Live: Israel kills more than 430 Palestinians on Tuesday

Israeli air strikes hit southern Lebanon on Sunday despite a ceasefire, killing four people, according to Lebanese state media and the Health Ministry.

Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA), citing the health ministry’s emergency service, reported three deaths from Israeli attacks on Ainata, Mais el-Jabal, and Bint Jbeil.

The health ministry separately confirmed another fatality in Mais el-Jabal.

The UK Foreign Office has declined to condemn an Israeli drone attack on Saturday which killed eight volunteers working for the UK charity Al-Khair Foundation as they were setting up tents for displaced Palestinians in northern Gaza.

At least nine people, including three journalists, were killed and several more wounded in the attack in Gaza's Beit Lahia, which targeted a relief team accompanied by journalists and photographers, according to Palestinian media.

Qasim Rashid Ahmad, founder and chairman of Al-Khair Foundation, told the BBC the team was in Beit Lahia on Saturday to set up tents for displaced Palestinians.

He said the cameramen were hit when they came back to their car, and moments later, an Israeli drone targeted their team members who had rushed to the scene. 

Middle East Eye asked the Foreign Office whether it would condemn the Israeli strike.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: "It is vital that - in all scenarios - civilians are protected, including journalists and humanitarian organisations, who must be enabled to deliver their essential work in safety. 

Read more: Foreign office won't condemn Israeli strike on UK charity workers

Good morning Middle East Eye readers.

Here are the key developments overnight:

• The World Food Programme called for an end to Israel’s blockade on Gaza, noting that no food has entered the Strip since 2 March, resulting in prices to surge by 200 per cent.

• The UN’s humanitarian agency warned that parents in Gaza are struggling to feed their children and hospitals are running out of basic supplies again amid the Israeli blockade.

• Israeli attacks killed at least two people in the village of Ainata in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanese media.

• US forces launched more attacks on Yemen, hitting a hijacked ship in the Red Sea port of Hodeidah and a government complex in the northern province of al-Jawf.

• Meanwhile, Yemen's Ansar Allah administration said it attacked the USS Harry Truman aircraft carrier for the second time in the past 24 hours, launching “a number of drones and ballistic and cruise missiles” at the warship.

Our live coverage from Gaza will shortly be closing until tomorrow morning.

Here are some of the day's key developments:

• An Israeli drone strike on the Kuwait Roundabout, south of Gaza City, has killed one person, according to an Al Jazeera Arabic.

• The death toll from US attacks on Yemen has risen to 53, with five children and two women among the victims, according to Anees Alsbahi, spokesperson for the Houthi-run health ministry.

• Unicef has urgently called for life-saving health supplies to be allowed into Gaza, where nearly 1 million children lack basic survival necessities. Edouard Beigbeder, Unicef’s Middle East and North Africa regional director, stated, “Without aid, children are deprived of essentials yet again.”  

• US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has declared that American forces will continue their attacks on Yemen’s Houthi rebels until the group halts its assaults on ships and drones in the Red Sea.

• Yahya Saree, the military spokesman for Yemen’s Houthi movement, condemned the US for launching over 170 raids on various regions, calling it an act of "aggression".

• Yemen’s Houthis have accused the US of escalating tensions in the Red Sea, saying that American attacks pose the greatest threat to international shipping.

• US F-16 and F-18 fighter jets shot down 11 drones launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Sunday, a US official told Reuters.

• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for “utmost restraint and a cessation of all military activities” in Yemen following deadly US strikes, his spokesperson said.

• US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff has called Hamas' demands regarding the Gaza ceasefire "an unacceptable response", saying the group's proposal was a "non-starter".

• US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told CBS that there will be an increase in the detention of pro-Palestinian protesters and the revocation of their green cards and visas.

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced plans to propose the dismissal of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar during a government meeting this week.

Unicef has urgently called for life-saving health supplies to be allowed into Gaza, where nearly 1 million children lack basic survival necessities. Edouard Beigbeder, Unicef’s Middle East and North Africa regional director, stated, “Without aid, children are deprived of essentials yet again.”  

Beigbeder, after a four-day mission to Gaza and the West Bank, highlighted over 180,000 doses of childhood vaccines and 20 neonatal ventilators stranded outside Gaza.

“Approximately 4,000 newborns cannot access critical care due to devastated medical facilities,” he said. “Every day without these ventilators, vulnerable lives, especially premature babies in northern Gaza, are lost.”

Yemen’s Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV reported early on Monday that the US carried out two strikes targeting Hodeidah.

Israel’s Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara has warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he cannot proceed with dismissing Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar without a thorough examination of the legal and factual basis for the decision, The Times of Israel reported.

In an official letter, she stated, “It is not possible to initiate a dismissal process until the factual and legal basis underlying your decision is fully examined, as well as your authority to address the matter at this time.”

Baharav-Miara emphasised the “extraordinary sensitivity” of the issue, noting concerns over potential illegality, conflict of interest, and the fact that the Shin Bet chief’s role is not a “personal trust position serving the prime minister.”

Wafa, the Palestinian news agency, has reported several attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians:

• Settlers, backed by Israeli forces, targeted Palestinians in Wadi Hilweh, Silwan (East Jerusalem), according to the Jerusalem Governorate. No injuries were reported.

• In Hebron, settlers attacked homes and residents in Jaber, as-Salaymeh, and Wadi Nasara neighbourhoods, local activist Aref Jaber stated.

• A 64-year-old Palestinian man, Abdul Aziz al-Shantir, sustained head injuries after settlers stormed his shop in Hebron’s Old City, Jaber added.

US F-16 and F-18 fighter jets shot down 11 drones launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Sunday, a US official told Reuters.

The drones, allegedly targeting the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, did not approach the vessel, which has been central to US strikes on Yemen.

The official, speaking anonymously, also confirmed tracking a Houthi missile that failed mid-flight and crashed off Yemen’s coast. No action was taken as it posed no threat.

Syria’s defence ministry has accused Hezbollah of abducting and killing three Syrian soldiers near the Zeita Dam on the Syrian-Lebanese border in Homs province.

In a statement carried by the state news agency SANA, the ministry said, “A Hezbollah militia group kidnapped three Syrian army members and took them to Lebanese territory, where they were eliminated.”

An investment firm headed by Jared Kushner and backed by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates is the largest shareholder in an Israeli company which in turn holds shares in businesses accused by the United Nations of operating in illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Affinity Partners has received several billion dollars in funding from the Gulf states’ sovereign wealth funds since it was launched by Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son in law and former Middle East advisor, in 2021.

In January, just weeks after securing further funding from the Qatari Investment Authority (QIA) and an Abu Dhabi-based investment firm, Affinity completed the purchase of a near-10 percent stake in Phoenix Financial.

Phoenix, formerly known as Phoenix Holdings, is an Israeli financial services group that offers insurance and asset management services, and holds shares in other Israeli companies in its own name and through a subsidiary, Phoenix Investment House.

Read more: Exclusive: Gulf states linked to Israeli businesses on UN settlements blacklist

The death toll from US attacks on Yemen has risen to 53, with five children and two women among the victims, according to Anees Alsbahi, spokesperson for the Houthi-run health ministry.

In a post on X, Alsbahi added that the number of wounded has reached 98.

The strikes have drawn widespread condemnation, with critics accusing the US of exacerbating Yemen’s humanitarian crisis.

Oman has voiced “great concern” over the recent US military strikes in Yemen, warning of their humanitarian and regional consequences.

In a statement, the Omani Foreign Ministry said, “The escalation exacerbates the suffering of the Yemeni people and increases instability in the region.”

Muscat urged a shift towards dialogue and negotiation, cautioning that continued military actions threaten regional security and stability.

Ronen Bar, head of Israel’s Shin Bet, has stated that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to dismiss him is unrelated to the 7 October , 2023, security failures.

In a statement, Bar said, “I took responsibility for the agency’s part [in the attack]… it is clear that the intent behind my dismissal is not related to 7 October.”

He criticised Netanyahu’s demand for personal loyalty, calling it “an entirely improper expectation” that conflicts with the public interest.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for “utmost restraint and a cessation of all military activities” in Yemen following deadly US strikes, his spokesperson said.

Stephane Dujarric warned, “Any further escalation could worsen regional tensions, fuel cycles of retaliation, and deepen Yemen’s humanitarian crisis.”

The statement highlights concerns over the destabilising impact of US-led military actions, which critics argue exacerbate suffering in a country already devastated by war.