Updates: Israel accused of new ‘massacre’ as it bombs Gaza and Lebanon

For a look at how – and if – foreign policy matters in the US presidential elections, read this.

If you want to know more about the resumption of talks for a ceasefire and the release of Israeli captives still held in Gaza, see here.

And there’s plenty more here and here.

But before that, let us bring you up to speed with the latest developments:

• Israeli tanks attack northern Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital causing severe damage to the facility’s intensive care unit as it struggles with an influx of wounded.
• An Israeli army strike on the besieged Jabalia refugee camp killed a “large number of people” in what the  Gaza civil defence agency described as a “major massacre”.
• The Committee to Protect Journalists has denounced Israeli allegations against six Palestinian journalists working for Al Jazeera in Gaza after Israel’s military accused them of being “terrorists”.
• Israeli air raids have again hit Beirut’s southern suburbs, shortly after the army issued forced evacuation orders.
• At least 19 people were killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon over the past 24 hours, Lebanon’s government said.
• The Israeli military said five soldiers were killed and seven seriously wounded in clashes with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
• Germany authorised more than $100m in military exports to Israel in the last three months, Foreign Office data showed.

When two young American Jews raised to support Israel unconditionally witness the way Israel treats Palestinians, it changes their lives.

They join a movement of young American Jews campaigning to redefine Judaism’s relationship with Israel and reveal a deepening generational divide over modern Jewish identity. Israelism sparked huge debate on US campuses even before the events of October 7, 2023.

Watch the full documentary here.

An explosion was heard in Eilat, in southern Israel, with the military saying a projectile was intercepted.

“A short time ago, a suspicious aerial target was detected in the Red Sea region that made its way to the country from the east. The target fell in an open area before crossing into the country,” the army said in a statement.

Hezbollah has fired hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel in recent days, most of which have been shot down.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet are the “biggest obstacle” to regional stability, says Turkey.

A Foreign Ministry statement denounced “the bloody Israeli administration, which massacred more than 40,000 civilians in Gaza without discriminating between children and women, committed genocide in front of the eyes of the world”.

Ankara has been a vociferous critic since Israel’s invasion of Gaza more than a year ago. In July, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened his country could intervene militarily to stop Israel’s war on Gaza.

Turkey has repeatedly compared the Israeli prime minister with Adolf Hitler.

The US-based Jewish Voice for Peace has demanded an arms embargo by the US government against Israel, comparing its war on Gaza to “the Nazi holocaust”.

“Many of us have parents, grandparents and great-grandparents who survived or perished in Nazi death marches and we have all grown up in the shadow of the Nazi holocaust. The state of Israel is currently perpetrating a holocaust, the deliberate mass slaughter of Palestinian people, with weapons provided by the United States,” the group said in a statement.

The images coming out of northern Gaza “are a terrifying echo of all-too-familiar images of European ghettos and Nazi concentration camps in the 2nd World War,” it added.

“Today we stand with our ancestors at our backs, in solidarity with our Palestinian siblings, demanding an immediate weapons embargo and an end to genocide — we will not act with indifference toward Palestinian suffering.”

An Egyptian security delegation has met with a delegation of Hamas leaders in Cairo, part of efforts to resume the Gaza ceasefire negotiations, Egypt’s state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV reports.

Hamas senior official Osama Hamdan told Lebanese pro-Iranian TV channel Al Mayadeen that there is no change in the group’s position. “The hostages held by the resistance will only return by stopping the aggression and completely withdrawing,” Hamdan said.

Previous attempts to reach a Gaza ceasefire and captive release deal have failed.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) denounced Israeli allegations against six Palestinian journalists in Gaza, accusing them of being members of armed groups.

“Israel has repeatedly made similar unproven claims without producing credible evidence,” CPJ said in a statement.

It noted after killing Al Jazeera correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul in July, the Israeli army produced a similar document that “contained contradictory information”.

“CPJ has documented Israel’s pattern of smearing Palestinian journalists with unsubstantiated ‘terrorist’ labels following their killings by the [Israeli military],” it said.

Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza is among the most destructive in history. Western nations have provided it with substantial military assistance, despite accusations of genocide and global calls for a ceasefire.

An investigation by Al Jazeera’s Sanad Monitoring and Verification Agency revealed the extent of international involvement. What are the ethical and moral implications of Western nations supporting Israel’s wars?

PJ Crowley, a former US State Department spokesman, says the resumption of talks for a possible deal between Hamas and Israel is positive, but he downplayed “a breakthrough”.

“Anytime you have negotiators at various tables communicating through their respective channels, you know that is good news,” Crowley told Al Jazeera.

“However, let’s understand these are talks about talks. They’re discussions on how to resume formal ceasefire negotiations and that gives all the parties the opportunity to reiterate their maximalist positions,” Crowley said.

“And so I think while this will be a promising development, I think we’re still some time off from the prospect of a breakthrough.”

The Israeli army says it killed “a Hamas commander”, alleging he was also an employee of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and responsible for the killing and kidnapping of Israeli civilians during the October 7, 2023, attack.

Asked about the allegations, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees confirmed that Muhammad Abu Atiwi was a staff member. It said his name was included on a list sent by the Israeli government to the agency alleging 100 UNRWA employees were members of Palestinian armed groups, including Hamas.

“The UNRWA commissioner general responded to that letter immediately stating that any allegation is taken seriously. He urged [Israel’s government] to cooperate with the agency by providing more information so he could take action. To date, UNRWA has not received any response to that letter,” it said in a statement to Al Jazeera.

No evidence has yet been “authenticated and corroborated” proving any UNRWA staff members were involved in the attacks on October 7, the agency said.

The Israeli military has already killed Al Jazeera journalists in its war on Gaza. Now, it’s accusing others of being “terrorists”.

The network says the claims are baseless and an attempt to silence the few remaining reporters in Gaza. Why is Israel targeting Al Jazeera? And what are the risks for journalists inside Gaza?

Two Palestinians were killed and 20 others – including children and women – were injured as a result of Israeli artillery fire on the southern city of Khan Younis.

A medical source at Nasser Hospital told the Anadolu news agency that two bodies and 20 victims were brought in following attacks on eastern parts of Gaza’s second-largest city.

Earlier, Israeli forces targeted the city’s neighbourhoods of al-Manara, Maen, Sheikh Nasser, and Qizan an-Najjar. Witnesses reported mass displacement of hundreds of Palestinians following the attacks.

This is a continuation of what we’ve seen over the past few weeks and another round of Israeli air strikes focusing on Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Lebanon’s capital.

Israel claims it’s targeting Hezbollah assets and infrastructure there, but this is a densely populated area home to nearly 700,000 people. Many people have fled as a result of these continuous air strikes.

According to the UN’s latest figures, there are now nearly one and a half million Lebanese who’ve been internally displaced across the country. Many Lebanese feel these attacks by Israel are very unpredictable, and they have little time to be able to leave their homes with whatever they can.

And the question is, where do they go? In the past, they’ve been forced to take shelter on the streets of the capital, but clearly this is now a war between Hezbollah and Israel that has no diplomatic solution in sight.

PEN International, an international association of writers that defends freedom of expression, condemned Israel’s allegations that six Al Jazeera journalists working in besieged northern Gaza are “terrorists”.

“We are outraged by [Israeli military] threats against six Palestinian journalists, labelling them as terrorists for reporting on Israel’s war crimes. We condemn the ongoing threats, impunity over their killings, and severe restrictions [on media in Gaza],” said the group.

Al Jazeera Media Network also denounced the “unfounded allegations” by the Israeli army, saying “these fabricated accusations” are “a blatant attempt to silence the few remaining journalists in the region, thereby obscuring the harsh realities of the war from audiences worldwide”.

We are outraged by @IDF threats against six Palestinian journalists, labelling them as terrorists for reporting on Israel’s war crimes. We condemn the ongoing threats, impunity over their killings, and severe restrictions on FoE in #Gaza since Oct 2023. Read our #PENCongress…

— PEN International (@pen_int) October 24, 2024

The Israeli army issued new evacuation orders for residents of two areas in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, as it prepares to strike them.

“You are located near facilities and sites belonging to Hezbollah, which the Israeli [military] will be targeting in the near future,” said its Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee in a post on X.

Israel has repeatedly hit Beirut’s southern suburb known as Dahiyeh, a densely populated neighbourhood. Explosions were heard and several large plumes of smoke rose after heavy Israeli strikes overnight.

The Israeli military carried out a major attack on al-Hawaja Street, in the western part of Jabalia, causing a sheer level of destruction. At least a dozen residential buildings were blown up.

Based on an assessment the Civil Defence agency, an estimated 150 people were either killed or wounded. Rescue teams are unable to approach the bomb site to bring the injured to hospital.

These are people who refused to leave the Jabalia refugee camp simply because they are exhausted and the road to evacuate was not safe for them. They haven’t been eating or provided with water supplies. So they’re exhausted and decided to remain in their homes.