French court overturns ban on Israeli companies at defence fair

A commercial court in Paris has ruled against a decision by the French government to ban Israeli companies that supply the wars in Gaza and Lebanon from exhibiting their hardware at the Euronaval defence fair.

The court said organisers of the fair cannot keep Israeli companies from exhibiting at the event based on their nationality and ordered the suspension of “the execution of the measures adopted against” the firms, according to the AFP news agency and The Times of Israel newspaper.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz hailed the ruling as a “significant victory” against the French government’s “unjust and undemocratic decision”.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot had said earlier that the measure did not amount to a boycott of Israeli firms, but that it would be “incoherent” for France to allow the promotion of weapons used in the wars while it also pushes for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon. He had said companies that whose equipment is not used in offensive actions in Gaza and Lebanon will be able to have stands at the exhibition.

UK court rules in favour of student stripped of visa over October 7 comments

A UK court has ruled that the Home Office failed to demonstrate that a Palestinian law student’s presence was “not conducive to public good” over comments on the October 7 attacks on Israel.

Dana Abu Qamar, a 20-year-old dual Jordanian-Canadian citizen of Palestinian origin, had said: “For 16 years Gaza has been under blockade, and for the first time they are actively resisting, they are not on the defence, and this is truly a once in a lifetime experience.”

She had also said “we are full of pride”, prompting British authorities to revoke her student visa in December 2023.

Now, the tribunal has said the government decision was a “disproportionate interference with her protected right to free speech” under the European Convention on Human Rights, according to The Guardian.

Germany, France, UK call for urgent renewal of Israeli-Palestinian banking services

The three Western powers have called for an urgent renewal of correspondent banking services between Israel and the Palestinian territory for at least one year, the German Foreign Office said.

“Failure to renew would suspend cross-border trade and be catastrophic for the Palestinian economy,” the office said in a post on X.

Yemeni media reports US, UK raid near Hodeidah University

The Houthi-affiliated Yemeni Security Media said US and British forces have launched an aggression on the port city of Hodeidah by carrying out an air strike in the vicinity of the Hodeidah University in the al-Hawak district.

It did not provide additional details and there was no immediate comment from the US or United Kingdom militaries.

The reported attack comes as US and UK forces have been carrying out raids against Houthi targets in Yemen in response to the rebel group’s assaults on ships in the Red Sea. The Houthis say their attacks are in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

The Reuters news agency said the Yemeni rebel group targeted a Greek-operated, Liberia-flagged bulker on Monday, but all three strikes against the vessel missed their mark.

Iran says attack by Israel-linked separatist group foiled

The police headquarters in Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan have announced that an armed attack on a police station in the Sarbaz county of the province was foiled, according to Iranian state media.

Armed “terrorists” belonging to the Jaish al-Adl separatist group stormed the station but had to flee after receiving a “decisive response” from police. Search is under way to capture the attackers, police said.

Jaish al-Adl, a Sunni “extremist” group that Iran considers to have links with Israel, killed 10 members of Iranian armed forces in the province on Saturday, the same day Israel launched air strikes on Iran. The UN Security Council on Wednesday condemned the armed assault in Sistan-Baluchestan as a “cowardly terrorist attack”.

Also, Iranian state media on Wednesday night released a video to show that a member of another separatist group linked with Israel was killed and two others were arrested in the country’s West Azerbaijan province to the northwest.

Israeli police arrest couple accused of spying for Iran: Report

Israeli police say they have arrested a couple accused of spying on Israeli intelligence sites and collecting information on an Israeli academic on behalf of Iran.

The police and the Shin Bet internal security agency said in a statement that the arrested man, Rafael Guliev from the central city of Lod, had surveilled Israel’s Mossad spy headquarters for the Iranians, according to a report by The Associated Press news agency.

He also allegedly collected information on an academic working at the Institute for National Security Studies, a prominent Israeli think tank. The Israeli statement did not identify the scholar.

The statement said Guliev was also entrusted with finding an assassin, though it was unclear if he had actually done so. Guliev’s wife, Lala, assisted in the activities, the Israeli authorities claimed.

Israeli security services say they have uncovered several Iranian spy networks in recent months. Tehran has not directly commented on the cases, including the claims on Thursday.

No warning ahead of deadly Israeli attack on Beit Lahiya market

There was a clear escalation in the north of the Strip on Wednesday, in particular in Beit Lahiya, which witnessed a tremendous amount of military pressure from the Israeli side.

The Israeli military had targeted a market in Beit Lahiya killing at least 10 Palestinians. Twenty others were also confirmed wounded in that strike that was conducted with no sort of warning for civilians.

All of this comes as rescue operations continue at other sites targeted by Israeli forces, with civilians digging and combing through the rubble to free trapped survivors.

We’ve also heard huge explosions in the Maghazi camp in central Gaza, which is 10 minutes away from where we are at the moment. A vehicle was targeted and at least three Palestinians have been confirmed killed.

And within recent hours, we’ve seen Israeli quadcopter drones flying at very low altitudes over Al-Aqsa Hospital, raising fears of more attacks on the central areas, which, according to local officials, house more than one million displaced Palestinians.

Director of north Gaza hospital won’t leave despite killing of his son

Dr Hussam Abu Safia, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in north Gaza, believes Israeli forces killed his son because of his work helping those in need.

Still, he refuses to leave his patients and is one of the few doctors left at Kamal Adwan.

 
Israeli military continues assault on Beit Lahiya, Jabalia

Israeli forces in north Gaza are “intensively shelling” Beit Lahiya and carrying out “renewed raids” on the Jabalia refugee camp, according to Al Jazeera’s correspondents on the ground.

The bombardment comes as Israel’s siege of north Gaza enters its 27th day. The operation has killed hundreds of people and left hundreds of thousands cut off from food, water and medicine.

Destruction of Gaza’s health system leaves hospitals overwhelmed, supplies depleted

An independent UN inquiry has accused Israel of carrying out a “concerted policy” to destroy Gaza’s healthcare system.

The chair of the UN Commission of Inquiry, Navi Pillay, said Israeli attacks on medical infrastructure in the Palestinian enclave have been constant.

Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary is at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah in the centre of the Strip, where she’s been talking to medical workers about what’s left of Gaza’s healthcare system.

Palestinian paramedic engulfed by grief after realizing mother among dead following Israeli airstrike

_{Abdulaziz Al-Burdini is comforted by his colleagues after realizing his mother was killed in an Israeli airstrike in central Gaza on October 30}

In the aftermath of an Israeli airstrike that killed three Palestinians, a paramedic was engulfed by grief after finding his mother among the dead.

Abdulaziz Al-Burdini, a Palestinian Red Crescent paramedic, was sent to Al-Maghazi in central Gaza on Wednesday to pick up wounded bodies following an Israeli airstrike that struck a car, according to Al-Aqsa Martyr’s Hospital.

Among the bodies was a woman he did not recognize. He took her to the hospital in an ambulance, but it was not until after the doctors confirmed her death that he looked at her face more closely and realized she was his mother.

CNN footage, taken with the paramedic’s permission, captured the moments soon after the realization.

“Mother… I didn’t know it was you, I swear I didn’t recognize you. I swear I didn’t!” he cries in anguish as he pushes the hospital stretcher carrying her body.

His colleagues approach to comfort him, but he pushes them away.

“I want to see my mother. Leave me, I want to stay with her,” he says, cradling her body.

He then stands weeping on top of her in his bloodied uniform screaming “Oh God, Oh God.”

“What do I tell my siblings now? Why do you all leave me? Why? I can’t hold this anymore. My brothers, my father, and now you? It’s too much for me!” Al-Burdini says, alluding to the death of his other family members during the war.

Later, his tears exhausted, he sat in the morgue beside Samira’s body with his head in his hands, comforted by his Red Crescent colleagues. They held a funeral prayer over her body in the car park, and then Bardini helped carry the body into an ambulance for burial.

Israel hits besieged Kamal Adwan Hospital’s medicine stash

The Ministry of Health in Gaza has condemned ongoing attacks by Israeli forces on the besieged Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern part of the enclave.

A short while ago, Israeli forces “caused great damage” when they hit the third floor of the largest hospital in the north, which contains medicine and medical supplies, the ministry said in a short statement on Telegram.

“The ministry appeals to all international and UN bodies and organisations to protect hospitals and medical staff from the brutality of the occupation and its crimes against health institutions and staff in the Gaza Strip,” it said.

_{Israeli forces have previously raided the hospital, arresting personnel and patients while cutting supplies}

WHO medicine received five days ago destroyed in Kamal Adwan Hospital attack

We have more lines describing the deteriorating conditions inside Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya town after the latest Israeli military attacks, as reported by the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip:

Israeli special forces assassinate Palestinian man in West Bank

The Wafa news agency is reporting that undercover Israeli forces infiltrated the Tulkarem refugee camp in the occupied West Bank and assassinated 30-year-old Palestinian man, Hussam al-Mallah.

The special forces arrived in a taxi and “executed” Malah at “point-blank range”, by firing bullets at him as he stood in a supermarket, Wafa reported. The soldiers withdrew from the area immediately after the attack.

Hamas mourns commander slain in Tulkarem

The Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, issued a statement mourning the death of Hussam Bassam Yousef Malah and describing him as a “prominent” leader of the group.

For its part, the Israeli military accused Malah of planning attacks and claimed that he had been working with two other Palestinian men who were also killed by Israeli forces in separate incidents in recent weeks.

Israel’s military carries out drone attack on Nur Shams camp

The Wafa news agency is reporting that Israeli forces have laid siege to the camp, east of the city of Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank, and carried out a drone attack on a square there.

The operation has triggered violent clashes, and the sound of explosions and reconnaissance aircraft can be heard from the area, Wafa reported. Electricity has also been cut off in the camp and in nearby areas, it added.

It is not clear if there have been any casualties.

_{Nur Shams refugee camp near Tulkarem, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, September 19}

Child killed in Israeli drone attack in Nur Shams

The Wafa news agency said a child had been killed, but did not specify the victim’s age.

Israeli forces have stormed the city and laid siege to the camp in recent hours, resulting in heavy clashes with Palestinian fighters in the area.

Israeli military says Syria strikes targeted at Hezbollah

The Israeli military says the air strikes we reported earlier in the area of Qusayr in the southern countryside of Homs in central Syria hit munitions warehouses and military buildings used by Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force.

It said in a statement that they are part of its many air strikes on Syria in recent months and are aimed at “reducing the transfer of weapons from Iran through Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon”.

The Israeli army, which has also hit the Jousieh border crossing used by civilians to flee Lebanon, again claimed that Hezbollah has been using villages near the border crossings to move weapons.

Israeli forces strike Baalbek: State media

Official Lebanese media report Israeli strikes near Baalbek after Israel issued evacuation orders for the eastern city for the second day in a row. “Enemy aircraft launched four strikes on the village of Duris and the surroundings of the city of Baalbek,” the National News Agency said.

Israel says rocket fired from Lebanon kills 2 people in Haifa region

Israeli emergency services say a rocket launched from Lebanon has killed two people in an olive grove in northern Israel, bringing the day’s death toll to seven.

Medics “treated and attempted resuscitation on a 30-year-old male and a 60-year-old female, who were then pronounced dead”, the Magen David Adom first responders said in a statement.

“A 71-year-old male with mild shrapnel injuries to his limbs was evacuated.”

Multiple Israeli air strikes hit southern Lebanese city of Tyre

A series of Israeli air strikes have hit the al-Housh district in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, Lebanon’s NNA news agency reports.

Al Jazeera’s verification agency, Sanad, has confirmed footage posted online showing the moment of the bombing and dense smoke rising from multiple raids in the area.

The AFP news agency said the strikes on al-Housh coincided with an exodus of civilians from the Rashidieh camp for Palestinian refugees near Tyre, which had earlier received an evacuation warning.

Eastern Lebanon: ‘People here are in a state of shock’

The Israeli military is expanding and intensifying its bombardment in areas where Hezbollah has a presence in eastern Lebanon.

We are in the eastern district of Baalbek. Behind me is massive destruction – at least eight people killed in an Israeli air strike, among the dead two children. People here are in a state of shock.

Civilian casualties are mounting and the communities supporting Hezbollah say they’re being punished. A Hezbollah MP says Israel’s strategy is to “kill and destroy”. On average, there have been two children killed every day over the past five weeks alone.

It appears we are still far apart from reaching a ceasefire, which only means one thing: we are going to see more deadly attacks such as this.

_{A woman in front of the site of an Israeli air strike in southern Beirut}

Civilian deaths in northern Israel as Hezbollah rockets get through

It’s a high death toll among civilians today. The Israeli media are reporting there’s been six or seven people killed in rocket attacks in northern Israel, including foreign workers in the city of Metula and one woman in Haifa Bay.

The Israeli army has failed to intercept many rockets with the Iron Dome not working in these areas. About 30 projectiles were launched by Hezbollah today.

Meetings are ongoing in West Jerusalem between Prime Minister Netanyahu and two US envoys, Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk. Netanyahu told them the problem is not signing a ceasefire agreement – the problem is the implementation of the deal.

Netanyahu is basically asking for a mandate for Israel to be able to continue to strike Lebanon even after the sides have signed a truce.

Israeli attacks kill 45 in Lebanon in last 24 hours

Israeli attacks killed 45 people in Lebanon in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 2,865 since October 2023, the Lebanese Health Ministry says.

Israel’s military leaders signal their work in Gaza and Lebanon is done. Will Netanyahu listen?

In subtle but increasingly vocal ways, Israel’s military leaders are signaling that the country has achieved all it can militarily in Lebanon and Gaza, and it’s time for the politicians to strike a deal.

It comes as Lebanon’s prime minister says that a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel could be imminent. Both candidates for the American presidency have also made clear they do not want wars in Gaza and Lebanon to be on the agenda when they take office.

When the Israel Defense Forces’ top general sat down with officers in northern Gaza – who are waging one of the military’s fiercest operations since last year’s invasion – he went further than ever in suggesting the military phases of both conflicts should end.

“In the north, there’s a possibility of reaching a sharp conclusion,” Herzi Halevi, Chief of the General Staff, said, referring to the war against Hezbollah in Lebanon. In Gaza, he said, “if we take out the northern Gaza Brigade commander, it’s another collapse…. I don’t know what we’ll encounter tomorrow, but this pressure brings us closer to more achievements.”

What those achievements should be is the subject of much consternation.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly pledged “absolute victory.” His defense minister and longtime political tormentor Yoav Gallant has bristled at that goal. In August, he told a closed-door parliamentary committee meeting that the idea of “absolute victory” in Gaza was “nonsense,” according to Israeli media.

Israel’s Smotrich to sign waiver for Palestinian-Israeli bank cooperation for one month

Israel’s finance minister, under pressure from US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, will sign a waiver to extend cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian banks for another month after the cabinet agreed, his spokesman says.

Smotrich in June extended a waiver that allows cooperation between Israel’s banking system and Palestinian banks in the occupied West Bank but for only four months until today.

The waiver allows Israeli banks to process shekel payments for services and salaries tied to the Palestinian Authority without the risk of being charged with money laundering and funding “terrorism”. Without it, Palestinian banks would be cut off from the Israeli financial system.

Israeli cabinet set to approve wartime austerity budget

Israeli cabinet ministers are to start voting later today on a long-awaited wartime budget for 2025 that will rein in spending and raise a host of taxes to pay for the military conflicts that have engulfed the country.

Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon have cost the country billions of dollars on spending for defence – for military equipment, compensation for those impacted and manpower after hundreds of thousands of citizens were called for reserve duty.

“Our security also depends on the economy. We cannot have a strong military if we have no way of financing it,” PM Benjamin Netanyahu said at the outset of a cabinet meeting before the budget vote, which could run into the night.

“There is no economy without restrictions. If you give to one place, you unfortunately need to take from another,” he said.

Israel’s economy has taken a hit since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks and start of the war in Gaza. There has been zero growth, supply issues have pushed up inflation, and the cost of living for Israelis has soared.

Israel’s escalations ‘do not inspire optimism’ about peace deal

It’s very difficult to see an agreement coming together in the near future. We’ve just heard from the caretaker Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati. He released a statement following a series of meetings he’s held throughout the day here in the Lebanese capital.

He said he believes these continuing Israeli escalations do not inspire optimism in the near future. … He said the intense air strikes have to stop in order for negotiations to begin.

This is something that is very much a sticking point at the moment. The Israeli military have said in the past weeks that they are going to negotiate under fire, and that is something that the Lebanese government and Hezbollah have said they are not willing to do.

What we’ve seen on the ground here in Lebanon in the past few hours is the latest Israeli assault on the southern city of Tyre and its surrounding areas with the Israeli military issuing at least eight evacuation threats for various parts of the Tyre governorate and then carrying out at least eight air strikes simultaneously over the past hour.

‘Difficult to envision end to conflict’ in Lebanon

At least 10 air strikes have targeted the historical coastal city of Tyre and its surrounding areas.

Israel has said in the past that it is targeting Hezbollah’s infrastructure and personnel, but this city in the south is a very historic city and is home to a UNESCO World Heritage site. It’s the third time in just over a week that Israel has targeted this area.

Also on Thursday, another historical city, Baalbek in the eastern part of Lebanon, came under attack yet again in at least four air strikes. Israel issued forced evacuation threats for the people in and around that area, which is also home to a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The caretaker prime minister here, Najib Mikati, was much more optimistic on Wednesday evening [about a ceasefire] than he is today.

He said the attacks by Israel on these historic cities are tantamount to war crimes and it is very difficult to envision an end to the conflict while Israel is continuing to increase its attacks.

Israeli mayor in the north says ceasefire could ‘rehabilitate Hezbollah’

Agricultural areas along Israel’s border are closed military zones patrolled by Israeli troops. For the few residents remaining in the area, the thump of missile interceptions by Israel’s Iron Dome system and the constant wailing of sirens warning of incoming rocket fire punctuate daily life.

Nonetheless, local officials in Israel largely support continuing a ground invasion of southern Lebanon.

Amos Hochstein, special adviser to US President Joe Biden on the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, has been pushing for a ceasefire deal to address the fighting with Hezbollah.

“If the Israeli government will accede to an agreement that was brought by Amos Hochstein … we will not have it because for us this is rehabilitating Hezbollah again on our borders,” said Eitan Davidi, the mayor of the northern town of Margaliot, where air raid sirens sounded repeatedly Thursday.

“Hezbollah is firing towards civilians and farmers and hit innocent farmers that are working in the field.”

It seems Hezbollah doesn't need to rehabilitate, they're doing much more damage now than before Israel escalated the tit for tat with Hezbollah. But true, without a ceasefire in Gaza, Hezbollah likely will try to keep pressure on Northern Israel.

US says ‘good progress’ made towards Lebanon ceasefire

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says negotiators have made “good progress” towards a deal that would bring a ceasefire in Israel’s attack on Lebanon.

“Based on my recent trip to the region and the work that’s ongoing right now, we have made good progress on those understandings,” Blinken told reporters.

An understanding of requirements for the effective implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 is the basis for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, he added.

“It’s important to make sure we have clarity, both from Lebanon and from Israel, about what would be required under 1701 to get its effective implementation,” said Blinken.

Of course Blinken states the opposite and Hezbollah isn't even included in the negotiations?