Oct. 23: Netanyahu says Hezbollah prepared ‘invasion’ of Israel involving jeeps, missiles

IDF: Hezbollah fired 135 rockets at Israel on Wednesday; most at north, 6 at center

Some 135 rockets were launched from Lebanon by Hezbollah at Israel today, according to the IDF.

The rocket attacks mostly targeted northern Israel. At least six rockets were fired at central Israel today, including a barrage of four this evening.

Lebanon media says 4 Israeli strikes destroy residential complex in Beirut’s Laylaki suburb

Lebanese state media says four Israeli strikes destroyed a residential complex near Beirut’s southern suburb of Laylaki.

“Israeli warplanes launched four very violent raids targeting a residential complex in the vicinity of Laylaki, completely destroying it and causing a large fire,” the official National News Agency says.

Israel has been targeting Hezbollah sites throughout Beirut intensively throughout the past several weeks.

Harris berates ‘unhinged’ Trump over Hitler remarks

Kamala Harris says Donald Trump is “increasingly unhinged,” and calls her US election rival’s reported praise for Adolf Hitler “incredibly dangerous” as campaigning intensified ahead of the November 5 vote.

The Democrat’s fierce criticism came as she headed to must-win Pennsylvania to face voters’ questions in a town hall and as Trump campaigned in battleground Georgia.

With the tight election going down to the wire, both candidates are on a mission to persuade the sliver of American voters who remain undecided in the home stretch.

In a dramatic campaign season, the latest twist was revelations by Trump’s longest-serving chief of staff, retired US Marine general John Kelly about the Republican’s admiration for the Nazi dictator and his military in World War II.

Kelly told The New York Times that Trump had remarked that “Hitler did some good things too” and that instead of the US military he “wanted generals like Adolf Hitler had.”

Harris is quick to respond, delivering a statement outside her vice presidential residence in Washington.

“It’s deeply troubling and incredibly dangerous that Donald Trump would invoke Adolf Hitler, the man who is responsible for the deaths of six million Jews and hundreds of thousands of Americans,” she says.

“All this is further evidence for the American people of who Donald Trump really is.”

Trump’s camp hit back, saying Harris is “desperate because she is flailing, and her campaign is in shambles.”

“That is why she continues to peddle outright lies and falsehoods that are easily disproven,” Trump spokesman Steven Cheung says in a statement.

When asked whether US President Joe Biden agrees with Kelly’s assessment that Trump is a fascist, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre was unequivocal.

“Do we agree about that determination? Yes we do,” she says.

Saudi Arabia and Iran hold war games exercise in Sea of Oman

Saudi Arabia held military exercises with Iran and other countries recently in the Sea of Oman, the Saudi defense ministry spokesman says in a statement to AFP.

The two Middle East rivals, which have long backed opposing sides in conflict zones across the region, severed diplomatic ties in 2016. However, Shiite Muslim-dominated Iran and Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia resumed relations last year under a surprise China-brokered deal.

“The Royal Saudi Naval Forces had recently concluded a joint naval exercise with the Iranian Naval Forces alongside other countries in the Sea of Oman,” says Brigadier General Turki al-Malki.

It comes after the official Iranian news agency ISNA on Monday said the two former foes were planning joint military drills in the Red Sea.

“Saudi Arabia has asked that we organize joint exercises in the Red Sea,” the commander of Iran’s navy, Admiral Shahram Irani, is quoted as saying by ISNA.

Maliki says: “No other exercises are being addressed during this period of time.”

Iranian state media on Sunday reported that Iran was part of a military drill in the northern Indian Ocean alongside Russia and Oman, as well as six observer countries including Saudi Arabia.

Hezbollah claims its missiles hit military factory in Tel Aviv suburbs

Hezbollah claims in a statement that its missiles hit a military factory in the Tel Aviv suburbs.

The IDF said earlier tonight that one of the four rockets fired from Lebanon impacted without specifying where.

The other three were either intercepted or landed in open areas.

Xi pledges to boost Iran ties in talks with Pezeshkian

Chinese President Xi Jinping pledges to increase ties with Iran during talks with his counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian in Russia, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reports.

The meeting between the two on the sidelines of a BRICS summit was their first since Pezeshkian was elected president following the death of his predecessor, Ebrahim Raisi, in a helicopter crash.

Xi pledged that “no matter how the international and regional situation changes, China will unswervingly develop friendly cooperation with Iran,” Xinhua says.

The promise of continued support comes as Middle East tensions soar over Israel’s ongoing war with Iran-backed militants in Gaza and Lebanon, and as the world awaits an Israeli response to Tehran’s latest missile attack.

At a BRICS plenary session earlier today, Pezeshkian urged members of the grouping to “use all their collective and individual capacities to end the war in Gaza and Lebanon.”

Xi meanwhile repeated his call for a ceasefire, saying: “We need to… stop the killing and work tirelessly for a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian issue.”

He tells Pezeshkian in their meeting that an “early ceasefire and end of war in Gaza are the key to easing regional tensions,” Xinhua said.

China supports Iran “in safeguarding national sovereignty, security and national dignity, steadily advancing its own economic and social development,” Xi says, according to Xinhua.

Al-Mayadeen confirms strike on Beirut office, says it had vacated ahead of time

Pro-Iran broadcaster Al-Mayadeen says an Israeli strike hit an office it had vacated in Beirut.

The broadcaster reports “an Israeli aggression on… an office in Beirut,” saying it had been evacuated prior to the strike and that it holds Israel “responsible” for the attack.

IDF strike in Beirut said to target office of Hezbollah-linked Al-Mayadeen broadcaster

An Israeli strike on Wednesday night destroyed an office used by the Hezbollah-linked, pro-Iran Al-Mayadeen broadcaster, a Lebanese security source tells Reuters.

Two other security sources confirmed the office had been hit in an Israeli strike on a multi-story building.

One Palestinian said lightly injured by rocket fire from Lebanon

Palestinian media reports that either one of the rockets fired from Lebanon earlier tonight — or fragments from an interceptor — landed in the northern Palestinian village of Ras Atiya, near the West Bank security barrier.

Footage from the scene appears to show damage to vehicles.

A security source tells the Kan public broadcaster that one Palestinian was lightly injured.

הירי מלבנון למרכז: הפלסטינים מדווחים על נפילה/שברי יירוט בכפר ראס עטיה, דרומית לקלקיליה וסמוך לגדר ההפרדה. בתיעודים מהמקום נראה שנגרם נזק לכלי רכב.
לפי גורם ביטחוני: פלסטיני אחד נפצע קל pic.twitter.com/eWyI0qcH4O

— Carmel Dangor כרמל דנגור (@carmeldangor) October 23, 2024

Saudi Arabia executes seven people in one day: state media

Saudi Arabia executed seven people today, including five for drug trafficking, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) says.

The deaths brought the total number of executions carried out this year in the Gulf kingdom to 236, according to an AFP tally based on official statements.

Yahya Lutfullah, Ali Azib, Ahmed Ali and Salem Nahari were executed in the southern province of Asir for “smuggling hashish” into the country, the interior ministry says in a statement published by SPA.

The report says all four were Yemeni citizens.

Also today, the same source announced the execution of a Pakistani man for drug trafficking, bringing the number of people executed in the kingdom for that crime this year to 71.

Saudi Arabia has become a major market for captagon, an addictive amphetamine drug flooding in from war-torn Syria and Lebanon.

Saudi authorities launched a high-profile anti-drug campaign last year, leading to a spate of raids and arrests.

Executions of drug traffickers have been increasing since a moratorium on the death penalty for drug cases ended two years ago.

The interior ministry also announces the execution of two Saudis for murder on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia executed the third highest number of prisoners in the world after China and Iran in 2023, according to Amnesty International, which began recording the annual figures in 1990.

Riyadh’s use of the death penalty has been criticized numerous times, with rights groups saying it is excessive and out of step with the kingdom’s efforts to present a more modern image on the world stage.

Riyadh has previously said that the death penalty is necessary to “maintain public order” and sentences are only carried out if “the defendants have exhausted all levels of litigation.”

Turkish interior minister points to Kurdish PKK militants over defense firm attack

Turkey’s interior minister points the finger at the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged a decades-long insurgency against the government, over a deadly attack on a defense firm near the capital Ankara.

“The identification process and the search for fingerprints are continuing and we will say which terrorist organization was behind the attack… The way in which this action was carried out is very probably linked to the PKK,” says Ali Yerlikaya, who raised the death toll to five with 22 injured.

France targets $540 million for Lebanon at Paris donor confab, ministry says

France is hoping that a meeting on Thursday of some 70 delegations to support Lebanon will raise about 500 million euros ($540 million) in humanitarian aid, according to a foreign ministry framework document for the conference.

“This conference aims to lead to concrete initiatives for the country, notably on the humanitarian side for which France has set an ambitious objective for international support at around 500 million euros for Lebanon,” the document says.

It says the aid would primarily help displaced people in sectors ranging from health, food, water, hygiene and education.

Lebanon says it needs $250 million a month to deal with the crisis that has displaced between 500,000-1 million people from southern Lebanon since Israel launched a large-scale onslaught on Iran-backed Hezbollah in September.

The conference will also call for a diplomatic solution to the crisis based on United Nations Security Council resolution 1701 – which ended the last round of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006 – and additional support for Lebanese security forces, deemed the guarantors of unity and stability in the country, according to the document.

Hezbollah claims it used new drones, missiles for first time in strikes against Israel

Hezbollah says in a statement, published via its operations room, that it used “precision missiles” and new types of drones for the first time in their clashes against Israeli troops.

The terror group says it had been able to push back Israeli troops in clashes in several border villages in southern Lebanon.

Al Jazeera blasts ‘fabricated’ IDF allegation that 6 of its Gaza reporters are terror operatives

Al Jazeera journalists named by the IDF as members of terror groups based on documentation found in Gaza, in an image released October 23, 2024. (IDF)

The Al Jazeera Media network vehemently denies and condemns “unfounded” allegations lodged by the IDF earlier today that six of its northern Gaza-based reporters are operatives in the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups.

“The network views these fabricated accusations as a blatant attempt to silence the few remaining journalists in the region, thereby obscuring the harsh realities of the war from audiences worldwide,” Al Jazeera says in a statement.

“These baseless claims follow Al Jazeera’s recent exposé of potential war crimes committed by Israeli forces during the ongoing war on Gaza. These journalists have been steadfastly reporting from northern Gaza, with Al Jazeera being the sole international media presence documenting the unfolding humanitarian crisis resulting from Israel’s siege and bombardment of civilian populations,” the network continues.

“Al Jazeera categorically rejects the Israeli occupation forces’ portrayal of our journalists as terrorists and denounces their use of fabricated evidence. The network asserts that its journalists are merely fulfilling their professional duties, documenting and reporting on the devastating impact of the war on the Strip’s two million civilians.”

The journalists named by the IDF in its dossier are Anas al-Sharif, Alaa Salameh, Hossam Shabat, Ashraf al-Sarraj, Ismail Abu Omar and Talal al-Arrouqi.

According to the IDF, al-Sharif has served as head of a rocket launching squad and a member of a Nukhba Force company in Hamas’s Nuseirat Battalion; Salameh as the deputy head of the Shaboura Battalion’s propaganda unit in Islamic Jihad; Shabat as a sniper in Hamas’s Beit Hanoun Battalion; al-Sarraj as a member of Islamic Jihad’s Bureij Battalion; Abu Omar as a training company commander in the East Khan Younis Battalion (and was wounded in an Israeli airstrike several months ago); and al-Arrouqi as a team commander in Hamas’s Nuseirat Battalion.

The military released the documents it said showed personnel spreadsheets, lists of training courses, telephone books and salary documents.

Netanyahu says Hezbollah prepared ‘invasion’ of Israel involving jeeps and missiles

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel has uncovered a plot by Hezbollah to attack via underground tunnels involving jeeps and missiles.

He tells French broadcasters CNews and Europe 1 that had the plan succeeded, such an assault would be been more damaging than the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught.

“A hundred meters, two hundred meters from the border we found tunnels, tunnels that were preparing an invasion of Israel, an attack even greater than on October 7,” Netanyahu says, according to a simultaneous translation provided by the networks.

“With jeeps, with motorbikes, with rockets, with missiles. They were planning an invasion.”

Netanyahu had told French daily Le Figaro earlier this month that the Israeli army found Russian cutting-edge military hardware in Hezbollah arms caches.

Hezbollah claims it repelled Israel forces attempting Lebanon infiltration

Hezbollah claims it fired rockets and artillery at Israeli troops attempting to infiltrate Lebanese territory earlier today.

The Iran-backed terror group, which also claimed several rocket salvos on Israeli soldiers in Lebanese border villages during the day, says it forced Israeli troops to “retreat behind the frontier” after they attempted to infiltrate from the outskirts of the south Lebanon village of Aitarun.

The IDF has not commented on this matter.

Hamas-run health ministry: 42 Palestinians killed over past day, as IDF advances in north Gaza

Israeli strikes across Gaza killed 42 people today as the IDF moved forward with its operations against Hamas insurgents in north Gaza, medics say.

The Gaza health ministry and the World Health Organization says they would be unable to start a polio vaccination campaign in northern Gaza as planned because of the intense bombardments, mass displacements and lack of access.

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.

The Israeli military announced last Friday it had sent another army unit to Jabaliya on the northern edge of Gaza. Residents say the troops have besieged shelters, forcing displaced people to leave while rounding up many of the men. The health ministry says at least 650 people had been killed since the new offensive began. Those numbers have not been verified and do not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

Of at least 42 people reported killed by Israeli military strikes across the enclave on Wednesday, 37 deaths were in northern Gaza, Hamas-run health authorities say.

Hours earlier, the Gaza Civil Emergency Service said three of its rescuers were wounded in northern Gaza in what it said was a “targeted strike,” that aimed to force them out of Jabalia, hours after the Israeli army ordered some of their staff to leave the camp.

The IDF did not comment on the strike but has long stressed that it does not target civilians.

IDF: Central Israel sirens were triggered by four rockets from Lebanon; 2 intercepted

The IDF says that the sirens across central Israel moments ago were triggered by four rockets launched from Lebanon.

The IDF says two of the launches were intercepted, and one fell in an open area.

The fourth rocket impacted in an undisclosed location, but there are no reports of injuries.

Iranian hacker group focuses on US election websites and media ahead of vote, Microsoft says

An Iranian hacking group is actively scouting US election-related websites and American media outlets as election day nears, according to a Microsoft blog. Researchers say the activity suggests “preparations for more direct influence operations.”

The hackers – dubbed Cotton Sandstorm by Microsoft and linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – performed reconnaissance and limited probing of multiple “election-related websites” in several unnamed swing states, the report notes. In May, they also scanned an unidentified US news outlet to understand its vulnerabilities.

“Cotton Sandstorm will increase its activity as the election nears given the group’s operational tempo and history of election interference,” researchers write. The development is particularly concerning because of the group’s past efforts.

A spokesperson for Iran’s mission to the United Nations says that “such allegations are fundamentally unfounded, and wholly inadmissible.”

“Iran neither has any motive nor intent to interfere in the US election,” they add.

In 2020, Cotton Sandstorm launched a different cyber-enabled influence operation shortly before the last presidential election. Posing as the right-wing “Proud Boys,” the hackers sent thousands of emails to Florida residents, threatening them to “vote for Trump or else!”

The group also released a video on social media, purporting to come from hacktivists, where they showed them probing an election system. While that operation never affected individual voting systems, the goal was to cause chaos, confusion and doubt, senior US officials said at the time.

Following the 2020 election, Cotton Sandstorm also ran a separate operation that encouraged violence against US election officials who had denied claims of widespread voter fraud, Microsoft said.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which is coordinating the federal effort to defend the election from foreign influence, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Rockets from Lebanon trigger sirens in Tel Aviv, towns across central Israel on Simhat Torah eve

Several rockets from Lebanon have triggered sirens in Tel Aviv and towns across central Israel as Israelis mark the beginning of the Simhat Torah holiday.

The IDF confirms the rocket fire.

Channel 12 says two of the Hezbollah rockets were intercepted.

There are no reports of injuries.

Hamas’s October 7 invasion and slaughter in southern Israel took place on Simhat Torah last year.

IDF said to put Gaza border troops on high alert amid concern Hamas will carry out attack on Simhat Torah

Channel 12 reports that the IDF has ordered its troops along the Gaza border to be on high alert amid indications that Hamas will try to fire rockets or carry out an attack on the Hebrew calendar anniversary of its October 7 onslaught, which it launched on the Simhat Torah holiday last year. Israel began marking the holiday this evening.

Photo: Kfir Bibas being hugged in sukkah shortly before kidnapping on October 7

Kfir Bibas is pictured in a sukkah at Kibbutz Nir Oz in October 2023. (Screen capture/Channel 12)

Channel 12 publishes photos of some of the October 7 victims as they celebrated Sukkot and Simhat Torah one year ago.

One photo shows then-nine-month-old Kfir Bibas being held under the Kibbutz Nir Oz sukkah last year. Bibas was kidnapped with his four-year-old brother Ariel and parents Shiri and Yarden. All four remain in captivity.

Yossi Sharabi celebrates Simchat Torah in Kibbutz Be’eri hours before he was kidnapped during Hamas’s October 7 onslaught. (Screen capture/Channel 12)

Ofer Calderon (top right) celebrates Sukkot with his family in Kibbutz Nir Oz in October 2023. (Courtesy)

Uriel Baruch, who was killed in the Nova festival massacre, celebrates Sukkot with his family in October 2023. (Courtesy)

Liri Elbag celebrates Sukkot with her family in October 2023. (Courtesy)

Hezbollah claims to launch drones at IDF base near Haifa, dedicating attack to Nasrallah

Hezbollah claims it launched drones toward a military base near the north Israel city of Haifa, dedicating the attack to the group’s slain chief Hassan Nasrallah.

Hezbollah fighters launched “an air attack with a swarm of explosives-laden drones” on the base south of Haifa, a statement from the Iran-backed terror group says, adding it came “in response to” Israel attacks and dedicating it to Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli strike last month.

There is no confirmation from the IDF of such an attack.

War likely to wipe 9% off Lebanon’s GDP, with fallout set to exceed 2006 conflict

People watch a building collapse after being hit by an Israeli airstrike in Ghobeiri, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

The war between Israel and terror group Hezbollah is expected to wipe 9 percent off Lebanon’s national wealth as measured by GDP, the United Nations says, with the scale of hostilities and the economic fallout set to surpass the last war in 2006.

The UN Development Program’s rapid appraisal of the conflict’s impact on Lebanon’s gross domestic product was released a day ahead of a summit hosted by France to help drum up international support for Lebanon.

UNDP says it expected the conflict to last until the end of 2024, leading to a 30% jump in the government’s financing needs in a country in dire straits even before violence began.

“GDP is projected to decline by 9.2% compared to a no-war scenario, indicating a significant decline in economic activity as a direct consequence of the conflict (around 2 billion dollars),” the report says.

UNDP says that even if the war ended in 2024, the consequences would persist for years, with GDP likely to contract by 2.28% in 2025 and 2.43% in 2026.

Lebanon was already suffering a four-year-old economic downturn and a political crisis when Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel last year in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas.

In late September, Israel dramatically ramped up its bombing across Lebanon, with strikes now regularly hitting Beirut’s southern suburbs, major cities in southern Lebanon and parts of the eastern Bekaa Valley, including the border with Syria.

Hezbollah and Israel last fought in 2006, when a month-long conflict left much of Lebanon’s south and the capital’s southern suburbs in ruins and required international help to rebuild.

UNDP says the damage to physical infrastructure, housing and productive capacities like factories would likely be close to that estimated for the 2006 war, which was between $2.5 billion and $3.6 billion. But it warned of larger overall damage to Lebanon.

“The scale of the military engagement, the geopolitical context, the humanitarian impact and the economic fallout in 2024 are expected to be much greater than in 2006,” it says.

UNDP’s report says the closure of border crossings critical for trade would bring a 21% drop in trade activities, and that it expected job losses in the tourism, agriculture and construction sectors.

It says Lebanon had already sustained “massive environmental losses” over the last year, including due to unexploded ordnance and contamination from possibly hazardous material, particularly the use of white phosphorus across southern Lebanon.

Government revenue is expected to fall by 9% and total investment by more than 6% through both 2025 and 2026.

As a result, increased international assistance will be essential for sustainable recovery in Lebanon, UNDP says – not only to address the spike in humanitarian needs but to stem the long-term social and economic consequences of the conflict.

Lebanon’s minister in charge of its crisis response tells Reuters that the country needed $250 million a month to help more than 1.2 million people displaced by Israeli strikes.

Settlers filmed blocking road to Palestinian driver, allegedly stealing items from school children in backseat

An Israeli settler is filmed blocking a Palestinian driver from proceeding down a road in the southern West Bank on October 23, 2024. (Screen capture/X)

The grassroots Outside the Herd group that works in solidarity with Palestinians in the southern West Bank posts footage from this morning of what it says are several settlers from a newly established illegal outpost in the South Hebron Hills’ Firing Zone 918 who blocked a road in order to prevent a Palestinian from driving children back to their village of Tuba.

The film shows the settlers ordering the driver to open his trunk in order to give them water.

The settlers then opened the children’s school bags and stole items from inside, according to Outside the Herd.

The grassroots group says that until the outbreak of the Gaza war, children from Tuba received military escort in order to travel to school in a neighboring town each day due to repeated harassment from area settlers.

Since the war began, though, the IDF has refused to continue providing such escorts, leading the students studying in nearby Tawana to move to a closer school in the village of Fakhit.

But in recent weeks, settlers established a new outpost near Fakhit, leading to a renewal of harrassment on the the young Palestinian students, Outside the Herd says.

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הבוקר מתנחלים ממאחז חדש שהוקם לאחרונה ב"שטח אש 918" בסמוך לכפר חלוואה, חסמו רכב שהסיע ילדים חזרה מבית ספרם בכפר פח'ית לביתם בכפר טובא. רכב עם מספר מתנחלים עצר לפניהם וחסם את הדרך. המתנחלים דרשו מהנהג לפתוח את הבגאז' ולתת להם מים. המתנחלים פתחו את תיקי התלמידים וגנבו מהם דברים https://t.co/CGKxnRbWAp pic.twitter.com/8FEFaPYE1m

— מחוץ לעדר (@masafering) October 23, 2024

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מאז החלה המלחמה הצבא מסרב ללוות את הילדים, והם הוכרחו להחליף בית ספר ולהעתיק את לימודיהם לכפר פח'ית. אולם מאז הקמתו של מאחז חדש לפני מספר שבועות, דרכם של התלמידים לבית ספרם החדש בפח'ית – שמה אותם שוב בסכנה מתקיפות אלימות והטרדות.
בתמונה המאחז החדש. קרדיט לעיד אל הד'אלין pic.twitter.com/YGwwOZxJM0

— מחוץ לעדר (@masafering) October 23, 2024

IDF says it struck Hamas command center in Gaza City compound that formerly housed a school

The IDF and Shin Bet say in a joint statement that the Israeli Air Force carried out a strike earlier today on a Hamas command center located in a Gaza City compound that used to house the Al-Zahra school.

The IDF says measures were taken ahead of time to minimize the risk of civilian casualties.

28 killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon over last 24 hours, Lebanese government says

At least 28 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon in the last 24 hours, bringing the total toll since October 2023 to 2,574, the Lebanese government says, without differentiating between civilians and combatants.

Footage shows strike hitting group of Gazans trying to help stranded, wounded boy

Footage shows a wounded boy in northern Gaza on October 18, 2024. (Screen capture/X)

Footage taken last Friday by a Gaza journalist shows a wounded boy lying in the street waving his hands in distress after an apparent strike caused a small scorched crater nearby on the edge of the Jabaliya Refugee Camp.

“He’s a child,” journalist Wafaa Thaher can heard saying. “In pieces. Why did they strike him?”

As the child — 13-year-old Mohammed Salem — pleads for assistance, roughly a dozen men begin approaching him before grabbing their heads in disbelief, throwing their hands up and yelling for help

Two of the men try lifting the boy up when a second strike targets the area, sending all of them flying back.

Salem went on to die from his wounds, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent, which said that a 14-year-old boy whose feet were severed by the second strike was also pronounced dead after being taken away by an ambulance.

Thaher provided the footage to The Washington Post, which verified its authenticity.

Asked to comment on the incident, the IDF told the Post that it “is working to dismantle the military and administrative capabilities of Hamas,” and that it takes “possible precautions to reduce harm to civilians.” The Israeli army did not say why it launched the strikes or what was being targeted.

את הווידאו הזה שפורסם בוושינגטון פוסט כל אזרח ישראלי צריך לראות. זה קשה לצפייה וזה קורע לב, אבל חובה. בעזה יש בני אדם שחיים בכל יום תחת פשעי המלחמה שאנחנו מבצעים. אסור לעצום עיניים. ילד הופצץ על ידנו, והוא פצוע וזועק לעזרה, ומה הצבא עושה? מפציץ את מי שבאו לעזור לו. למה? פשוט למה? pic.twitter.com/EUr32hP0Hq

— Alon-Lee Green – ألون-لي جرين – אלון-לי גרין 🟣 (@AlonLeeGreen) October 23, 2024

Earlier this month, the IDF ordered the evacuation of Jabaliya and surrounding towns in northern Gaza where several hundred thousand Palestinians are believed to still reside. The IDF has been operating to prevent Hamas from regrouping in northern Gaza.

While tens of thousands have fled, many more have remained either because they are unwilling or unable to evacuate. Some have claimed that the IDF has been targeting those trying to flee — a charge the army denies. There have also been reports that Hamas has been preventing civilians from evacuating north Gaza.

The US has expressed concern that Israel is implementing the so-called General’s Plan aimed at laying siege to northern Gaza. The IDF has denied that this is the case and began allowing some aid into the area after two weeks of blocking assistance at the beginning of the month.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a meeting yesterday to publicly clarify that Israel is not implementing the General’s Plan, but the premier balked at the idea, according to a US official familiar with the matter.

Hezbollah’s Hashem Safieddine, heir apparent to Nasrallah, killed in Israeli attack, group says

Senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine (C) attends the funeral ceremony of slain top commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut's southern suburbs on August 1, 2024. (Khaled Desouki/AFP)

Hashem Safieddine, the top Hezbollah official widely expected to succeed slain secretary general of the terror group Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in an Israeli strike earlier this month, the terror group confirms.

Safieddine had been running Hezbollah alongside its deputy secretary general Naim Qassem since Nasrallah’s assassination and was expected to be formally elected as its next secretary general of the terror group, although no official announcement had yet been made.

A relative of Nasrallah, Safieddine had sat on the group’s Jihad Council – the body responsible for its military operations. He was also head of its executive council, overseeing Hezbollah’s financial and administrative affairs.

Safieddine assumed a prominent role speaking for Hezbollah during the year of hostilities with Israel that ultimately led to his death, addressing funerals and other events that Nasrallah had long been unable to attend for security reasons.

His killing further erodes the group’s top leadership as Israeli strikes pummel Lebanon’s south, eastern Bekaa Valley and southern suburbs of Beirut – all Hezbollah strongholds – and the group’s fighters seek to push back Israeli ground incursions.

Israel had confirmed Safieddine’s death yesterday.

Medics say condition of Nahariya man wounded in rocket attack has worsened

Medics treat a Nahariya man wounded by Hezbollah rocket fire on October 23, 2024. (Magen David Adom)

The condition of the man wounded in the Hezbollah rocket attack on Nahariya has worsened, medics say.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service says it is taking the man in his 50s to a hospital in serious condition.

MDA says the man is in a stable condition, but he is unconscious.

He was hit in the head by shrapnel amid a barrage of 25 rockets targeting the area.

IDF claims uncovered documents prove 6 Al Jazeera journalists are Hamas, PIJ operatives

Al Jazeera journalists accused by the IDF of being members of the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups, in a graphic released by the IDF on October 23, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF says it has uncovered documents in the Gaza Strip it claims reveal that six Al Jazeera journalists are operatives in the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups.

The journalists are named by the IDF as Anas al-Sharif, Alaa Salameh, Hossam Shabat, Ashraf al-Sarraj, Ismail Abu Omar, and Talal al-Arrouqi.

According to the IDF, al-Sharif was the head of a rocket launching squad and a member of a Nukhba Force company in Hamas’s East Jabalia Battalion; Salameh was the deputy head of the Shaboura Battalion’s propaganda unit, in Islamic Jihad; Shabat was a sniper in Hamas’s Beit Hanoun Battalion; al-Sarraj was a member of Islamic Jihad’s Bureij Battalion; Abu Omar served as a training company commander in the East Khan Younis Battalion, and he been wounded in an Israeli airstrike several months ago; and al-Arrouqi was a team commander in Hamas’s Hamas’s Nuseirat Battalion.

The military releases the documents, which it says show personnel spreadsheets, lists of training courses, telephone books, and salary documents.

It says the documents “unequivocally prove” that the journalists functioned as members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad’s respective military wings.

“These documents are proof of the involvement of Hamas terrorists in the Qatari media network, Al-Jazeera,” the IDF says in a statement.

The IDF says that the named journalists are “spearheading” the spread of Hamas propaganda on Al Jazeera, especially in the northern Gaza Strip.

In January, Israel said an Al Jazeera staff journalist and a freelancer killed in an airstrike in Gaza were terror operatives.

The following month, it accused another journalist with the channel, who was wounded in a separate strike, of being a deputy company commander with Hamas.

Al Jazeera has fiercely denied Israel’s allegations and accused it of systematically targeting Al Jazeera employees in the Gaza Strip.

IDF successfully intercepts two missiles from Lebanon heading toward northern Israel

Two missiles launched from Lebanon at the Beit She’an area in northern Israel were successfully intercepted by air defenses, the IDF says.

Sirens sounded in numerous communities in the area amid the attack.

Nahariya resident moderately wounded by shrapnel from Hezbollah rocket attack

A man is moderately wounded as a result of Hezbollah’s latest rocket barrage on the Nahariya area, medics say.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service says it is treating the man, in his 50s, who sustained a shrapnel injury to his head.

It is unclear if the shrapnel was from a direct impact or following an interception.

The IDF says some 25 rockets were launched in the attack, most of which were intercepted.

Russian, Iranian leaders meet for first time at BRICS summit

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan.

Putin tells Pezeshkian the two countries would soon sign a comprehensive cooperation agreement and said the two leaders would discuss the situation in Syria and the Middle East.

This is the first meeting between the two leaders.

Deadly explosion outside Turkish aerospace HQ near Ankara

An explosion took place in front of the headquarters of Turkish Aerospace (TAI) just outside Ankara, Turkish media report, saying there was also the sound of gunshots.

Initial images shown by Turkey’s private NTV television channel showed a large cloud of smoke in front of the site’s entrance some 40 kilometers outside the capital, saying the blast took place at around 4 pm (1300 GMT).

A Turkish minister says there are a number of casualties as a result of the blast.

Hezbollah claims it fired rocket salvo at Israel army base in Haifa

Hezbollah claims it fired rockets at a military base in the Haifa area in northern Israel in response to Israeli raids on Lebanon.

The Iran-backed group said it targeted a military industrial base around Haifa “in defense of Lebanon and its people.”

The IDF has not confirmed such an attack.

Blinken, MBS discuss efforts to end fighting in Gaza, Lebanon during Riyadh meeting

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, meets Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday Oct. 23, 2024. (Nathan Howard/Pool via AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met earlier today with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh to discuss efforts to bring an end to the fighting in Gaza and Lebanon, the State Department says.

The readout regurgitates regularly used US talking points, and does not provide any new information.

US has not seen evidence of Hezbollah cash bunker under Beirut hospital, Pentagon chief says

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says that he has not seen evidence that there was a Hezbollah bunker filled with cash built under a hospital in Beirut, adding that Washington would continue to work with Israel to get better insights.

Israel’s military said that Hezbollah has stashed hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and gold in a bunker built under a hospital in Beirut, adding that it would not strike the facility as it keeps up attacks against the group’s financial assets.

“We have not seen evidence of that at this moment. But, you know, we will continue to collaborate with our Israeli counterparts to gain better fidelity on exactly what they are looking at,” Austin tells reporters in Rome.

Fadi Alameh, a Lebanese lawmaker with the Shi’ite Amal Movement party and the director of the hospital in question, Al-Sahel, has told Reuters that Israel was making false and slanderous claims and called on the Lebanese Army to visit and show it had only operating rooms, patients and a morgue.

In a televised statement on Monday, the Israeli military’s chief spokesman said Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, killed by Israel last month, had built the bunker which was designed for lengthy stays.

IDF strikes on several Hezbollah command rooms in south Lebanon’s Tyre after evacuation warnings

After issuing evacuation warnings, the IDF says it carried out strikes against several Hezbollah command rooms in southern Lebanon’s Tyre.

The command centers belonged to Hezbollah’s Southern Front, according to the IDF.

After issuing evacuation warnings, the IDF says it carried out strikes against several Hezbollah command rooms in southern Lebanon's Tyre.

The command centers belonged to Hezbollah's Southern Front, according to the IDF. pic.twitter.com/kdC5YaKONO

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) October 23, 2024

US defense chief says lack of humanitarian aid in Gaza could create more insurgents

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks during a press conference at the AUKUS Defense Ministers Meeting at Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich, London, September 26, 2024. (AP/Kin Cheung, Pool)

A failure to address the humanitarian situation in Gaza could create more insurgents, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says.

Speaking to reporters in Rome, Austin also says that he has not seen evidence that there was a Hezbollah bunker filled with cash built under a hospital in Beirut, adding that Washington would continue to work with Israel to get better insights.

“We have not seen evidence of that at this moment. But, you know, we will continue to collaborate with our Israeli counterparts to gain better fidelity on exactly what they are looking at,” Austin says.

The US defense secretary also says there are no indications any employees from the Office of the Secretary of Defense are being investigated for the leak of US intelligence about Israel’s preparations to strike Iran.

“There’s no OSD official being named as a part of this investigation,” Austin says.

The FBI said yesterday it was investigating the public disclosure of a pair of highly classified documents describing Israel’s preparations for a retaliatory strike on Iran, the bureau said on Tuesday. Social media posts, without evidence, singled out a US Defense Department employee as being under investigation for the leak.

IDF: 20,000 Gazan civilians have evacuated Jabaliya area, 150 terror operatives arrested

Gazans walk with their belongings as they evacuate from Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip on October 9, 2024. (Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP)

The IDF says that some 20,000 Palestinians have evacuated the Jabaliya area in the northern Gaza Strip amid an ongoing offensive there against Hamas.

Some 150 terror operatives have also been detained by troops as civilians have evacuated the area, the military says.

The IDF says it is “breaking the Hamas siege on Jabaliya” by “allowing civilians to evacuate for their safety in a safe manner and through organized routes.”

“The breaking of the Hamas siege on Jabaliya is manifested in tens of thousands of civilians evacuating from the area since yesterday morning, despite the efforts by Hamas to prevent [them],” the IDF says in a statement.

The statement adds that the military and COGAT are in contact with the international community and health authorities in Gaza to “maintain the ongoing functioning of the emergency systems of the hospitals, through the transfer of medical equipment and the supply of fuel subject to the operational situation, along with the evacuation of staff [and] patients.”

הלחץ הצבאי של אוגדה 162 על המרחב למול מחבלים וטרור מתגבר ובמקביל צה״ל מאפשר לאזרחים להתפנות למען בטחונם באופן בטוח ודרך נתיבים מסודרים.

שבירת המצור של חמאס על ג׳באליא מתבטאת בעשרות אלפי אזרחים שמתפנים מהאיזור מאתמול בשעות הבוקר>> pic.twitter.com/J2bCfzURMX

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) October 23, 2024

IDF shoots down another drone from Lebanon launched at Israel

Another drone launched from Lebanon was shot down by air defenses a short while ago, the IDF says.

According to the military, the drone did not enter Israeli airspace.

It marks the fifth drone that the Israeli Air Force has intercepted today.

Alongside the announcement, the IDF releases footage of the interception of an Iraqi drone near Eilat this morning.

Another drone launched from Lebanon was shot down by air defenses a short while ago, the IDF says.

According to the military, the drone did not enter Israeli airspace.

It marks the fifth drone that the Israeli Air Force has intercepted today.

The IDF releases footage of the… pic.twitter.com/IT4ADVjfDX

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) October 23, 2024

Gallant: ‘After we strike in Iran,’ the world will understand all of our training

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (right) speaks to Israeli Air Force pilots and crews at the Hatzerim Airbase, October 23, 2024. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)

Speaking to pilots and air crews at the Hatzerim Airbase, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says that “after we strike in Iran, everyone will understand what you did in the preparation and training process.”

“Everyone who dreamed a year ago of beating us and attacking us paid a heavy price and is no longer in that dream,” he adds.

Israel has said it would respond to Iran’s ballistic missile attack that occurred on October 1.

20 more rockets were fired from Lebanon toward Haifa area, says IDF

Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system fires to intercept as air raid sirens sound in Tel Aviv, Oct. 23, 2024. (Nathan Howard/Pool via AP)

A barrage of some 20 rockets from Lebanon was fired at the Haifa area a short while ago, the IDF says.

Another 10 rockets were fired toward Kiryat Shmona shortly after.

The IDF says that some of the rockets were intercepted, and impacts were also identified.

91% of children in southern Gaza reached in second round of polio vaccines, says Israel

Palestinian medics administer polio vaccines to children at the al-Daraj neighborhood clinic in Gaza City on September 10, 2024. (Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP)

A second round of polio vaccines was completed yesterday in southern Gaza, according to Israel.

COGAT, the Defense Ministry body overseeing activity in the West Bank and Gaza, says that 266,273 children under the age of 10 were vaccinated in the area, representing 91% of the target population in southern Gaza.

COGAT says the vaccine campaign in northern Gaza “will begin in the coming days, after a joint assessment and at the request of WHO and UNICEF.”

The World Health Organization said earlier today that it was forced to delay the vaccine rollout in northern Gaza due to escalating violence in the area.

Israel calls on its citizens to leave Sri Lanka resort areas amid terror threats

The National Security Council calls on Israelis to leave Sri Lanka’s Arugam Bay area and other beaches in the island’s south and west immediately, citing terrorism threats.

“Those leaving these areas are advised to leave the country or at least to the capital Colombo, where there is a high presence of local security forces,” says the NSC.

Israelis should postpone travel to the rest of the country, says the warning. They are also urged to hide signs that indicate they are Israelis and avoid gathering in large numbers.

Israel says it is in close contact with Sri Lankan authorities.

The US Embassy in Sri Lanka also warned citizens earlier of a possible threat to Israeli travelers at a popular surfing destination, prompting the island nation’s police to pledge more security for tourists.

The embassy said it had “received credible information warning of an attack targeting popular tourist locations” in eastern Arugam Bay.

Rocket alert sirens sound in Acre and other towns north of Haifa

Rocket alert sirens sound in Acre and a number of other towns north of Haifa, including Kiryat Bialik and Kfar Masaryk.

Chinese embassy in Lebanon suspends passport, visa services

China’s embassy in Lebanon suspended passport, visa and other services from today, it says in a notice.

The embassy says it will continue to process travel permits for Chinese nationals in Lebanon, but gives no date for the resumption of the other services.

Police chief hits back against AG over her move to block dismissal of legal adviser

This composite image shows Israel Police Commissioner Daniel Levy and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Responding to the move by the attorney general to freeze the Israel Police’s decision to oust the body’s legal adviser, Police Commissioner Daniel Levy hits back, saying he is not required to consult with her on such matters.

“I am not familiar with any legal obligation to consult with the attorney general before appointing a senior officer in the police force,” writes Levy in a letter to Gali Baharav-Miara that was leaked to the press.

“Your request represents a de facto usurping of my authority,” he adds.

Yesterday, Levy announced he was dismissing Elazar Kahana, the force’s top legal adviser, from his post, a move that Baharav-Miara then said she was blocking, amid a larger, growing spat between the Israel Police and the Attorney General’s Office.

Senior Hamas official arrives in Moscow for talks

File: Senior Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal (L) and senior Hamas member Mousa Abu Marzouk attending a meeting between Iran's Foreign Minister and Hamas' political bureau chief in Doha, October 31, 2023. (Iranian Foreign Ministry/AFP)

A senior member of Hamas, Mousa Abu Marzouk, has arrived in Moscow on a planned visit, Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti reports, citing a diplomatic source.

Hamas politburo member Abu Marzouk intends to hold a series of meetings with Russian officials, RIA says, without providing any further details.

Russia has ties to all key players in the Middle East, including Israel, Iran, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.

Moscow has repeatedly blamed the current crisis in the Middle East on the failure of US diplomacy, and called for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the resumption of talks aimed at finding a peace settlement.

University of Haifa to delay start of academic year

Illustrative: Students at the University of Haifa, on April 11, 2016. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

The University of Haifa announces that the new academic year will begin on November 10, a week after Israel’s other universities are to start on November 3.

The decision was made “in light of the security situation” and due to “the directives of the Home Front Command and relevant authorities,” the university says.

The Home Front Command has forbidden in-person learning in Israel’s north for several weeks due to the ongoing offensive against Hezbollah. Last year, following the Hamas-led October 7 assault, universities delayed the opening of the academic year several times, ultimately opening on December 31, 2023, amid widespread reservist call-ups.

IDF slams right-wing Israeli network Channel 14 for mockery of military chief

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi speaks in a video statement from northern Israel, October 3, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF, in an unusual step, slams the far-right Channel 14 TV network for broadcasting a clip yesterday making fun of IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen Herzi Halevi.

“I am contacting you following the video published last night on Channel 14, which included inflammatory and defamatory content that harms the IDF. It is inconceivable that a media channel in the State of Israel gives a platform for inflammatory content against the IDF during a war,” reads a letter addressed to the network by IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari.

Hagari writes that the military is “not afraid of criticism and even encourages an open and sharp public discourse” on the IDF amid the war.

“However, the content that was broadcast yesterday on Channel 14 crosses a red line. This is deliberate incitement and humiliation of the IDF and its commanders during a war. Unfortunately, this is not the first time Channel 14 has taken such actions towards the IDF,” the letter reads.

כשהרמטכ"ל ראה את הפאץ' של המשיח#הפטריוטים@YinonMagal pic.twitter.com/tD2kDNKunZ

— C14 (@C14_news) October 22, 2024

The IDF says it expects the network to delete the content.

The letter was also sent to the Second Authority for Television and Radio, a key regulatory and licensing body for commercial broadcasting in Israel, the defense minister and the communication minister.

The video aired by the network last night made fun of an incident in which Halevi removed a velcro patch a soldier was wearing on his arm, which was not military-issued. The IDF chief put the patch in the soldier’s pocket and reportedly told him “If you want, you can put it close to your heart, but on the uniform, only military things.”

Nordic countries express ‘deep concern’ over Knesset bill to halt UNRWA operations

A man wearing a jacket bearing the UNRWA logo collects trash on a street in the Balata camp east of Nablus, in the northern West Bank, on August 15, 2024. (Zain Jaafar/AFP)

The five Nordic countries say they are “deeply concerned by the recent introduction of draft legal bills in the Knesset that, if adopted, would prevent the UNRWA from continuing its operations in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza.”

In a joint letter signed by the region’s foreign ministers, they say that if the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees “would no longer be able to exercise its core tasks,” it could further destabilize the situation in the region, “and may fundamentally jeopardize the prospects for a two-state solution.”

In the letter, they “strongly urge Israel to ensure continued and unhindered humanitarian access” to Palestinian refugees for the UN body known as UNRWA.

Blinken to meet Arab FMs in London on Friday to discuss Gaza, Lebanon

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken waves before boarding his aircraft at Ben Gurion Airport in Lod on October 23, 2024 as he departs for Riyadh. (Nathan Howard / POOL / AFP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Britain later this week after visiting the Middle East, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller says.

Blinken will meet Arab foreign ministers in London after talks tomorrow in Qatar, Miller tells reporters aboard Blinken’s flight from Israel to Saudi Arabia.

IDF troops uncover weapons cache in south Lebanon mosque, says military

IDF troops operate in southern Lebanon, in a handout image published October 23, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF says troops operating in southern Lebanon uncovered a cache of weapons in a mosque.

Reservists of the Iron Fist Armored Brigade found ammunition and a recoilless rifle outside the mosque, while inside they located RPGs, sniper rifles, anti-tank missiles, and other weapons, according to the military.

The IDF says troops operating in southern Lebanon uncovered a cache of weapons in a mosque.

Reservists of the Iron First Armored Brigade found ammunition and a recoilless rifle outside the mosque, while inside they located RPGs,sniper rifles, anti-tank missiles, and other… pic.twitter.com/V4RwRmQoMC

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) October 23, 2024

Visiting Beirut, German FM calls for ‘viable’ diplomatic solution to conflict

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock arrives in Beirut on October 23, 2024. (Jörg Blank/dpa via Reuters Connect)

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock arrives in Beirut for talks, and says the task is to find a viable diplomatic solution between Israel and Lebanon after Israel succeeded in weakening the Hezbollah terror group.

“The task now is to work with our partners in the US, Europe and the Arab world to find a viable diplomatic solution that safeguards the legitimate security interests of both Israel and Lebanon,” Baerbock says in a statement.

The foreign minister warns that Lebanon is “on the brink of collapse,” and says that “a complete destabilization of the country would be fatal for the most religiously diverse society of all states in the Middle East and also for the entire region.”

She also asks all parties involved in the conflict to protect the UNIFIL peacekeeper troops stationed in the Israeli-Lebanese border region, and says that “any deliberate attack on UN peacekeepers violates international humanitarian law.”

Rocket fired from Lebanon damages building near Acre

A rocket launched from Lebanon in the latest barrage on the Haifa area reportedly impacted in the Sha’ar Na’aman, south of Acre.

Footage from the scene shows damage to a building.

25 שיגורים במטח לגליל העליון ולמפרץ: פגיעה באזור התעשייה נעמן, אין נפגעים | כל העדכוניםhttps://t.co/exdVUKRdLr | @_Gitsis_ pic.twitter.com/7MWdcwxEAI

— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) October 23, 2024

Around 25 rockets fired from Lebanon at Haifa area in latest barrage

A barrage of some 25 rockets was fired from Lebanon at the Haifa area a short while ago.

Sirens were activated in the Krayot and other nearby towns, northeast of Haifa.

According to the IDF, most of the rockets were intercepted by air defenses, and some impacts were identified.

There are no immediate reports of injuries.

Drone from Lebanon shot down near Ramot Naftali, says IDF

A drone launched from Lebanon was shot down by air defenses over the Ramot Naftali area a short while ago, the IDF says.

Since this morning, four drones have been intercepted by Israeli air defenses. The other three were launched from Iraq.

WHO says northern Gaza polio campaign postponed due to escalating violence

Displaced Palestinians fleeing Israeli military operations in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, October 22, 2024. (Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

The World Health Organization says that intense bombardments, mass displacements and lack of access in northern Gaza have forced the postponement of a polio vaccination campaign.

This final phase of an ongoing polio vaccination campaign, due to begin today, aimed to vaccinate over 119,000 children in northern Gaza, according to the agency.

Rocket sirens sound in Acre and towns near Haifa

Rocket alert sirens sound in a number of towns near Haifa, including Acre and Kiryat Motzkin.

Sri Lanka police raise security at popular surf site over threat to Israelis

In this May 10, 2019 photo, a boy walks on a beach in Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka. (AP/Eranga Jayawardena)

Police in Sri Lanka have raised security around a popular surfing destination after receiving information about a possible threat to Israeli travelers, a spokesperson says.

Police spokesperson Nihal Thalduwa says special security measures have been put in place at Arugam Bay in the country’s east.

The police statement comes after the US embassy in Sri Lanka alerted Americans to avoid Arugam Bay area until further notice due to “credible information warning of an attack targeting popular tourist locations in the Arugam Bay area.”

Thalduwa says the regional police have stepped up security over the past days increasing road blocks and vehicle checks and police will be putting in place security measures around the country to protect tourists who will be visiting Sri Lanka for the oncoming year-end tourist season.

IDF says it struck Hezbollah weapons manufacturing and storage sites in Beirut

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted an area in Beirut's southern suburbs on October 22, 2024. (IBRAHIM AMRO / AFP)

Overnight, several Hezbollah weapons manufacturing and storage sites were struck by Israeli fighter jets in Beirut, the IDF says.

According to the military, the Hezbollah sites were embedded in civilian buildings in Beirut’s southern suburb, known as Dahiyeh.

Before the strikes, the IDF issued evacuation warnings to civilians near the buildings.

The military releases footage of the strikes.

מטוסי קרב של חיל האוויר תקפו במהלך הלילה, בהכוונה מודיעינית מדויקת של אגף המודיעין, מספר אתרים לייצור ולאחסון אמצעי לחימה ומפקדות של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה, אשר מוקמו בתוך בניינים אזרחיים בדאחייה שבביירות>> pic.twitter.com/kFcjKaBP6n

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) October 23, 2024

Lufthansa extends suspension of Tehran, Beirut flights through early 2025

A Lufthansa airlines Airbus-A320-271N comes in to land at Heathrow Airport in west London on April 29, 2024. (Adrian DENNIS / AFP)

Lufthansa Group extends the suspension of its flights to Tehran and Beirut until early next year, the German flagship airline says, over concerns of a wider conflict in the Middle East.

Flights to Tehran will be suspended up to and including Jan. 31, 2025, while those to Beirut are suspended up to and including Feb. 28, 2025, says the group that includes SWISS and Austrian Airlines.

Earlier this week, Lufthansa said it was extending its suspension of flights to Tel Aviv until just November 10.

Departing Israel, Blinken calls to ‘get the hostages home and bring the war to an end’

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks with members of the media at Ben Gurion Airport before departing for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in Tel Aviv, Oct. 23, 2024. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urges Israel to use the opportunity created by its success in dismantling much of Hamas’s capacity in Gaza and the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to reach a longer term solution in the conflict.

“Now is the time to turn those successes into an enduring strategic success. And there are really two things left to do, get the hostages home and bring the war to an end with an understanding of what will follow,” Blinken tells reporters as he prepares to depart Israel for Riyadh.

Blinken says that there has been “progress” made in increasing aid to Gaza, “which is good, but more progress needs to be made and, most critically, it needs to be sustained.”

The visiting diplomat also calls on Israel to avoid “greater escalation” in its response to Iran’s October 1 missile attack.

“It’s also very important that Israel respond in ways that do not create greater escalation,” he says.

Boarding his flight to Riyadh, Blinken adds that Israel should seize the “incredible opportunity” to move toward Saudi normalization.

Germany’s Scholz discussed Gaza ceasefire talks with visiting Qatari emir

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (R) welcomes Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani for his official visit at Schloss Meseberg palace in Meseberg, north of Berlin, October 22, 2024. (RALF HIRSCHBERGER / AFP)

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Qatar’s Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, stressed the importance of a two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and called for intensified diplomatic efforts to achieve a lasting peace in the region during talks in Germany yesterday, a government spokesperson says.

Hezbollah claims to target IDF 8200 base near Tel Aviv

The Hezbollah terror group says it fired rockets at an Israeli military intelligence base in the Tel Aviv suburbs, following a night of strikes on the group’s south Beirut bastion.

Hezbollah launched “a rocket salvo” at “the Glilot base of the [8200] military intelligence unit… in the Tel Aviv suburbs,” the group says in a statement, referring to a base targeted several times in recent days. It says the rocket fire was “in response to attacks and massacres committed by the Zionist enemy.”

The IDF said earlier today that it successfully intercepted two long-range rockets fired from Lebanon toward Tel Aviv. Some damage was reported from shrapnel.

IDF: Prominent member of Hezbollah drone unit killed in airstrike

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Tibnit on October 21, 2024. (AFP)

A prominent member of Hezbollah’s drone unit was killed in an Israeli airstrike in northern Lebanon on Monday, the IDF says.

The military says Khalil Muhammad Amhaz, a member of Hezbollah’s aerial forces, known as Unit 127, which is responsible for drone attacks on Israel, was killed in the strike in the Hermel District.

The IDF describes Amhaz as a “central source of knowledge” in the drone unit.

IDF locates remains of drone it downed last night near Yokne’am

An apparent Hezbollah drone seen flying over Herzliya during an attack on October 11, 2024. (Screenshot/X used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

This morning, the IDF says it located a Hezbollah drone that was launched at Israel last night.

The Israeli Air Force had been tracking the drone from Rosh Hanikra on the Lebanon border but lost contact with it in the Yokne’am area amid attempts to intercept it.

According to an initial IDF probe, the drone was successfully downed near Yokne’am, and it crashed in an open area.

Sirens had sounded in numerous towns amid the incident, including after the drone had gone missing, based on the predicted southbound trajectory of the drone.

Car in Herzliya damaged by shrapnel from rocket interception

A car in Herzliya damaged by falling shrapnel following a rocket interception, October 23, 2024. (Israel Police)

Falling shrapnel following the interception of a rocket over central Israel this morning damaged a car in the Herzliya area, police say.

No injuries were caused in the attack. According to the IDF, two rockets fired at Israel from Lebanon were intercepted.

IDF issues urgent evacuation warning to residents of southern Lebanon’s Tyre

This picture taken from the southern Lebanese city of Tyre shows smoke billowing after Israeli airstrikes that targeted southern Lebanese villages on October 21, 2024. (Kawnat Haju/AFP)

The IDF issues an urgent evacuation warning to residents of Lebanon’s Tyre, ahead of airstrikes against Hezbollah sites.

“Hezbollah’s activity forces the IDF to act in the area you are in. The IDF does not want to harm you,” Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman says on X, alongside a map of the areas that will be targeted.

“You must immediately move away from the area marked in red and head north to the Awali River. Anyone who is near Hezbollah personnel, facilities and weapons of Hezbollah is putting their life in danger!” Adraee adds.

#عاجل بيان عاجل لسكان منطقة صور في لبنان
⭕️الانذار موجهة تحديدًا إلى المتواجدون في المباني بين الشوارع: الحيرام, جعفر شرف الدين, أبو ديب و شارع الاثار

⭕️أنشطة حزب الله تجبر جيش الدفاع على العمل ضده وبقوة حيث لا تنوي المساس بكم

⭕️عليكم بالأبتعاد فوراً الى خارج المنطقة المحددة… pic.twitter.com/5ngkUehGJm

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) October 23, 2024

IDF says two long-range rockets intercepted over Tel Aviv area

The Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets that were launched from Lebanon, as seen from Haifa, northern Israel, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

Two long-range rockets launched at Israel from Lebanon were successfully intercepted by air defenses, the IDF says.

Amid the attack, sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and nearby towns, as well as in the Nazareth area in the north.

There are no reports of injuries or damage due to the attack.

Sirens sound in Tel Aviv and surrounding towns

Sirens are sounding in central Israel, including Tel Aviv, following rocket fire from Lebanon.

Alerts are also activated in several towns near Haifa amid the attack.

The IDF is looking into the details.

Rocket sirens sound in several Upper Galilee towns

Rocket sirens sound in a number of towns in the Upper Galilee near the border with Lebanon, including Metula, Misgav Am and Kfar Giladi.

Dozens of terror suspects detained in northern Gaza, says IDF

Journalists film in front of destroyed buildings in Jabaliya, in the northern Gaza Strip, on October 9, 2024. (Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP)

Dozens of suspected terror operatives have been detained by Israeli troops amid an ongoing operation in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya, the IDF says.

The suspects were detained as the army ordered Palestinian civilians to evacuate the area, where heavy fighting is taking place.

Since the operation began earlier this month, tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians have evacuated Jabaliya through Israeli-designated humanitarian corridors, the military says.

In the past day, the IDF says troops killed numerous gunmen and seized weapons during the operation in Jabaliya.

IDF: 3 Hezbollah regional unit commanders killed in airstrikes in recent days

IDF troops operate in southern Lebanon, in a handout image published October 23, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)

Three Hezbollah regional unit commanders were killed in Israeli airstrikes in the past two days, the IDF says.

According to the military, strikes carried out by fighter jets in the previous 48 hours targeted and killed the commanders of Hezbollah’s Jibchit, Jouaiyya and Qana areas.

The commanders were responsible for rocket and missile fire on Israeli towns from their respective areas, the IDF says.

Meanwhile, in the past day alone, the military says that some 70 Hezbollah operatives were killed in airstrikes and ground operations in southern Lebanon.

Troops also located and destroyed tunnels and caches of weapons, the IDF adds.

Military says it intercepted drone ‘from the east’ over Syria

The military says it shot down a drone over Syria that was launched “from the east,” referring to Iraq.

Iran-backed militia group claims pair of drone attacks targeting Eilat

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq claims that it attacked Eilat with drones twice this morning, after the IDF announced intercepting a pair of UAVs in the area.

The pro-Iranian militant group claims it attacked “vital” targets there.

IDF says it intercepted 2 drones over Red Sea that were launched ‘from the east’

The IDF says it intercepted a pair of drones off the coast of Eilat, after interceptions were reported near the Red Sea coastal city.

A statement from the military says the unmanned aircraft “came from the east,” a term it uses to refer to attacks launched from Iraq.

It adds that sirens weren’t activated “per protocol.”

Former White House chief of staff: Trump said he wanted ‘the kind of generals Hitler had’

Then-US president Donald Trump and White House chief of staff John Kelly walk toward Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, May 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump told aides during his presidency that he sought “the kind of generals that Hitler had,” according to a new report in The Atlantic, which cites two people who heard him make the comment.

A spokesperson for Trump denies that the former president said that.

But Trump’s former chief of staff John Kelly tells The Atlantic that Trump “raised the subject of ‘German generals.'”

“‘Do you mean Bismarck’s generals?’” Kelly recalls asking him during his Atlantic interview.

“‘Yeah, yeah, Hitler’s generals,’” Kelly quotes Trump as having said.

Kelly also published a book in 2021 about his time working for Trump and then too claimed that the former president had said, “Hitler did a lot of good things.”

Trump slams Biden administration over leak of secret docs on Israeli preparations to strike Iran

Republican presidential nominee and former US president Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally, October 22, 2024, in Greensboro, North Carolina. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Former US president and GOP candidate Donald Trump criticizes the Biden administration for the leak of secret documents detailing Israel’s preparation for a potential retaliatory attack on Iran.

He calls it a “bad thing.”

“Can you imagine somebody doing that? That’s the enemy. I guess that maybe is the enemy from within,” he says, repeating the phrase he’s used in recent speeches to refer to Democratic lawmakers such as US Representatives Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff.

“We just can’t stand for this incompetence anymore.”

The FBI said Tuesday that it’s investigating the unauthorized release of these documents.

US official: Netanyahu demurred when Blinken asked him to publicly reject ‘General’s Plan’

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken disembarks an aircraft as he arrives in Tel Aviv, October 22, 2024. (Nathan Howard/Pool

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his top aides sidestepped US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s request during a meeting Tuesday to publicly clarify that Israel is not seeking to lay siege to northern Gaza, a US official tells The Times of Israel.

Netanyahu and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer insisted during the meeting that Israel is not implementing the so-called General’s Plan aimed at isolating northern Gaza and argued that claims to the contrary have been detrimental to Israel’s public image, the US official says.

Blinken urged Netanyahu to clarify this publicly, but he and his aides demurred, the official adds.

The back-and-forth highlighted a long-held US frustration with the Israeli premier, who Washington feels offers private assurances that he knows the US wants to hear while failing to follow through in public due to fear of alienating the far-right coalition partners he relies on to remain in power.

Hostage families urge Blinken to pressure mediators, ‘especially Qatar,’ after Sinwar’s death

This handout photo released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum shows relatives of Israelis held hostage in Gaza by Hamas meeting with visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, October 22, 2024. (Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

Families of captives held by Hamas meet with visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, urging the renewal of efforts to swiftly secure a hostage deal after Israeli forces killed the terror group’s leader in Gaza last week.

According to a statement from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the group asked Blinken to “apply more pressure on the mediating countries, especially Qatar, to restart negotiations and leverage Sinwar’s elimination into a deal for releasing all hostages,” noting the Gulf emirate hosts Hamas leaders.

Lebanon says Israeli strikes hit Beirut southern suburbs after evacuation call

At least three Israeli strikes targeted Beirut’s southern suburbs Tuesday evening, following calls to evacuate, Lebanon’s official ANI news agency reports, hours after a strike flattened a building in the Hezbollah stronghold.

Two of the strikes hit the Laylake district, near a stadium, ANI reported, while AFP footage captured plumes of smoke rising from the area regularly shelled by Israel since intensifying its offensive last month.