Live: Thousands return home as Lebanon ceasefire takes hold

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates from the Israeli war on Gaza and Lebanon, now in its 411th day:

• Israeli air strikes on a home in Jabalia overnight killed at least 12 Palestinians and left 10 missing, according to Al Jazeera. Other deadly air strikes were reported in Beit Lahia, Gaza City and Rafah.

• Among those killed was Palestinian civil defence rescuer Ali Mohammed Omar, who was bombed by an Israeli jet during an operation to pull people from under the rubble, the search-and-rescue organisation said. 

• The bombing on Jabalia killed doctor Salem Mohammed Abu Gouda, the Palestinian civil defence added. 

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:

• Israeli forces have killed at least 50 Palestinians and wounded 110 in the last 24 hours, the Palestinian health ministry said on the 410th day of Israeli war on Gaza

• This brings the death toll in the besieged enclave since 7 October 2023 to 43,972, with more than 104,008 wounded. At least 10,000 people are still missing, likely dead and buried under rubble. The UN says nearly 70 percent of the victims are children and women

• An increasing number of malnutrition cases are arriving at the war-battered Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza due to the ongoing famine, the hospital's director has said

• The World Health Organization (WHO) has raised alarm over the dire conditions in hospitals across northern Gaza, with Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia facing what its director called an “extreme catastrophe” 

• Gaza's civil defence agency reports that most of its emergency vehicles are no longer operational due to severe fuel shortages

• Israeli attacks on Lebanon have resulted in at least 3,544 deaths and left more than 15,036 wounded since 8 October 2023, according to the Lebanese health ministry

• The ministry reported that 28 people were killed in strikes on Monday alone

• More than 200 children have been killed and 1,100 wounded in Lebanon in the past two months, a spokesperson for the UN children's agency (Unicef) said on Tuesday

• Heavy rain flooded the tents of displaced people in central and southern Gaza late on Monday, according to Palestinian reports

• The US has imposed further sanctions on a number of Hamas leaders, according to the Treasury website. The sanctions target six individuals, including senior Hamas officials Basem Naim and Ghazi Hamad

• France's minister of the armed forces said "we" need to support the Lebanese army and the UN resolution giving them authority in southern Lebanon

• The political office of the Palestinian Hamas movement in Doha has not been permanently closed, Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said on Tuesday

• Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has dismissed Israel's complaint to the UN Security Council regarding attacks by Iraqi Shia militias. He called the move a "pretext and argument to attack Iraq" and an attempt to "expand the war in the region"

• Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi accused Israel of violating international law and using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza, blaming the international community's inaction

• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed that Turkey refused to allow Israeli President Isaac Herzog to fly through its airspace en route to the COP29 UN Climate Change Conference in Azerbaijan

Israelis have taken to social media to celebrate the death of a Palestinian citizen of Israel, who was killed by a missile launched from Lebanon into northern Israel on Sunday.

Safa Awad, a 50-year-old school teacher, was killed and several others were wounded when a missile struck her home in the Palestinian town of Shfaram.

"My wife was home alone. The missile landed right inside the safe room. Sadly, we have lost a wife, sister, mother and a teacher at the school for 30 years," Awad's husband told Ynetnews.

"The war must be stopped. I now feel what people who have been hurt in the war feel."

For many Israelis, however, Awad's death was an incident to be celebrated, with some saying "she deserved it". Others expressed gratitude for the "killing of a Palestinian".

Read more: Israelis celebrate killing of Palestinian citizen in strike from Lebanon

The World Health Organization (WHO) has raised alarm over the dire conditions in hospitals across northern Gaza, with Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia facing what its director called an "extreme catastrophe."  

"We are very, very concerned, and it's getting harder and harder to get the aid in. It's getting harder and harder to get the specialist personnel in at a time when there is greater and greater need," WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told journalists in Geneva.  

Harris highlighted that Kamal Adwan Hospital was attacked again on Tuesday by Israeli troops, compounding its already critical situation.  

"A large number of children and elderly people continue to arrive suffering from malnutrition," said hospital director Dr Hussam Abu Safia, who accused Israel of "blocking the entry of food, water, medical staff and materials destined for the north."  

Harris added that between 8 and 16 November, "four WHO missions we were trying to get up to go were denied." 

Gaza’s civil defence agency reports that most of its emergency vehicles are no longer operational due to severe fuel shortages.  

“We declare the cessation of operations for most civil defence vehicles in Gaza governorate due to insufficient fuel. Currently, we are operating with only one water tanker and one rescue vehicle,” the agency said in a statement on Tuesday.  

Since mid-November, emergency teams have been unable to respond to numerous distress calls or reach the sites of Israeli attacks.  

The agency warned that the fuel crisis is worsening the humanitarian disaster in Gaza, particularly as thousands of citizens are displaced from the northern part of the enclave.

For days, various media outlets have been briefed the same line by Israeli sources: Qatar asked Hamas to leave Doha, with Gaza ceasefire talks going nowhere.

Now there are new reports saying the Palestinian movement's leaders are moving to Turkey instead.

Qatar itself has formally denied that Hamas's political bureau in Doha is closing, though that hasn't stopped a narrative building that Turkey will become Hamas's main base of operations outside Palestine.

Officials in Ankara say they find the timing confusing and suspicious.

Turkish foreign ministry officials have repeatedly underlined this week that Hamas members have been in Turkey since Israel sent them there as part of the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange deal.

Read more: What's behind the claims Hamas is moving to Turkey?

An Israeli air strike on a residential building in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza, killed at least eight Palestinians, according to the official news agency, Wafa.

Witnesses said the attack targeted a building housing members of the al-Kahlout family and displaced civilians. Emergency responders managed to retrieve some victims, transferring them to Kamal Adwan hospital, Wafa reported.

Rescue efforts have been hindered by ongoing air strikes and extensive destruction, leaving some trapped beneath the rubble.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed that Turkey refused to allow Israeli President Isaac Herzog to fly through its airspace en route to the COP29 UN Climate Change Conference in Azerbaijan.  

“We did not allow the Israeli president to use our airspace to attend the COP summit. We suggested alternative routes and other options,” Erdogan said during a press briefing at the G20 Summit in Brazil.

“But whether he was able to go or not, I honestly don’t know,” he added.  

Turkey recalled its ambassador to Israel for consultations, following Israel’s war on Gaza last year. However, diplomatic ties remain intact, and Israel’s embassy in Ankara continues to operate.  

For the past decade, Miriam Adelson has ascended in Republican circles in the US and in the political scene in Israel, where she grew up.

The Israeli-American billionaire and casino owner has become a kingmaker in conservative American politics, following in the footsteps of her late husband, Sheldon Adelson, who died in 2021.

Her $100m donation to President-elect Donald Trump's campaign was a watershed moment. With Trump's victory, many eyes are on Miriam and her possible influence on his future policy decisions, most notably on Israel.

Trump is on record vowing to end Israel's wars on Gaza and Lebanon.

At the same time, he began changing his critical rhetoric of the war after receiving the whopping campaign boost from Miriam, and several of Trump's nominees have links to the Adelson family.

Read more: Miriam Adelson: Who is the Israeli billionaire backing Trump?

Jordan’s Foreign Minister, Ayman Safadi, accused Israel of violating international law and using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza, blaming the international community’s inaction.  

“Failure by the international community to act has allowed Israel to violate international law and use starvation as a method of war,” Safadi said during a meeting with the UN’s senior humanitarian coordinator, Sigrid Kaag, to discuss efforts to deliver aid to the besieged enclave.  

“Numerous UN organisations have warned that little to no supplies are entering Gaza, particularly northern Gaza, where famine is the brutal reality,” Safadi added. “Yet Israel is maintaining the siege. This brutality should not stand. The aggression has to end. Supplies must be allowed into Gaza.”  

Josep Borrell, the European Union’s top diplomat, will begin a Middle East tour on Wednesday, visiting Jordan, Cyprus, and Lebanon to discuss steps toward sustainable ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon.  

According to a statement from his office, the talks will also focus on advancing a long-term solution grounded in a two-state framework between Israel and Palestine.  

During his visit, Borrell is set to meet Jordan’s King Abdullah II in Amman and deliver a keynote address at the University of Jordan.  

The UN secretary general condemned on Wednesday the ongoing looting of humanitarian aid in Gaza, following reports of 20 deaths during a security operation against criminal gangs in the besieged enclave.  

“Armed looting has become systematic and must end immediately. It is hindering life-saving aid operations and further endangering the lives of our staff,” said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for Antonio Guterres.  

He also stressed that “the use of law enforcement operations must be lawful, necessary, and proportionate.”  

Israel's total blockade of Gaza, imposed early in last year’s war, has pushed parts of the territory to the brink of famine, the UN warned on 9 November.  

Residents of southern Gaza have described gangs, who appear to operate with implicit Israeli backing, as making their already difficult situation all the more nightmarish.

Two Palestinian men on Tuesday were fatally shot by the Israeli army in the eastern part of the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, according to the health ministry.  

The Palestine Red Crescent Society earlier reported that nine Palestinians were injured when Israeli forces opened fire in the area.  

Israeli raids across the occupied West Bank have escalated since the Gaza war began last year, with Israeli forces arresting over 11,500 Palestinians during this period and killing more than 700 people.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Tuesday a $5m reward for anyone who secures the release of captives held in Gaza by Hamas.  

“Anybody who brings out a hostage will find with us a secure way for them and their family to leave [Gaza],” Netanyahu stated in a video filmed within Palestinian territory. “We will also give them a reward of $5m for each hostage.”

Some Democrats will read this piece in hopes of finding an apology, or maybe simply an acknowledgement of a strategic miscalculation on the part of many Muslim leaders who advocated for third-party voting in the recent US presidential election.

They will find no such concession here, and I urge them to self-reflect instead on the state of their party - one that oversaw and continues to oversee the Israeli genocide of thousands of innocent Palestinian civilians in Gaza, a process that has continued for more than 13 months. 

Their party didn’t sit silently as this happened, nor did it turn a blind eye; rather the Biden administration actively supported the genocide financially, militarily, and in every way imaginable.

As for the incoming president, Donald Trump, his America First policy agenda - peddled since his last term in office not as a departure from US global dominance, but as a shift to balancing global powers and making “foreign policy decisions based on outcomes, not on ideology” - has been touted as a reprioritisation of American citizens and their concerns. 

But Trump’s first tenure revealed this promise to be smoke and mirrors - and his second-term cabinet nominations paint an even bleaker picture.

Read more: Trump is not America First. Like Biden, he's Israel First