Live: 54 Palestinians killed, 831 wounded in 24 hours

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday that the latest wave of Israeli air raids in Lebanon was meant to send a “clear message” to Hezbollah.

Katz claimed that the group was attempting to re-establish its assault capabilities through its elite Radwan Force, which has operated near the border. Katz offered no evidence and his comments could not be independently verified. 

Earlier in the day, the Israeli military said it had begun targeting positions in Lebanon’s Beqaa region. Israel has continued attacking Lebanon since a ceasefire agreement was reached last year with Hezbollah.

Israeli forces detained at least 28 Palestinians across the occupied West Bank overnight and into Tuesday morning, according to sources who spoke to Al Jazeera Arabic.

The arrests took place in several areas and included former prisoners as well as a young man recovering from injuries.

Raids and mass arrests by Israeli forces have intensified across the West Bank since 7 October 2023 when Israel started its war on Gaza.

British budget airline EasyJet says it will not resume flights to Israel until at least 28 March 2026.

The announcement comes as other carriers, including Aegean Airlines and Air Europa, have restarted operations at Ben-Gurion International Airport this week.

Most international carriers have suspended flights to Israel due to the country's ongoing wars in the region and growing concerns over passenger safety for thos flying in the country.

Medical sources in Gaza tell Al Jaazera Arabic that at least 11 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air raids that struck multiple areas of Gaza City since dawn on Tuesday.

The latest attacks come amid an intensifying bombardment of residential neighbourhoods across the enclave.

Four senior bishops in the Church of England have called on the British government to take urgent action against Israel’s escalating settler violence, warning that it is undermining Palestinian life and threatening the Christian presence in the Holy Land.

Writing in The Guardian on Sunday, Guli Francis-Dehqani, Rachel Treweek, Graham Usher, and Christopher Chessun - the bishops of Chelmsford, Gloucester, Norwich and Southwark - said the UK government has both a “legal and moral duty” to act.

“As the war in Gaza persists, the situation in the West Bank is in freefall,” they wrote, citing "increasing levels of settler violence and intimidation" - including recent attacks on land and churches in Taybeh, the last Christian-majority town in the West Bank.

“These attacks undermine the dignity of its Christian residents and threaten their historical and religious heritage,” the bishops added, warning that settler violence has become “an informal tool to annex Palestinian land”.

They accused Israel’s government of enabling these attacks by refusing to intervene. “This culture of impunity rewards settler violence. There is no plausible deniability here – settlers aren’t defying the state; they are doing its bidding. Settler violence is state violence by any other name.”

The bishops urged the UK to sanction individuals, settler groups and outposts responsible for violence, and to consider suspending the UK-Israel trade agreement. They concluded: “The UK government must stop its indecision.”

The Israeli army says it has intercepted a drone launched from Yemen near the southern city of Eilat.

Military officials said the unmanned aircraft was brought down without triggering air raid sirens. Israeli media also reported that air defences intercepted what was described as a "suspicious object" in the skies above Eilat.

There have been no reports of damage or injuries.

Israeli settlers have placed a mobile home in the town of Salem, east of Nablus, in what local sources told Al Jazeera Arabic is the first step towards establishing a new settlement outpost in the occupied West Bank, raising concerns of further land confiscation and violence.

All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. 

The Israeli army has issued a fresh evacuation forced order, demanding civilians in 16 neighbourhoods across northern Gaza leave their homes immediately.

A military spokesperson described it as an “urgent warning to everyone still present in Gaza City and Jabalia”, instructing them to head south towards al-Mawasi.

Israel designates al-Mawasi as a so-called “safe zone”, but the area has been repeatedly bombed despite being promoted as a refuge for displaced Palestinians.

A source at al-Shifa Hospital has told Al Jazeera Arabic that Palestinian Legislative Council member Faraj al-Ghoul was killed early this morning in an Israeli air strike that targeted his home in Gaza City.

Ghoul was a sitting member of the PLC and a prominent political figure in the Gaza Strip. No further details have been released about other casualties in the strike. 

CNN’s Jerusalem correspondent Jeremy Diamond says he and his team were attacked by Israeli settlers while reporting in the occupied West Bank this week.

Diamond had travelled to the area to interview the father of 20-year-old Saif Musallet, an American-Palestinian citizen and one of two Palestinians killed by Israeli settlers on Friday.

“As we were covering this story, my team & I were attacked by Israeli settlers. The back window of our vehicle was smashed, but we managed to escape unharmed,” he posted on X.

He added: “This is just a sliver of the reality many Palestinians face in the West Bank amid rising settler violence.

Earlier this month two journalists from the German state broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) were attacked by Israeli settlers while reporting in the occupied West Bank.

The correspondent and cameraman came under assault in the Palestinian village of Sinjil, north of Ramallah. They were covering a planned protest against mounting settler violence when a group of settlers hurled stones at them and chased them from the scene.

A Palestinian man was wounded after Israeli settlers assaulted him in the village of Susya, located in the Masafer Yatta region south of Hebron, according to Al Jazeera Arabic sources.

The area has seen a rise in settler violence in recent weeks as tensions escalate across the occupied West Bank.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces say they shot and arrested a Palestinian in Jericho after he allegedly tried to ram a group of soldiers during a military operation.

The man’s condition remains unknown.

The families of Israeli captives held in Gaza reached out to Hamas through a representative to ask about the fate of stalled ceasefire talks, Middle East Eye can reveal.

Sources told MEE that the third party reached out to Hamas after the captives' families feared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin was trying to torpedo a possible deal.

A senior figure within Hamas told the representative to relay to the families that it was "serious" about reaching an agreement to end the war and release the captives, but that it was facing "intransigent Israeli positions", sources told MEE.

"Hamas is serious about reaching an agreement to end the war and establish arrangements that ensure calm and stability. It has demonstrated significant flexibility and positive responsibility during the negotiation rounds," the sources quoted Hamas as saying.

"Israel has insisted on continuing the war, destroying the Gaza Strip, displacing its population, and imposing a state of hunger, suffering, and ongoing massacres that have not ceased for a single day."

Read more: Exclusive: Families of Israeli captives reach out to Hamas over fate of ceasefire talks

One of Israel’s main ultra-Orthodox parties, United Torah Judaism (UTJ), has announced it is leaving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government over the failure to pass legislation exempting yeshiva students from military service.

Six members of the party submitted their resignations, a month after UTJ leader Yitzhak Goldknopf stepped down. The party is made up of the Degel HaTorah and Agudat Yisrael factions.

With UTJ’s exit, Netanyahu’s coalition would be reduced to a fragile 61-seat majority in the 120-seat Knesset. It remains unclear whether Shas, another ultra-Orthodox party, will follow suit.

Degel HaTorah said its decision came after consultations with its spiritual leaders and repeated government violations of promises made to protect the status of yeshiva students. “(Its MKs) have announced their resignation from the coalition and the government,” the party said in a statement.

Ultra-Orthodox parties have long considered military exemptions a non-negotiable condition for their participation in any government. A spokesperson for Goldknopf confirmed all seven UTJ Knesset members are leaving the coalition

The Gaza Emergency and Ambulance Service said five people have been killed in an Israeli air strike targeting a home in the Al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City.

Several others were wounded in the attack, and some remain unaccounted for, according to emergency crews on the ground. Rescue efforts are ongoing.