The Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) is reporting multiple Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon, including on ad-Dhahira, Aita al-Shaab, Tayr Harfa, Alma ash-Shaab and Kfar Kila.

The attacks took place on Saturday evening.

The NNA said Israeli jets bombed the main road in ad-Dhahira, while Israeli forces shelled Kfar Kila, Aita al-Shaab, as well as the town of Ain ez-Zarqa on the outskirts of Alma ash-Shaab and Tayr Harfa.

Israeli forces strike town in southern Lebanon: Reports

We are receiving reports that Israeli fighter jets have targeted the town of Meiss el-Jabal in southern Lebanon.

The Lebanese Civil Defense has reported injuries.

Since October 8, Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and the Israeli military stationed in northern Israel have traded fire, killing hundreds and displacing thousands on both sides. In recent months, the severity and frequency of the cross-border attacks have increased, leading to fears of a greater regional conflagration.


Deaths reported in Israeli attack on southern Lebanon

We now have an update on the Israeli bombing of the town of Meiss el-Jabal in southern Lebanon. The civil defence in southern Lebanon has announced that three people were killed and three others were injured in the Israeli raid.

Kinda telling Israel kept attacking during the truce...

Israeli forces strike town in southern Lebanon: Reports

Clashes have broken out between Israeli forces and Palestinians in the Beit Furik neighbourhood of Nablus in the occupied West Bank. A video posted on Telegram, verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad agency, showed Israeli soldiers storming the town and young Palestinian men throwing stones at their vehicles. The military responded by firing tear gas.

The Israeli forces have conducted new raids and made arrests in the cities of Hebron and Nablus in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.

The latest Israeli incursion comes a day after it killed five people near Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank. Israel has killed nearly 500 Palestinians since October 7, when it launched a brutal military offensive in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Security sources, quoted by the agency, said troops detained a citizen in the Sheikh neighbourhood in central Hebron, after storming and searching his house. Soldiers also raided the towns of Beit Ummar and Surif as well as the Arroub refugee camp in the north of Hebron.

In Nablus, an elderly man, who had been detained last week before being released, has been taken into custody again from his house on at-Taawon Street, local sources told Wafa. In the Rafidia neighbourhood of the city, the Israeli forces raided a residential building and gunfire was heard, but no injuries were reported.

Wafa said that several villages around the city were also raided with no arrests reported. 

We are receiving new reports of raids and arrests in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli forces have arrested two more Palestinians in the cities of Ramallah and el-Bireh, according to the Wafa news agency. They also severely beat a young man in the Old City of the occupied Jerusalem, the agency said.

The detainees included children and former prisoners, according to the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society. The detentions took place in Tulkarem, Qalqiliya, Jericho, Ramallah, Nablus, Hebron and Jenin and the occupied East Jerusalem on Saturday and Sunday.

“This brings the number of Palestinians detained by Israeli forces since October 7 to 8,575,” the organisations said.

Al Jazeera Arabic is reporting Israeli attacks on an area north of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, as well as the entrance to the town of az-Zawayda.

The bombings follow an attack on Rafah that wounded at least three Palestinians.

Mother, two children killed in Israeli attack on Gaza

Israeli strikes continue across Gaza despite truce talks

_{Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house in Rafah, Sunday}

Gaza death toll reaches 34,683 as Israeli offensive continues

The Israeli Foreign Ministry has condemned the rocket attack near the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing between Gaza and Israel.

“[The army] is facilitating humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing, terrorists fire rockets into the same area,” a statement by the ministry on X said. “Israel remains committed to providing life-saving aid while Hamas remains committed to destroying lives,” it added.

Several injuries have been reported in the attack that hit an area near a military position, according to the Israeli authorities. The armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed the attack.

At least seven people, including soldiers, have been injured in a rocket attack near the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing between Gaza and Israel, according to the local media.

Does the Iron Dome not cover the crossings?

The Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, has shared a video that shows its fighters launching a barrage of rockets at the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing between Gaza and Israel.

It said the rockets hit Israeli military “command headquarters and mobilisations” at the crossing, “leaving soldiers dead and wounded”. Meanwhile, the Israeli president claimed that Hamas “attacked humanitarian aid because they don’t care for humanity”.

“The world must act to release the hostages, and free the people of Gaza from Hamas’s vicious rule,” Isaac Herzog said in a post on X.

Hamas attack humanitarian aid because they don’t care for humanity.

The world must act to release the hostages, and free the people of Gaza from Hamas’s vicious rule. https://t.co/CqKOK0PrT0

— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) May 5, 2024

The ABC7 broadcaster is reporting that police arrested at least 68 people as they dismantled an encampment set up by students from Columbia College and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

The television station said that “this is the first time the Chicago Police Department has executed this level of arrests since the beginning of the pro-Palestinian encampments”. It added that students remained at a separate encampment at The University of Chicago for a sixth day.

Israeli news site Calcalist says the financial repercussions of the Turkish ban will soon affect Israelis as basic raw materials cease to arrive, prices of basic commodities and food rise, and housing prices go up.

Calcalist’s report stated that Turkey’s decision to cut trade ties with Israel came as a “complete surprise” in Israel, which believed Ankara’s threats to ban goods were empty threats over the war on Gaza.

According to the report, finding alternative sources of import requires time and sets of agreements, and even when they are signed – the prices of goods are likely to be much higher than those demanded by suppliers of goods in Turkey.

Bridging these price gaps will also come from the pockets of Israeli consumers, who already face an increasingly burdensome cost of living.

Calcalist’s report highlighted the construction industry as being particularly affected by the boycott, as well as the automotive industry, where major automakers export a series of popular cars from Turkey to Israel.

The family of a prominent doctor from Gaza, who was reportedly killed in an Israeli prison due to torture, has demanded justice over his death.

Adnan al-Bursh, 50, the head of the orthopaedic department at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, was arrested by the Israeli army last December as he treated patients at al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza.

Israeli forces have repeatedly targeted hospitals in Gaza, destroying 26 of the besieged enclave’s 36 hospitals. Israel has killed more than 350 healthcare professionals since launching its military offensive on October 7.

His death was confirmed earlier in the week.

Yazan, al-Bursh’s eldest son, expressed his shock at learning of his father’s fate. “I didn’t know my father had been martyred, it was a shock,” he told Al Jazeera. “Thank God anyway. We belong to God and to Him we return.” He explained that he had been to the Israeli prisons of Negev, Ofer and Ashkelon before he was killed under torture.

Adnan’s wife, Yasmine, said her husband graduated from Jordan in 2009 and obtained the Jordanian Board and the Arab Board in medicine. She explained how the family moved from Jordan to Gaza: “Adnan told me that he was tired of being abroad after 35 years of exile and decided to return to Gaza to serve his people as he always said.”

Yasmine said her husband was a peaceful doctor and had nothing to do with violent actions. Both wife and son called on international organisations to bring justice to the slain doctor.

Al Jazeera’s correspondent Hashem Ahelbarra says that when the United States contacted Qatari officials after October 7 to mediate an agreement, Doha saw it as a continuation of a legacy they had built over the last 30 years as regional arbitrators and peacemakers.

He said the Qataris have huge political leverage, referencing several examples of successful mediations, including between the Americans and the Taliban, which was an impressive diplomatic feat.

“This time the dynamics have shifted,” he said, “particularly after they managed to secure a deal by the end of November and then it collapsed”.

The Qataris, Ahelbarra said, feel they have been used as a “political punching bag” by Israel and, based on statements made by Qatari officials, will now possibly reassess its role as mediator.

This could mean that Hamas’s political bureau may have to leave Qatar. “If that happens, it’s not going to just undermine the chances for a settlement soon. It could push this into more uncertainty in the near future because if you ask the political bureau to relocate, they will have three options: Iran, Lebanon and Turkey,” he said.

Diplomatic sources have told Al Jazeera Arabic that Qatar will not accept any pressure from outside parties and is committed to its role as a mediator between Hamas and Israel. The sources said Qatar has stated it does not impose itself on either side in the conflict and cannot undertake any mediation unless the parties involved request it to do so.

They added that Qatar, in its mediation between Hamas and Israel, had been subjected to pressures that threatened to disrupt its work as an “honest and reliable” mediator in a way it had not previously experienced.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports that the Israeli government has voted unanimously to shut down Al Jazeera in the country.

The Reuters news agency reports that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet voted unanimously to close Al Jazeera’s operations in Israel, according to a government statement that did not stipulate when the decision might take effect.

The cabinet vote came after Israel’s parliament passed a law allowing the temporary closure in Israel of foreign broadcasters considered to be a threat to national security during its war on Gaza.

‘Incitement channel’ Al Jazeera will be closed in Israel: Netanyahu

Orders against Al Jazeera ‘will go into effect immediately’: Israeli communications minister

_{Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, speaks to Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament}

Israeli newspaper Haaretz is reporting that the government has authorised Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi to order the cessation of the channel’s broadcasts in Israel, both in Arabic and English language; to close its offices in Israel; to confiscate equipment used by its personnel with the exception of telephones and computers. The communications minister has also been asked to limit access from Israel to the network’s website.

According to the Israeli government decision, Karhi has the authority to ban the channel from operating for 45 days, relying on the recently adopted law regulating the closure of media institutions.

Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan on the ban

Bombed HQ, slain journalists: How Israel has targeted Al Jazeera

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/4/shutdown-threat-when-has-israel-targeted-al-jazeera-before

_{Colleagues and family members mourn Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abu Daqa, who was killed by Israeli bombs, during his funeral in Khan Younis on December 16, 2023}

Akiva Eldar, Israeli political analyst and contributor to Haaretz newspaper, spoke to Al Jazeera about the decision to ban the network from Israel. He said although Al Jazeera may be banned from TV sets, the government cannot impose the ban on the “cyber-network”.

He said he did not know to what extent the Israeli government would enact the ban on correspondents and interviewees, saying that after the interview, when he gets home, there may “be a police officer waiting for me”.

He said the ban was intended to please “the radical right” in Israel and would not be the “last step” by the far-right government.

Israeli networks that criticise the government, including Haaretz, may also be subjected to a ban in the future, Eldar said.

This is the last episode in what seems to be the suppression of any criticism of what’s going on on the ground across the Gaza Strip.

We’ve documented the atrocities, the genocidal acts, the spread of famine and acts that go against international human rights law and against all the international norms in terms of conducting war or warfare, and that is something that did not really sit well with the Israeli government.

The ban is largely perceived by people here as a way to suppress this voice that has amplified the voices of the oppressed and amplified the voices of people under occupation to the outside world.

People see it as a desperate move to prevent fair coverage of what’s going on on the ground.

More than 50 attacks against Al Jazeera journalists since October 7

Al Jazeera’s prerecorded ‘final report’ from Israel

UN condemns Israeli decision to shut down Al Jazeera

We regret cabinet decision to close Al Jazeera in Israel. A free & independent media is essential to ensuring transparency & accountability. Now, even more so given tight restrictions on reporting from Gaza. Freedom of expression is a key human right. We urge govt to overturn ban

— UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) May 5, 2024

In a deceptive and slanderous move, the Israeli Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, unanimously voted to shut down Al Jazeera’s offices in Israel. They also chose to withdraw crew accreditations, as well as banning media service providers from transmitting its broadcasts and blocking Al Jazeera Media Network websites.

Ironically, as the world marked World Press Freedom Day, the Israeli government closed Al Jazeera’s offices, preventing the public from accessing its content, disregarding the universally recognised fundamentals of freedom of expression.

Al Jazeera Media Network strongly condemns and denounces this criminal act that violates human rights and the basic right to access of information. Al Jazeera affirms its right to continue to provide news and information to its global audiences.

Israel’s ongoing suppression of the free press, seen as an effort to conceal its actions in the Gaza Strip, stands in contravention of international and humanitarian law. Israel’s direct targeting and killing of journalists, arrests, intimidation and threats will not deter Al Jazeera from its commitment to cover, whilst more than 140 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the beginning of the war on Gaza.

The Network vehemently rejects the allegations presented by Israeli authorities suggesting professional media standards have been violated. It reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the values embodied by its Code of Ethics.

Al Jazeera urges all media freedom, human rights, and other concerned organisations to condemn the repeated attacks on journalists and the press by Israel, and to hold those responsible to account. The Network will pursue all available legal channels through international legal institutions in its quest to protect both its rights and journalists, as well as the public’s right to information.

“Targeting journalists is a crime.”

Israeli minister says Al Jazeera equipment seized