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The in-person pledge was reportedly made this week when US National Security adviser Jake Sullivan and US secretary of state Antony Blinken met Israeli National Security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi and Israel’s Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer in Washington DC.
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The source said that the US would offer Israel military assistance but not deploy ground troops.
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The assurance comes after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly accused the US of withholding weapons and ammunitions from his country earlier this week, amid a tense back-and-forth between Israeli and US officials.
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Tensions have been growing between Israel and Hezbollah after months of intensifying cross-border attacks in southern Lebanon and northern Israel. The Lebanese armed group has warned that there will be “no restraint and no rules and no ceilings” if war breaks out.
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An Israeli civilian was shot dead in the Palestinian town of Qalqilya in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, Israel’s military has said.
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Israeli troops arrived in the area shortly after and were investigating what happened, the military said. It gave no further details.
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Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported the man was shot and killed after driving into Qalqilya. His car was later set on fire, it reported.
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Violence in the West Bank, already on the rise before the Israel-Gaza war, has further escalated, with stepped-up Israeli military raids and street attacks.
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UN secretary-general António Guterres has warned that the world cannot “afford Lebanon to become another Gaza” as tensions between Israel and the Hezbollah group in neighbouring Lebanon intensify.
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“One rash move – one miscalculation – could trigger a catastrophe that goes far beyond the border, and frankly, beyond imagination,” he told reporters on Friday. “Let’s be clear: The people of the region and the people of the world cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza.”
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Earlier this week the Israeli foreign minister, Israel Katz, said a decision on an all-out war with Hezbollah was coming soon, and Israeli generals announced that they had signed off planning for an offensive into Lebanon.
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Iran-backed Hezbollah has been exchanging almost daily rocket fire with Israel since the Gaza war erupted in October, forcing tens of thousands to flee homes on both sides of the border.
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Iran’s mission to the United Nations said on Friday that Hezbollah has the capability to defend itself and Lebanon against Israel, warning that “perhaps the time for the self-annihilation of this illegitimate regime has come.”
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More on that soonest. In other developments:
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Guterres also said it was Israel’s responsibility – as the occupying power in the Gaza Strip – to restore public order and safety in the Palestinian territory so humanitarian aid can be delivered. “Most of the trucks with humanitarian aid inside Gaza are now looted,” Guterres told reporters, adding that Israel prevented the UN from using Palestinian civil police for aid security. “There is total chaos in Gaza and there is no authority in most of the territory.”
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A daily “pause” the Israeli military declared in Gaza last weekend to facilitate aid flows has had no impact on deliveries of badly needed aid, the UN’s health agency said Friday. “So overall, we the UN can say that we did not see an impact on the humanitarian supplies coming in since that, I will say, unilateral announcement of this technical pause,” said Richard Peeperkorn, the World Health Organization (WHO) representative in the Palestinian territories. “That is the overall assessment.
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Witnesses whose relatives died in one of the bombardments told the AP news agency that Israeli forces fired a second volley that killed people who came out of their tents. “Two tanks climbed a hilltop overseeing Mawasi and they sent balls of fire that hit the tents of the poor people displaced in the area,” one resident told the news agency Reuters.
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The Israeli military said the episode was under review but that “there is no indication that a strike was carried out by the IDF” inside the safe zone, using an acronym for the Israeli forces. It did not provide details on the episode or say what the intended targets might have been.
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At least 45 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza on Friday, Reuters reported. The dead included a father and son killed in an Israeli strike on Khan Younis and four municipal workers in Gaza City, with rescue workers still searching for more victims. More than 37,400 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli onslaught.
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Qatar said Friday it was pursuing efforts to “bridge the gap” between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and release Israeli hostages held there. “We have continued our efforts without interruption over the last few days,” Qatar’s prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told a news conference in Madrid with Spanish foreign minister Jose Manuel Albares.
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Explosions were reported near a ship east of the Yemeni port city of Aden on Friday, Britain’s maritime safety agency UKMTO said. The agency, which did not identify the vessel, said the ship was able to continue its journey and “the crew are reported safe”.
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Armenia announced Friday it was recognising the State of Palestine, the latest country to do so during the war in Gaza, saying it was against “violence towards civilian populations.” Shortly after the former Soviet republic announced the recognition, Israel’s foreign ministry said it summoned Yerevan’s ambassador for a “severe reprimand”.
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Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the Israel-Gaza war and its repercussions across the Middle East.
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The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that 25 people have been killed in a shelling attack that damaged its Gaza office, which is surrounded by hundreds of displaced Palestinians living in makeshift tents.
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The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory also said there were 50 injured in the shelling, which it blamed on Israel. The ministry said Israeli shelling on Friday had “targeted the tents of the displaced in the al-Mawasi area”, which is around the ICRC base.
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Al-Mawasi had been designated as a humanitarian “safe zone” by Israel and thousands of people had fled there following Israel’s assault on the southern city of Rafah.
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The Israeli military (IDF) said in a statement that it was pursuing “a precise intelligence-based operation” against militants and their infrastructure in central Gaza.
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Israel has previously bombed locations in the vicinity of al-Muwasi, a rural area with no water or sewage systems and where Palestinians have been living in desperate conditions.
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The strike comes less than a month after an Israeli bombing triggered a deadly fire that tore through a camp for displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza, drawing widespread international outrage – including from some of Israel’s closest allies – over the military’s expanding offensive into Rafah.
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Important Events
Peter Beaumont
As tensions rise between Israel and Hezbollah, doctors are preparing underground hospital units on Israel’s northern border, people are fleeing their homes and tension is in the air in rural kibbutzim.
Read the full article here:
US pledges full support to Israel if war breaks out with Hezbollah
CNN reported, citing an unnamed Biden administration official, that Washington had assured Tel Aviv that it would provide its full support if all-out war with Hezbollah broke out.
The direct pledge was reportedly made this week in Washington DC, when US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli National Security Advisor Tsahi Hanegbi and Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer.
The sources said the US would provide military assistance to Israel but would not send ground troops.
The assurance came amid continued tense exchanges between Israeli and US officials, and after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly accused the US earlier this week of withholding arms and ammunition supplies to Israel.
Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah are rising after months of intensifying cross-border attacks in southern Lebanon and northern Israel. The Lebanese militant group has warned that “there will be no restraints, no rules, no caps” if war breaks out.
Israel Defense Forces announces Israeli shot dead in West Bank
The Israeli military said an Israeli civilian was shot dead on Saturday in the Palestinian town of Qalqilya in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military said it arrived in the area shortly after and was investigating what happened, but gave no further details.
Israeli state broadcaster Kan reported that the man was shot dead after driving into Qalqilya. His car was then set on fire, it said.
Violence in the West Bank, which was on the rise even before the Israel-Gaza war, has intensified with Israeli military raids and intensified street attacks.
UN Secretary-General Guterres warns that ‘one miscalculation’ on Lebanon-Israel border could ‘provoke a catastrophe’
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that the world “cannot allow Lebanon to become another Gaza” amid rising tensions between Israel and neighbouring Lebanon’s Hezbollah group.
“One rash action, one miscalculation, could trigger a catastrophe that goes far beyond our borders and is frankly unimaginable,” he told reporters on Friday. “Let me be clear: the people of the region and the world cannot tolerate Lebanon becoming another Gaza.”
Earlier this week, Israeli Foreign Minister Katz said a decision on all-out war with Hezbollah would be made soon, and announced that Israeli generals had approved plans to attack Lebanon.
Iran-backed Hezbollah has been exchanging near-daily rocket fire with Israel since the Gaza war erupted in October, forcing tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border to flee their homes.
Iran’s UN mission said Friday that Hezbollah has the ability to defend itself and Lebanon from Israel, and warned that “perhaps the time has come for this illegitimate regime to destroy itself.”
We will provide more details on this in the coming days. Other developments include:
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Guterres also said that Israel, as the occupying power of the Gaza Strip, has a responsibility to restore security and safety in the Palestinian territory and to deliver humanitarian aid.“Most of the trucks carrying humanitarian supplies in Gaza have been looted,” Guterres told reporters, adding that Israel had blocked the UN from using Palestinian civilian police to guard aid. “The Gaza Strip is in total chaos and there is no authority in much of the territory.”
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A daily “ceasefire” declared by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip last weekend to facilitate the delivery of aid has had no impact on the delivery of badly needed aid, the UN health agency said on Friday.“Overall, we at the UN can say that since the unilateral announcement of this technical suspension, we have not seen any impact on the flow of humanitarian supplies,” said Richard Pieperkorn, the World Health Organization representative for the Palestinian Territories. “That is our overall assessment.”
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A witness who lost relatives in the bombing told The Associated Press that Israeli forces fired a second volley, killing people who came out of their tents. “Two tanks climbed to the top of a hill overlooking Mawashi and fired fireballs, hitting the tents of the poor people who had taken refuge in the area,” one resident told Reuters.
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The Israeli army said the incident was under investigation but that there was “no indication that there was an IDF attack” inside the safe zone, which is the acronym for the Israeli military.He did not provide details about the incident or say what targets were intended.
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At least 45 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip on Friday, Reuters reported.The dead included a father and son killed in an Israeli attack on Khan Yunis, as well as four Gaza City municipal officials, and rescuers are still searching for more victims. More than 37,400 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli onslaught.
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Qatar said on Friday it was working to “bridge the gap” between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages being held there. “We have been working uninterrupted for the past few days,” Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said at a news conference in Madrid alongside Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Alvarez.
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Britain’s maritime safety agency, UKMTO, said it had reported an explosion near a ship east of the Yemeni port city of Aden on Friday. The agency did not reveal the identity of the vessel but said it was able to continue its voyage and that “the crew are reported to be safe.”
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Armenia on Friday became the latest country to recognise the Palestinian state amid the Gaza conflict, saying it opposed “violence against civilians”. Shortly after the former Soviet republic announced its recognition, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said it had summoned its ambassador to Yerevan and issued a “severe reprimand.”
25 Palestinians killed in shelling near Red Cross Gaza office, officials say
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the Israel-Gaza war and its impact across the Middle East.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said 25 people were killed when artillery fire damaged its Gaza office, which is surrounded by hundreds of displaced Palestinians living in makeshift tents.
The Hamas-controlled area’s Health Ministry also said 50 people were wounded in shelling and blamed Israel. It said Friday’s Israeli shelling “targeted tents of displaced persons in the Al-Mawasi area near the ICRC base.”
Al-Mawasi has been designated a humanitarian “safe zone” by Israel, and thousands of people have taken refuge there following Israeli attacks on the southern city of Rafah.
The Israeli army (IDF) said in a statement that it was conducting “precise intelligence-based operations” against militants and their infrastructure in central Gaza.
Israel has previously bombed the area around Al-Muwasi, a rural area without running water or sewage systems where Palestinians live in dire conditions.
The attack came less than a month after Israeli bombing ripped through a devastating fire at a camp for displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza, and the escalating military offensive into Rafah sparked widespread outrage from the international community, including Israel’s closest allies.
