The ceasefire in the Middle East pales after the Israeli military continued to shell southern Gaza and suburbs of Lebanon’s capital Beirut. The US announced it was also sending extra military resources to the region amid heightened tensions.
Strikes on Gaza, Lebanon
Overnight and Friday morning, Israeli strikes on the town of Deir al-Balah, the Nuseirat camp and the town of Al-Zawayda in central Gaza as well as in the south killed some 68 people and wounded dozens more. Medics reported that fourteen people were killed in an Israeli strike on the gate of a school housing displaced Palestinians in Nuseirat, while 10 others were killed in a car bombing in Khan Younis. In the eastern side of Nuseirat, an Israeli airstrike killed four people, including three children.
The situation in northern Gaza is “apocalyptic,” with the entire Palestinian population there at risk of death from disease, starvation and violence as Israel continues its offensive against Hamas militants regrouping in the area, according to a statement signed by the acting UN aid chief Joyce Msuya, heads of UN agencies including UN children’s agency UNICEF and the World Food Programme, and other aid groups.
The entire Palestinian population in North Gaza is at imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence. Humanitarian aid cannot keep up with the scale of the needs due to the access constraints. Basic, life-saving goods are not available. Humanitarians are not safe to do their work and are blocked by Israeli forces and by insecurity from reaching people in need, they said.
The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said around 100,000 people trapped in Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza without medical or food supplies. Reuters could not verify the number independently.
The statement came as Beirut came under attack Friday morning by the Israeli military, which carried out at least 10 strikes, the first bombardment of the area in almost a week. The strikes came after Israel ordered the evacuation of 10 separate neighbourhoods in the Lebanese capital. Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes on more than a dozen towns in the Baalbek region killed 52 people on Friday. The region is home to Roman ruins listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Hope for ceasefire talks fade
Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Friday accused Israel of blocking any progress in the negotiations. “Israeli statements and diplomatic signals received by Lebanon confirm the Israeli stubbornness in rejecting the proposed solutions and insisting on the approach of killing and destruction,” he said.
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his priority was to ensure security in the region despite pressure from allies. His office said he conveyed that message to US envoys Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk in Israel on Thursday. According to Hamas’s position, the group is also not in favour of a temporary truce because the ceasefire redlines do not meet its terms, under which any deal must end the year-long war in Gaza and include Israeli withdrawal from the devastated Palestinian enclave, it said.
US special envoys have been working to secure a ceasefire on both fronts ahead of next Tuesday’s US presidential election. However, the escalating situation in the region has led Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin to order several B-52 Stratofortress bombers, refuelling planes and Navy destroyers to the region. Long-range, nuclear-capable B-52 bombers have often been sent to the Middle East in past demonstrations of US resolve against Iran. The US recently sent B-2 stealth bombers to Yemen, striking targets of the Houthis in October.
This came amid reports that Iran may retaliate after Israeli strikes last week that disabled Iran’s three remaining S-300 air defence systems. Netanyahu said on Thursday: “The supreme objective that I have set for the IDF and the security services is to prevent Iran from attaining nuclear weapons. Halting the nuclear programme has been – and remains – our chief concern. I have not taken, we have not taken, and we will not take, our eyes off this objective.”
Officials, however, did not disclose the exact number of US aircraft and ships that would be moved, but the total number of troops could be reduced with the departure of the USS Abraham Lincoln to five thousand sailors. In addition, it is not yet clear if the military resources sent will be in Israel, Iran, or elsewhere at this time.
Protests in Turkey against an Israeli ship
Turkey has been at the centre of protests after an Israeli vessel belonging to the ZIM shipping company docked at the port of Ambarli, a major Turkish seaport located on the northern shore of the Sea of Marmara. Ships belonging to Israeli shipping company ZIM continue to operate actively in Turkish waters despite the ban, according to investigative journalist Metin Cihan, who cites public records.
The demonstrators were demanding an end to the Israeli presence in Turkish ports, daily Karar reported on Friday. A pro-Palestinian group gathered in protest, chanting ‘No Zionism in our ports’ and protesting the presence of Israeli shipping containers. Tensions rose between the protesters and port security guards, and the guards began firing warning shots into the air in an attempt to disperse the crowd. Police then intervened, preventing protesters from approaching the ZIM containers and securing the area.
Turkey has been accused of continuing to trade with Israel despite a ban imposed in May following public outrage over Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip.
Cihan claims, based on official data, that trade with Israel continues under the pretext of trade with Palestine, which has increased sharply in recent months. Export data for August and September 2024 released by the Turkish Exporters’ Assembly (TİM) showed a sharp increase in exports to Palestine, prompting speculation that Turkish goods may be entering Israel via the Palestinian territories despite the government’s trade ban.
Despite the protests against ZIM, a publicly traded Israeli company in many countries such as Belgium, USA, Canada and Malaysia, one of the countries where ZIM ships find it easiest to operate is Turkey, where their operations continue without disruption in the ports of Istanbul, Izmir, Kocaeli, Bursa and Mersin.
