Live: Israel ramps up strikes on Gaza after Iran attack

Heavily armed Israeli forces stormed the Al Jazeera Arabic offices in the occupied West Bank during a live broadcast from its bureau in Ramallah in a pre-dawn raid on Sunday. 

Dozens of troops entered the Qatar-based network’s offices after blowing up the building's iron gates, according to local reports. 

The network aired a live broadcast showing an Israeli soldier handing a military court order to the bureau chief, Walid al-Omari, after they entered the building. 

The soldier told Omari that a military order had been issued to close down the channel for 45 days, before asking everyone to exit the office within two minutes. 

Read more: Heavily armed Israeli troops raid and close down Al Jazeera's West Bank office

Tim Dawson, deputy general secretary of the International Federation of Journalists, called the Israeli military's closure of Al Jazeera’s bureau in Ramallah “utterly shocking” and said it is part of a long-standing effort to suppress free reporting.

Speaking to Al Jazeera from London, Dawson noted: “Journalists have been blocked from entering Gaza, targeted in the region, and critical media within Israel has faced suppression. The attempt to silence Al Jazeera is atrocious on many levels.”

He condemned the use of combat troops to shut down the office, adding, “It’s appalling that soldiers were sent to intimidate journalists armed only with microphones and notebooks. Carrying it out at 3 a.m. was likely intended to heighten fear.”

Speech of the Chinese representative to the Security Council, Fu Cong, on the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh:

- We urge Israel to immediately comply with Security Council resolutions.
- The current situation is a direct result of the failure to reach a ceasefire in Gaza.
- We firmly oppose Israel’s attacks on the southern suburbs of Beirut.
- We strongly condemn the assassination of political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
- The assassination of Haniyeh was clearly an attempt to sabotage peace efforts.

Algeria's representative to the United Nations Security Council, Amar Bendjama, delivered the following remarks regarding the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran:

"Israel has embraced a policy of bloodshed and a scorched earth strategy. The recent Israeli attack is a blatant and malicious assault on the principles of diplomatic relations and the sanctity of state sovereignty," he said.

"Israel's actions are a clear violation of Iran's sovereignty. We are now facing an extremely dangerous moment, standing on the brink of disaster.

"The barbaric targeting of journalists and civilians in Gaza and Lebanon by Israel is strongly condemned. These actions are not acts of legitimate self-defence but outright aggression.

"The international community cannot remain silent in the face of such bloodshed and blatant disregard for international law. We call for an immediate ceasefire and an end to the Israeli occupation of all territories."

The European Union is "extremely concerned" about an escalation of the conflict between Israel and Lebanese group Hezbollah, and is calling for an "urgent" ceasefire, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Sunday.

"The European Union is extremely concerned about an escalation in Lebanon after the attacks Friday in Beirut," Borrell said in a statement, calling for a "ceasefire" along the demarcation line separating them, "as well as in Gaza".

He was referring to an Israeli strike on Friday on the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital that killed 16 Hezbollah fighters and around 30 other civilians.

Borrell will be attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York next week alongside many global leaders.

"Civilians on both sides are paying a high price," he added.

"They will also be the ones suffering once again the most in a full-blown war that must be averted, including by renewed intense diplomatic mediation efforts," said Borrell.

Reporting by AFP

Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem said on Sunday that his group was in a "new phase" in its battle against Israel, which it has waged from across the Lebanese border since the Gaza war erupted.

"We have entered a new phase, namely an open reckoning" with Israel, Qassem said at the funeral ceremony of a senior Hezbollah commander killed in an Israeli strike on Friday.

"Threats will not stop us… We are ready to face all military possibilities," he said, in the first comments from a senior group official since the strike on Beirut's southern suburbs killed Ibrahim Aqil, the head of Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force.

At least 16 Hezbollah members were killed in the strike, while Lebanon's health ministry put the death toll at 45, including civilians.

Qassem said Hezbollah attacks on Israeli military production facilities and an air base near northern Israel's Haifa on Sunday were part of the new "open reckoning".

He repeated that only a ceasefire in Gaza would put a stop to his group's cross-border attacks, warning that "the Israeli military solution increases the dilemma for Israel and the residents of the north" of the country.

Reporting by AFP

The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has called for the oppression of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank to end, saying that Israel was not above the law.  

"The oppression, violence and discrimination against Palestinians in the West Bank, including Christians, must cease. The Israeli government is not above the law and must stop acting otherwise," he said on X. 

Welby was commenting on the forceful dispossession of a Palestinian Christian family, the Kisiya family, from their village in Bethlehem to make way for Israeli settlements.

"Steadfast Christian families such as the Kisiya family, whose ancestral land has been forcibly stolen from them, remain especially in my prayers," Welby added. 

"We continue to stand in prayerful solidarity with our Palestinian Christian sisters and brothers as they resist the injustice of occupation."

Welby is the principal leader of the Church of England and ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion. 

This is an urgent and important intervention by my fellow bishops and I support them in it.

The oppression, violence and discrimination against Palestinians in the West Bank, including Christians, must cease. The Israeli government is not above the law and must stop acting… https://t.co/XebvCF7vXt

— Archbishop of Canterbury (@JustinWelby) September 22, 2024

The Israeli army said it closed the Al Jazeera office in Ramallah after claiming the network was inciting "terror" through its coverage. 

A military statement said it made its decision after a legal opinion and intelligence assessment "determined that the offices were being used to incite terror, to support terrorist activities and that the channel's broadcasts endanger the security and public order in both the area and the state of Israel as a whole".

Al Jazeera, which is based in Doha, denied the claims and said it had no affiliation with armed groups operating in the occupied Palestinian territories. 

The network also condemned the raid against its office in Ramallah and said Israel systematically targets its employees in the Gaza Strip. 

Four of Al Jazeera's journalists have been killed since the war in Gaza began last October.

The Lebanese health ministry said Israeli strikes had killed three people in southern Lebanon. 

Hezbollah confirmed Israeli forces killed two of its fighters on Sunday. 

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Israeli strikes on Lebanon would continue until it was safe for evacuated people in the north of Israel to return. 

“Hezbollah has begun to feel some of the capabilities of the Israel Defence Forces… and we are seeing the results,” Gallant said.

“These moves will continue until we reach a situation where we safely return the residents of the north to their homes. This is the goal, this is the mission, and we will do everything necessary to meet it,” he added, in comments reported by the Times of Israel.

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza warned that its facilities could lose power within the next 10 days due to a lack of oil, filters and spare parts. 

Posting on Telegram, the ministry said the potential loss of power to its generators posed a grave danger to the lives of its patients, especially in intensive care units, during operations and in nurseries. 

The ministry appealed to “all concerned international and humanitarian institutions to intervene quickly” to keep the generators operating.

The Israeli military continues to significantly restrict aid going into Gaza despite the mounting civilian casualties and deteriorating living conditions.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement from his office on Sunday for the first time since last week's pager attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon. 

In the statement, Netanyahu said Israel had issued a "series of blows it could not have imagined".

“If Hezbollah has not understood the message, I promise you, it will understand the message,” Netanyahu said, as he promised the return of northern residents who were evacuated due to attacks by Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“No country can tolerate firing on its citizens, on its cities, and us… We will do everything necessary to restore security,” Netanyahu said.

Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has accused Israel of creating "hell in Gaza".

Speaking to journalists on Sunday ahead of the UN General Assembly in New York, Araghchi said that the Israeli army had “created a real hell in Gaza” and that "the crimes of the Zionist regime in Lebanon, even though they are being committed out of frustration, will not be left without response".

He added: “The main hurdle in achieving a ceasefire and stopping this war has really been the support provided by the US and western countries.”

Gaza's Civil Defence said seven people had been killed and many wounded after Israel bombed the Kafr Qasim school in al-Shati refugee camp in western Gaza City. 

The school, like many others in Gaza, was turned into a makeshift shelter and housed hundreds of displaced people. 

Good morning, Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates from the Israeli war on Gaza, now in its 352nd day:

• Hezbollah fired nearly 100 rockets towards northern Israel, including Haifa for the first time since the current hostilities began almost a year ago. The Lebanese group said the targets included the Ramat David military airbase and the Rafael arms manufacturer.  

• The attacks left at least three people wounded, according to Israeli media, with videos posted online showing damage caused by the rockets in several locations. 

• Over in the occupied West Bank, heavily armed Israeli soldiers raided and closed down Al Jazeera's main office in Ramallah before dawn while the station was live on air. Soldiers said a military order was issued to close down the channel's offices for 45 days.