Live: Thousands return home as Lebanon ceasefire takes hold

Gaza's health ministry said that 71 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks on the enclave in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 44,056 killed since 7 October 2023.

Additionally, 104,268 people have been wounded since the start of the war.

Former Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked was barred from entering Australia, where she was supposed to address a conference organised by the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council, The Australian reports.

The outlet says Shaked was denied entry because she might "incite discord", stating that the act is used to prevent the entry of people who might "vilify a segment of the Australian community, or incite discord in the Australian community or in a segment of that community".

A 30-year-old Israeli man was killed in Western Galilee, northern Israel following a rocket attack from Lebanon towards Nahariya, Israel's ambulance service Magen David Adom said.

Tsav 9, the right-wing Israeli group known for its members' attempts to block aid deliveries into the Gaza Strip, said they will start their blocking attempts again, months after the US and EU imposed sanctions on them.

The group's leaders say their move is a response to former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant's warning against a military government in Gaza, which would fully control the distribution of aid.

Israeli air strikes have started hitting Beirut's southern suburbs, an hour after the Israeli military sent bombing notices to residents.

اللحظات الأولى للغارة الاسرائيلية التي استهدفت منذ قليل منطقة بئر العبد في الضاحية الجنوبية
تصوير الزميل جهاد زهري pic.twitter.com/H66nld4fmI

— Al Jadeed News (@ALJADEEDNEWS) November 21, 2024

The Israeli army has issued bombing notices for several parts of Beirut's southern suburbs, particularly the Haret Hreik and Hadath neighbourhoods.

The warnings come as Israel is firing strikes on the southern city of Tyre (Sour) and its surroundings.

#عاجل إلى جميع السكان المتواجدين في منطقة الضاحية الجنوبية وتحديدًا في المباني المحددة في الخرائط المرفقة والمباني المجاورة لها في المناطق التالية:
🔸حدث بيروت
🔸حارة حريك

⭕️أنتم تتواجدون بالقرب من منشآت ومصالح تابعة لحزب الله حيث سيعمل ضدها جيش الدفاع على المدى الزمني القريب… pic.twitter.com/W9aCvQmbAT

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) November 21, 2024

US presidential envoy Amos Hochstein is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later on Thursday to discuss the progress made in Lebanon-Israel ceasefire negotiations, Netanyahu's office says.

The announcement comes after Hebrew media outlets reported that Hochstein had arrived in Israel Wednesday evening and held talks with Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer.

The Israeli army released a new bombing notice for a building's surroundings in the city of Tyre, south Lebanon.

This follows warnings for entire towns near the city earlier on Thursday.

#عاجل إلى جميع السكان المتواجدين في صور وتحديدًا في المبنى المحدد في الخريطة المرفقة والمباني المجاورة له

⭕️أنتم تتواجدون بالقرب من منشآت ومصالح تابعة لحزب الله حيث سيعمل ضدها جيش الدفاع بقوة على المدى الزمني القريب

⭕️من أجل سلامتكم وسلامة أبناء عائلتكم عليكم اخلاء هذا المبنى… pic.twitter.com/MMl9Z5ljh7

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) November 21, 2024

The Israeli army says that a rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip towards the Kerem Shalom kibbutz and intercepted by air defences on Thursday.

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates:

• The director of Gaza's Kamal Adwan Hospital said that most of the 66 killed in Israel's latest attack on Beit Lahia are women and children
• Israeli forces killed two Palestinians in the village of Kafr Dan another in Ein Beit el-Ma refugee camp near Nablus in the occupied West Bank
• The Israeli army pounded Beirut's southern suburbs in the early hours of the morning and Hezbollah claimed several attacks on Israel
• The Israeli army sent bombing notices for several areas of southern Lebanon, mostly near the city of Tyre
• US presidential envoy Amos Hochstein is expected in Israel to continue the latest push for a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel
• The US Senate voted against a bill that would have blocked the shipments of tank rounds, mortar rounds and smart-bomb kits for Israel
• The UN says only seven bakeries run by aid groups are still running in Gaza, and that they may close due to the lack of flour

Our live coverage from Israel's war on Gaza and Lebanon will shortly be closing until tomorrow morning.

Here are some of the day's key developments:

• At least 66 people, mostly women and children, were killed, and over 100 others injured when a residential neighborhood near Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza was destroyed by Israel on Thursday

• Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, told Al Jazeera Arabic that dozens of bodies lie on the ground following an Israeli attack that destroyed a residential neighborhood near the hospital in northern Gaza

• Gaza's health ministry said on Wednesday the total  number people killed by Israel has climbed to 43,985 since 7 October

• Additionally, 104,092 people have been wounded since the start of the war

• The director of the besieged Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia has said that 85 injured people, including women and children, remain trapped at the facility and are receiving "minimal health services"

• Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), has said that despite the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the rights of Palestinian children "are violated day in, day out"

• The US vetoed the UN Security Council vote on the Gaza ceasefire resolution, ending with 14 votes for and one against. It’s the fifth US veto on a Gaza UN ceasefire resolution in the past 13 months

• Oxfam has issued a statement denouncing the US' veto of the latest UN Security Council ceasefire proposal for Gaza as a "profound failure"

• Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed at least 3,558 people and injured 15,123 since 7 October, 2023, according to Lebanon’s health ministry

• In the past 24 hours alone, 14 people were killed and 87 wounded, the ministry reported

• At least four Israeli soldier was killed in Gaza and Lebanon today. This brings the death toll in the army to 800 since the war started on 7 October 2023 for Gaza and at least 50 soldiers have died in Lebanon

• A Hezbollah official said on Wednesday that any US-brokered ceasefire deal to end the Israeli war on Lebanon must end fighting swiftly and preserve Lebanon's sovereignty, an apparent reference to Israel's stance that it will keep striking the group even with a truce in place

• The Biden administration is lobbying senators to approve continued US weapons shipments to Israel, emphasizing the stakes ahead of an unprecedented congressional vote on the policy, the Huffington Post has reported

Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, told Al Jazeera Arabic that dozens of bodies lie on the ground following an Israeli attack that destroyed a residential neighborhood near the hospital in northern Gaza.  

He noted that many victims remain trapped under the rubble, with no means to rescue them or clear the debris.  

“What arrives at the hospital are remains of martyrs and dismembered bodies, most of them children and women,” he said, describing the scene as “heartbreaking.”

Only seven of the 19 bakeries supported by humanitarian partners in Gaza remain operational, according to UN Secretary-General spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.

He attributed the closures to Israeli attacks and restrictions on essential supplies.  

Dujarric highlighted the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, noting that four functioning bakeries are in Gaza City, two in Deir al-Balah, and one in Khan Yunis.

He emphasized that Israel’s blockade is preventing the delivery of necessary materials, leaving most bakeries unable to operate.

Al Jazeera's correspondent reports that at least 66 people, mostly women and children, were killed, and over 100 others injured when a residential neighborhood near Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza was destroyed by Israel. 

More updates to follow.

An Israeli attack on a residential neighborhood near Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza has killed at least 30 people and injured more than 100, according to Al Jazeera Arabic’s correspondent in the Gaza Strip.