SvennoJ on 30 October 2024
Summary for October 30th
- Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has said he’s hopeful a ceasefire can be reached between Hezbollah and Israel in “coming hours or days”, after speaking with US envoy Amos Hochstein.
- Israeli strikes have killed 19 people in two towns in Lebanon’s Baalbek region, the Lebanese Health Ministry announced, in Israel’s biggest assault on the area since attacks escalated in September.
- Naim Qassem delivered his first speech as Hezbollah’s new secretary-general, pledging that under his leadership the Lebanese group will keep fighting Israel and “helping Gaza”.
- Officials in Beit Lahiya have declared the north Gaza city a “disaster area” after weeks of Israeli bombardment, including an attack on Tuesday which killed more than 110 people.
- The US State Department has said it hasn’t seen “significant improvement” in aid reaching Gaza, despite senior officials warning Israel on October 13 it had 30 days to change the situation or face possible military aid restrictions.
- Israel’s ban on the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) breaches international law, Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide told Al Jazeera, adding that his country will present a draft resolution on the matter to the UN General Assembly.
