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

Two people have been killed by an Israeli attack on Jabalia refugee camp, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.

Several people were also injured by Israeli shelling.

Lebanon''s health ministry said at least 23 people were killed on Monday in Israeli raids on several areas in Baalbek in the eastern Bekaa Valley.

The health ministry said the tolls covered five areas in the Baalbek region as its governor Bachir Khodr decried what he called the "most violent" raids on the area since Israel invaded Lebanon.

The Israeli Knesset on Monday passed two laws banning the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) from operating inside Israel and occupied Palestine, despite a torrent of international pressure urging Israel not to pass the ban.

The vote was a culmination of more than one year of sustained military, financial and diplomatic attacks on Unrwa since Israel's war on Gaza began after the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on 7 October 2023.

Unrwa was established by the UN as a subsidiary organisation on 8 December 1949, after the Arab-Israeli war that erupted following the creation of the state of Israel the previous year, in what is known as the Nakba, or "catastrophe" by Palestinians. 

Besides the occupied Palestinian territories, Unrwa is active in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. 

Before Israel's war on Gaza, the agency had an estimated 30,000 employees, and about one-third of them were based in the besieged enclave. The vast majority were Palestinians working in schools, health services or construction and infrastructure work.

Read More: What is Unrwa and why has its funding been cut?

Unrwa has slammed the Israeli parliament's decision to ban its operations in occupied East Jerusalem, Gaza and the occupied West Bank as "outrageous". 

“It’s outrageous that a member state of the United Nations is working to dismantle a UN agency, which also happens to be the largest responder in the humanitarian operation in Gaza,” Juliette Touma, spokeswoman for Unrwa, told AFP news agency. 

Unrwa's media advisor said that the Israeli parliament's decision to ban Unrwa is an "unprecedented escalation", in an interview with Al Jazeera. 

More details are emerging about the Knesset's decision. 

Lawmakers passed the bill with 92 votes in favour and just 10 against.  

The US said that Israel's retaliatory strike against Iran over the weekend was “proportionate” and should not lead to a response by Iran.

“Israel had a right to respond to that [1 October] attack. We supported their right to do so. They responded on Friday night. We believe this should be the end of the matter,” US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said. 

“If Iran does respond in any way, we will continue to defend Israel". 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Likud lawmakers that he is not prepared to end the war in Gaza in exchange for a hostage deal, according to a leaked recording of his conversation reported by Israel's Channel 12 news. 

“Hamas is making demands that we can’t agree to, ending the war," Netanyahu says. "Maybe those conditions will be removed, if they remove them, it won’t be because they want to, but because they need a pause, they need breathing space".

According to the recording, Netanyahu acknowledges the inconsistency of asking for hostages back while refusing to agree to a ceasefire once Hamas gives up its only source of leverage with Israel. 

“You ask, what do you give them if you don’t give them the end of the war, the answer is we could give them days of relief…. You give them the simple option of coming out of the tunnels," he said. 

Netanyahu also denied that Egypt had offered a two-day truce proposal in exchange for the release of four hostages. 

"I would take that immediately. It doesn’t exist,” Netanyahu says. "We are definitely looking here for partial deals".

Israel's parliament has passed a law to ban the UN Palestinian Relief Agency, Unrwa, from operating in the country. 

The US and UK have urged Israel's parliament not to pass a bill that would ban the UN Palestinian refugee agency, Unrwa from working in occupied East Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank and Gaza. 

The bill would make it illegal for Israeli officials to work with Unrwa, effectively shuttering its operations. 

British Foreign Minister David Lammy on Monday expressed London's "profound regret" the bill.

"It's a matter of profound regret that the Israeli parliament is considering shutting down UNRWA's operations," Lammy told British MPs in parliament.

The US also urged Israel's Knesset not to pass the bill. 

“The entire population of North Gaza is at risk of dying," UN humanitarian chief Joyce Msuya said on Monday. 

Msuya said Israel's siege of northern Gaza revealed "[a] blatant disregard for basic humanity and for the laws of war". 

“Shelters have been emptied and burned down. First responders have been prevented from saving people from under the rubble. Families have been separated, and men and boys are being taken away by the truckload,” she said. 

South Africa has filed evidence with the International Court of Justice for what it says is a genocide being committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip, the office of President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday.

The document "contains evidence which shows how the government of Israel has violated the genocide convention by promoting the destruction of Palestinians living in Gaza", the presidency said in a statement. 

An official for the Hague-based court on Monday confirmed it had received the document, but declined to give further detail.

"The evidence will show that undergirding Israel's genocidal acts is the special intent to commit genocide, a failure by Israel to prevent incitement to genocide, to prevent genocide itself and its failure to punish those inciting and committing acts of genocide," said the presidency. 

Israel has denied the allegations it is carrying out a genocide. 

A report by Israel's Channel 12 says that Israel and the US are discussing a 60-day truce in Lebanon. 

According to the report, Israel would look to ensure its ability to resume strikes on Lebanon if it deems that Hezbollah is rearming. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office has denied the report. 

Palestinian prisoner Marwan Barghouti, along with other detainees, was assaulted by Israeli guards in Megiddo Prison in September, according to a statement by his office. 

"National Leader Marwan Barghouti along with several detainees, was subjected to a brutal assault by Israeli prison suppression," his office said. 

The attack, "using a range of assault weapons", took place on 9 September 2024 and "resulted in multiple injuries
to his body, ribs, and limbs, along with bleeding in his right ear, a wound on his right arm, and severe back pain".

Barghouti has been denied medical care. 

A merchant vessel reported two explosions near a ship travelling 14 nautical miles southwest of Yemen's al-Dhubab, British maritime security firm Ambrey said on Monday.

The report followed statements by the UK Maritime Trade Operations, which said it had received information about two explosions off the Yemeni port of Mokha. 

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan spoke on the phone on Monday with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araqchi.

The two diplomats discussed the importance of avoiding steps that could destabilise the region's security after Israel's Saturday attack on Iran, the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement.