Israeli forces bomb Beirut’s southern suburbs

Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) says Israeli forces launched three raids on Haret Hreik in the capital’s southern suburbs overnight, destroying a number of buildings. The predawn attacks came as Israel’s military continued its bombardment of southern Lebanon, with raids reported in Khiam, Jdeidat Marjayoun, al-Qalaa and Burj al-Muluk.

Earlier, NNA reported that Israeli attacks late on Wednesday killed at least five people and wounded 23 others in Maarakeh. Another nine were killed and 65 wounded in Tyre, it reported.

Two killed in Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon

Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) is reporting that Israeli warplanes bombarded several towns and villages in the Nabatieh region of southern Lebanon overnight.

One person was killed in an attack on the town of Rumin, while a young man was killed in an attack on the village of Kfarchouba, NNA reported.

Israeli army names soldier killed in southern Lebanon

The Israeli army says 20-year-old Sergeant Gur Kehati, from the Nir Banim settlement in central Israel, has been killed in combat in southern Lebanon. The Israeli soldier served in the 13th Battalion of the Golani Brigade.

According to Haaretz and other Israeli newspapers, a 71-year-old Israeli archaeologist who accompanied troops into southern Lebanon “in violation of orders” was also killed on Wednesday.

The 71-year-old, named as Ze’ev Erlich, was reportedly killed yesterday in an exchange of fire with Hezbollah after entering an archaeological site in southwest Lebanon without the required approvals. He was accompanied by a senior army officer.

According to Israeli media, disciplinary action is expected against leaders of the Golani Brigade who allowed the visit to the ancient fortress.

Some Israeli ministers have recently begun pushing the biblical idea of a “greater Israel” stretching from the Nile to the Euphrates and encompassing parts of Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan.

According to the army, 803 soldiers, officers, and reservists have been killed in more than a year of Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon. Of these, more than 304 were killed during Hamas’s attack on October 7 last year.

‘Major battle for control’ near Lebanon’s Tyre

Over the last hour, the Israeli military issued new evacuation orders for three areas east of the coastal city of Tyre, before air attacks. Yesterday, the Israeli air force carried out a series of attacks across the Tyre governorate, killing at least nine people and injuring 17.

The focus on this area in southern Lebanon coincides with a push by Israeli ground forces nearby, trying to make their way to a very strategic hill known as al-Bayyaada. The air attacks are about disrupting supply lines so that Hezbollah cannot reinforce its troops in that area.

What Israel is trying to do is take control of the coastal road that goes from the border to al-Bayyaada. From al-Bayyaada, it aims to take control of the surrounding areas.

At that point, they would have the southern city of Tyre in sight. Israeli forces are already using artillery in this area, which means their artillery batteries are inside Lebanon. So, we are really seeing a major battle for control in this corner of southern Lebanon.

Israel strikes village in Lebanon’s Tyre after evacuation order

Israeli warplanes have attacked the al-Haush village in southern Lebanon’s Tyre district, according to the country’s National News Agency (NNA). The strike came within an hour after the Israeli military published an order for the residents in the Burj Shemali, Maashouq and al-Haush villages in Tyre to flee their homes.

Aid group sounds alarm over onset of winter in Gaza

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) says more than one million Palestinians in Gaza do not have sufficient shelter as winter approaches and brings cold and rainy weather. This winter, fewer buildings remain standing in Gaza.

This means most Palestinians, who have been forced to flee Israeli attacks over and over, are being forced to live in tents and makeshift shelters that provide considerably less protection against the cold wind and the rain.

“Some have sewn together old rice sacks to ensure they have something, at least, between them and the sky,” said Alison Ely, the NRC’s shelter specialist in Gaza. “When winter comes, these shelters will not keep them safe from strong winds, heavy rains and cold temperatures.”

The NRC noted that temperatures in Gaza can fall to 6 degrees Celsius (42 degrees Fahrenheit) during the winter.

_{Displaced Palestinians shelter in a tent camp in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, November 14}

Bakeries in Gaza closing due to shortages, UN says

Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman for the UN, told reporters that several bakeries in Gaza have shut down due to a lack of flour and fuel, while the remaining are at risk of imminent closure.

Just seven of the 19 bakeries supported by humanitarian organisations in Gaza are still running, he said, but they are “on the verge of shutting down” because they are running out of flour and fuel.

“This comes at a time when parts of northern Gaza are at imminent risk of famine” while there has been a “stark increase” in severe hunger in central and southern Gaza, Dujarric said.

_{Palestinians wait for fresh bread outside a bakery in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis on Wednesday}

Israel hit 17 rescue service centres across Gaza: Civil Defence

Gaza’s Civil Defence has released a statement detailing the extensive damages and losses it has suffered in Israeli attacks.

No civil defence crew, paramedics are left in Beit Lahiya to rescue victims

Until this moment, there are dozens of Palestinians still trapped under the rubble in the two northern areas targeted overnight – Sheikh Radwan and Beit Lahiya. There are no civil defence crew or paramedics working in Beit Lahiya, adding to the misery there.

Even those who have reached hospitals in the north are not able to get adequate treatment. The hospitals are only operating as first aid hospitals because they lack medical supplies and do not have intensive care units.

In the middle area, where we are right now, there has been intensive artillery shelling. We can hear this in the background.

Three killed in Israeli attack on Gaza’s Nuseirat

The Wafa news agency is reporting that three people were killed in an Israeli attack on the home of the al-Da’alsa family in the Nuseirat refugee camp. The attack took place on Wednesday evening.

As we’ve been reporting, there were a series of deadly attacks in Gaza overnight. These included:

‘Many bodies hanging from walls, ceilings’ after Israeli attack in Beit Lahiya

We have more from Dr Hussam Abu Safia, the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya. He said most of the victims of the attack were asleep when they were killed.

“A very large number of casualties have arrived, and there are still many bodies hanging on the walls, ceilings. It’s mostly children and women, who arrived suddenly a little while ago,” he said in a voice message earlier this morning.

“Most of those who came were asleep when they were killed. The situation is honestly very dire. We cannot cope with this massive number of injured and casualties that have arrived to Kamal Adwan Hospital,” he said.

The paediatrician said the attack hit a whole residential block near Kamal Adwan and that the hospital’s staff were at the site, retrieving bodies, collecting remains and rescuing trapped people.

“We are already operating with the bare minimum resources, that is why most of our staff are now busy rescuing the injured… due to the lack of ambulances and resources,” he added.

As we’ve been reporting, northern Gaza has been under an Israeli siege for more than six weeks and Israel’s military has barred civil defence teams from operating in the area.

Israeli drone kills two in central Gaza’s Nuseirat

An Israeli drone attack has killed two people in central Gaza’s Nuseirat camp, report our colleagues on the ground. The casualties follow an attack yesterday on a family home in the same camp that killed three.

In the nearby Bureij refugee camp, an Israeli quadcopter attacked and wounded six Palestinians, including two children, reports Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum.

Several disabled people trapped under rubble in Gaza’s Beit Lahiya

As we’ve been reporting, Palestinians in Beit Lahiya are reeling from a huge Israeli bombardment that killed at least 66 people, many women and children.

Residents are frantically working to pull dozens of injured people out from the rubble of collapsed buildings, many using their bare hands, reports Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum. Among those still trapped are three people with disabilities, including a blind girl, according to Abu Azzoum.

“The rescue operation might take a very long time due to the lack of essential equipment,” he said.

Three killed near Khan Younis

We are getting reports of a new Israeli attack near southern Gaza’s Khan Younis. The attack, hitting the Qaa al-Qurain area south of the city, has killed at least three people, according to our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic.

It comes after a spate of attacks on Khan Younis’s al-Mawasi yesterday – an Israeli-designated so-called “safe zone” – including one that killed three children from the same family.

How we survive Israel’s war on the West Bank
This latest film by Close Up tells the stories of a Palestinian paramedic and a released prisoner as they fight to survive amid Israel’s intensifying raids on the occupied West Bank.

Safiya al-Bibissi, the paramedic, says her uniform offers no protection against violence from Israeli troops. “We’re targeted all the time; it’s psychological destruction,” she says.

Raghad al-Fanni, who spent more than a year in an Israeli prison without being formally charged, says she does not consider herself free amid Israel’s continuing raids and killings. “Now, if you go through a day without feeling the fear of external danger, that in itself is an achievement,” she reflects.

Israeli forces kill Palestinian man in West Bank raid

The Palestinian Information Center is reporting that Israeli forces shot and killed Jihad al-Qatouni during a raid on Ein Beit al-Ma refugee camp near the city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli forces also raided the city of Qalqilya and arrested several Palestinians, including a prisoner who was recently released, Rafaat Abu Zuwaid. The raid prompted clashes with Palestinian fighters in the city, according to the news outlet. It posted a video in which the sound of gunfire could be heard.

ICC issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant

The International Criminal Court, after months of deliberation, announced today that it is issuing international arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister and former defence minister, alleging war crimes.

The Chamber issued warrants of arrest for two individuals, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu and Mr Yoav Gallant, for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024”, a statement from the court said.

There are “reasonable grounds” to believe that Gallant and Netanyahu “intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity”, the statement continued, covering only part of the allegations against them.

The court also rejected two Israeli challenges to its jurisdiction, saying “the acceptance by Israel of the Court’s jurisdiction is not required, as the Court can exercise its jurisdiction on the basis of territorial jurisdiction of Palestine”.

ICC also issues arrest warrant for Hamas’s Mohammed Deif

In a separate statement, the International Criminal Court also said Deif, full name Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, is subject to international arrest.

The court said it “unanimously” decided to issue the warrant against him “for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes committed on the territory of the State of Israel and the State of Palestine from at least 7 October 2023”.

The alleged crimes include firing rockets at Israeli territory and the October 7 attacks that killed at least 1,139 Israelis.

Israel claims to have killed Deif, the longtime leader of Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, in an air strike this past July. That attack on a designated safe zone had struck tents housing displaced Palestinians and a water distillation plant, killing at least 90 people and wounding 300 others.

New pre-trial judge at ICC issues arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders

The Court just issued three arrest warrants: two for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and one for Hamas leader Mohammed Deif for crimes against humanity and war crimes.

There had been some serious delays, there were a lot of questions about whether the ICC was capable of doing so. Israel has tried to avoid this by filing all kinds of complaints, but the ICC has now decided to reject these.

There is a new presiding judge of the pre-trial chamber that was issuing these warrants. The previous presiding judge recently stepped down after informing the court of a medical issue, after months of investigating the case.

Very quickly after the previous judge stepped down this decision has now been taken.

Israelis will have to deal with ICC fallout as Gaza killing continues

Over the last several months when all of this was being floated, Israel did its best to discredit the ICC. It tried to challenge its jurisdiction, and Israeli politicians internally were doing everything they could to fight the potential ruling.

But the Israelis now have to deal with this. The reality on the ground in Gaza is why this has happened. You’re looking at a war that is 410 days long, in which more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed. According to international courts, and now the ICC, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant need to be held responsible.

‘An extraordinary, exceptional day for justice’

Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst, Marwan Bishara, has praised the ICC’s decision to issue long-awaited arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders.

Bishara noted that many close observers, including himself, had been sceptical this would ever happen due to factors that include the long delay since the prosecutor submitted his request for the warrants in May, the re-election of Donald Trump as US president and allegations of sexual misconduct against the prosecutor.

“But at last, the people of Gaza, after a year of unfolding genocide, might be able to see their perpetrators face justice,” Bishara said.

He characterised this as a historic breakthrough, arguing that the ICC was initially conceived by Western leaders as a court to try global leaders, often from non-Western nations.

“That’s why it was easy for them to pursue Putin. But pursuing major Western allies like Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, it’s a first,” he said. “They will be pursued by the Interpol. It’s going to be difficult for Netanyahu to be travelling around.”

“This means he is no longer legitimate,” Bishara said, concluding: “The International Court of Justice will be looking at the genocide case differently now that the Israelis are accused of crimes against humanity.”

Israel’s Lapid, Lieberman rebuke ICC warrants

Several Israeli officials have responded to the ICC’s arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant. In a post on X, Israel’s opposition leader Yair Lapid condemned the court’s decision, characterising Israel’s war on Gaza as a fight for its life “against terrorist oganisations”.

Israel’s former Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman also spoke out against the ruling, writing on X that it shows the international community’s “double standards and hypocrisy”.

“The state of Israel will not apologise for protecting its citizens and is committed to continuing to fight terrorism without compromise,” said Lieberman.

Israeli officials quick to equate ICC arrest warrants with anti-Semitism

“This is modern antisemitism in the guise of justice,” Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev has posted on X, calling the ICC arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant for alleged war crimes “a legal absurdity”.

“Simply anti-Semitism, always anti-Semitism,” Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf said, citing a verse from the Torah that states the Jews are “a people that dwells alone, not reckoned among the nations”.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s far-right national security minister, said: “The International Criminal Court in The Hague shows once again that it is anti-Semitic through and through. … I support the prime minister in the just war.”

“The answer to the arrest warrants: applying sovereignty over all the territories of Judea and Samaria [the occupied West Bank], settlement in all parts of the country and severing ties with the terrorist authority, including sanctions,” he added.

A statement from the office also equates the decision to a “modern-day Dreyfus trial”, referring to an incident in France around the turn of the 20th century in which a French military man of Jewish descent was wrongfully convicted of treason.

“No anti-Israel decision will prevent the State of Israel from defending its citizens. The PM will not succumb to pressure, will not be deterred, and will not retreat until all the war objectives set by Israel at the start of the campaign are achieved”, the statement continues.

“Israel vehemently rejects the absurd and false actions and accusations against it by the International Criminal Court, a biased and discriminatory political body”.

Netanyahu now meeting with US’s Hochstein after rejecting ICC warrant

The Israeli prime minister is now meeting with the US special envoy in what was originally supposed to be a discussion of a ceasefire in Lebanon. Moments ago, PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s office rejected the issuance of the International Criminal Court’s warrant, describing the court as “anti-Semitic”.

“Israel rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions leveled against it by ICC,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement, adding that Israel won’t “give in to pressure” in the defence of its citizens, a statement from the office reads.

ICC’s ruling is ‘unbalanced’: Former Israeli justice minister

Former Israeli Justice Minister Yossi Beilin says the ICC’s decision to issue arrest warrants against Netanyahu, Gallant and Deif is unbalanced and unfair.

“It’s a very sad day that my prime minister is indicted at the ICC. I didn’t think it would have gotten to this point in history, especially because the gates of hell were opened by Hamas on October 7 and the massacre of Israelis,” Beilin told Al Jazeera.

“To believe that we will find ourselves indicted by the ICC while on the other side, they indicted a dead person – I don’t understand why you indict a dead person. … It’s really unbalanced,” he said, referring to the warrant against Hamas’s Deif, who is believed to have been killed in a July strike on Gaza by the Israeli army.

Two other people for whom the ICC’s top prosecutor had requested arrest warrants were Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh. However, they both have since been killed by Israel.

“I would suggest Gallant, the former defence minister, to consider this option [to present himself at The Hague-based court]. It is not a simple one and maybe the court is unbalanced, but this is an opportunity to present the case of Israel from October 7,” Beilin said.

“The fact that people were killed, and among them not only Hamas warriors but also civilians, breaks my heart, but to portray Israel as the villain of this story while the Palestinians were the victims, it’s not the exact story,” he added.

Israel has killed nearly 45,000 people in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war. It has reduced to rubble large swaths of the enclave and pushed pockets of its 2.3 million population to the cusp of famine. Last week, a UN special committee found that Israel’s warfare in Gaza is consistent with the characteristics of genocide.