Live: Israeli soldiers kill unarmed Palestinians as they surrender in Jenin

The Israeli army conducted at least two air strikes on the outskirts of Hermel, in the far north-eastern corner of Lebanon on Thursday, despite a nearly year-old ceasefire, Al Jazeera reported.

The Israeli army confirmed it carried out attacks, claiming that it targeted a Hezbollah site used for the production of “precision missiles".

As I prepare to begin training Gaza’s doctors and mental health professionals in a World Health Organization initiative that aims to bridge the gap between mental health needs and available resources, I can’t help but ask: can the Palestinian enclave be healed?

Our goal is to strengthen Gaza’s shattered medical system by integrating mental health into primary care, and by empowering non-specialists to recognise and respond to psychological distress.

A ceasefire has been imposed after two years of Israel’s genocide. Gaza remains a land gasping for breath, its skyline broken, its soil layered with grief. 

Around $70bn is reportedly needed to rebuild the hospitals, homes, schools and other infrastructure crushed by repeated bombardments. But no economist can measure the invisible destruction: the psychological and moral disintegration of a society that has been dehumanised and starved of hope.

Read more: Gaza can be healed, but not by the same hands that destroyed her Opinion by Samah Jabr

Turkish peacekeeping forces will continue to help boost the Lebanese army's capability under a renewed deployment mandate in Lebanon, Turkey's Defence Ministry said on Thursday.

Turkey's parliament passed a bill on Tuesday to renew the military's deployment mandates in Syria and Iraq for three more years, and its deployment mandate under the UN Interim Force in Lebanon for two years.

"Efforts will continue to improve security conditions in the region, ensure stability and assist in the capacity building of the Lebanese armed forces, to establish and maintain peace in Lebanon," the ministry said in a statement.

Nato member Turkey, which took part in mediation that led to the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal in Gaza, condemned Israeli attacks on the Palestinian enclave and regional countries, including Lebanon, saying that "genocidal" and "expansionist" Israeli policies remained the biggest threat to regional peace.

Israeli drone fire killed one Palestinian in the town of Bani Suhaila in Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera Arabic reported, citing Nasser Medical Complex.

Israel's Supreme Court on Thursday pushed back the hearing of a petition filed by an organisation representing international media outlets in Israel and the Palestinian territories which is demanding independent access for journalists to Gaza.

Since October 2023, Israeli authorities have prevented foreign journalists from entering the devastated territory, taking only a handful of reporters inside on tightly controlled visits alongside its troops.

On Thursday, Israel's top court began the hearing of a petition filed by the Foreign Press Association (FPA) seeking access to Gaza.

The state attorney acknowledged "the situation has changed" and requested a further 30 days to examine the circumstances. No date has been set for the next hearing.

The Gaza Tribunal, a people's tribunal, was formed a year ago in response to the failure of the established world order of sovereign states and international institutions to stop what experts and ordinary people increasingly recognised as genocide in Gaza.

The Gaza Tribunal will hold its final session from 23-26 October 2025 at Istanbul University.

Our initiative was inspired by an earlier civil society effort during the Vietnam War, when leading public intellectuals Bertrand Russell and Jean-Paul Sartre established the Russell Tribunal, which held hearings in 1966 and 1967.

Its mission was to report on the international crimes of the United States and to legitimise growing anti-war sentiment in the West.

The underlying premise was that when the state system fails to uphold international law or to ensure accountability for grave crimes that affect global peace and security, people possess a residual authority and responsibility to act.

Read more: Why the Gaza Tribunal is still needed after Trump's ceasefire Opinion by Richard Falk

Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian olive pickers in the town of Turmus Ayya, north of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, the official Wafa news agency reported.

Local sources said dozens of settlers entered the town and assaulted farmers while they were harvesting olives, forcing them to leave their land.

According to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, 158 attacks have been recorded against olive pickers since the start of the current harvest season. Of these, 17 were carried out by the Israeli army and 141 by settlers.

Indonesia's sports minister said the decision to prevent Israeli gymnasts from participating in a world championship event being held in Jakarta is for the public interest.

“We uphold the principle of ensuring security, public order, and the public interest when hosting any international event,” Erick Thohir said on X, saying that Indonesia has a constitutional duty to help maintain global peace.

Thohir's comments came after the International Olympic Committee urged all international sporting federations not to host sporting events in Indonesia.

“Indonesia will continue to play an active role in various sporting events at the Southeast Asian, Asian, and world levels, so that Indonesian sports can be an ambassador and a reflection of the nation’s greatness in the eyes of the world,” Thohir said.

An international delegation of about 20 diplomats is heading to Birzeit, north of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank to monitor settler attacks, Al Jazeera Arabic reported.

A senior UN official warned on Wednesday of "generational" impacts in Gaza from malnutrition among pregnant women and babies, urging a surge of aid to help prevent potential lifelong health issues.

"The sheer extent of the devastation looked like the set of a dystopian film," Andrew Saberton, deputy executive director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), told reporters after his visit to the war-torn enclave.

He said that a quarter of Gaza's population is "starving".

"That includes 11,500 pregnant women, for whom starvation is particularly catastrophic for both mother and newborn," said Saberton, whose agency leads reproductive and maternal health programmes around the world.

As a result, 70 percent of newborns are premature or underweight, compared to 20 percent before Israel's war on Gaza.

Good morning Middle East Eye readers.

Here are the latest updates from Israel's war on Gaza:

• US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday warned Israel against annexing the occupied West Bank, saying steps taken by parliament and settler violence threatened a Gaza ceasefire.

• Israel's Supreme Court is set to hear on Thursday a petition filed by an organisation representing international media outlets in Israel and the Palestinian territories, demanding independent access for journalists to Gaza.

• The World Health Organization led the medical evacuation of 41 critical patients and 145 companions out of Gaza, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday.

• Israeli forces detained two young Palestinians during a raid in the town of Al-Yamun, west of Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, Quds news network reported.

• Reuters, citing the US Secretary of State reports that countries outside the Middle East are ready to contribute to an international force in Gaza.

• The UN Mine Action Service has warned that Gaza faces an “incredibly high” risk from unexploded bombs as displaced families begin returning home under the ceasefire.

Good evening Middle East Eye readers, 

The International Criminal Court on Wednesday ruled that Israel was obligated to facilitate the entry of aid into Gaza by the UN. The head of the United Nations Agency for Palestinians (Unrwa) welcomed the ruling. 

"I welcome the unambiguous ruling by the International Court of Justice today stating that - Israel is under an obligation to agree to & facilitate relief schemes provided by the United Nations & its entities, in particular Unrwa," the agency's chief, Philippe Lazzarini, said on X. 

After the ruling, Norway said it is planning a resolution for the United Nations General Assembly to vote on demanding that Israel lift restrictions on aid to Palestinians in Gaza.

Here is what else you need to know:

• The majority of Americans said they are in favour of recognising a Palestinian state, according to a new poll by Reuters
• The death toll from Israel's onslaught on the Gaza Strip has risen to 68,234, and 170,373 wounded, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported
• Hamas on Wedneday criticised an Israeli bill to annex the occupied West Bank that advanced through the Knesset despite opposition from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 

The US on Wednesday condemned the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for ruling that Israel is obliged to facilitate the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip by the UN. 

"Another corrupt ruling by the ICJ," the State Department said in a statement.  

As President Trump and Secretary Rubio work tirelessly to bring peace to the region, this so-called "court" issues a nakedly politicized non-binding "advisory opinion" unfairly bashes Israel and gives Unrwa a free pass for its deep entanglement with and material support for Hamas terrorism," the State Department added.

The ICJ ruled on Wednesday that Unrwa was not connected to Hamas. Israel's refusal to open the Rafah border crossing for aid is itself in violation of a ceasefire agreement it signed backed by the US.

"This ICJ's ongoing abuse of its advisory opinion discretion suggests that it is nothing more than a partisan political tool, which can be weaponized against Americans," the statement added. 

Hamas on Wednesday said that Israel is "dragging its feet" on letting aid into the Gaza Strip, as the group reiterated its commitment to the ceasefire agreement. 

Hamas official Ismail Radwan told Al Jazeera that Israel is trying to “evade its obligations" and that the amount of aid allowed into Gaza is a “drop in the ocean”. 

Israel has refused to allow the Rafah crossing to open. 

“The occupation is dragging its feet and has not fully complied with the humanitarian part of the agreement. There are more than 10,000 people missing under the rubble, and Civil Defence workers need heavy equipment to retrieve them,” Radwan said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office told Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich that the Trump administration is opposed to Israel declaring sovereignty on the occupied West Bank, according to a report by the Israeli Broadcasting Authority.

The message was delivered as Israel's Knesset voted on Wednesday to approve two pieces of legislation that would annex the occupied territory.