Israeli air-strikes on central Beirut on Oct. 10 killed at least 22 people and injured over 100 others. Two members of the the UN peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL) were injured when an Israeli tank opened fire at an observation tower at the mission's headquarters in the city of Naqoura on the same day. The attack was one of several by the Israeli military on the UN mission in recent days and has drawn international condemnation.

The overnight strikes in central Beirut were reportedly targeting a senior Hezbollah leader and hit densely populated residential areas that previously had not been bombed. A family of eight, including three children, who had fled Israel's bombardment of southern Lebanon were among the dead. Hezbollah, meanwhile, continued to launch rockets into Israel, injuring several people and killing two—the first civilian fatalities inside Israel since the Israeli military escalated its attacks on Lebanon in mid-September.

More than 1,300 people have been killed and nearly 4,000 wounded in Lebanon since Sept. 23, according to the country's health ministry. Around 1.2 million people (about one fifth of Lebanon's population) have been forcibly displaced from their homes. Several hundred thousand people—mostly Syrians who had sought refuge in Lebanon from their country's civil war—have crossed the border into Syria in recent weeks. (TNH)

The leaders of France, Italy, and Spain released a joint statement condemning the Israeli Defense Forces for "unjustifiable" attacks on United Nations peacekeepers. (Jurist)

The EU on Oct. 12 expressed grave concern over draft legislation in the Israeli parliament that would ban the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) from operating within Israel and potentially restrict aid to Gaza. The proposed bills, if enacted, would abrogate the 1967 agreement between Israel and UNRWA, terminating the agency's operations in Israel and East Jerusalem.

On Oct. 6, the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee approved two bills aimed at halting UNRWA's activities in Israel. The first would prohibit UNRWA from providing services, or conducting any activities, within Israel. The second declares that the 1967 treaty with UNRWA void upon the Knesset's final approval and revokes immunities granted to UNRWA staff.

In response, the EU High Representative argued that by halting UNRWA's life-saving operations in Gaza, the bills seriously hamper provision of health, education and social services in West Bank, describing UNRWA's work in the area as "a pillar of regional stability."

In a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres also expressed profound concern, warning that the draft legislation would be "catastrophic," ending coordination to protect UN facilities serving hundreds of thousands of people. He emphasized UNRWA's extensive operations, including nearly 400 schools and 65 medical centers in the West Bank and Gaza, serving over 350,000 children and supporting a significant portion of Gaza's population. He cautioned that legislation severing ties between a UN member state and a UN agency would be a "very worrisome development" and indicated he would raise the issue with the UN General Assembly if the bills pass.

Guterres added that such legislation would violate Israel’s international obligations and hinder peace efforts. The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates similarly condemned the Knesset's actions as a "blatant attack" on the UN. In another statement, the ministry viewed the move as part of Israel's broader campaign against Palestinian rights, particularly the right of return as outlined in UN Resolution 194.

The proposed legislation comes amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza, which Guterres described as entering "an atrocious, abominable second year." He highlighted the intensification of Israeli military operations in northern Gaza and the forced movement of approximately 400,000 people into overcrowded areas in the south. (Jurist)

UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq stated in a briefing Oct. 11 that "aid entering Gaza is at its lowest level in months. No one has received food parcels in this month due to constrained access of aid supplies."

The UN reported that bakeries are shutting all around the Palestinian-occupied territory in Gaza as bakers cannot secure wheat flour, and World Food Program kitchens have been forced to shut down due to the war. Haq nonetheless said that international organizations are doing their best to maintain humanitarian aid in Gaza. Specifically, UNRWA is "distributing bread, ready-to-eat or cooked meals, as well as flour, in and beyond designated shelters."

Haq's statement was made a month after a UN report on the right to food by Michael Fakhri, who declared that Palestinians are starving due to a campaign by Israel, was released. Israel employs "blockades, water deprivation, food system destruction and the general destruction of civil infrastructure" as methods of enforcing starvation, according to Fakhri. He said this reflects Israel's "fundamental abandonment of its human rights obligations," and that starvation is being used as a tool of "genocide, extermination, and torture." (Jurist)

UNRWA has been targeted in Israeli miitary operations repeatedly, accusing the agency of ties to Hamas.

The White House has warned Israel it has one month to implement significant improvements to the humanitarian situation in Gaza or jeopardize the continued supply of US weapons, noting that humanitarian assistance entering the Strip has plummeted in recent months.

In an Oct. 13 letter to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, obtained by The Times of Israel, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin lamented that the past several months have seen a significant deterioration in the amount of aid entering Gaza. 

The top US officials said such developments call into question Israel's commitment to not restrict the entry of aid into Gaza and that it is using US weapons in line with international law. That written commitment was provided last March in order to ensure Israel’s compliance with a National Security Memorandum issued by Biden in February. The memo applies to all recipients of US security assistance. (ToI)

A partial "pause" on some arms shipments remains in place. However, the US has continued to provide high-powered munitions, as well as facilitating arms transfers from oter countries. 

Israel has launched a new offensive this week focusing on the three northernmost cities in the Gaza Strip. Hundreds of thousands of people are believed to be trapped in Beit Lahia, Beit Hanoun, and Jabalia refugee camp. The areas were hit hard early in Israel's war last year and are once again under siege and heavy bombardment. On Oct. 6, the Israeli military ordered an estimated 400,000 people in the north to evacuate to the so-called "humanitarian zone" of al-Mawasi, further south along the coast. Many remaining residents in the north refused to leave, and some who have tried to escape reported being shot at by Israeli tanks and drones.

Israel also ordered three hospitals in the area to evacuate patients and staff. The Israeli military says it is targeting Hamas members who have been regrouping in the northern areas. But in the weeks before the operation began, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu was reportedly reviewing proposals by Israeli ministers, generals, and academics calling for the north of Gaza to be completely emptied of people and turned into a closed military zone. Intensive bombing and shelling has also continued elsewhere in the enclave. At least 28 people in a school-turned-shelter in Deir al-Balah were killed in an Israeli air-strike on Oct. 10. (TNH) 

An Israeli air-strike near the grounds of al-Aqsa hospital in central Gaza caused a fire that engulfed several tents housing displaced Palestinians. At least four Palestinians were killed and dozens of others, including children, were injured. (The Guardian, Al Jazeera)

Israel says it killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar on Oct. 18. In a statement, the Israeli military said it and the Shin Bin domestic intelligence agency confirmed that, Israeli soldiers "eliminated Yahya Sinwar, the leader of the Hamas terrorist organization, in an operation in the southern Gaza Strip." (NPR)

An Israeli air-strike has killed at least 33 people including 21 women at a refugee camp in northern Gaza, the strip's Hamas-run authorities say. There was no immediate comment on the reported strike on Jabalia from Israel, whose forces have been besieging the densely-populated camp for weeks. (BBC News)

Israeli strikes have killed at least 73 people, including women and children, in the city of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, the Strip's authorities said. Dozens of others are injured and many are still trapped under the rubble after the bombing late on Oct. 19. (BBC News)

Lebanese rescuers pulled 30 bodies out of the rubble after a late night Israeli strike on an apartment building in the town of Barja, Lebanon’s Civil Defense service said Nov. 6. (AP)