At least 60 ‘killed in Israeli strike’ on Gaza – as Hezbollah appoints new leader

The head of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) says the agency is keen to step up its support to people in crisis after Israel’s decision to ban the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees.

Director-general Amy Pope cautioned, however, said there was “no way” that it could replace the work UNRWA does in Gaza.

Israel’s government passed two laws last night that ban UNRWA from working within the country and severely curtail its ability to work in the West Bank and Gaza (see 6.39 post).

The ban is set to come into effect within three months, at which point millions of Palestinian refugees will cut off from its help.

“UNRWA is absolutely essential to the people of Gaza, and I don’t want to leave anyone with the misimpression that IOM can play that role, because we cannot, but we can provide support to those people who are currently in crisis,” Ms Pope said.

“That is a role that we are very, very keen to play, and one that we will be stepping up with the support of various stakeholders.” 

Israel has claimed UNRWA staff have colluded with Hamas in Gaza and that some workers participated in the 7 October attacks.

The UN investigated and fired nine of the accused, but said Israel hadn’t provided evidence for its broader allegations.

• Israel is continuing its military operations in Gaza and Lebanon, in an attempt to root out Iran-backed militants belonging to Hamas and Hezbollah;
• In northern Gaza, where Israel has been conducting a fresh offensive in the in recent weeks, 60 people have been killed following an airstrike in Beit Lahiya, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry (see 08.14 post);
• In Lebanon, the country’s health ministry says yesterday’s strikes on several areas of the eastern Bekaa Valley area killed 60 people. The region’s governor called the attacks the “most violent” in the area since Israel invaded Lebanon last month (see 7.23 post);
• Hezbollah has appointed its deputy secretary-general Naim Kassem as its new leader, succeeding Hassan Nasrallah after he was assassinated in Beirut last month. Mr Kassem had been Hezbollah’s acting leader since the death of Nasrallah (see 8.31 post);
• Israel has received condemnation from the US, UK and other Western nations following its decision yesterday to ban the UN relief and works agency for Palestinian refugees from the country (see 6.39 post).

Read more full and detailed analysis on some key stories in the Middle East from our correspondents: 

• Deborah Haynes, security and defence editor: ‘Operation Days of Repentance’ – how Israel’s strike on Iran unfolded
• Alistair Bunkall, Middle East correspondent: Israel’s decision to ban UNRWA could have devastating impact on millions of Palestinians
• Tom Cheshire, data and forensics correspondent: Lebanon’s internal refugees face racism, discrimination and evictions in search for safety

Naim Kassem is “pretty much the only” senior figure left in Hezbollah who could have been chosen as the group’s new leader, says Middle East correspondent Alistair Bunkall.

The 71-year-old replaces Hassan Nasrallah as Hezbollah’s leader after he was killed by an Israeli airstrike in Beirut last month.

Senior Hezbollah figure Hashem Safieddine, considered to be Nasrallah’s most likely successor, was killed in another Israeli strike a week later.

Mr Kassem has been operating as Hezbollah’s acting leader since Nasrallah’s death.

“He’s pretty much the only very senior figure within Hezbollah who has not been killed by the Israelis over the last month or so,” says Bunkall.

“I think he’s in Iran at the moment, having escaped Lebanon to go into exile in Iran. And he will lead the group from there. 

“But the group will be severely diminished in terms of its leadership because of Israeli actions and the Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon.”

We’ve been reporting this morning on Israeli attacks on several areas in the eastern Bekka Valley in Lebanon (see 7.23 post).

Lebanon’s health ministry has said at least 60 people died yesterday across the region, which is a Hezbollah stronghold.

Images are now emerging from the aftermath of the attacks, showing rescuers working at a site damaged by the strikes.

Hezbollah has appointed the group’s deputy secretary-general Sheikh Naim Kassem as its new leader.

He will succeed Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in Beirut in an Israeli airstrike in September.

Mr Kassem has been Hezbollah’s acting leader since the death of Nasrallah. 

Who is Sheikh Naim Kassem?

Born in 1953 in Beirut, Mr Kassem has been a senior figure in Hezbollah for more than 30 years.

He was appointed deputy chief in 1991 and remained in his role when Hassan Nasrallah became leader a year later.

Mr Kassem was the first member of Hezbollah’s top leadership to make televised remarks after Nasrallah was killed last month.

He said Hezbollah would choose a successor to its slain leader “at the earliest opportunity” and would continue to fight Israel in solidarity with Palestinians.

This month, he said the group supported the efforts of Lebanon’s parliament speaker, Nabih Berri, to secure a ceasefire in the country.

The number of people killed in an Israeli strike on the Gazan town of Beit Lahiya has risen to 60, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. 

There are 17 others still missing under the rubble of the residential building that was hit, an official added.

The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that most of those killed in the strike were women and children, citing medics.

Israel has increased its military operations in the north of Gaza in the last month as it tries to stop Hamas from regrouping in the enclave after more than a year of fighting.

Since then, the health ministry says hundreds of people have been killed and more than 60,000 others displaced under evacuation orders.

The UN’s secretary-general warned last week the “widespread devastation and deprivation” caused by Israel’s military operations in the north of Gaza have made life “untenable” for the population there.

By Alistair Bunkall, Middle East correspondent in Jerusalem

The Israeli decision to ban the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) on its territory and sever diplomatic ties with it could have a devastating impact on millions of Palestinians who rely on the services provided.

Unless there is an intervention, the ban will come into force in 90 days. The vote in the Knesset – the Israeli assembly – last night will also preclude Israel from providing work permits to UNRWA staff and prevent Israeli authorities from working with the agency, thereby significantly complicating the access of aid into Gaza and the future for UNRWA schools and medical facilities in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Many of Israel’s closest allies, including the US, UK, France and Germany, had urged the Israeli government to rethink – they were ignored.

The UN secretary general said it will have “devastating consequences”, and the UK prime minister said he was “gravely concerned”.

The US state department has warned it could have implications under US law, which implies Washington might rethink arms transfers to Israel unless the ban is reversed – US law prevents the country from supplying military aid to anyone denying humanitarian access.

Although Israel says it will work to ensure aid is still provided to those who need it, no plan or alternative agency has been put forward, and it will be hard to replace UNRWA’s expertise built up over many decades.

UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, was set up in 1949 to support Palestinians displaced in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

Today it provides services including education, health services, street cleaning, financial start-up loans and accommodation to almost six million Palestinian refugees in Gaza, east Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.

Israel has long disagreed with the status of Palestinian refugees because, in theory at least, it gives them a “right to return”, which means they retain a claim to property and land in modern-day Israel.

Since the 7 October attacks, the Israeli state has repeatedly and vociferously accused UNRWA of being a front for Hamas, claiming that the group used schools and hospitals to hide weapons and plan attacks. 

Although nine UNRWA workers were sacked by the UN for having links to Hamas, many of Israel’s claims have been made with little supporting evidence.

A number of countries briefly suspended funding to the agency, but almost all have since restored it.

Israel has prevented many of its staff from entering Israel, including the agency’s commissioner-general.

We mentioned in our good morning post reports from Lebanon’s health ministry that at least 60 people were killed yesterday in Israeli attacks on several areas in the eastern Bekaa Valley.

It said the deaths came in 16 areas, most of them in the Baalbek region, which is a Hezbollah stronghold.

The ministry said 58 people were wounded and that rescue efforts were ongoing across the area. 

The region’s governor, Bachir Khodr, called the attacks the “most violent” in the area since Israel invaded Lebanon last month, targeting what it says are Hezbollah’s operatives, infrastructure, and weapons in the country.

The Israeli military has not yet commented.

At least 55 people have been killed in Gaza after an Israeli strike on the town of Beit Lahiya, according to reports. 

The Palestinian news agency Wafa and Hamas media both reported the attack on the town in northern Gaza. 

Many of those killed in the strike were women and children, Wafa reported, citing medics. 

The Gaza civil service says the strike hit a residential building. 

We’ll bring you more on this breaking story as we get it.

Israel’s parliament voted yesterday to ban the UN relief and works agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) from the country within 90 days.

The Knesset banned the agency from conducting “any activity” or providing any service inside Israel, including the areas of East Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West Bank. 

The legislation will take effect 60 to 90 days after Israel’s foreign ministry notifies the UN, according to the spokesman for politician Dan Illouz, one of the co-sponsors of one of the bills.

UNRWA provides education, health care and other basic services to millions of Palestinian refugees across the region, including in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the new laws “could have devastating consequences” for Palestinian refugees in Gaza and the West Bank.

UNRWA’s chief Philippe Lazzarini has warned the ban “will only deepen the suffering of Palestinians, especially in Gaza”.

UNRWA has come under repeated attack from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who says it has links to Hamas and other militant groups – something the group disputes.

When Israel first brought the accusations against UNRWA, it initially led top donor countries to suspend their funding for the agency.

The UK resumed its fundingof the agency in July, just weeks after the Labour Party was elected.