Live: Over 200 Lebanese children killed in two months of Israeli attacks

At least one person has been killed after an Israeli drone struck a group of Palestinians in Deir al-Balah's al-Bassa neighbourhood in central Gaza, Al Jazeera Arabic reported. 

Lebanon's health ministry reported that seven people were killed, including two children, and 46 others injured in the Israeli attack on the city of Tyre on Friday.

Israeli authorities have released 20 detainees from Gaza through the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing, according to the Wafa news agency, citing local sources.

The sources reported that the detainees had been detained during Israel's ongoing ground assault on northern Gaza, which began in early October.

Six people have been killed in an Israeli attack on Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, the Wafa news agency reported.

Also in northern Gaza, Al Jazeera reported that one person had been killed in an Israeli attack on a house in Beit Lahia, in addition to the four people killed in separate attacks on the town earlier today.

Wafa also reported earlier, citing medical sources, that five people were killed in an Israeli strike on the Shujayea neighbourhood of Gaza City.

The death toll of Palestinians in Gaza since the onset of Israel’s war on the enclave on 7 October 2023 has risen to 43,552, with another 102,765 people injured, the Palestinian health ministry said on Saturday.

At least five people have been killed and others injured in an Israeli strike on the Shujayea neighbourhood of Gaza City, Wafa news agency is reporting.

Israeli forces detained at least 18 Palestinians across the West Bank overnight, the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Society reported in a joint statement.

The statement added that over 11,600 Palestinians have been detained by Israeli forces from the West Bank, including Jerusalem, since the onset of Israel's war on Gaza in October 2023.

Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man after besieging his family home during a raid on al-Aqaba in the occupied West Bank, according to the Wafa news agency.

Security sources identified the man as Adham Zayed Ezzat al-Masry, adding that his body is still being held by the Israeli forces.

Citing local sources, Wafa reported that a 50-year-old Palestinian man was injured after being shot in the chest during the raid and that the Israeli forces detained another resident from a gas station in the town.

Good morning, Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates:

• A new wave of air strikes pounded Beirut overnight.

• At least nine people, including a pregnant woman and a child, were killed in an Israeli attack on Tyre, Lebanon on Friday.

• At least 19 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air strikes in Gaza since dawn. This includes two families who were killed in a strike on the Fahad al-Sabah school, where displaced Palestinians were sheltering, in Gaza City. Nine others were killed when Israeli forces bombed tents in al-Mawasi "safe zone" near Khan Younis. Four more were killed in Israeli attacks in Beit Lahia.

• Several soldiers were injured in an Israeli air strike near Aleppo, Syria.

• A committee of global food security experts warned on Friday that there is a “strong likelihood” of imminent famine in areas of northern Gaza.

• The UN Human Rights Office has verified 8,119 Palestinian deaths in Gaza during the first seven months of Israel’s war on the enclave.

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

Here are some of the day's key developments:

• At least 60 Jordanian men and women have joined an open hunger strike to demand the lifting of the Israeli siege on the northern Gaza Strip

• At least 13 air raids hit Beirut's southern suburbs

• Trump tells Palestinian president he’s committed to ending Gaza war

• The Israeli army has detained eight Palestinians from Tabaqa, southwest of the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, Wafa news reported on Friday

• There is a "strong likelihood that famine is imminent in areas" of the northern Gaza, a committee of global food security experts said on Friday

• The Metropolitan Police’s War Crimes Team has shared a “small number of referrals” with the International Criminal Court (ICC) since the Hamas-led attack on Israel last October and the ensuing war on Gaza

• Israeli bulldozer destroys part of UN structure in south Lebanon

• The UN Human Rights Office has verified 8,119 Palestinian deaths in Gaza during the first seven months of Israel’s war on the enclave

Palestine’s foreign ministry has demanded the Dutch government to immediately investigate anti-Arab chants and attacks on the Palestinian flag by Israeli hooligans, and called for the protection of Palestinians and Arabs in the Netherlands.

"These actions, fueled by Israeli settlers and soldiers who have travelled to European capitals, aim to spread a racist and divisive ideology targeting Palestinian identity," the ministry said.

"The Ministry warns that tolerating such provocations not only threatens Palestinians but also undermines core principles of human rights and social cohesion, urging authorities to confront and counter these dangerous forms of anti-Palestinian sentiment.”

An American logistics firm has revealed further details of a plan it says it has discussed with Israeli government officials to use mercenaries to secure and deliver aid supplies into northern Gaza.

The head of the firm, Global Delivery Company (GDC), told Middle East Eye that the plan, which involves setting up a distribution hub at a former Hamas-run customs facility, is supported by defence and military officials but has not been approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

Moti Kahana accused Netanyahu of “playing politics” with aid and said that with the dismissal of Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and the election of Donald Trump as US president, it remains unclear what direction the government will take.

“I think Trump will let the Israeli government do potentially what they want,” Kahana told MEE, stressing that he would not support the creation of Jewish settlements in Gaza.

Kahana said: “A part of the government is looking at things I will not be part of. I am not interested to bring settlers into Gaza. I am interested to help civilians.”

READ MORE: ‘War-zone Uber’ reveals pitch to Israel to send aid into Gaza

At least thirteen Israeli air raids have struck several neighbourhoods in southern Beirut, including al-Jamous, Haret Hreik, and the al-Hadath area, located near the Lebanese University, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported.

Three Palestinians were killed and five others wounded in an Israeli air strike on a tent housing a displaced family in the western part of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, medics told Reuters on Friday.

A separate Israeli raid killed Khaled Abu Zir, a journalist working for a local radio broadcaster, according to a statement by the Gaza government's media office.

Human history is full of examples of genocidal acts committed by leaders, states, militaries, and armed groups. 

But the genocide unfolding before our eyes in Gaza stands out for its level of meticulous documentation and the speed of information flow. Billions of people around the world receive live, uncensored coverage of what is happening in the besieged enclave, from the perspectives of both victim and aggressor.

As we witness the massive scale of destruction and killing, it is essential to note the development of a "culture of genocide" within Israeli society. 

One of its most recent manifestations took place on Thursday, when Israeli hooligans, supporters of the Maccabi Tel Aviv football club, provoked clashes with Dutch youth in Amsterdam. They chanted anti-Arab slogans, tore down Palestinian flags, and ignored a minute of silence for the Spanish flood victims. 

It apparently never occurred to these Israeli hooligans that racist chanting and acts of vandalism against private property in a foreign country was unacceptable behaviour, which could provoke the anger of local residents. 

READ MORE: Israeli football hooligans bring culture of genocide to Amsterdam by Abed Abou Shhadeh