One year on, Israel responsible for record journalist death toll: US watchdog

The Committee to Protect Journalists has said that at least 128 journalists and media workers, all but five of them Palestinian, have been killed – more journalists than have died in the course of any year since it began documenting journalist killings in 1992.

“All of the killings, except two, were carried out by Israeli forces. CPJ has found that at least five journalists were specifically targeted by Israel for their work and is investigating at least 10 more cases of deliberate targeting. Two Israeli journalists were killed in the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas,” the watchdog said.

The killings, along with censorship, arrests, the continued ban on independent media access into Gaza, persistent internet shutdowns, the destruction of media outlets, and displacement of the Gaza media community, have severely restricted reporting on the war and hampered documentation, CPJ said.

As of Friday, CPJ’s research was able to confirm the following:

• Eleven percent of the journalists killed were female, and the majority of all killed were under 40 years old.
• Three-quarters of the Palestinians were killed by Israeli air strikes. The rest were killed by other types of fire, including drone strikes, tank fire, shootings and fire of unknown type.
• At least 66 Palestinian journalists have been arrested by Israel.
• On a per capita basis, Israeli authorities now hold the highest number of detained journalists in the world in a given year over the past two decades, followed by Turkey, Iran and China
• The number of international journalists able to enter Gaza to independently cover the war since October 7 is one.

And still it's the most documented, live streamed genocide ever. Everyone with a smart phone is a reporter nowadays.

War in Lebanon has demoralised families of captives

The war in Lebanon has demoralised the public that supports the families of Israeli captives. The rally organised by those families was cancelled last week. It is being held in smaller numbers.

Today, we saw a few gather in Tel Aviv and they’re scheduled to gather a little later on in the evening in West Jerusalem.

They accuse the prime minister of sidelining the issue of their family members – of not giving it the priority it deserves, and completely discarding the possibility of releasing those captives and keeping them alive – and instead focusing on pounding Lebanon and possibly confronting and striking at Iran.

A lot of frustration on the Israeli side, although mainstream, there is wide support for this escalation in Lebanon, and even support for a strategic strike against Iran – despite the fact that this may have wide-ranging consequences.

תיעוד מהפגנת משפחות החטופים מול בית הנשיא: שוטר חטף מגפון מידיו של שניר דן, דודה של כרמל גת ז"ל, בזמן שנאם@OferHalfonKan
צילום: טל א.מ pic.twitter.com/kTr9tzk28B

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) October 5, 2024

It seems the hostages have been abandoned, just like Gaza has been abandoned by the international community.

Israel’s greatest duty to secure captives release: Herzog

Israeli President Isaac Herzog says there is no greater duty than returning the captives still held in Gaza back home.

Delivering a televised message in advance of the one-year anniversary October 7 Hamas attacks, the president also said the “highest alliance between the state and its citizens is to maintain their safety, and to return them home”.

“It’s incumbent on the decision-makers … to do everything for this,” he added.

Critics have repeatedly accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of failing to do enough to secure the release of captives in the Strip, favouring instead to extend the conflict for his own political survival.

On October 7, 239 people were taken captive during the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel. As part of a temporary truce in November, 105 of them were released in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons. According to the Israeli military, 109 captives remain in Gaza, but only 73 are believed to still be alive.

Not doing much for the safety of your citizens either...

Israeli attacks killed 25 people on Friday: Lebanon’s Health Ministry

Twenty-five people were killed and 127 wounded in Israeli strikes on Lebanon on Friday, the Lebanese Health Ministry says in a statement.

Australia starts evacuating nationals from Lebanon

Australia has started evacuating its nationals from Lebanon via Cyprus, in the first large-scale operation to get citizens out of the country amid an Israeli onslaught on Hezbollah.

Some 229 people arrived on the east Mediterranean island, which lies a 40-minute flight time from Beirut, on a commercial airline chartered by Australia. A second flight is scheduled later in the day.

More evacuation flights could be expected based on demand, Australian and Cypriot officials said.

At Cyprus’s Larnaca airport, civilians of all ages transferred from the aircraft into a terminal and then escorted onto waiting coaches. Children helped themselves to red apples and water provided by Australian military staff.

“They are exhausted, exceptionally happy to be here but heartbroken because they left family behind,” said Fiona McKergow, the Australian High Commissioner (Ambassador) to Cyprus.

Some of those evacuated on Saturday said they did not think they would ever return to Lebanon.

“Never, ever. I was traumatised, my kids were traumatised. It’s not a safe country, I won’t be back,” said Dana Hameh, 34. “I feel very sad leaving my country but I’m very happy to start a new life in Sydney. Life goes on. I wish the best for everyone.”

Lebanon’s healthcare system ‘on the brink of collapse’: UN official

The humanitarian crisis in Lebanon is escalating daily with Israeli air strikes expanding geographically and increasingly targeting health and civilian infrastructure.

At least 77 healthcare workers have been killed on duty since October 2023. Of these, nearly a third were killed within 24 hours from October 2 to 3, the UN’s World Health Organisation said.

Imran Riza, UN deputy humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon, warned of an “alarming increase in attacks” against healthcare workers.

“The health system is on the brink of collapse,” Riza said.

Throughout the past days we have been witnessing an alarming increase in attacks against healthcare in #Lebaon.
Health workers are paying the heaviest price with their lives. The health system is on the brink of collapsing.
Latest Update https://t.co/UzflXKDmHQ#NotATarget pic.twitter.com/Xdw7POPpab

— Imran Riza (@Imran_Riza) October 5, 2024

‘A surreal environment’ in Beirut

Most people I spoke to in the past two weeks are in shock and disbelief.

They are traumatised and they are displaced. They had to leave their home very suddenly and most had nowhere to go, many didn’t have the resources to secure housing. So, many are sleeping on the streets of the capital’s corniche, on the beach, in parks, mosques or in their cars.

It’s a very surreal environment in the capital.

It’s not just people in Beirut, but in southern Lebanon too. Since the intensification of Israel’s attacks and its “limited ground operations” on October 1, we have seen tens of thousands of displaced there.

International aid organisations say it’s critical, that there must be a diplomatic solution or at least a lull in these attacks so that people can resettle.

Visiting UN Refugee Agency chief decries ‘terrible crisis’ in Lebanon

UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi has said on X that “Lebanon faces a terrible crisis” as “hundreds of thousands of people are left destitute or displaced by Israeli air strikes.”

Lebanon’s government has said that up to 1.2 million people could be displaced in the country, fleeing violent Israeli attacks on all areas, including the capital.

I have just landed in Beirut as Lebanon faces a terrible crisis. Hundreds of thousands of people are left destitute or displaced by Israeli air strikes.

I have come here in solidarity with those affected, to support the humanitarian effort and to ask for more international help. pic.twitter.com/QdZOWAfqRC

— Filippo Grandi (@FilippoGrandi) October 5, 2024

Israeli army will attack Hezbollah ‘without respite’: Army chief

Herzi Halevi, chief of the Israeli army’s general staff, has promised that there will be no let-up in the military’s attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“We must continue to apply pressure on Hezbollah and do additional and continual damage to the enemy, without concessions and without respite”, Lieutenant-General Halevi said in a statement.

Hezbollah says targets north Israel ‘military industries’ firm

Hezbollah says it launched rockets at a defence company in northern Israel, the latest attacks after Israel intensified its bombing campaign last week.

The Iran-backed group said in a statement that it launched “a rocket salvo” towards a “military industries company” east of Acre.

Hezbollah calls media reports ‘worthless rumors’

Hezbollah’s media office has issued a statement saying reports citing sources within the group regarding “the fate of Hezbollah officials” are “worthless rumors”.

The group stressed that only statements issued by their media office are valid.

Hezbollah’s comments came after media organisations, including Al Jazeera, cited security sources within the group saying that it had lost contact with deputy chief Hashem Safieddine since a heavy Israeli strike on Friday on the southern suburbs of Beirut.

It was not clear whether the group was referring to this report.

Israeli army destroys much of Hezbollah arsenal: Netanyahu

The Israel army has managed to destroy a large part of Hezbollah’s arsenal and to turn the tide of the war, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said.

Israeli soldiers are also destroying the group’s tunnels close to the border between Israel and Lebanon, Netanyahu said in a televised address. “Although we have not yet completed the removal of the threat, we have clearly changed the course of the war and the balance of the war,” he added.

Israel’s stated aim is to allow the return of tens of thousands of Israeli civilians to their houses in the country’s north. To do so, Israel has shifted its focus from fighting in Gaza to its northern border launching a brutal bombing campaign across Lebanon and a ground incursion into the Lebanese south.

To date, Isreal’s attacks on Lebanon have killed more than 2,000 people, by the Lebanese Health Ministry’s count.

Hezbollah continues attacks on Isreal

In a statement released on its official Telegram channel, the Lebanese group says it carried out its 15th attack of the day on Israel. It said that it targeted a “gathering of Israeli enemy soldiers” at the “Jal al-Deir site” of the Israeli army with a rocket salvo.

Earlier, the Israeli army said that more than 100 projectiles have been fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory today.

More than 100 wounded arrive at Israeli hospital amid escalation with Hezbollah: Report

Israeli media outlet Walla quoted officials at Ziv Hospital in Safed, Isreal, who said that 110 wounded people, including soldiers, have arrived there for treatment in recent days.

Since Israel began its intense bombing campaign of Lebanon nearly two weeks ago, Hezbollah has also ramped up its attacks on Israel, launching rockets, missiles and drones deeper into its territory and with higher frequency.

The announcement of civilian casualties in Israel, however, is rare, whereas more than 2,000 Lebanese have been killed by Israel’s attacks, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.

Reports of Israeli strikes hitting Lebanon hospitals ‘disturbing’: UK

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy has said reports that Israeli strikes hit “health facilities and support personnel” in Lebanon were “deeply disturbing”.

“All parties must comply with international humanitarian law,” Lammy added in a statement on X, as at least four hospitals in Lebanon announced the suspension of works and the UNHCR chief warned about strikes hitting healthcare infrastructure.

Israeli military issues new evacuation orders for Beirut suburbs

The Israeli military has issued a new evacuation order for three buildings in Dahieh in southern Beirut.

A new map was released that designates these buildings in areas of Burj al-Barajneh should be immediately evacuated. Civilians were told to leave the buildings “and those adjacent to them immediately and stay away from them for a distance of no less than 500 meters.”

Avichay Adraee, the Arabic-language spokesman for the Israeli military, said” “You are located near Hezbollah facilities and interests, against which the IDF will operate in the near future.”

عاجل ‼️ انذار عاجل إلى سكان الضاحية الجنوبية وتحديدًا المتواجدين في المباني المحددة في الخرائط المرفقة في برج البراجنة

🔴أنتم متواجدون بالقرب من منشآت ومصالح تابعة لحزب الله حيث سيعمل ضدها جيش الدفاع على مدى الزمني القريب
🔴من أجل سلامتكم وسلامة أبناء عائلتكم عليكم اخلاء… pic.twitter.com/50XsqzYO4Z

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) October 5, 2024

New Israeli air attack hits Beirut suburbs

We reported earlier that the Israeli army issued an evacuation order for residents of some buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs. Soon after that, an Al Jazeera correspondent said an Israeli air attack hit the area.

‘Massive explosion’

An absolutely massive explosion, we have seen at least two strikes, possibly three, just in the last few minutes with flames reaching up to the sky and the sound reverberating around Beirut.

This is happening in the southern suburbs of the capital.

I have been listening to strikes happening there throughout the day.

_{Smoke and flames rise over Beirut's southern suburbs, as seen from Sin El Fil, Lebanon, on Saturday.}

A CNN team in Beirut heard the sound of rumbling and distant blasts in the southern part of the capital about 30 minutes after the Israeli military issued more evacuation warnings late Saturday.

Big red flashes and a ball of flames could be seen erupting in Beirut’s southern suburbs, the team reported. There was also the persistent buzzing of drones, as has become common in recent weeks.

Wave of Israeli strikes hits central Gaza

Our correspondent on the ground reports a flurry of Israeli air attacks targeting Bureij and Nuseirat in the central Strip.

We do not have exact numbers on the casualties that resulted from these strikes at this time, but medical sources have told Al Jazeera that at least 25 people have been killed by Israel across the Gaza Strip today.

We will continue to bring you more on the situation in central Gaza as information comes in.

People have nowhere to go after Israeli evacuation orders

The evacuation orders issued to residents in northern and central Gaza have been accompanied with heavy artillery bombardment and aerial attacks by Israeli fighter jets.

We have been hearing huge blasts in the past two hours coming from Nuseirat and Bureij. Also, we saw a number of Palestinians fleeing from eastern areas, heading to Deir el-Balah and the coastline – a very crowded area where people have been taking shelter.

A residential building has been directly targeted without any sort of warning in Nuseirat, killing three Palestinians.

Medical sources told Al Jazeera that at least 25 Palestinians have been killed since the early hours of this morning.

The real question now rising is where these people should go right now as the people in the north of Gaza are living in the ruins of their destroyed homes and now they have been told to flee to the western areas of Gaza – which have been also under heavy bombardment.

And in the central area, there are more than a million Palestinians trapped under Israeli attacks.

Israeli army pounds northern Gaza

We are receiving reports from our Al Jazeera Arabic colleagues that the Israeli military has scaled up its air attacks on several locations across northern Gaza with an intensity not seen lately.

At least 30 salvoes pounded Beit Hanoon, Beit Lahiya and Jabalia, causing mass displacement.

One person killed in Israeli shelling of north Gaza

The Gaza Strip’s civil defence says that an Israeli strike targeted the home of the Afana family in Bir al-Naajah, northern Gaza. It said that its crews recovered one person killed in the attack from the rubble, stressing that others are still trapped in the wreckage of the building.

As we reported earlier, Israel has stepped up its strikes on the north of the Gaza Strip this evening, at a pace our correspondent reports has not been seen in some time there.

At least 11 killed in northern Gaza

At least 11 people were killed in a barrage of Israeli rockets in northern Gaza, the Civil Defence in the Strip has said, adding that more people were trapped under the rubble.

“Our crews are unable to deal with the large number of residential homes targeted by the Israeli occupation tonight in the northern Gaza Strip,” it said on its Telegram channel.

“There are still people trapped under the rubble of these homes, and the crews are unable to deal with them due to the simultaneous bombing and the lack of heavy rescue equipment,” it added.

As previously reported, the Israeli army struck Beit Hanoon, Beit Lahiya and Jabalia with at least 30 salvos, according to an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent, noting that such intensity had not been seen lately.

France to host Lebanon aid conference: Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron says France will host an international conference this month to help drum up humanitarian aid for Lebanon and strengthen security in the southern part of the country.

“We will hold in the next few weeks a conference to provide humanitarian aid, support the international community and support the Lebanese armed forces boost security, especially in southern Lebanon,” Macron said.

Macron says 88 Francophone countries call for ‘immediate’ ceasefire in Lebanon

The 88 members of the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF), including France and Canada, call for an “immediate and lasting” ceasefire in Lebanon, French President Emmanuel Macron has said.

“We have unanimously expressed ourselves in favour of an immediate and lasting ceasefire and have stated our commitment to de-escalating tensions in the region,” Macron told reporters at the end of a “Francophonie” summit.

Earlier, we reported on comments from Macron saying France would hold an international conference in support of Lebanon in October.

Netanyahu slams Macron for urging weapons deliveries halt

As we reported earlier, France’s President Emmanuel Macron called for a halt to weapons deliveries to Israel. Those comments triggered a swift response by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“As Israel fights the forces of barbarism led by Iran, all civilised countries should be standing firmly by Israel’s side,” he said in a statement issued by his office. “Yet, President Macron and other Western leaders are now calling for arms embargoes against Israel. Shame on them.”

Israel was fighting a war on several fronts against groups backed by arch-foe Iran, the statement added.

Israel will retaliate against Iran when the time is right, army says

Israel will retaliate against Iran for the missile attack launched by Tehran when the time is right, a military spokesperson said on Saturday, adding that two airbases struck in the attack remained fully operational and no aircraft were damaged.

“The way in which we respond to this disgraceful attack will be in the manner, at the location and the timing which we decide, according to the political leadership’s instructions,” Daniel Hagari said in a broadcast statement.

‘An insult’: Irish president slams Israel over request to relocate UNIFIL

Ireland’s President Higgins has slammed Israel for demanding and threatening the relocation of a UN peacekeeping force, UNIFIL, from southern Lebanon.

“It is outrageous that the [Israeli army] have threatened this peacekeeping force and sought to have them evacuate the villages they are defending. Indeed, Israel is demanding that the entire UNIFIL operating under UN mandates walk away,” Higgins said in a statement.

“This is not only an insult to the most important global institution to which 193 members are committed, but it is also an insult to the soldiers and their families who have taken risks so we might all live in peace and protect the most vulnerable,” he added.

His comments came after the Israeli military asked UN peacekeepers earlier this week to prepare to relocate more than five kilometres (three miles) from the Blue Line – the border between Israel and Lebanon.

Ireland’s contingent of 347 is part of an allocation of 10,000 UNIFIL soldiers from 50 countries.

The UN mission has been in the troubled southern region since 2006 as part of a UN Security Council’s mandate ruling that the Lebanese army and UNIFIL would have been the exclusive armed presence south between the Blue Line and Lebanon’s Litani River.

As Israeli war nears one year, thousands protest around the world

Thousands of protesters took to the streets in several major cities around the world to demand an end to Israel’s war in Gaza, which is fast approaching its first anniversary.

About 40,000 pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through central London while thousands also gathered in Paris, Rome, Manila and Cape Town.

In London, pro-Israel supporters waved flags as pro-Palestinian marchers walked by.

In Rome, police fired tear gas and water cannon after clashes broke out. Approximately 6,000 protesters defied a ban to march in the city centre before the October 7 anniversary.

In Berlin, a demonstration drew about 1,000 demonstrators, who bore Palestinian flags and chanted “One Year of Genocide”. The demonstrators also criticised police violence against pro-Palestinian protesters in Germany.

In Manila, activists clashed with anti-riot police after they were blocked from holding a demonstration in front of the US embassy in the Philippine capital to protest against the United States supplying Israel with weapons.


_{People attend a protest in support of Palestinians and Lebanon, in Sofia, Bulgaria, October 5}

On the ground investigating Iran's strikes on Israel



The Grayzone's Jeremy Loffredo visits drives by highly sensitive Israeli military and intelligence sites hit by Iranian missiles, from the Nevatim Airbase in the Negev to the Mossad HQ in Tel Aviv, and documents the state's attempts to cover up the damage it suffered.

Loffredo also encounters non-Jewish citizens of Israel denied bomb shelter access, and clear evidence that Israel's own citizens have been transformed into human shields.

“The Normalization of the MASS Slaughter of Arabs,” Mehdi and Owen on Israel’s attack Lebanon

Owen Jones and Mehdi Hasan, the ‘Two Outspoken,’ are back in a new episode to discuss Israel’s massacring of Lebanese civilians - plus the growing accusations of corruption against the UK’s new Labour government.

Mehdi and Owen get outraged about the lack of outrage in the US and UK in the wake of Israel’s ongoing aerial bombardment in Lebanon, attacks that have killed hundreds of civilians, with many calling it the deadliest week in the country in decades. (This conversation was recorded just before Israel announced it was also preparing for a ground invasion of Lebanon as well.)

The two also talk about the UK’s limited suspension of arms sales to Israel under the new Labour government (only 8% of licenses have been suspended), and they also cover the latest controversies swirling around Labour Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer – including the fact that, according to at least one poll, he’s already less popular than his Tory predecessor Rishi Sunak.

Why Israel Will Face the Same Fate as Apartheid South Africa

Iran fired back at Israel this week in defense of Gaza and Lebanon and the assassinated leaders of the resistance Ismail Haniyeh and Hassan Nasrallah. Iran targeted key military and security installations in Tel Aviv and elsewhere in the biggest attack on Israel yet. How will the US and Israel respond?

Rania Khalek and Eugene Puryear discuss how Israel’s escalations are setting it on the path to “collapse under its own weight” just as Apartheid South Africa did.

The Grayzone's Jeremy Loffredo visits highly sensitive Israeli military and intelligence sites hit by Iranian missiles, from the Nevatim Airbase in the Negev to the Mossad HQ in Tel Aviv, and documents the state's attempts to cover up the damage it suffered.


So this two-bit hack "visited..." - No he did not. This area is not acccessible to common people as his own video clearly shows. He did not see any damage at all. He then "saw lights in the sky" and concluded the location of the impacts. No, nothing in the world can do that. It takes several radar units to triangulate the flight path and impact site of a rocket. Most likely this two-bit hack simply drove around until he found a few damaged cars near the Mossad centre - a very obvious site of Iranian targets. PS: The centre was not hit, but falling debris or misguided rockets can easily explain the damage. He then concludes that average Isaelis are used as shields - no they are not as he correctly notes that average Israelis were in bomb shelters during the Iranian attack.

There are certainly many things wrong with Israel, but SvennoJ posting every and any garbage Hamas propaganda spews out isn't helpful.

Thanks for the correction. I didn't watch that yet, and this is the second strike for GrayZone.

After watching, yeah their conclusion is clickbait. The video itself is fine though. I changed the description to drove by instead of visit....

The IDF did at first deny any damage, before they had to admit an air base was struck. Sat pictures a few days ago showed a hangar having been hit.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/satellite-imagery-appears-to-show-damage-at-air-base-after-iranian-missile-strike/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/10/04/iran-missile-israel-attack-video/

His conclusion about Human shields is turning the same logic Israel uses in Gaza back around on Israel. Any military target (intelligence offices included) in civilian areas is what Israel calls using human shields. That's always their complaint that Hamas operates from within civilian areas. So does Mossad.

Anyway I won't post Grayzone anymore without reviewing it first. Although really, not sure why you're so upset about it. It's far from garbage Hamas propaganda. Not spewed out by Hamas either.

If you want to see misinformation, see the Hindustan Times claiming 20 jets were destroyed based on the Satellite picture. I don't see any damage to planes.