UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk on Monday pleaded “all parties” to “urgently de-escalate what has become a very precarious situation” amid growing fears of an Iranian attack on Israel. Regional tensions have soared since last week’s assassination of Hamas’s political leader in Tehran and Israel’s killing of Hezbollah’s military chief in Beirut. Follow our liveblog for all the latest developments.
Summary:
- The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk on Monday called for an urgent de-escalation in the Middle East amid growing fears of an Iranian attack on Israel.
- President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are scheduled to consult later Monday with the White House national security team. Biden will also speak with King Abdullah II of Jordan, whose foreign minister made a rare visit to Iran over the weekend.
- A Palestinian official said Israel has returned more than 80 bodies to the Gaza Strip. The identities of the deceased and the cause of death were not immediately known.
- Lebanon‘s health ministry said two people were killed Monday in an Israeli strike on the country’s south, where Hezbollah has been trading near-daily fire with Israel since the start of the Gaza war in October.
- At least 39,623 Palestinians have been killed and 91,469 injured in Israel‘s war in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave. The Hamas-led October 7 attacks resulted in the deaths of more than 1,190 people, mostly civilians, according to official Israeli figures. Some 250 people were taken hostage, with about 120 remaining in Gaza. Many have been declared dead by Israeli authorities.
All parties must refrain from escalation in the Middle East, says Blinken
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday said Washington was engaged in intense diplomacy to ease tensions in the Middle East and urged all parties to refrain from escalating.
Speaking after his meeting with Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Blinken also said it was crucial that a ceasefire deal in Gaza is reached and called on all parties to find ways to come to an agreement.
Two Hezbollah fighters among three dead in Israeli strikes on Lebanon
Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes killed three people Monday in the country’s south, with Hezbollah announcing the death of two of its fighters and a rescue group mourning a paramedic.
Since last week, tensions have soared as Iran and Tehran-backed groups, including Hezbollah, vowed revenge for the killing of Hamas’s political leader in Tehran and Israel’s killing of the Lebanese group’s military chief in Beirut.
Hezbollah has traded near-daily fire with Israel in support of its ally Hamas since the Palestinian militant group’s October 7 attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war.
The twin killings have raised fears of full-blown war between Israel and Hezbollah, which last went to war in the summer of 2006.
Lebanon’s health ministry said an “Israeli enemy strike that targeted a motorbike” in the southern village of Ebba killed one person, wounded another and caused a pregnant woman who was near the site to miscarry due to “shock”.
Earlier, the health ministry said an “enemy raid” near the cemetery in the border village of Mais al-Jabal “killed two people”.
Israeli rights group says Palestinian prisoners subject to systematic abuse
Israel has conducted a systematic policy of prisoner abuse and torture since the start
of the war in Gaza, subjecting Palestinian detainees to acts ranging from arbitrary violence to sexual abuse, a report from Israeli rights group B’Tselem said on Monday.
The group said the report was based on interviews with 55 Palestinians from Gaza, the West Bank and Israel, who were detained in Israeli prisons since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel that set off the war, most of them without being tried.
“The testimonies clearly indicate a systematic, institutional policy focused on the continual abuse and torture of all Palestinian prisoners held by Israel,” the report said.
The report was issued days after the Israeli military detained nine soldiers accused of severe abuse of a prisoner in a military facility in the Negev desert. According to Israeli press reports, the soldiers are accused of sexually abusing a member of an elite Hamas unit.
Rockets launched at a base hosting US troops in Iraq, says military source
Rockets were launched Monday against an Iraqi base hosting US troops days after an American strike killed four pro-Iran Iraqi fighters, and amid fears of regional escalation, Iraqi sources said.
“Rockets were launched at Ain al-Assad base” in Anbar province, the security source said, while a commander in a pro-Iran armed group told AFP that at least “two rockets targeted” the base.
Lebanon says three dead in Israeli strikes
Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes killed three people Monday in the country’s south, with Hezbollah announcing one of its fighters killed and a rescue group mourning a paramedic.
Lebanon’s health ministry said an “Israeli enemy strike that targeted a motorbike” in the southern village of Ebba killed one person, wounded another and caused a pregnant woman who was near the site to miscarry due to “shock”.
It was not immediately clear whether the person killed was a fighter or a civilian.
Earlier, the health ministry said an “enemy raid” near the cemetery in the border village of Mais al-Jabal “killed two people”.
An Israeli army statement said that “soldiers identified a terrorist cell operating a drone” in the Mais al-Jabal area, and that air forces “struck and eliminated the terrorists”.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) said one of the dead in Mais al-Jabal was a paramedic with the Risala Scouts association, which is affiliated with the Hezbollah-allied Amal movement.
UN fires nine UNRWA staff members that may have been involved in October 7 attacks
The United Nations said Monday it has fired nine staff members from its agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, after an internal investigation found they may have been involved in the Hamas-led October 7 attack against Israel.
The UN secretary-general’s office announced the move in a brief statement to journalists Monday. It did not elaborate on the UNRWA staffers’ likely role in the attack. It said the nine included seven staffers who were fired previously over the claims.
The UN’s internal watchdog has been investigating the agency since Israel accused 12 UNRWA staffers of being involved in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel in which militants killed 1,200 people and abducted some 250 others.
Italy and Iraq issue joint statement for de-escalation of Middle East conflict
The foreign ministers of Italy and Iraq called on Monday for diplomacy and de-escalation in the Middle East, saying they were deeply concerned about increasing tension threatening the entire region.
Italy’s Antonio Tajani and Iraq’s Fouad Hussein said in a joint statement they called on “all involved parties to resort to dialogue and diplomacy in order to foster de-escalation and provide space for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza”.
Israel orders seizure of $26 million of Palestinian tax funds
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich ordered the seizure of 100 million shekels ($26 million) of tax funds intended for the Palestinian Authority, saying the funds would instead support Israeli victims of “terrorism”.
It is the latest withholding of duties for the Palestinian Authority (PA), which exercises limited autonomy in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, since war began in October between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
In a statement issued late on Sunday, the finance ministry said the confiscation of funds was “part of measures to combat terrorism”.
The statement quoted Smotrich alleging the PA diverted the funds to the “families of terrorists”, an accusation he has made before.
Israeli politicians have regularly criticised the Ramallah-based PA for granting financial support to the families of Palestinians killed or jailed for acts of violence against Israel.
Egypt asks US to pressure Israel into ‘seriously engaging’ in ceasefire talks
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty asked US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a phone call on Monday to pressure Israel to “seriously engage” in Gaza ceasefire talks, the Egyptian foreign ministry said in a statement.
Abdelatty also asked his US counterpart to pressure Israel to stop practising the policy of “brinkmanship”, the statement added.
Blinken urges all sides in Middle East to ‘refrain from escalation’
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in calls Monday urged all sides in the Middle East to avoid “escalation”, his spokesman said, as fears grew of an imminent Iranian counterattack on Israel.
“It’s important that all parties take steps over the coming days to refrain from escalation and calm tensions,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters, describing Blinken’s telephone calls in the region.
Germany prepares to evacuate its citizens from Lebanon, Spiegel magazine says
Germany is preparing to evacuate its nationals from Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East amid concerns over an escalation of the conflict between Israel and Iran and the Tehran-aligned group Hezbollah, Spiegel magazine reported on Monday.
Germany’s air force has been readying a small fleet of A400M transport aircraft that could shuttle people from Beirut to Cyprus, Spiegel said, without specifying its sources.
Biden, Jordan’s King discussed efforts to de-escalate tensions in Middle East
US President Joe Biden and Jordan’s King Abdullah discussed efforts to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East on Monday, the White House said after Iran vowed to retaliate against Israel over the killing of a Hamas leader in Tehran.
“The leaders discussed their efforts to de-escalate regional tensions, including through an immediate ceasefire and hostage release deal,” the White House said in a statement. Their call followed a rare visit to Iran by Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi.
UN says nine UNRWA staff members may have been involved in October 7 attacks
Nine staff members of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees may have been involved in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, and their employment will be terminated, the United Nations said on Monday.
“For nine people, the evidence was sufficient to conclude that they may have been involved in the seventh of October attacks,” Deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said.
French President Emmanuel Macron calls for ‘restraint’ in Middle East
France’s President Emmanuel Macron said Monday he had spoken to the leaders of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia and all three had urged “restraint” to avoid an escalation in the Middle East.
“I have spoken to President Mohamed bin Zayed and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the situation in the Middle East.
“We call on all actors to be responsible and show restraint to avoid a regional conflagration,” he wrote in a social media post, amid fears that Iran could attack on Israel in retaliation for the killing of a Palestinian militant leader in Tehran.
Biden to meet with security team as violence in Middle East grows
US President Joe Biden was to hold crisis talks with his national security team Monday as fears grow of an Iranian attack on Israel in retaliation for the killing of a Hamas leader in Tehran.
Biden will also call Jordan’s King Abdullah II as part of a flurry of diplomacy aimed at preventing the situation in the Middle East from spiraling into an all-out war.
The United States has deployed extra fighter jets and warplanes to the region to support Israel, as reports suggested Iran could respond as soon as Monday to the killing of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh.
Biden was due to meet his national security team in the Situation Room in the White House “to discuss developments in the Middle East” after flying back from a weekend at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, the White House said.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who is expected to announce her running mate for the 2024 election within the next couple of days, will be among those in attendance.
The meeting is set for 2.15pm Washington time (1815 GMT) — after nightfall in the region, where it will be 9.15 pm in Tel Aviv and 9.45 pm in Tehran.
Biden was calling King Abdullah before leaving Wilmington, the White House said.
Turkey to join South African ICJ genocide case against Israel, minister says
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Monday that Turkey would formally submit its declaration of intervention in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague on Wednesday.
Turkey had announced in May that it had decided to join the case launched by South Africa as it stepped up measures against Israel over its assault on Gaza, and that it would submit a bid after the necessary legal preparations.
Fidan was speaking at a news conference in Cairo.
Gaza officials say received 80 bodies of unidentified Palestinians from Israel
Gaza’s Civil Defence agency said it received the bodies of 80 unidentified Palestinians from Israel on Monday, which it buried in a mass grave.
“We received 80 bodies inside 15 bags, with more than four martyrs in each bag, each wrapped in single shroud”, Civil Defence director Yamen Abu Suleiman told AFP.
Abu Suleiman said Israeli authorities did not provide any information about the bodies, including their names or where they were found or taken from.
“We do not know if they are martyrs (killed in Gaza) or prisoners from (Israel’s) jails”, he added.
In a video released by the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, men in hazmat suits could be seen inspecting the corpses wrapped in blue plastic sheeting, before unloading them from the shipping container they had arrived in.
The footage then showed the bodies being laid in a line for burial in a mass grave dug in the sand.
China urges caution for citizens who plan to travel to Lebanon
The Chinese embassy in Lebanon on Monday told Chinese citizens to travel to the country with caution, citing the “grim and complex” security situation.
The embassy also called on Chinese nationals and institutions in Lebanon to stay on high alert and strengthen safety precautions, it said in a statement.
Israel orders seizure of $26 million of Palestinian Authority tax funds
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has ordered the seizure of 100 million shekels ($26 million) of tax funds intended for the Palestinian Authority, saying it would be used to pay for Israeli victims of terrorism.
In a statement issued late on Sunday, the finance ministry said the confiscation of funds was “part of measures to combat terrorism”.
The statement quoted Smotrich as accusing the Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, of diverting the funds to the “families of terrorists”.
Israeli politicians have regularly criticised the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority for granting financial support to the families of Palestinians killed or jailed for acts of violence against Israel.
The finance ministry statement noted that this was the fifth time it had withheld funds, which Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority.
UN human rights chief ‘pleads with all parties’ for de-escalation in the Middle East
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk on Monday called for an urgent de-escalation in the Middle East over fears that the war in Gaza could spread.
“I am deeply worried about the rising risk of a wider conflict in the Middle East and plead with all parties, along with those states with influence, to act urgently to de-escalate what has become a very precarious situation,” said Turk in a statement.
At least 39,623 people have been killed in Gaza in nearly 10 months of war, says health ministry
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Monday that at least 39,623 people have been killed in nearly 10 months of war between Israel and Palestinian militants.
The toll includes 40 deaths over the past day, according to ministry figures, which also list 91,469 people as having been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began when Hamas militants led attacks on Israel on October 7.
Japan urges its citizens in Lebanon to evacuate
The Japanese foreign ministry issued a travel alert on Monday urging Japanese citizens in Lebanon to evacuate the country in light of the rising tensions in the Middle East.
Turkey urges citizens to leave Lebanon due to security risks
Turkey urged its citizens in Lebanon to leave the country if they do not need to stay, due to the possibility that the security situation there will deteriorate rapidly, its foreign ministry said late on Sunday.
Tensions have soared since the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, in Tehran on Wednesday, a day after an Israeli strike in Beirut killed Fuad Shukr, a top military commander from the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
Turks in Lebanon should be cautious and should not go to Nebatiyeh, South Lebanon, Bekaa and Baalbek-Hermel governorates unless it is essential, the ministry said in a statement.
“Those who do not need to stay in Lebanon should leave Lebanon while commercial flights are still operating, if possible,” it said, adding that Turks should avoid travelling to Lebanon unless essential.
Lebanon says two dead in Israeli strike in the country’s south
Lebanon’s health ministry said two people were killed Monday in an Israeli strike in the country’s south, where Hezbollah has been trading near-daily fire with Israel since the start of the Gaza war in October.
Since last week, tensions have soared as Iran and Tehran-backed groups, including Hezbollah, vowed revenge for the killing of Hamas’s political leader in Tehran and Israel’s killing of Hezbollah’s military chief in Beirut.
“The enemy raid that took place near the (Mais Al-Jabal) town’s cemetery killed two people,” Lebanon’s health ministry said in a statement.
“One of the two martyrs who fell in the Mais Al-Jabal raid this morning was a Risala Scouts paramedic,” Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said.
Iran says it does not want regional escalation but must ‘punish’ Israel
Iran is not looking to escalate regional tensions but believes it needs to punish Israel to prevent further instability, the foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday, following the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week.
“Iran seeks to establish stability in the region, but this will only come with punishing the aggressor and creating deterrence against the adventurism of the Zionist regime (Israel),” Nasser Kanaani said, adding that action from Tehran was inevitable.
Kanaani called on the United States to stop supporting Israel, saying the international community had failed in its duty to safeguard stability in the region and should support the “punishment of the aggressor”.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ top commander, Hossein Salami, on Monday reiterated the elite group’s threat that Israel “will receive punishment in due time”.
Yesterday’s key developments:
- The US urged citizens in Lebanon to leave on “any ticket available” amid growing fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East following the death of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh. The UK issued a similar warning to British nationals, telling them to “leave now”.
- Iran‘s Revolutionary Guards said that Israel killed Haniyeh using a “short-range projectile” launched from outside of his accommodation in Tehran, contradicting reports earlier in the week that Haniyeh had been killed by a bomb planted months before. Haniyeh was buried Friday at cemetery in Lusail, north of the Qatari capital Doha.
Gaza’s health ministry collects data from the enclave’s hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent. For more on the health ministry’s casualty figures, click here.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP & Reuters)
Issued on: Modified:
Sources from: FRANCE24.COM
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