Live Updates: Palestinian death toll in Israel's war on Gaza reaches 44,176

Saturday, November 23, 2024

11:30 GMT — At least 44,176 Palestinians have been killed and 104,473 injured since Israel's war on Gaza began on October 7, 2023, the health ministry in the besieged Palestinian enclave said in a statement.

The statement said that 120 Palestinians were killed over the past 48 hours.

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11:23 GMT — Israeli air strike targets senior Hezbollah leader in Beirut: report

An Israeli air strike targeted a prominent Hezbollah leader, Mohammed Haider, in Beirut, reported Israel's Public Broadcasting Corporation.

The Israeli broadcast service KAN reported that the attack, which took place in the early hours of Saturday, was aimed at assassinating Haider, a senior figure in the Lebanese group.

An unnamed Israeli security source confirmed that Haider was the target of the attack, but stopped short of confirming his death. There was no official comment from Hezbollah on the reports.

10:31 GMT — Israel continuing attempts to take over southern Lebanese town

The Israeli army continues its efforts to take control of the town of Khiam, located in the Marjayoun district of southern Lebanon, local media reported.

The official Lebanese news agency said Israeli attacks on the border town have continued since Friday night into Saturday, with the Israeli army employing various types of weaponry in an attempt to seize control of the area.

Additionally, Israeli forces have launched phosphorus shells on the nearby Jalahiya area.

The Lebanese news agency added that the Israeli army's operations in Khiam are not limited to ground incursions but also involve planting explosives in certain buildings and demolishing them.

10:09 GMT — Israel's Netanyahu monitoring ex-defence chief to brand him 'defector': report

An Israeli news outlet reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is closely monitoring the actions of his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, preparing to declare him a "defector" from the ruling Likud Party.

According to the news website Walla, sources within the Likud Party, which Netanyahu leads, revealed that the premier and party officials were observing Gallant's actions, particularly in the Israeli parliament, known as the Knesset, to officially announce that he had defected from the party.

Sources claimed that this scrutiny was aimed at gathering evidence that Gallant is acting independently, facilitating the declaration of his split from Likud and preventing his candidacy in the upcoming parliamentary elections under the party banner.

09:56 GMT — Another journalist killed in Israeli attack on Gaza

The Israeli army has killed another Palestinian journalist in an air strike on Gaza, bringing the number of media professionals killed since October 7 of last year to 189, according to Gaza Media Office.

The victim, Wael Ibrahim Abu Quffa, was a journalist and a lecturer at the Department of Journalism and Media at the Islamic University of Gaza, the office said in a statement Saturday.

The media office condemned the killing and urged the international community to intervene, describing the attacks on journalists as systematic.

It also urged international organisations and governments to "hold Israel accountable by taking legal action in international courts and to put pressure on Israel to halt the ongoing genocide in Gaza".

09:34 GMT — Gaza civil defence says 19 killed in Israeli strikes

Gaza's civil defence agency said that 19 people, including at least six children, were killed by Israeli air strikes and tank fire.

Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that "19 people were killed and more than 40 others wounded in three massacres caused by Israeli air strikes in Gaza between midnight and this morning", as well as by tank fire in Rafah in the territory's south.

One of the strikes hit a house in the Zeitun neighbourhood of Gaza City in the north of the territory, killing seven people, three of them children, and wounding 10.

Another strike in the main southern city of Khan Younis killed six people, including three children, and wounded 26 displaced people who were living in tents near the house that was struck, said Bassal.

In Nuseirat in central Gaza, four people were killed in another strike on a house, and in Rafah, along the territory's southern border, two young men were killed by tank fire, Bassal added.

08:51 GMT — Israeli air strikes kill 11, injure dozens in central Beirut

Israeli air strikes have killed at least 11 people and injured 65 others in central Beirut, as diplomats scrambled to broker a ceasefire.

Lebanon's civil defence said the death toll was provisional as emergency responders were still digging through the rubble looking for survivors.

The strikes were the fourth on the Lebanese capital in less than a week.

08:40 GMT — Two fishers killed in Israeli air strike on southern Lebanon beach

Two fishermen were killed in an Israeli air strike in southern Lebanon, according to the country's official news agency.

The Lebanese National News Agency reported that the attack directly targeted a group of fishermen on the beach of Tyre district, killing at least two.

08:07 GMT — Israeli army orders evacuation in Beirut's southern suburbs

The Israeli army ordered the evacuation of residents from buildings in Hadath and Choueifat Al-Amrousieh areas in Beirut's southern suburbs.

In a statement, Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee warned residents, saying: "You must evacuate these buildings and those adjacent to them immediately and move at least 500 metres away."

Adraee claimed the targeted areas housed "facilities and interests belonging to Hezbollah", signalling further Israeli strikes in the region.

07:16 GMT — Indonesia welcomes ICC arrest warrants for Israel's premier, former defence chief

Indonesia has welcomed the International Criminal Court's (ICC) decision to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

In a statement on Saturday, Indonesia's Foreign Ministry expressed support for international efforts to ensure accountability for crimes committed by Israel against Palestine, including actions pursued through the ICC.

"The issuance of arrest warrants by the ICC for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant represents a significant step towards achieving justice for the crimes against humanity and war crimes in Palestine," the statement read.

03:00 GMT — Israel kills many, wounds 33 in strike on Lebanon's Beirut

Israel has fired at least four missiles in an air strike towards Lebanon's central Beirut, killing at least four people and wounding another 33, local media report, adding toll is feared to rise.

The strike targeted Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, local residents said, adding many buildings were destroyed.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said Israeli war planes "completely destroyed an eight-storey residential building with five missiles."

Sirens could be heard as ambulances raced to the scene of the blast in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood.

Footage broadcast by Lebanon's Al Jadeed showed at least one destroyed building and several others badly damaged around it.

The strikes, which occurred around 4 am local time, came after a day of heavy bombardment of Beirut’s southern suburbs and the southern coastal city of Tyre.

02:00 GMT — Israel kills Lebanon hospital chief, wounds 9 medics in Gaza

Israel has targeted Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of the few hospitals still partially operating in the northernmost part of besieged Gaza, wounding nine medical staff and damaging its generator and oxygen systems, its director said.

Hossam Abu Safiya said strikes hit the entrance of the emergency unit as well as in the hospital courtyard. He said six staff were wounded, including two critically. Later, he said an armed drone hit the entrance again, wounding three staffers.

In Lebanon, Israel killed the director of a university hospital and six others at his home in northeastern area, state media said.

The strike targeted Dr. Ali Allam's house near Dar Al-Amal Hospital, the largest health center in Baalbek-Hermel province, which has provided vital health services amid Israel's air strikes, the Health Ministry said. State-run media reported that the strike came without warning.

The ministry described his death as a "great loss," and provincial governor Bachir Khodr said in a post on X that, "Mr. Allam was one of the best citizens of Baalbek."

For our live updates from Friday, November 22, 2024, click here.