Israel pounds Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley, no-warning attacks on Tyre

Another heavy day of bombardment by the Israeli air force. A lot of it focusing, yet again, on that area in the east of Lebanon, in the Bekaa Valley. Reports of dozens of people being killed and more than 25 towns and villages being targeted in that area by Israel.

It was very telling certainly that, this morning, the Israeli military warned civilians about returning to that area to check on the status of their homes. Many of which would have been completely destroyed. That may be an indication that the focus of Israel’s operation in the east of Lebanon continues.

A similar kind of scenario in the south of the country, as well. The southern port city of Tyre is coming under fire again, with one massive air strike in the centre of that city, and Israel did not give a warning in relation to that attack.

Israeli attacks turn Lebanon’s Baalbek area into ghost town

We are at the scene of the latest air attacks carried out by Israel in Baalbek. People are telling me this is a tourist area in the heart of the city. There is no Hezbollah presence. These attacks really hit at the heart of this once thriving and very famous tourist city in Lebanon.

Baalbek governorate was home to about 500,000 people. From what we’ve seen this morning, it is completely empty now. People have had to flee.

We spoke to people who actually came to eastern Lebanon from the south of the country when the fighting escalated and they had relatives and friends they were staying with.

But once the attacks here started, and really intensified over the past week, they started to have to flee these areas as well.

Lebanese citizen kidnapped from Batroun area: Security sources

A security group kidnapped a Lebanese citizen from the Batroun area in the north of the country at dawn today, our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting.

A Lebanese security source told AJA that an Israeli commando force, who infiltrated Lebanon by sea, could be behind the kidnapping. Footage on social media showed scenes from the incident.

Lebanese journalist Hassan Illaik said in a post on X that a large group of Israeli troops made a landing in the resort town and captured the man, before departing on speed boats. He shared CCTV footage appearing to show soldiers walking in a street, two of them holding a person.

Lebanese Transport Minister Ali Hamiye, who represents Hezbollah in Lebanon’s government, said the video was accurate, but did not give further details.

There was no immediate comment from Israeli authorities.

Rockets fired from southern Lebanon towards upper Galilee

Rockets have been fired from southern Lebanon towards the upper Galilee area of northern Israel, our Al Jazeera Arabic colleagues report.

Israel’s Home Front Command reports that air attack sirens have sounded in Acre, Nahariya, Haifa Bay and several towns in the upper Galilee. No casualties, injuries or damage has been reported so far.

The attacks come after Hezbollah rockets struck two cities in central Israel earlier today, Hasharon and Tira, with about 30 people injured in the two attacks.

Hezbollah claims drone incursion into northern Israel

The armed group has published a photo on social media said to show its drone flying over the Israeli city of Acre, located some 26km (16 miles) north of the key port city of Haifa.

Local Israeli media and monitors groups had been tracking an “enemy aircraft” for about 40 minutes in Israeli airspace after crossing from southern Lebanon earlier today.

The Israeli military said air attack alerts have been activated in the north and that its monitoring of a “suspicious aerial target” from Lebanon was continuing.

Japan examining recognition of Palestinian state: Report

Palestine’s official Wafa news agency reports that Japan’s ambassador to the State of Palestine, Yoichi Nakashima, has said that Tokyo is studying the possibility.

Nakashima said in an interview with Palestine TV: “The international community is convinced that there is no solution except for the existence of two states, Palestine and Israel,” Wafa reports.

As one of the largest donors to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Nakashima said Japan is making every effort, along with partner countries, to support the work of the UN agency and its relief operations for the Palestinian people, Wafa reports.

“The scenes of killing and destruction in Palestine touch the hearts of the Japanese because they have suffered from wars in the past,” the ambassador also said.

Japan’s 🇯🇵 FM Mr. IWAYA expressed his grave concern over the latest legislation adopted by the Israeli #Knesset on #UNRWA's activities. #Japan strongly urges Israel to ensure an enabling environment for @UNRWA and other humanitarian agencies. https://t.co/f59ZxjUkBZ

— Representative of Japan to Palestine 🌸 (@ROJ_Palestine) October 30, 2024

Israeli public has forgotten about Gaza: Israeli commentator

Israeli political commentator Ori Goldberg has told Al Jazeera from Tel Aviv that the worsening war in Gaza does not require any kind of justification from the government.

“The general consensus in Israel is that the war in Gaza has become pointless, that there are no military achievements to be gained and the Israeli public has forgotten about Gaza,” he said.

He added that there are some leftists who have said they refuse to fight in Gaza but would definitely go to fight in Lebanon.

“What is happening in Gaza simply does not exist in Israeli public consciousness,” he said.

Ceasefire proposals ‘throwing dust in the eyes’: Hamas

The truce proposals “do not include stopping the [Israeli] aggression, withdrawal [of Israeli troops], and returning the displaced Palestinians”, the group’s senior spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri told Al Jazeera.

Zuhri also said that Netanyahu is stalling to gain time and using negotiations as a cover to continue his offensive in Gaza.

The spokesperson said Israel is doing the same in truce talks centred on Lebanon.

Israel falling short of US benchmark on Gaza humanitarian aid

Israeli authorities are falling far short of a US-set benchmark on the amount of humanitarian aid that must enter Gaza, more than halfway through a 30-day timeframe provided by Washington to improve the situation or risk facing restrictions on military assistance.

Citing UN data, The Associated Press news agency reports that by the end of October, an average of only 71 aid trucks had entered Gaza per day.

That’s hundreds fewer than the 350 required by the US, as part of demands outlined in an October 13 letter penned by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin over concerns Israeli restrictions are starving Palestinian civilians in the besieged enclave.

Data from Israeli military body COGAT, which is in charge of managing aid in Gaza, also shows supplies entering Gaza in October (26,399 tonnes) fell to under a third of their levels in September (87,446 tonnes).

“There’s been progress, but it’s insufficient, and we’re working on a daily basis to make sure Israel does what it must do to ensure that this assistance gets to people who need it inside of Gaza,” Blinken told reporters on Thursday.

“It’s not enough to get trucks to Gaza. It’s vital that what they bring with them can get distributed effectively inside of Gaza,” he added.

Challenges of delivering humanitarian relief in Gaza – UNRWA senior emergency officer

Louise Wateridge, senior emergency officer for UNRWA, has told Al Jazeera of the pressing need for humanitarian supplies in Gaza, mentioning that only a limited number of trucks are currently arriving – far below what’s necessary to meet the needs of the community.

Speaking from the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, Wateridge highlighted the challenges facing UNRWA, describing how essential supplies are in high demand across the Strip. Even the distribution of goods poses major logistical and security risks due to bombings, she said.

As winter approaches, Wateridge expressed deep concern over the increased demand for winter-specific aid, especially given UNRWA’s complex relationship with Israeli authorities, which limits cooperation.

Three killed as Israel continues assault on Nuseirat

At least three people have been killed and more injured after the Israeli military bombed a house in the Camp 5 area of Nuseirat in central Gaza, our Al Jazeera Arabic colleagues report.

The strike is the latest of several attacks carried out by the Israeli military in Nuseirat in recent hours. At least 34 people have been killed and dozens more injured in the area over the past 24 hours, according to the Palestinian Information Center, citing government media sources in Gaza.

Earlier, we reported three people had been killed and more injured after Israeli forces bombed a house belonging to the al-Assar family in the north of the camp.

⬅️شاهد ..وصول عدد من الإصابات إلى مستشفى العودة بعد إستهداف منزل يعود لعائلة العصار بمخيم 5 في مخيم النصيرات وسط القطاع. pic.twitter.com/39jSiYL1se

— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) November 1, 2024

“It’s been an extremely violent day. It’s really intensified, the military operations in the middle area [of Gaza] where I am today,” she said.


_{A huge plume of smoke after an Israeli attack on the Nuseirat refugee camp, in central Gaza, on Friday}

‘Absolutely terrifying’: 24-hours of Israeli shelling, air strikes, drone and naval attacks on Gaza

Louise Wateridge, senior emergency officer for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), spoke to Al Jazeera earlier from the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

Here is more from that interview:

“How on earth can humanitarians move aid from the borders to the people in need when there is shelling? When there are air strikes. When there are drones. When there is navy fire. That is what we have had for the last 24 hours, and it is making the humanitarian response here absolutely impossible,” Wateridge said.

“It is absolutely terrifying. Today has been one of the worst days that I have experienced in the Gaza Strip. I have been here since April. I’ve been here through the Rafah incursions. We’ve heard horrific stories in the north. We can’t get to the north. It’s besieged,” she said.

“But right now, with this bombing around us, this constant bombardment, it is terrifying. You can hear children crying. People screaming. People running for their lives. And it has been nonstop for 24 hours. There is nowhere to go. People are trapped.

“I think viewers forget that people cannot leave the Gaza Strip. There is absolutely nowhere for people to go. They are fleeing from one place to another and getting bombed everywhere they go. It is terrifying.”

Relentless strikes & shelling in #Gaza middle area the last 24 hrs, continuing ferociously into the night with new strikes every few minutes now.

Reports of mass casualties & people trapped.

Families in an endless cycle of death & destruction with absolutely nowhere to escape. pic.twitter.com/lwzrqD2ln0

— Louise Wateridge (@UNWateridge) November 1, 2024

Israeli army ‘blows up’ civilian buildings in Gaza’s Nuseirat camp

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic report that Israeli forces have destroyed residential buildings north of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

The report of the early morning attacks comes after the Nuseirat area was subjected to 24 hours of nonstop Israeli artillery fire, air raids, drone attacks and bombardment by Israeli naval vessels on Friday, according to UN staff who recounted the terror of civilians trapped by the attacks.

Israeli military carries out raids across the occupied West Bank

The Israeli military has carried out raids in several locations across the occupied West Bank in recent hours, including:

One killed in Israeli attack in southern Beirut

One person has now been confirmed killed in the Israeli attack on Beirut’s southern suburb we earlier reported on. At least 15 people have also been wounded, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said.

Lebanon’s National News Agency said the raid occurred near Karout Mall and was not preceded by an Israeli evacuation warning.

Israeli military official claims ‘Hezbollah operative’ seized in Lebanon raid

We have been reporting on the kidnapping of a Lebanese citizen from the Batroun area in the north of Lebanon at dawn today. The Israeli military has now claimed responsibility for the incident.

An Israeli military official says that naval commandos captured a “senior Hezbollah operative” in the coastal city of Batroun and brought him to Israel for investigation.

Hezbollah has not yet commented on the incident.

Egypt holding Fatah-Hamas talks for Gaza’s post-war future

Cairo is hosting meetings between Fatah and Hamas to discuss forming a committee to run Gaza as part of post-war plans, a senior Egyptian security source told Egypt’s state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV.

The source added that Hamas wants a comprehensive agreement that guarantees an end to the war, a demand it has long repeated.

Egypt has also been involved in ongoing mediation efforts between Hamas and Israel.

Finland says Israel must comply with ICJ orders

Finland’s Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen says the “entire population” of northern Gaza is “in immediate danger of death”.

“We demand that Israel comply with the interim orders of the International Court of Justice (ICJ),” she posted on X. “Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups must release the hostages immediately and unconditionally.”

In January, the ICJ ruled that Israel must do everything in its power to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza and ensure United Nations-mandated investigators have “unimpeded access” to the enclave.

South Africa has since returned several times to the ICJ, arguing that Gaza’s desperate humanitarian situation demands new emergency measures.

In late May, the ICJ ordered Israel to immediately halt its offensive in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, a ruling Israel also ignored.