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Middle East Crisis Live: One Killed And Several Injured After Truck Hits Bus Stop In Israel; Protesters Disrupt Speech By Netanyahu

One person killed after truck rams into bus stop near an Israeli military base north of Tel AvivMedics and police have said that at least person was killed after a man rammed his truck into a crowd at a bus stop in central Israel’s Glilot, just north of Tel Aviv, on Sunday (see post at 10:00 for more details). The bus stop was at a major intersection near the Glilot military base and the headquarters of Israel’s Mossad spy agency.

At least 29 people were injured, including several in serious condition, emergency service providers Magen David Adom said. Many of the injured were pensioners on a day trip to a nearby museum, according to reports.

One of those injured died later of his injuries, said the hospital where he was taken for treatment.

Israeli police and rescue services inspect the site where a truck driver rammed into a bus stop in central Israel. Photograph: Oded Balilty/APPolice did not say whether it was an attack, but added that civilians at the scene “shot the truck driver and neutralised him”.

In a statement, Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, said the ramming attack carried out near “Mossad headquarters … was in response to the crimes committed by the Zionist occupation” against Palestinians.

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Iran not looking for war – presidentIran is not looking for war but will give an “appropriate response” to Israel’s recent attack, the country’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has just said, according to state media.

We do not seek war but we will defend the rights of our nation and country. We will give an appropriate response to the aggression of the Zionist regime,” he told a meeting of the Iranian cabinet, Reuters reports.

How the Islamic Republic chooses to respond to the unusually public Israeli aerial assault on its homeland could determine whether the region spirals further toward all-out war or holds steady at an already devastating and destabilizing level of violence, the Associated Press says in an analysis.

A strike of the magnitude that Israel delivered early on Saturday would typically be met with a forceful response. A likely option would be another round of the ballistic missile barrages that Iran has already launched twice this year….

[But] a carefully worded statement from Iran’s military on Saturday night appeared to offer some wiggle room for the Islamic Republic to back away from further escalation. It suggested that a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon was more important than any retaliation against Israel.

Iranian President MASOUD PEZESHKIAN (L) meets Egyptian President ABDEL FATTAH EL-SISI (R) on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia last week. Photograph: Iranian Presidency/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/ShutterstockEfforts are gradually resuming in Qatar to defuse the devastating war between Israel and Hamas that erupted just over a year ago.

Intelligence chiefs from Israel and its chief ally, the United States, are participating, with the directors of the Mossad and the CIA taking part, Reuters reports.

And Egypt is proposing a brisk, short ceasefire, leading to a full cessation.

There was no immediate comment from Israel or Hamas to the Egyptian president’s suggestion, but a Palestinian official close to the mediation effort told Reuters:

I expect Hamas would listen to the new offers, but it remains determined that any agreement must end the war and get Israeli forces out of Gaza.”

An official briefed on the talks told Reuters earlier today that negotiations in Doha, the capital of Qatar, will seek a short-term ceasefire and the release of some hostages being held by Hamas in exchange for Israel’s release of Palestinian prisoners.

The objective, still elusive after multiple mediation attempts, is to get Israel and Hamas to agree to a halt in fighting for less than a month in the hope this would lead to a more permanent ceasefire.

Here’s a little more on the ceasefire proposal just mentioned by Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Speaking alongside the Algerian president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, during a press conference in Cairo, Sisi also said that talks should resume within 10 days of implementing the temporary ceasefire in efforts to reach a permanent one.

The leader of Egypt has suggested a very short ceasefire between Israel and Hamas to allow an exchange of people from each side and a path to talks for a permanent cessation.

Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said moments ago that his government has proposed a two-day ceasefire in Gaza, Reuters reports.

The immediate purpose would be to exchange four Israeli hostages – out of the 100+ still believed held since Hamas’s attack on southern Israel last October and capture of hostages – with some Palestinian prisoners incarcerated in Israel.

Egypt and Qatar have acted as mediators between Israel and Hamas in months of talks that broke down in August without an agreement to end fighting.

A Hamas delegation, headed by chief negotiator and deputy Hamas Gaza chief Khalil Al-Hayya, reportedly arrived in Cairo, the Egyptian capital, last Thursday to meet with the head of the state’s general intelligence agency, Hassan Mahmoud Rashad.

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu said at that time that he welcomed Egypt’s willingness to advance a deal.

Here’s Sisi last week at a meeting for the developing nations bloc known as BRICS.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (Front row, left), Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other participants in the outreach/BRICS Plus bloc pose at a summit in Kazan, Russia, last Thursday. Photograph: Alexander Nemenov/EPAIsrael dramatically escalated its airstrikes on Lebanon late last month before launching a ground offensive in the south of the country, killing many civilians and sparking a refugee and humanitarian crisis. Here are some of the latest images coming out of Lebanon from the newswires:

People carrying belongings walk along the Masnaa border crossing – which was damaged by an Israeli strike – in al Masnaa, Lebanon. Photograph: EPAPeople inspect a damaged building after an Israeli airstrike on the Haret Saida neighborhood in Sidon, Lebanon. Photograph: EPAAftermath of Israeli strikes on Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. Photograph: Maher Abou Taleb/ReutersAfternoon summary One person was killed and dozens of people were reported to have been injured after a truck hit a bus stop in Glilot, central Israel, near Tel Aviv. Many of those injured were reportedly elderly citizens who had disembarked from a bus ahead of a visit to a nearby IDF base. The driver of the truck was shot dead by a civilian at the scene.

Israeli military strikes killed at least 45 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Sunday, most of them in the north of the enclave, Palestinian health officials said. At least 20 people were killed following an Israeli airstrike on houses in Jabalia, while an airstrike on a school sheltering displaced Palestinian families in Shati camp in Gaza City killed nine people, medics said. Three local journalists were among those killed at the school in Shati.

An Israeli airstrike on Sidon, a city in coastal south Lebanon, killed at least eight people and wounded 25 on Sunday, the country’s health ministry said.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, made his first public comments since Israeli warplanes attacked military targets in Iran early on Saturday. He said the attack “should neither be downplayed nor exaggerated”, without directly calling for a retaliation. He added that military officials would discuss Iran’s next steps, suggesting any retaliation may not be imminent.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel’s air attack on Iran was “precise and powerful” and achieved all its goals.

The directors of the CIA and Israel’s Mossad intelligence service will meet Qatar’s prime minister in Doha later today to begin negotiations for a new short term Gaza ceasefire deal, an official told Reuters.

The Israeli military urged residents of 14 villages in southern Lebanon, where it says Hezbollah fighters are, to evacuate immediately and move north of the Awali river or risk being killed.

Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, said Hezbollah and Hamas are no longer effective proxies for Iran. He also said “painful concessions” are needed to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza, without specifying what these would be.

Israeli forces have detained at least 12 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank over the last day, according to a joint statement by the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Society.

The detentions were reported by Wafa, the Palestinian news agency, as having occurred across various areas, including Hebron, Ramallah, and Jenin.

It is estimated that over 11,400 Palestinians have been arrested in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since last October.

Human rights groups and international organisations have alleged widespread abuse of inmates detained by Israel in raids in the West Bank.

They have described alleged abusive and humiliating treatment, including holding blindfolded and handcuffed detainees in cramped cages as well as beatings, intimidation and harassment.

Israel’s UN ambassador, Danny Danon, has responded to Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, calling on the UN security council to meet over Israel’s air attack on Iran, which Araqchi described as “a grave threat to international peace and security”.

Danon said that Iran was “trying to act against us in the diplomatic arena with the ridiculous claim that Israel has violated international law”.

“As we have stated time and time again, we have the right and duty to defend ourselves and will use all the means at our disposal to protect the citizens of Israel,” he said.

UN secretary general Antonio Guterres appealed “to all parties to cease all military actions, including in Gaza and Lebanon, exert maximum efforts to prevent an all-out regional war and return to the path of diplomacy,” his spokesperson said yesterday.

As we have mentioned in a previous post, Iran has called for an urgent UN security council meeting to condemn Israel’s airstrikes on the country yesterday.

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, sent a letter to the UN chief and the head of the council “demanding an urgent meeting of the security council to take a decisive position in condemning this aggression”, a ministry statement said.

He said “most of the projectiles fired were intercepted by Iran’s defence systems” but the attack led to damage at “the target points”, as well as the death of four soldiers.

We strongly condemn the criminal attack on Iranian military centers as a violation of international law and the UN Charter. Four of our Army heroes sacrificed their lives in defeating this reckless and cowardly assault.

We fully reserve our right to duly respond to this… pic.twitter.com/itS2WTfDja

— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) October 26, 2024Araghchi said the Israeli attack was a “clear violation of the sovereignty” of Iran which “reserves the inherent right… to respond to this criminal aggression”.

The Israeli military said it hit Iranian missile factories, missile installations and other systems in several regions, and warned Tehran against responding.

Iran has downplayed the attack, saying it caused “limited damage” to a few radar systems, signalling what observers say is Tehran’s reluctance to escalate further.

One person killed after truck rams into bus stop near an Israeli military base north of Tel AvivMedics and police have said that at least person was killed after a man rammed his truck into a crowd at a bus stop in central Israel’s Glilot, just north of Tel Aviv, on Sunday (see post at 10:00 for more details). The bus stop was at a major intersection near the Glilot military base and the headquarters of Israel’s Mossad spy agency.

At least 29 people were injured, including several in serious condition, emergency service providers Magen David Adom said. Many of the injured were pensioners on a day trip to a nearby museum, according to reports.

One of those injured died later of his injuries, said the hospital where he was taken for treatment.

Israeli police and rescue services inspect the site where a truck driver rammed into a bus stop in central Israel. Photograph: Oded Balilty/APPolice did not say whether it was an attack, but added that civilians at the scene “shot the truck driver and neutralised him”.

In a statement, Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, said the ramming attack carried out near “Mossad headquarters … was in response to the crimes committed by the Zionist occupation” against Palestinians.

Details have emerged suggesting Israel used precision air and drone strikes in its unprecedented attack on Iran this weekend to target air defence systems protecting crucial oil and gas facilities, as well as military sites linked to Tehran’s nuclear programme and ballistic missile production.

Israel openly attacked Iran for the first time on Saturday in the latest direct confrontation between the regional enemies, bringing the Middle East another step closer to a full-scale conflagration.

In the immediate aftermath, Iran appeared to downplay the airstrikes, which killed four soldiers. Fearing all-out war and shocks to the global oil industry, western leaders had urged Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, not to target oil or nuclear facilities in the widely anticipated response to an Iranian ballistic missile salvo on Tel Aviv and military bases on 1 October. Iranian officials had repeatedly warned attacks on nuclear or energy infrastructure would cross a “red line”.

Satellite imagery of affected sites in Iran and details reported by the New York Times suggest the Israeli leader heeded allies’ advice, but the locations of the strikes nonetheless signalled that Israel is capable of hitting high-value targets if the escalation continues.

You can read the full story by my colleague Bethan McKernan here:

At least 45 Palestinians killed in Gaza by Israeli attacks on Sunday, including those sheltering in a school – reportsIsraeli military airstrikes have killed at least 45 Palestinian people across the Gaza Strip today, most of them in the north of the territory, Palestinian health officials said.

At least 20 people were killed following an airstrike on houses in Jabalia, the largest of the Gaza Strip’s eight historic refugee camps. An Israeli airstrike on a school sheltering displaced Palestinian families in Shati camp in Gaza City killed nine people and injured 20 others, with many in critical condition, medics said.

Three local journalists were reportedly among those killed at the school in Shati: Saed Radwan, head of digital media at Al-Aqsa television, Hanin Baroud and Hamza Abu Selmeya. Their deaths bring the total number of journalists killed in Gaza since last October to 180, according to Al Jazeera.

Aftermath of an Israeli airstrike on a school-turned shelter in Gaza City. Photograph: Ayman Al Hassi/ReutersIsraeli forces began the devastating offensive in the north about three weeks ago with the declared aim of preventing Hamas fighters from regrouping. Residents, however, say the troops have besieged shelters, levelled civilian infrastructure, forced displaced people to leave with nowhere safe to go, while killing many civilians in deadly airstrikes. Medics say at least 800 Palestinians have been killed in northern Gaza since the renewed offensive was launched by the Israeli military early this month. Wafa, the Palestinian news agency, reported earlier today that about 1,000 Palestinian people had been killed by the Israeli military.

We have some more details on Benjamin Netanyahu being heckled by bereaved families at a ceremony in Jerusalem put on in memory of the victims of the Hamas-led October 7 attacks last year, in which about 1,200 people were killed (see post at 12.58 for more details).

The Israeli prime minister stood motionless at a lectern as audience members in the crowd shouted, interrupting him for more than a minute, according to a live broadcast of the speech. People were heard saying “Shame on you!” One of the protesters repeatedly shouted: “My father was killed”.

Cutting off Unrwa would deeply harm Israel’s reputation, says UK minister

Patrick Wintour

Patrick Wintour is the Guardian’s diplomatic editor

Israel’s reputation as a democracy will be “deeply harmed” if the Israeli Knesset presses ahead with bills this week that would end all Israeli government cooperation with the Palestinian relief agency, Unrwa, Hamish Falconer, the Middle East minister, warned on Sunday.

He said such a move at a time when the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is catastrophic and worsening would “neither be in Israel’s interest or realistic”.

His remarks are the strongest criticism made by a western minister of the legislation that could be voted on as early as this week unless the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu intervenes.

The UK 🇬🇧 has joined our partners 🇨🇦 🇦🇺 🇫🇷 🇩🇪 🇯🇵 🇰🇷 to express our grave concern over legislation in the Israeli knesset that would restrict UNRWA’s operations.

Their life-saving work must be allowed to continue. Full statement here:t.co/kBYEmxRbeS

— Hamish Falconer MP (@HFalconerMP) October 27, 2024Falconer also demanded more aid be allowed to enter Gaza and told Israel too many civilians are being killed in Israeli attacks on Hamas in Gaza.

He was speaking to a conference in London convened by Haaretz newspaper and attended predominantly by more liberal minded Jews.

Falconer insisted the measures taken by the Labour government so far did not indicate any decline in Labour support for the state of Israel, but his remarks were as sharp as any delivered by a Labour minister.

He said:

We are deeply concerned by legislation currently under consideration by the Israeli Knesset which would critically undermine Unrwa. It is neither in Israel’s interest nor realistic.

Given the agency’s vital role in delivering aid and essential services at a time when more more aid should be getting into Gaza, it is deeply harmful to Israel’s international reputation as democratic country that its lawmakers are taking steps that would make the delivering of food water medicines and healthcare more difficult.

He said: “The international community are clear that Unrwa and other humanitarian organisations must be fully able to deliver aid.”

Many Israelis regard Unrwa too closely linked with Hamas, and also committed to the Palestinian refugees right of return.

He said humanitarian access remains wholly inadequate, adding he had recently been on the Egyptian Gaza border. He said:

I saw for myself thousands of trucks waiting to cross the border. Some had been there for months.

There were warehouses full of life saving items – medical equipment sleeping bags, and tarpaulin for the winter.

There have been repeated attacks on humanitarian convoys and the level of aid getting in is far too low.

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