north of the Litani River, and that Hezbollah will not be able to arm with new weapons systems,” Saar said. He added that diplomatic efforts were taking place through US mediation, but that the lack of enforcement mechanism in any future deal remained a stumbling block.
Israel’s stated objective in its ground invasion of south Lebanon was to bring back residents of north Israel, of which tens of thousands were displaced after Hezbollah began firing rockets “in solidarity” with Hamas on 8 October 2023. Israel has said that Hezbollah would need to retreat back of the Litani river, about 18 miles from its northern border, to ensure the security of north Israel.
Diplomatic efforts were not only confined to American channels, as Israel’s army radio reported that Israel’s minister of strategic affairs, Ron Dermer, visited Russia last week to discuss ways to reach a ceasefire in Lebanon. Saar said that Russia could play a role in a ceasefire agreement by helping ensure that arms do not flow to Hezbollah via Syria, where Russian troops are present.
Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati, also met with a number of Arab leaders, including Jordan’s King Abdullah II and the Crown Prince of Kuwait, at the Arab-Islamic Summit in Riyadh on Monday.
Despite the reported progress on a ceasefire deal, Hezbollah has said that it had not seen any actual proposal come across its desk, nor does it expect to any time soon.
Mohammad Afif, the head of Hezbollah’s media office, said at a press conference on Monday: “There is great movement between Washington and Moscow and Tehran and a number of capitals. I believe that we are still in the phase of testing the waters and presenting initial ideas and proactive discussions, but so far there is nothing actual yet.”
Any ceasefire in Lebanon would have to be approved by Hezbollah, and presumably its patron, Iran. Hezbollah’s secretary general, Naim Qassem, has said that the group is ready for a ceasefire with Israel and that it has backed away from its previous demand that a ceasefire in Gaza come before it stops fighting.
Israeli minister of strategic affairs Ron Dermer will meet US secretary of state Antony Blinken on Monday in Washington, Reuters reports the US state department has announced.
Israel’s military reports that a barrage of about 90 projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon into northern Israel between 3.40pm and 4.03pm local time (1.40pm-2.03pm GMT).
The Times of Israel is reporting that three people were wounded, with the Magen David Adom emergency services saying one man was taken to hospital.
Three people were reported wounded by an earlier barrage on Monday.
A left-wing MK who supported South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza has been expelled from the Knesset for six months.
The Jerusalem Post reports that Ofer Kasif, who represents the joint Hadash-Ta’al list, was “expelled for accusing the IDF of committing war crimes, as well as his signing of South Africa’s genocide petition to the International Court of Justice.”
Far-right interior security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has said the punishment is not sufficient, and that Kasif should be “permanently removed from the Israeli Knesset and deported to Syria.”
Israel's finance minister declares 2025 to be a year for Israel to annex occupied West Bank
A senior member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government has posted to social media to declare that next year will be a year for Israel to take full sovereign control of the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.
In the message, posted in Hebrew, Bezalel Smotrich said “2025 – the year of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria.”
2025 - שנת הריבונות ביהודה ושומרון
— בצלאל סמוטריץ' (@bezalelsm) November 11, 2024
Judea and Samaria is a term used by Israeli nationalists to refer to the occupied West Bank.
Smotrich has previously said he aims to establish sovereignty over the occupied territory and thwart the creation of a Palestinian state. He has also threatened to collapse Netanyahu’s coalition government if a ceasefire is agreed with Hezbollah on Israel’s northern front. He has remained in Netanyahu’s cabinet.
Israel’s military has stated that as of 3pm local time (1pm GMT) “approximately 75 projectiles” had been fired today towards Israel from Lebanon. It stated that it held Hezbollah responsible.
Israeli forces detained at least 20 Palestinians across the occupied West Bank from last night into the morning, the Palestinian Authority’s Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society said.
According to Wafa, the Palestinian news agency, the detentions were carried out in Hebron, Ramallah, al-Bireh, Qalqilya, Nablus and Jerusalem.
It is estimated that at least 11,600 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.
Lebanon PM warns that Lebanon is going through an 'unprecedented existential crisis'
Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, has warned that his country was suffering an “unprecedented” crisis that threatens its existence, as Israel’s assault on Lebanon continues.
He told the joint Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation summit in Riyadh:
Lebanon is going through an unprecedented historical and existential crisis that threatens its present and future.
Mikati also demanded that countries stop “interfering in its internal affairs by supporting this or that group, but rather support Lebanon as a state and entity”.
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 and 250 taken hostage.
The Israeli military unleashed its assault on Lebanon in October, claiming its aim was to return tens of thousands of people evacuated from homes in northern Israel due to the cross-border hostilities.
Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed over 3,100 people since October 2023, the Lebanese health ministry, with more than 1.2 million people displaced across Lebanon.
Government services for the huge numbers of displaced people – and those injured by Israeli bombardments - have been inadequate as the caretaker government struggles to fill the demand.
Updated
The Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, has met with Jordanian King Abdullah II on the sidelines of the joint Arab-Islamic summit in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
Abbas discussed Israel’s war in Gaza, ways to end the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and how to preserve the legal and historical status of Islamic and Christian holy sites, Wafa, the Palestinian news agency, reported.
Abbas also discussed the importance of preserving the presence of the UN relief and works agency (Unrwa) in the region and to increase the amount of aid being allowed into Gaza. The Israeli military has been accused of blocking food aid deliveries.
Last month, the Knesset – the Israeli parlimanet - banned Unrwa from conducting “any activity” or providing any service inside Israel, including the areas of annexed East Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank. A second vote declared Unrwa a terror group, effectively banning any direct interaction between the agency and the Israeli state.
Unrwa head Philippe Lazzarini called the Israeli decision “unprecedented” and said it was “nothing less than collective punishment” for Palestinians. The bills “will only deepen the suffering Palestinians, especially in Gaza, where people have been going through more than a year of sheer hell”. An Unrwa spokesperson said the law would be a “disaster” and have a serious impact on the humanitarian operation in Gaza and in the occupied West Bank.
Jordan’s foreign ministry said the vote was “part of the systematic targeting” of Unrwa and a “continuation of Israel’s frantic efforts to assassinate the UN agency politically, in addition to its aggressive war on the Palestinian people”.
Abbas arrived in Riyadh yesterday evening to take part in the Arab-Islamic summit, which will focus on addressing Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
Updated
The number of people injured by rocket fire into northern Israel from Lebanon today has increased to three, according to reports in Israeli media. The Magen David Adom emergency services said a woman was “moderately wounded by shrapnel” and a man and a baby were “lightly wounded”.
Mohammed bin Salman: Saudi Arabia opposes 'genocide that Israel is committing against the Palestinian people'
Speaking in Riyadh at a conference today of Arab and Muslim leaders to address conflict in Gaza and Lebanon, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman has accused Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinian people, and said the Israel’s actions deliberately “violate Lebanon’s sovereignty.”
He said:
Israel’s continued aggression towards the Palestinian people hinders peace efforts. We emphasise our opposition to the genocide Israel is committing against the Palestinian people, and the deliberate military actions which violate Lebanon’s sovereignty.
Israel’s military has posted to its official Telegram channel to claim that during operations in Rafah in the Gaza Strip it located “weapons storage facility containing observation equipment, drones, enemy manufacturing supplies, explosive devices, and dozens of mortar shells.”
In the update, it claims IDF soldiers “eliminated many terrorists.”
It also claims that the weapons storage was found “near a mosque and a hospital.”
The claims have not been independently verified.
Gaza is one of the most densely populated areas in the world, with about 2.2 million people crammed into a narrow strip of territory that is 40km (25 miles) long.
Here are some of the latest images sent to us over the news wires from Lebanon.
Arab and Muslim leaders are meeting at a summit in Riyadh to discuss the conflict in Gaza and Lebanon. King Abdullah II of Jordan’s social media has published some of his words. The king said:
How can we justify … the global failure to stop the Israeli aggression on Gaza and Lebanon? Immediate action is needed to end the aggression and the killing, destruction and escalation it is causing in the region. We do not want words, we want serious positions and tangible efforts to end the tragedy, save our people in Gaza, and provide the aid they need. I call on our brothers and friends to participate in launching a humanitarian bridge to deliver emergency aid to Gaza.
Summary of the day so far …
It is approaching 2pm in Beirut, Tel Aviv and Gaza City. Here are the latest headlines …
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the pager and walkie-talkie explosion attacks inside Lebanon and Syria. Omer Dostri, spokesperson for Netanyahu’s office, confirmed Israeli responsibility on Monday. The pager attack killed 39 people and wounded more than 3,400. Israeli media reported that Netanyahu claimed responsibility during a cabinet meeting, telling ministers senior defence officials and political figures were opposed, but that he went ahead with the operation intended to target Hezbollah operatives. Taiwan said it had closed its probe into the explosions, saying no Taiwanese citizens or companies were involved despite the pagers carrying the name of Taiwanese firm Gold Apollo
A senior Hezbollah figure has said Israel “will never win” its war against the group, and said it retains resources for a long war. Hezbollah’s media relations official Muhammad Afif boasted that after “45 days of bloody fighting … the enemy is still unable to occupy a single Lebanese village”
Israel’s military has announced an expansion of what it calls “the humanitarian area” in the Gaza Strip, which it has had under siege for over a year. Over 40,000 people have been reported killed by Israel’s military action during that period. Nearly 70% of the people killed in the war have been women and children, according to a UN analysis of verified deaths
Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service says it is treating injuries after rockets were fired at Karmiel in northern Israel
Syria’s main Homs-Damascus highway was temporarily cut off after an Israeli strike targeted an aid gathering centre for displaced Lebanese south of the city of Homs, according to Syria’s state news agency
Lebanon’s government has signed a memorandum of understanding with the International Committee of the Red Cross to equip four mobile medical clinics to help provide for the needs of the 1.2 million people estimated displaced from their homes by Israel’s campaign of airstrikes
Netanyahu’s legal team has filed a request to delay the prime minister’s testimony at his corruption trial, saying recent developments in the war have prevented him preparing for the hearing
Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that Israeli forces have demolished a mosque near Jaba’ to the east of Jerusalem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. It said more than 20 people had been arrested by Israeli security forces overnight
Updated
Hind Khoudary, reporting for Al Jazeera from Deir el-Balah in Gaza, says that Israeli tanks are at the edge of Nuseirat refugee camp in Central Gaza.
She reports:
At midnight we heard continuous loud explosions and then we noticed that Israeli tanks started to proceed to the edge of Nuseirat.
Dozens of Palestinians have been injured and many families are trapped inside the houses close to where the Israeli tanks are.
There are injured people that were shot with Israeli live ammunition, but no one is able to reach that area because of the Israeli tanks.
There is also Israeli shelling [and] quadcopters hovering in the sky and hitting Palestinian civilians and homes.
Al Jazeera has been banned from operating inside Israel or the Israeli-occupied West Bank by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
Lebanon’s government has signed a memorandum of understanding with the International Committee of the Red Cross to equip four mobile medical clinics to help provide for the needs of people displaced from their homes by Israel’s campaign of airstrikes.
Lebanon’s National News AAgnecy reports the clinics will be equipped with a general practitioner, a paediatrician and a gynaecologist. About 1.2 million people are believed to have been forced from their homes inside Lebanon as a result of Israel’s military action.
Here are some of the latest images sent to us over the news wires from Israel and Gaza.
Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that Israeli forces have demolished a mosque near Jaba’ to the east of Jerusalem.
A witness told Wafa that the troops also bulldozed an abandoned house and several sheep pens.
Syria’s main Homs-Damascus highway was temporarily cut off after an Israeli strike targeted an aid gathering centre for displaced Lebanese south of the city of Homs, Reuters reports, citing the Syrian state news agency Sana.
Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service says it is treating a 40-year-old woman for shrapnel wounds in Karmiel in northern Israel.
MDA Spokesperson: Following the Red Alert sirens in Karmiel
— Magen David Adom (@Mdais) November 11, 2024
MDA EMTs and Paramedics are treating a 40 year old conscious female injured by shrapnel. MDA teams are searching further sites.
Updates to follow pic.twitter.com/vZkFPBm6l5
Israel’s military, on its official Telegram channel, reports that “approximately 50 projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory” during the latest barrage.
The IDF says “Some of the projectiles were intercepted and some fell.”
Palestinian news sources are reporting a new Israeli airstrike on Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip.
More details soon …
Israel claims responsibility for pager and walkie-talkie explosions in Lebanon and Syria
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the pager and walkie-talkie explosion attacks inside Lebanon and Syria.
Omer Dostri, spokesperson for Netanyahu’s office, confirmed Israeli responsibility on Monday, Reuters reports.
On 17 September thousands of pagers simultaneously exploded, killing dozens and injuring thousands of people. In total, the pager attack, and a second on the following day that detonated walkie-talkies, killed 39 people and wounded more than 3,400. Among the victims rushed to hospital many had eye injuries, missing fingers or abdominal wounds, indicating their proximity to the devices at the time of detonation.
Israeli media has reported that Netanyahu claimed responsibility for the attack during a cabinet meeting, telling ministers that senior defence officials and political figures were opposed to the detonation of the pagers, but that he went ahead with the operation that was intended to target Hezbollah operatives.
The Times of Israel’s military correspondent Emanuel Fabian reports that “medics are responding to reports of rocket impacts” in Karmiel in northern Israel.
More details soon …
Senior Hezbollah official: Israel will 'never win' and Hezbollah has resources for 'long war'
A senior Hezbollah figure has said Israel “will never win” its war against the group, and said it retains resources for a long war.
Lebanon’s National News Agency, reporting a lengthy speech from Hezbollah’s media relations official Muhammad Afif quotes him addressing Hezbollah fighters, saying:
The actual facts on the ground are in your hands, and will have the final say in politics and decision-making. And in light of your fighting and steadfastness, the fate of your homeland will be determined, and perhaps the fate of the entire Middle East.
After forty-five days of bloody fighting, five military divisions, two brigades, and sixty-five thousand soldiers, the enemy is still unable to occupy a single Lebanese village.
He continued:
We have three decisive elements on the field: the will of [those] who are determined to die defending their homeland and their people. We have enough time before their [Israeli] tanks sink in the Lebanese mud with the onset of winter. We have the land that we know and that knows us, which gives us freedom of manoeuvre and movement. We can either live on it as honourable people or die for it as martyrs.
You [Israel] will never win your war with air superiority, nor with destruction and killing of civilians, women and children. As long as you are unable to advance on the ground and gain actual control, you will never achieve your political goals, and the people of the north will never return to the north.
Afif also appeared to attempt to distance Hezbollah from its frequent portrayal as a manifestation of Iranian foreign policy against Israel, saying:
The emergence of Hezbollah in 1982 as a resistance movement is originally a natural reaction to the [Israeli] occupation … Our movement emerged on Lebanese land occupied by the Israeli enemy. Our leadership is Lebanese, and our resistance fighters are Lebanese from father to grandfather. We are not a faction for anyone, and we do not follow anyone’s orders, nor do we receive instructions from anyone.
He said “We reaffirm once again that the resistance, especially on the front lines, have enough weapons, equipment and supplies for a long war for which we are prepared on all levels.”
Syria’s state news agency is reporting an Israeli strike in the countryside near Homs.
More details soon …
Netanyahu seeks to delay testimony in corruption case, citing war
Israeli media reports that Benjamin Netanyahu’s legal team has filed a request to delay the prime minister’s testimony at his corruption trial.
The Times of Israel says that the request cites recent major developments in the war, saying this has prevented Netanyahu from preparing his evidence. The legal team, requesting a postponement for two-and-a-half months said “this small delay will enable the defence to properly prepare for his testimony and won’t harm the public interest.”
There are also, it reports, ongoing concerns about security around his appearance in court. The prime minister’s home was recently targeted by a Hezbollah drone attack.
Israel’s military reports that warning sirens are again sounding in the Upper Galilee region of northern Israel.
Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that Israeli security forces have arrested at least 20 people in the Israeli-occupied West Bank since last night.
It notes that Israel has detained more than 11,600 people from the occupied West Bank since 7 October 2023.
Israel’s military has announced an expansion of what it calls “the humanitarian area” in the Gaza Strip, which it has had under seige for over a year.
Over 40,000 people have been reported killed in the territory by Israel’s military action during that period. Nearly 70% of the people killed in the war have been women and children, according to a UN analysis of verified deaths that highlights the heavy civilian toll of the conflict.
צה״ל מודיע על הרחבת האזור ההומניטרי. האזור ההומניטרי המורחב כולל בתי חולים שדה שהוקמו החל מפרוץ המלחמה, מתחמי אוהלים, ציוד למחסות ואספקה של מזון, מים, תרופות וציוד רפואי שהוכנסו בתיאום מתפ״ש לקהילה הבינלאומית>> pic.twitter.com/hQQfvrr0Xq
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) November 11, 2024
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society reports five people have been injured, including a child, by Israeli fire during a raid on the Jalazone refugee camp north of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Taiwan prosecutors close probe into pager explosions in Lebanon
Taiwan on Monday said it had closed its probe into pagers that exploded in Lebanon in September, saying no Taiwanese citizens or companies were involved.
Security sources have previously said the pagers carried the name of Taiwan-based Gold Apollo, a company which has asserted that it did not make them. Taiwan’s government has also said the pagers were not made in Taiwan.
“There is no evidence indicating that any domestic manufacturers or individuals were accomplices in the relevant explosions, violating the counter-terrorism financing act, or engaging in other illegal activities,” Reuters reports the prosecutors said in a statement.
“No concrete evidence of criminal activity has been discovered in this case, nor have any specific individuals been implicated in any criminal activity, following a comprehensive investigation.”
The series of explosions, which killed dozens of people and injured thousands more in both Lebanon and Syria, have been widely ascribed to an Israeli intelligence operation against Hezbollah, although Israel has not formally claimed responsibility.
Updated
Israel’s Channel 13 has this image of firefighters attending a small blaze caused by falling debris in Western Galilee after Israel’s military intercepted a projectile.
כטב"ם נפל בשטח פתוח בגליל המערבי, שריפה פרצה במרחבhttps://t.co/l82JzhJuVh pic.twitter.com/4DnnfhATkf
— חדשות 13 (@newsisrael13) November 11, 2024
This block orginally mistakenly ascribed the photo to being taken at a separate earlier incident, east of Jerusalem
Updated
Israel’s military reports that warning sirens have sounded in Avivim, northern Israel.
Avivim is a moshav adjacent to the UN-drawn blue line that separates Israel and Lebanon, and it has been repeatedly targeted by rocket fire from inside Lebanon.
Tens of thousands of Israelis have been forced to flee their homes in the north of the country due to the near constant rocket barrages by Hezbollah and other anti-Israeli forces, and Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has set their ability to peacefully return to their homes as one of its war aims.
Lebanon’s National News Agency reports Israeli planes carried out airstrikes again overnight on locations in the south of the country. There are, as yet, no reports of any casualties.
Here are some of the latest images sent to us over the news wires from the Kerem Shalom crossing between Gaza and Israel.
At least three killed in central Gaza by Israeli airstrike on tent shelter
Palestinian medical officials say an Israeli strike hit a tent sheltering a displaced family in the central Gaza Strip, killing at least three people, including the parents of twins, reports Associated Press.
The strike late Sunday in the Nuseirat refugee camp wounded the two children, aged 10, who were being treated for serious injuries at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in the nearby city of Deir al-Balah.
The details of the casualties were listed in hospital records and an Associated Press reporter saw two of the bodies.
Reuters has a quick snap that Yemen’s Houthis, via a spokesperson, have claimed responsibility for firing missiles which they say were aimed at an Israeli military base near Tel Aviv.
Israel’s military reports on its official Telegram channel that overnight it “successfully intercepted four UAVs that approached Israel from the east.”
When IDF statements say generically “from the east” they usually mean from the direction of Iraq.
Palestinian news agency Wafa reports more arrests overnight made by Israeli security forces in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
It reports a young man was arrested in Shuafat refugee camp, in East Jerusalem, after forces raided his home.
In addition, during an Israeli raid on the Jalazone refugee camp, north of Ramalla, one man was injured by fire from Israeli security forces, and two people were detained.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Hani Mahmoud, reporting for Al Jazeera from Deir el-Balah in Gaza, writes for the network that a journalist and his wife were killed in overnight Israeli attacks on their tents in Gaza.
He writes:
They had set the tents up seeking protection from the unpredictable Israeli bombs after their home in the Nuseirat refugee camp was destroyed a few months ago. This particular area of the northern Nuseirat refugee camp is very close to the edge of the Netzarim Junction. The Israeli army has a very strong and visible presence there. That area has been relentlessly attacked, and people there are exposed to daily terror, from the heavy machineguns, the quadcopters and the drones that are hovering at a very low level.
Al Jazeera has been banned from operating inside Israel by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
Outgoing US president Joe Biden is due to meet with Israel’s president Isaac Herzog on Tuesday, according to a report from Reuters. The meeting comes as a deadline set by the US for improved delivery of humanitarian aid to the beseiged northern part of the Gaza Strip comes closer to expiry.
Israel claims to have intercepted projectile from Yemen, fires reported from debris
Israeli firefighters were battling blazes Monday west of Jerusalem, with the army saying the fires were sparked by debris from an intercepted missile fired from Yemen, AFP reports.
Firefighters were working to douse the blazes, conducting scans around Beit Shemesh to rule out more fires and “damage from interceptor/missile shrapnel”, the Jerusalem region fire service said.
In a statement on its official Telegram channel, the IDF said:
Following the sirens that sounded in the Shfelat Yehuda, Yehuda, and Lakhish areas of central Israel, the IAF intercepted one projectile that approached Israel from the direction of Yemen. The projectile did not cross into Israeli territory. Sirens were sounded in accordance with protocol.
Asked directly about the incident by AFP, the Israeli military said the interception of a projectile from Yemen caused fires in the Bet Shemesh area resulting from debris from that interception.
In a separate development, Reuters reports Al-Masirah TV, the main television news outlet run by Yemen’s Houthi movement, said early on Monday that a series of airstrikes targeted the Amran and Saada governorates, which they claim were carried out by the US and Britain.
Welcome and opening summary …
Welcome to the Guardian’s ongoing coverage of the Middle East crisis. Here are your headlines …
Israeli firefighters were battling blazes Monday west of Jerusalem, with the army saying the fires were sparked by debris from an intercepted missile fired from Yemen
Yemen’s Al Masirah TV reports more US-British strikes on the Houthi-controlled area of the country
Outgoing US president Joe Biden is set to meet with Israel’s president Isaac Herzog on Tuesday
Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said yesterday that he had spoken with US president-elect Donald Trump three times in the past few days
About 40 people have been fined and released over public disorder in Amsterdam last week, with the city’s police chief saying “incidents on both sides” led to violent unrest surrounding the Ajax v Maccabi Tel Aviv match
