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

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar spoke with Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp regarding the attack on Israeli football fans in Amsterdam, according to the Israeli ministry.

The ministry posted on X that Saar requested Dutch government assistance to ensure the safe transfer of fans from their hotels to the airport in Amsterdam.

“Minister Saar emphasised the seriousness with which Israel views the widespread violent attacks against its citizens throughout Amsterdam tonight,” the ministry stated

A fisherman was killed and three others injured when Israeli warships shelled the coast of Rafah city in southern Gaza, reported by Al Jazeera Arabic.

Overnight, at least 13 more people were killed in Gaza, including nine in central Gaza City, one in Beit Lahiya in the north, and three in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central part of the enclave.

Israel’s military is “preparing immediately” to launch a “rescue mission” to Amsterdam after clashes following a football match left around 10 Israeli supporters injured.

“The mission will depart on cargo planes and will include medical and rescue crews,” a military spokesman said.

“The Home Front Command is leading the rescue operation in cooperation with the various branches, and branches of the [Israeli military] and the security forces,” the spokesman added, noting that it is “in coordination with the Dutch government.”

Earlier, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered two rescue planes to head to Amsterdam to assist Maccabi Tel Aviv fans after the club's 5-0 defeat to Ajax Amsterdam in a Europa League match on Thursday night.

Clashes erupted between Maccabi football hooligans and pro-Palestinian demonstrators, with additional confrontations reported between Israeli fans and police before the match. Videos shared online showed Israeli fans removing Palestinian flags from buildings.

Dutch police had previously announced the arrest of 20 people for public disorder and illegal possession of fireworks as hundreds of Israeli supporters gathered in Amsterdam’s central Dam Square

Good morning Middle East Eye readers, 

Here are the latest updates from the Israeli war on Gaza and Lebanon now in its 398th day: 

• Israel’s assault on Gaza persists, impacting Gaza City’s Daraj neighbourhood, where fighter jets bombed a house, killing at least nine people
• Israeli police reported shooting the driver of a vehicle they accused of attempting a ramming attack in the Shu’fat refugee camp, located north of occupied East Jerusalem
• Israel’s Foreign Ministry stated that 10 Israelis were injured during violent clashes between football fans in Amsterdam, sparked when Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters were seen pulling down Palestinian flags in the Dutch capital
• The Israeli military announced it would take disciplinary action against a soldier filmed using an automatic grenade launcher in Gaza to celebrate Donald Trump’s victory in the US election
• France has accused Israel of damaging bilateral relations after Israeli forces entered a holy site administered by France in occupied East Jerusalem and briefly detained two French officials with diplomatic status

Israeli police briefly detained two French security officials in a diplomatic incident that prompted the cancellation of a local visit by France's foreign minister.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot had planned to got to the French-owned Eleona church compound in Jerusalem during a visit to the region attempting to calm tensions in the region.

However, he said that the compound visit was called off "because Israeli security forces entered with weapons, without prior French authorisation, without agreeing to leave today."

Speaking at the scene, he called the situation "unacceptable."

Over 100 Lebanese lawmakers have called on the United Nations to preserve heritage sites in areas being heavily bombed by Israel.

"During the devastating war on Lebanon, Israel has caused grave human rights violations and atrocities," said a letter addressed to Unesco's chief.

"As parliamentarians, we bring to your attention an urgent need: the protection of Lebanon's historic sites in Baalbek, Tyre, Sidon, and other invaluable landmarks currently at risk due to the escalation of the atrocities."

The leader of Yemen's Houthis has said newly elected Donald Trump will "fail" to end the fighting in the Middle East as president, citing his earlier "deal of the century" proposal to the Israelis and Palestinians last time he was in office.

"Trump failed in the project of... the deal of the century despite all his arrogance, haughtiness, recklessness and tyranny, and he will fail this time as well," Abdul Malik al-Houthi said in his weekly speech.

An Israeli air strike near a vehicle belonging to UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon on Thursday wounded several, according to a report by Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA).

The attack took place near vehicles from the United Nations Interim Force (Unifil), wounding a number of peacekeepers, according to the report, which has yet to be announced by Unifil. 

Unifil has been attacked by more than a dozen times since October, in what international law experts say may amount to a breach of UN Resolution 1701 and international humanitarian law. 

Unifil attacks and Resolution 1701: Has Israel violated international law?

An Israeli air strike on the southern Gaza city of Rafah killed six Palestinians, including three children, Al Jazeera Arabic reported. 

The Israeli army has detained at least 18 Palestinians in raids in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, according to a joint statement by the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Society.

Those detained include two girls and former prisoners, the statement said. The raids took place in Hebron, Qalqilya, Tubas and Ramallah.

“The raids were marked by abuse, threats against detainees and their families, and acts of vandalism and destruction on citizens’ homes,” the statement added.

This brings the number of Palestinians detained by Israeli forces in the West Bank since October 2023 to more than 11,600. 

Israeli attacks since dawn have killed at least 27 Palestinians across Gaza, according to Al Jazeera Arabic, which cited medical sources.

At least 19 deaths are estimated to have occurred in north Gaza, where the army has imposed a siege and launched a ferocious onslaught since 5 October.

The Israeli army has signed a $5.2bn agreement with Boeing Co to acquire 25 next generation F-15 fighter jets as part of a package of US aid approved earlier this year, Reuters reported citing the Israeli defence ministry.

The delivery of the new aircraft is due to begin in 2031, with four to six scheduled to be delivered annually, the ministry said, adding that the fighter jets will have increased range and payloads.

"These advantages will enable the Israeli Air Force to maintain its strategic superiority in addressing current and future challenges in the Middle East," the ministry said.

"This F-15 squadron, alongside the third F-35 squadron procured earlier this year, represents a historic enhancement of our air power and strategic reach - capabilities that proved crucial during the current war," the director-general of the defence ministry, Eyal Zamir, said.

Since Israel's onslaught on Gaza on 7 October 2023, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has secured nearly $40bn worth of arms deals with the US. 

"While focusing on immediate needs for advanced weaponry and ammunition at unprecedented levels, we're simultaneously investing in long-term strategic capabilities," Zamir said.

Israel's parliament has voted in favour of a law that would allow the country's education ministry to fire teachers it believes to have identified with a "terrorist act".

Under this law, the ministry would be able to fire the teachers without prior notice.

It would also be able to cut funding from schools that show support for attacks against Israeli citizens and targets.

The bill particularly mentions Arab schools in occupied East Jerusalem, which it claims "incite minors against the state of Israel".

Palestine's Wafa news agency teports that five Palestinians were killed in an Israeli drone strike on Rafah, southern Gaza while five others were killed in an air strike on a home in Jabalia, northern Gaza.

After being expelled from Gaza’s Jabalia under intense bombing, and following hours of questioning, Israeli soldiers handed Samir* a glowing stick.

He was then forced to flee south and was given a simple instruction: drop the light and you will be bombed. 

It is a new practice by Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip to mark forcibly displaced Palestinians, eyewitnesses have told Middle East Eye. 

The light sticks, originally intended for emergency signalling or visibility in the dark, are being used to indicate which group of Palestinians has been interrogated, cleared and is following orders for forced displacement from northern Gaza.

But legal experts warn that it leaves people without the stick vulnerable to Israeli attacks, as they could be seen as potential targets. 

READ MORE: ‘Drop it and we’ll bomb you’: Israeli soldiers mark displaced Palestinians with glow sticks