Middle East latest: Netanyahu accused of 'never believing in peace'; China weighs in on peacekeeper attacks (2024)

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has accused the Israeli military of killing and injuring dozens of people at one of its food centres in northern Gaza today.

The agency said at least 10 people were killed and 40 wounded when the IDF "fired shells inside and outside" the distribution centre in Jabalia.

"This happened while people were trying to get food from the centre," it said.

Earlier, Palestinian medics said the casualties included women and children.

Israeli forces pushed further into the Jabalia area over the last weekend. International relief agencies say thousands of people are trapped in the refugee camp.

The IDF has not commented.

Benjamin Netanyahu has told the Biden administration he is planning to strike military facilities in Iran - not oil or nuclear, the Washington Post reports.

An official familiar with the matter told the news outlet that the retaliation for Iran's 1 October missile barrage would be undertaken in such a way as to avoid the perception of political interference in the US election.

But the attack - one in "a series of responses" - would take place before 5 November, she said.

Mr Netanyahu wasin a "more moderated place" than he has been previously, a US official said, describing a phone call between the prime minister and Joe Biden.

This was a factor in Mr Biden's decision to send Israel the powerful Terminal High Altitude Area Defence anti-missile system - a decision announced on Sunday.

In our previous post, a former Israeli general called for a siege on northern Gaza after giving civilians 10 days to leave.

Now Sam Rose, deputy director of the UN Relief and Works Agency in Gaza, says civilians located in the north have either chosen to be there or are sick and vulnerable.

"Forcible displacement of these people is illegal under international law," he tells Sky News' The World programme.

"There is no safe passage out of there," he adds, describing it as a "valley of death".

He says regardless, there is "simply no space" in southern Gaza, with the beaches "teeming with hundreds of thousands of people".

"The place is so overcrowded, so cramped, the types of munitions that are being used mean that it is impossible for any attacks on whoever to avoid those attacks causing mass civilian casualties."

Some 11,500 children have been killed over the past year, he says - an entire classroom per day.

A former head of the Israeli national security council has called for a siege on northern Gaza.

Interviewed on Sky News' The World, Major General Giora Eiland, who is retired, says the 400,000 people located there should be given 10 days to leave, while those remaining be designated combatants.

Chief presenter Mark Austin puts it to him that Israel cannot guarantee the safety of evacuees because their so-called safe zones are being bombed, and that Hamas is threatening those who do want to leave.

"If civilians can't leave or won't leave, they are stuck there, they will be starving to death, that is effectively going to be a war crime," Austin says.

"You can't forcibly remove civilians, you certainly can't starve civilians."

Maj Gen Eiland responds: "A siege is a legitimate, practical measure that can be taken against the enemy, and you can cause your enemy to surrender or to die in starvation."

He says the alternative is to use "regular military tactics, and the result would be that thousands of civilians will be killed because the terrorists and civilians are living together".

A former peacekeeper says Israel wants UNIFIL out of the picture so they can inflict immense and disproportionate destruction on southern Lebanon.

John Durnin, who was deputy chief liaison officer at UNIFIL and undertook five tours with the peacekeeping force, said Israel has what they call the "Dahiya doctrine", named after the destruction of the area at the end of the 2006 war.

"The logic of this doctrine is to harm the civilian population so much that they will then turn against the militants, forcing the enemy to sue for peace," he tells Mark Austinon Sky News' The World programme.

It calls for Israeli forces to "wield disproportionate power and cause immense damage and destruction".

"The presence of UNIFIL inhibits their total, overwhelming use of force," he says, dismissing the idea peacekeepers have no function because conflict has broken out.

He adds that lulls in fighting also give peacekeepers an opportunity to rescue people stranded in battle zones, like the elderly and children.

Addressing Benjamin Netanyahu's claims, Mr Durnin says: "The argument that Hezbollah has been using UNIFIL as a human shield could be used on both sides."

He points to reports that two Israeli tanks forcibly entered a UNIFIL base yesterday.

And when it comes to Israel's evacuation orders ahead of attacks, he calls them ineffective - pointing to Gaza.

"The same thing will happen in Lebanon," he says.

Condemnation is deepening for Israel's attacks on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, while Israel argues Hezbollah positions are located nearby.

The UK, Italy, Germany, Spain and France have accused Israel of breaching international humanitarian law, but Benjamin Netanyahu has denied Israel deliberately targeted UN personnel.

Peacekeepers are deployed in southern Lebanon to enforce a buffer zone under UN Resolution 1701 that helped end a bloody month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006.

Here's what we know about the attacks over the past few days.

Yesterday

UNIFIL said two Israeli Merkava tanks destroyed the main gate of one of its bases and forcibly entered.

After the tanks left, shells exploded 100 metres away, releasing smoke that blew across the base and caused skin irritation.

UNIFIL called the incident a "further flagrant violation of international law".

In its version of events, the Israeli military said Hezbollah had fired anti-tank missiles at Israeli troops, wounding 25 of them.

The attack was very close to a UNIFIL post and a tank helping evacuate the casualties under fire then backed into the UNIFIL post, it said.

Also on Sunday, the Israeli military showed foreign journalists a Hezbollah tunnel shaft thatwas less than 200 metres away from a UNIFIL position,as well as weapon stashes that the troops found.

Saturday

A peacekeeper was "hit by gunfire due to ongoing military activity" in the city of Naqoura, UNIFIL said. It noted that the origin of the fire was unknown.

The man underwent surgery to remove the bullet, it said.

Friday

Two Sri Lankan peacekeepers were injured by explosions near an observation tower at UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura.

One of them was taken to hospital with serious injuries.

The Israeli military said its soldiers identified a threat and responded with fire, ultimately hitting a UNIFIL post and injuring the two peacekeepers - and that the intended target was located 50 metres away.

In another incident, an Israeli army bulldozer hit the perimeter of a separate UNIFIL position while Israeli tanks moved nearby, UNIFIL said.

Thursday

Israeli tank fire hit the same UNIFIL headquarters, injuring two Indonesian peacekeepers.

UNIFIL said Israeli soldiers had attacked a bunker at a base where peacekeepers were sheltering, damaging vehicles and a communication system.

France, which is among the largest Europeancontributors of personnel to UNIFIL, accused Israel of deliberately firing at peacekeepers and summoned the Israeli ambassador in protest.

Israel had told peacekeepers to leave their positions, but they stayed due to their obligations under Resolution 1701 to provide support to thousands of people trapped in the south, UNIFIL said.

Israel said UNIFIL was located near where Hezbollah has launched rockets into northern Israel.

Former house speakerNancyPelosi says Benjamin Netanyahu has never believed in peace.

Ms Pelosi, a US political heavyweight, said a two-state solution was not viable while Mr Netanyahu remains in office.

Speaking at Chatham House, in London, she said she didn't think he had "ever believed in peace or two-state solution".

The US supports Israel but it does not approve of the level of "collateral damage", she said.

"Now, there are those who say the Israelis are taking very great precautions. Well, clearly, clearly not enough."

China's foreign minister has urged Israel to ensure the safety of peacekeepers after Israeli attacks on their positions.

Personnel from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon have been in southern Lebanon since 2006 under the instructions of the UN Security Council to preserve peace.

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi also called for an immediate, complete and permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

He called on all parties involved in tensions betweenIsrael and Iran to exercise caution and avoidescalating the situation.

Benjamin Netanyahu has denied Israelitroops deliberately targeted UNIFIL peacekeepers in Lebanon.

He said the accusations - which have been made by the UN, France, Italy, Germany, the UK and Spain, among others - were "completely false".

Mr Netanyahu repeated a call for peacekeepers to bewithdrawn from combat zones, despite them operating in the area under the authority of the UN Security Council with the directive to facilitate peace.

He said the military did its utmost to avoid harming UNIFILpersonnel, while striking Hezbollah fighters.

The United Nations humanrights office says Israel has trapped tens of thousands of civilians in northern Gaza without food or supplies.

It added it was appalled by more than a weekof heavy Israeli strikes on the area.

"In the shadow of the escalation of hostilities across theMiddle East, the Israeli military appears to be cutting off north Gaza completely from the rest of the Gaza Strip andconducting hostilities with absolute disregard for the lives andsecurity of Palestinian civilians."

The office said it had received reports thatIsraeli forces erected sand mounds at a key juncture,effectively "sealing off North Gaza" and firing on thoseattempting to flee.