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

The Beit Lahia municipality in the northern of the Gaza Strip has declared the town a "disaster area" due to the ongoing Israeli offensive. 

In a statement on Wednesday municipality said the town is now without food, water, hospitals doctors, services or telecommunications.

"We are sending a distress call to save what remains of the town being subjected to genocide," the statement said. 

Good morning Middle East Eye readers, 

Here are the latest updates from the Israeli war on Gaza and Lebanon, now in its 390th day:

• Israeli forces bombed makeshift tents for displaced Palestinians in Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah early on Wednesday. The attacks killed at least two people and wounded others, according to the official Palestinian Wafa news agency. 

• A surface-to-surface missile was launched from Lebanon on Wednesday morning, triggering sirens across large parts of northern Israel. There were no immediate reports of the impact. 

• Axios reported that senior advisers to US President Joe Biden, Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk, are set to travel to Israel on Thursday to discuss a Lebanon ceasefire deal followed by a 60-day transition period to end the war.

Our live coverage will shortly be closing until tomorrow morning.

Here are some of the day's key developments:

Israeli air strikes on residential buildings in the Beit Lahia neighbourhood of northern Gaza have killed more than 100 people. US State Department spokesperson Matt Miller told reporters on Tuesday that the US is "deeply concerned by the loss of civilian life" and that the Biden administration "reached out to the government of Israel to ask what happened here."

At least 10 people were killed in an Israeli strike on the southern Lebanese coastal town of Sarafand, south of Sidon, the Reuters news agency said, citing the mayor. Most of the dead are women and children. 

Unicef spokesperson James Elder warned that Israel’s ban on Unrwa could lead to “the collapse of the humanitarian system in Gaza,” adding that this decision “creates a new way to kill children”.

Norway announced that it plans to introduce a resolution at the United Nations General Assembly asking the International Court of Justice (ICJ), otherwise known as the World Court, for its opinion on what Israel's obligation is when it comes to the facilitation of humanitarian aid for Palestinians. 

Hezbollah has named Naim Qassem as its new secretary-general, weeks after the killing of long-time chief Hassan Nasrallah. In a statement on Tuesday, the Lebanese group said Qassem was appointed leader due to his "adherence to the principles and goals of Hezbollah".

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant posted a threat on X suggesting Qassem would be assassinated, saying his appointment is "not for long".

At least 10 people were killed in an Israeli strike on the southern Lebanese coastal town of Sarafand, south of Sidon, the Reuters news agency said, citing the mayor. 

Most of the dead are women and children, the mayor said. 

Additional reporting from the Lebanese news channel Al-Jadeed indicates that Israel's target was a residential building in the center of Sarafand, which consists of 3 floors housing 20 people. 

The immediate area contains some 2,000 families, including 700 displaced families from the south, Al-Jadeed said, citing emergency services on the ground. 

In a post on X, Al-Jadeed shared images of some of the victims of the Israeli airstrike.

شهداء بلدة الصرفند جراء الغارة التي استهدفت مبنى سكنياً pic.twitter.com/62rmkFFyVR

— Al Jadeed News (@ALJADEEDNEWS) October 29, 2024

Israel's military said four of its soldiers were killed in Gaza over the last 24 hours.

They died in an attack involving improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza. 

One soldier was severely wounded. 

Another was confirmed killed in ground operations in southern Lebanon. 

That brings the total number of Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza and Lebanon to 777 since October 2023, according to Israel's military. 

Lebanon's health ministry late Tuesday updated the death toll from Israel's attacks on the country to 2,792 since 8 October 2023. 

Another 12,772 people have been wounded. 

Over the last day alone, 82 people were killed, and 180 others injured, the ministry said. 

The Biden administration said on Tuesday it is "deeply troubled" by the Knesset's decision to ban United Nations relief and works agency for Palestine refugees (Unrwa) from working in occupied Palestine and operating in Israel, and that the move could have "consequences under US law".

"They are a key partner in delivering food, water and other humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza that wouldn't have anyone else to get it from if Unrwa were to go away. We have made clear our opposition to this bill," State Department spokesperson Matt Miller told reporters.

"There could be consequences under US law and US policy for the implementation of this legislation. We are going to engage with the Government of Israel in the days ahead about how they plan to implement it. We're going to watch and see if there are legal challenges to the law and if there's any impact by those legal challenges, and then we will make our decisions," he said. 

US State Department spokesperson Matt Miller told reporters on Tuesday that the US is "deeply concerned by the loss of civilian life" in Beit Lahia in Gaza after an Israeli air strike on an apartment building killed at least 100 Palestinians. 

"This was a horrifying incident with a horrifying result. I can't speak to the total death toll, but there are reports of two dozen children killed in this incident, no doubt, a number of them are children who have been fleeing the effects of this war for more than a year now," Miller said at the daily press briefing.

"We have reached out to the government of Israel to ask what happened here. We don't yet know the underlying circumstances. We have not gotten a full explanation for them about what happened."

He added that Israel has "decimated Hamas's military capabilities" and that such an achievement comes "at great cost to civilians in Gaza, which is, of course, often the case when civilians are caught in the crossfire in conflict."

Another Israeli air strike on three homes in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza has left at least ten Palestinians dead, Aljazeera has reported. 

This follows an earlier bombing on Tuesday that left 93 dead, and dozens more missing. 

Reporters in the area have said for days that there are no functioning hospitals or emergency responders in the north to assist with search and rescue operations.

Israel has besieged northern Gaza for nearly a month. 

On Monday, Israel's parliament, the Knesset, passed two laws banning Unrwa from operating inside Israel and occupied Palestine. Despite pressure from Israeli allies on MPs not to approve the ban, 92 members of the 120-seat Knesset voted in favour.

This came shortly after Israeli authorities confiscated the land in occupied East Jerusalem where Unrwa headquarters is located. Israel plans to build 1,440 settlement units, which are illegal under international law, on the site.

The laws effectively ban Unrwa from operating inside Israel, Gaza, the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. The ban would amount to a revocation of privileges and immunities enjoyed by UN organisations under the UN Charter. It is due to come into effect within 90 days of the vote.

Read more: Could Israel's Unrwa ban lead to its suspension from the UN?

Norway announced on Tuesday that it plans to introduce a resolution at the United Nations General Assembly asking the International Court of Justice (ICJ), otherwise known as the World Court, for its opinion on what Israel's obligation is when it comes to the facilitation of humanitarian aid for Palestinians. 

The move follows the Knesset's decision to ban the United Nations relief and works agency for Palestine refugees from working inside Israel and occupied Palestine, severely hampering - if not entirely eliminating - the logistical pipeline that allows for most foreign aid to be handled and distributed in the Strip. 

The Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations in New York, Riyad Mansour, said the international community has not been able to "scratch the surface of ending Israeli impunity" as the entire population of northern Gaza is at risk of death due to the nearly month-long Israeli siege. 

"I sat in this Security Council week after week, stood before the General Assembly week after week, hoping to be able to tell my people that help is on the way. They endured horrors that you watch on your TV screens and yet can barely comprehend, but their tormentors continue to be shielded, and Palestinian victims continue to be abandoned," Mansour told a meeting of the UN Security Council to debate the crises in the region on Tuesday.

"As we barely scratch the surface of ending Israeli impunity, Israel continues committing crime after crime, defying every rule and all States assembled in these United Nations, betting that its will to kill and colonize will outweigh the collective will of the international community to save lives and achieve freedom and peace."

Three hundred academics have co-signed a letter calling for Germany's foreign minister to retract a statement in which she suggested that civilian buildings in Gaza could lose their protected status under international law. 

On 10 October, Annalena Baerbock made remarks in Germany's parliament marking the anniversary of the Hamas-led 7 October attack on southern Israel, which killed around 1,200 people. 

During the speech, she said: "Self-defence means, of course, not only attacking terrorists, but also destroying them. This is why I have made it so clear that when Hamas terrorists hide behind people, behind schools, then we end up in very difficult waters.

"But we’re not shying away from this. This is why I made it clear at the United Nations that civilian sites could lose their protected status if terrorists abuse this status." 

In a letter initiated by the Palestine Academic Group, 300 academics said Baerbock was "parroting Israel's old narrative of human shielding". 

"Baerbock provides a flimsy justification for the genocidal campaign against Palestinian civilians," they wrote. 

Read more: Academics call on Germany's Annalena Baerbock to retract Gaza comments

Austria has said that eight of its troops belonging to UN peace-keeping forces in Lebanon (Unifil) were lightly wounded by a rocket strike on Camp Naqoura near the Israeli border.

"We condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms and demand that it be investigated immediately," the defence ministry said on Tuesday.

It added that it was not clear where the attack came from, and that the soldiers were not in need of urgent medical care.

A report published last week found that the Israeli military was suspected of forcibly entering a Unifil base in Lebanon and using white phosphorus in close enough range to injure 15 peacekeepers. 

The report detailed around a dozen attacks launched on UN troops in Lebanon, including damaging several facilities and injuring troops at border posts in south Lebanon.

Digital rights group 7amleh released a report on Tuesday highlighting how Israel's war has devastated telecommunications infrastructure in Gaza. 

It said that 75 percent of Gaza's telecommunications infrastructure had been damaged, with at least 50 percent completely destroyed.

Communication services have been completely cut off at least 15 times since the war began, reported 7amleh.

It also said that telecommunication companies were struggling to keep services running due to severe restrictions on fuel and equipment imports, and waves of forced displacements putting pressure on networks in specific areas.

"In these harsh conditions, some residents have resorted to using e-SIM cards from foreign telecommunications companies to stay connected," the report stated.

"Satellite internet services like Starlink were only used in limited capacity in one hospital in Gaza. However, these solutions face challenges related to high costs and limited geographic coverage, in addition to the need for Israeli approval to provide these services, restricting their use to specific areas with limited capabilities."