One year after the killing of Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah, Israel holds no accountability, Overnight fire in Deir al-Balah burns Gazans alive, Four Israeli soldiers were killed by a Hezbollah drone strike on a military base south of Haifa, Hezbollah issues warning to Israeli residents, 400,000 Palestinians trapped in north Gaza, while civilians in Jabalia are killed with ‘unspeakable cruelty and sadism’, US Pentagon confirms anti-missile system being sent to Israel, Netanyahu threatens to turn Lebanon into another Gaza as ground offensive continues, Hezbollah claims to repel Israeli troops at the border, Israeli strikes keep on pounding south Lebanon, Beqaa Valley, Chouf and Beirut, Displacement crisis, another humanitarian disaster for Lebanon, Second round of Gaza polio vaccine to begin on Monday, At least 30 Palestinians arrested in occupied West Bank over two days, Iran’s Foreign Minister arrives in Baghdad during war-focused tour, claiming Iraq will not be turned into arena for war, Clash in Ain el-Mreisseh between displaced persons and security forces dismantling tents, Seven Civil Defence workers killed in Israeli strike on church in Tyre, Israeli troops fire at three UNIFIL positions in southern Lebanon, the world reacts, Quasi-normal operations were conducted at the Beirut Port, A French-led international conference for Lebanon is set for October 24, 100 doubly-displaced Syrians attempt the sea route to Cyprus and face rejection, fearing deportation, Syrians returning from Lebanon to AANES-held northeastern Syria face the threat of conscription for ‘self-defence duty’, Israeli jets from the Syrian occupied Golan targeted a residential building in the capital Damascus, killing 11, Sudan military’s strike on market in capital kills at least 23
“It was 6 am when Dylan and I headed to the southern border for what seemed like just another assignment. The sun was shining, and we both happened to be wearing white t-shirts, as if matching without even trying. We played music along the way, enjoying the serene views.” The words of Christina Assi, photographer for AFP, one year after the Israeli strike that killed Reuters’ colleague Issam Abdallah, injured five other journalists reporting at the scene, and made her lose her right leg, sounds more actual than ever.
“In an instant, Israel took my leg, my best friend, and shattered the life I once knew. Now, a year later, I still find myself having to explain, to justify, as if our suffering needs validation,” Assi continues, in a post published on Instagram on Sunday, October 13: the first anniversary of that infaust day, constant reminder that this is no war for journalists.
That day, one year ago, just over a kilometer from the Israeli border near the Lebanese village of Alma al-Chaab, a group of seven journalists, marked with press insignia and visible to Israeli military positions, was directly targeted by Israeli tanks, after – for more than forty minutes – no exchange of fire was reported across the borders. A second strike came just 37 seconds after the first, leaving Assi with life-altering injuries, wounding the other reporters, and killing Abdallah.
“The Israeli military knew we were there from the moment we arrived. We thought that being seen would protect us,” Dylan Collins, US citizen and videographer for AFP, stated in a video released on the first anniversary since the attack. Indeed, they were clearly visible: but instead of protecting, this made them an easier target for the Israeli war machine. Multiple independent probes, including from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, concluded the Israeli tank deliberately fired shells at the group of journalists.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a US-based press freedom advocacy organization, at least 128 journalists have been killed since Israel’s war on Gaza began last October, with the vast majority being Palestinian media professionals in Gaza, who were killed by Israeli air strikes. Only in Lebanon, Farah Omar, Rabih al-Maamari, Hussein Aqil, Hadi al-Sayed and Kamel Karaki, along with Issam Abdallah, were direct victims of Israel’s war on journalists.
“In spite of extensive evidence of a war crime, a year on from the attack, Israel has faced zero accountability for the targeting of journalists,” CPJ’s CEO Jodie Ginsberg said in a statement – echoed by Christina Assi’s words of anger: “No one has taken accountability. The killing machine continues, silencing journalists and burying the truth. And all of this for what? How much more can we endure while the world turns a blind eye? Injustice thrives in silence, and they know it.”
In a report marking the anniversary of the October 13, 2023 attack, CPJ said that Israel has not even completed a preliminary investigation into the incident. “With over two decades of targeted attacks on journalists without any consequences, the Israeli military has been granted license to continue this deadly pattern,” Ginsberg added.
A tangible hostility
At the same time, while Israel has been accused of using cluster bombs in southern Lebanon – prohibited under the Geneva Conventions, to be added to Israel’s record of crimes against the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples -, and the distrust towards strangers takes the form of a tangible and explicit hostility, the work of journalists has become more and more difficult in the war-torn country. Often perceived by local communities as threats, when not accused to be enemy spies – especially after an Israeli national, Joshua Tartakovky, has been arrested in the southern suburbs of Beirut after illegally entering Lebanon as a journalist – local and foreign correspondents in Lebanon have been facing increased violence.
Following the Bachoura attack on October 3, in central Beirut, two Belgian journalists who rushed to the scene, Robin Ramaekers and Stijn De Smet, were beaten by a group of men. Many journalists report moments of tension, most of the time without consequences.
A few days later, on October 8, the case of the Italian journalist Lucia Goracci – who was attacked in Jiyeh together with her crew, leading to the death of the driver Ahmad Akil Hamzeh from a heart attack – explains the climate that reigns in the most sensitive and hot areas of the conflict. The group of TV journalists was granted permission to report in the sensitive area by Hezbollah: yet, this was not enough to spare them from the anger of locals, most of whom have lost part of their families in the latest Israeli raids, and “only accidentally found its outlet in the attack on the Italian crew,” the Lebanese fixer Kinda Mahalouf confirmed.
A social tightening has begun, and, perhaps, the rejection – instinctive or otherwise – of a narrative perceived as adverse.
In Lebanon
In the center of Beirut: At least 22 people were killed and 117 others wounded in Israeli air strikes in central Beirut on Thursday, October 10, as confirmed by Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health, in the third such attack on the center of the Lebanese capital since Israel escalated its bombing campaign last month.
Central Beirut’s Basta and Ras al-Nabaa neighborhoods were hit simultaneously, shortly before 8 pm on Thursday evening. Israel was reportedly targeting senior Hezbollah official Wafiq Safa, who al-Manar says survived.
Reporting from the strike site, local reporters confirmed many people who had been displaced from southern Lebanon in recent weeks had sought shelter in the capital, especially to Shiite or Sunni-majority neighborhoods which, differently from some of the Christian-majority ones, are more open to welcome internal refugees.
The injured were brought to local hospitals, which sent out a warning asking people not to donate blood because they were already overwhelmed by the number of casualties and the inflow of family members, also in order to avoid crowding the already busy streets. Civil defense workers continued their rescue missions until the day after.
The attacks, which came without warning, mark the third time since Israel expanded its campaign on Beirut in late September that its bombs have hit outside Dahieh, the southern suburb that has seen near-daily air raids in recent weeks. A Lebanese security source, without giving further details, said a “Hezbollah figure” was targeted after a series of killings of top officials in the Iran-aligned movement.
However, although the heart of the capital had been targeted twice since the escalation of the Israeli offensive on September 23 – once in Cola, on September 29, killing 4, and once in Bachoura, on October 2, killing 9 – the two attacks on last Thursday were the deadliest, with 22 killed and at least 117 wounded, according to a provisional toll.
In this strike in particular, several people reported severe respiratory symptoms, coughing vigorously. Paramedics on the site were distributing extra masks to wear because of suspected toxic materials.
From Netanyahu, to the Lebanese: In a speech delivered on Tuesday, October 8, exactly one year after the war front between northern Israel and southern Lebanon opened, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Lebanon could face destruction “like we see in Gaza” and claimed Israel has killed slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s “replacement, and the replacement of his replacement.” Netanyahu’s remarks came in a video message addressed to Lebanese citizens in which he also claimed Hezbollah is “weaker than it has been for many years.”
The Israeli army previously said it had targeted top Hezbollah commander Hashem Safieddine, who was tipped to be the successor to Nasrallah, in an air strike on Beirut last week, but his fate is so far unknown. There has been no comment from the Lebanese armed group yet on Netanyahu’s latest remarks.
“You have an opportunity to save Lebanon before it falls into the abyss of a long war that will lead to destruction and suffering,” Netanyahu said in his address, which came as the Israeli military deployed more troops to Lebanon and ordered people in southern coastal areas, and in areas of the capital Beirut’s southern suburbs, to evacuate.
On the same day, Hezbollah said it fired rockets at the Israeli port city of Haifa, its biggest-yet rocket barrage at the area, after the Israeli military reported 85 projectiles crossing from Lebanon. Netanyahu has promised to secure its northern border areas “doing whatever is necessary” to allow tens of thousands of Israelis to return to towns and settlements there.
Another speech from Hezbollah: At the same time, both Hamas in Gaza, and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, have pledged no let-up against Israel, and on the same day, Tuesday, October 8, the Shiite party’s deputy leader Naim Qassem said the group would make it impossible for Israelis to return to the north.
Hezbollah’s Naim Qassem took the floor again just over a week after his previous speech, addressing the public in a surprise appearance on Tuesday. Qassem, who is now de facto head of the party following Israel’s assassination of Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah on September 27, reassured his supporters, reiterating Hezbollah’s stance on the recent political developments, which he described as “details as long as the cannons roar.” “The important thing,” he said, “is that a cease-fire is achieved. Until then, no other discussion has a place for us.”
In this context, Qassem praised Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, calling him “Hezbollah’s big brother.” Since Nasrallah’s assassination, which dealt a significant blow to parties allied with Hezbollah in Lebanon, including the Amal Movement, Berri has been active on multiple fronts, underscoring Lebanon’s commitment to UN Resolution 1701 and backing the Franco-American cease-fire proposal made on September 25.
“We support the political initiative led by Berri, whose main objective is the cease-fire,” Qassem said. Notably, Hezbollah’s deputy leader did not link a cease-fire in Lebanon to the cessation of hostilities in Gaza. This marks a retreat for the Shiite party, which had previously maintained, through party MPs, that the two fronts should remain connected. In contrast, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi, during his visit to Beirut last week, argued that the end of hostilities in both Lebanon and Gaza should be “simultaneous.”
In addition, Qassem emphasized that the party has “weathered all the significant blows” it has faced and has “filled all vacant positions.” He assured supporters, “We will elect a new secretary-general following the established procedures, and the announcement will be made once the process is complete.” However, he made no reference to the fate of Hachem Safieddine, Hassan Nasrallah’s designated successor, who was reportedly targeted by an Israeli strike last week.
On the presidential elections: Berri also reignited the long-stalled presidential election, which has been deadlocked for nearly two years, by opting not to insist on dialogue before calling for an electoral session.
Meanwhile, American news outlet Axios reported, citing US diplomatic sources, that Washington is seeking to use Hezbollah’s difficult position to secure the election of Army Chief Joseph Aoun to the presidency – a candidate Hezbollah has opposed.
In his speech, Qassem responded, subtly implying that the election – and any potential concession to Washington – would not happen under bombardment, though he stopped short of outright rejecting Aoun’s candidacy.
UNIFIL positions attacked: Israeli troops opened fire at three positions held by UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon on Thursday, one of whom was UNIFIL’s main base at Naqoura. Any attack on peacekeepers is a “grave violation of international humanitarian law,” the UN Force said in a statement. On Friday, the Israeli army hit again a watchtower of a Sri Lankan battalion in the same base, in the second such attack in as many days.
Days before, UNIFIL – the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon – had said that it was “deeply concerned by recent activities” by the Israeli military near a peacekeeper position in southwestern Lebanon. It did not provide details, but said the activities were dangerous and that it was “unacceptable to compromise the safety of UN peacekeepers carrying out their Security Council-mandated tasks.” In a letter to the Israeli military dated October 3, UNIFIL had objected to Israeli military vehicles and troops positioning themselves “in immediate proximity” to UN positions, “thereby endangering the safety and security of UNIFIL personnel and premises.”
The peacekeeping organization, which consists of about 10,000 peacekeepers from 50 countries and was established in 1978, said Israeli forces had “deliberately” fired at its positions along the border. At least five UN peacekeepers have been wounded in recent days as Israeli forces fight against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
The world reacts: Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the UN undersecretary general for peace operations, told the UN Security Council that the “safety and security” of UN peacekeepers in Lebanon is “increasingly in jeopardy”. He said that operational activities had virtually come to a halt since September 23, when Israel launched a broad wave of strikes in Lebanon. “Peacekeepers have been confined to their bases with significant periods of time in shelter,” he said, adding that UNIFIL was ready to support all efforts towards a diplomatic solution.
“UNIFIL is mandated to support the implementation of resolution 1701, but we must insist that it is for the parties themselves to implement the provisions of this resolution,” he told an emergency meeting of the 15-member council.
On the same hand, UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said that the attack was a “very serious” development. Tenenti explained that Israel had previously asked the peacekeepers to move from “certain positions” near the border, but “we decided to stay because it’s important for the UN flag to fly in the south of Lebanon”. “If the situation becomes impossible for the mission to operate in the south of Lebanon it will be up to the Security Council to decide how to move forward,” he added.
Among the countries which are part of the peacekeeping mission, Indonesia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi confirmed on Friday that two of their peacekeepers had been injured in the assault and are in hospital for further observation. “Indonesia strongly condemns the attack,” she said. “Attacking UN personnel and property is a major violation of International Humanitarian Law.” Also, Italian Minister of Defense Guido Crosetto called the attack on the UNIFIL bases “totally unacceptable,” “not a mistake and not an accident,” but “a war crime that represented a very serious violation of international military law,” he told a news conference. Then, Irish leader Simon Harris condemned the attack and said that “any firing in the vicinity of UNIFIL troops or facilities is reckless and must stop.” Ireland has about 370 troops in the peacekeeping mission.
On the other hand, while the White House expressed “deep concern,” it also reiterated their “understanding” of “Israel conducting targeted operations near the Blue Line to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure that could be used to threaten Israeli citizens.” To respond, Israel’s UN ambassador, Danny Danon, said he recommended that the peacekeeping force relocate five kilometers north “while the situation along the Blue Line remains volatile as a result of Hezbollah aggression”, referring to the demarcation line between Lebanon and Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, instead, speaking at a cabinet meeting on Sunday, said Israeli forces asked UNIFIL several times to leave but it “met with repeated refusals” that provided a “human shield to Hezbollah terrorists.” “Your refusal to evacuate the UNIFIL soldiers makes them hostages of Hezbollah. This endangers both them and the lives of our soldiers. We regret the injuring of UNIFIL soldiers and we are doing everything in our power to prevent this injury. But the simple and obvious way to ensure this is simply to get them out of the danger zone.”
Across the borders: Hezbollah continued to announce several cross-border attacks and has claimed its strikes “repelled” Israeli troops’ attempted infiltration. The party also released new footage purportedly showing its al-Hodhod drones entering Israel.
Meanwhile, as Israel claims to be expanding its ground offensive, with images of troops raising the Israeli flag in the outskirts of Maroun el-Ras – explained by Hezbollah as a very minimal israeli advance inside the Lebanese territory -, the only advance made was in the first sector, where Kfarkila and Odaisseh are located. Hezbollah, however, released a statement saying that it had targeted the Israeli soldiers with a missile at around 8 pm on Tuesday, presumably after the raising of the flag happened, and again on Sunday, with artillery shells.
Notable advance was furtherly made inside Yaroun and Maroun el-Ras, and in the outskirts of al-Abbasiyah, where a mosque was bombed: however, the Israeli army was not able to secure the towns nor fully work in the whole areas. The invasion progressed in Mays al-Jabal and Blida, where Hezbollah barely reported any clashes or engagements. Mosques were destroyed in Dhaira (Sour), after reportedly rigging it with explosives during a ground incursion, and by airstrikes in Kfar Tebnit and Yaroun. An Israeli attack also destroyed a church in Derdhgaiya.
Hezbollah’s retaliation: On Sunday evening, four Israeli soldiers were killed by a Hezbollah drone strike on a military base south of Haifa, the Israeli army announced in a statement. Earlier, Hezbollah announced it had launched missiles at an Israeli military base near Haifa, in the northern part of the country, shortly after claiming responsibility for a drone attack that left more than 60 wounded in the area.
It stated its fighters had launched “a salvo of missiles at the maintenance and rehabilitation base south of Haifa,” Israel’s largest city in the north, claiming the attack was in retaliation to former leader Hassan Nasrallah’s killing, who was assassinated on September 27 by an Israeli strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Hezbollah has issued warning to Israeli residents, while it continues to fight against invading troops. In its first message directly addressing northern Israelis, the party overnight to Saturday warned them to stay away from sites of Israeli military activity in northern Israel including homes-turned-garrisons in several northern regions and army bases in cities such as Haifa, Tiberias and Acre. On Friday, the party fired an explosive drone targeting the outskirts of Tel Aviv – previously targeted in heavy retaliatory blows by the party, particularly aimed at the Glilot military base which hosts Israeli military intelligence headquarters.
Targeting the Civil Defense: Last Monday, October 7, Israel killed 10 firefighters in a strike on the southern Lebanese town of Baraachit, near Bint Jbeil, in what rescue workers have described as a deliberate attack. Several firefighters remained trapped under the rubble, the Union of Bint Jbeil Municipalities said, adding that Israeli air barrages prevented rescue teams from reaching the strike’s site.
Then, on Wednesday, October 9, the reception of Derdghaya church, east of Tyre, targeted by the Israeli army, killed seven Civil Defense members who were there. Later on October 11, an Israeli airstrike targeted Iran’s 56-bed field hospital on the Syrian-Lebanese border, which had been set up to provide aid to displaced Lebanese people. The facility, marked clearly with Red Crescent flags and symbols, housed food supplies, medical equipment, and medicines.
Previously, on Sunday, September 29, in Houmine El Faouqa, Nabatieh, three paramedics were directly targeted and killed; four were killed in a raid near the Islamic Message Scout Center in Tayr Debba, Tyre; five other from the Islamic Health Authority were also injured in a targeted strike while they were working in the town of Khiyam, recovering the victims of a previous raid. In the early hours of Monday, September 30, five Civil Defense members of the Islamic Health Commission were also slaughtered in the center in Sohmor, west Beqaa, while fulfilling their duty: in the attack, six other people were also killed, and several dozens injured.
More than 100 paramedics, rescue workers and other medical workers have been killed by Israeli strikes since October 8. The IDF spokesperson for the Arab Media, Avichay Adraee, claimed – without providing any evidence – that Hezbollah is using ambulances to carry fighters and weapons, saying it will act against vehicle moving weapons, no matter the type. Directly targeting rescue workers or medical staff is against international humanitarian law and could amount to a war crime under the Geneva Conventions which Israel has ratified along with 195 other countries.
Humanitarian disaster: Of all the crises Lebanon is facing, the humanitarian one is currently the most pressing. One million and 300 thousand people, almost a fifth of the total population, are displaced: of these, only 186,400 have been registered in the thousand official centers for internal refugees – reserved for Lebanese citizens only – of which 822 have already reached maximum capacity, according to data collected by national authorities, and updated to October 10.
This means that more than a million people are currently abandoned on the streets, filling – in Beirut alone – Martyrs’ Square, the Horsh Beirut public park, the Waterfront, the Dawra under bridge, Ramlet el-Baida beach, and the Corniche seafront where the Lebanese security forces intervened to evacuate families intent on setting up their first tents, after two weeks spent without a roof.
In these regards, a major clash broke out on Wednesday evening between Syrian and Lebanese displaced persons on the one hand, and security forces on the other, on the Ain el-Mreisseh corniche in Beirut, as reported by several media outlets, including local channels LBCI, Al Jadeed and L’Orient-Le Jour. Security forces proceeded to evacuate tents set up by these displaced persons, who had come from southern Lebanon or Beirut’s southern suburbs following the Israeli military escalation in these areas. An amateur video shows dozens of angry people on sidewalks or motorcycles. According to media reports and several witnesses, the Lebanese Army joined as reinforcements.
Almost normally: Quasi-normal operations were conducted at the Beirut Port on Wednesday, October 9, Director Omar Itani said. “Operations are continuing almost normally at the capital sea trade hub,” he added, noting that emergency measures had been devised in the event of a maritime blockade or a strike on the facility.
Interviewed by the NNA, Itani emphasized that the process of clearing pending goods had been accelerated in several stages and decided, “after several meetings with the concerned authorities, to exceptionally issue special permits in order to speed up the work pace.” He further assured that these operations were being conducted “under the strict control of the Lebanese army.”
Economically, the strengthened security control of the army over the port and airport could help reduce tax evasion that, according to estimations conducted by Samir Daher, an advisor to Nagib Mikati, in August 2023, represents 4.8% of GDP. The army’s meticulous inspections of all imports and exports now impose precise declarations regarding the quantities and nature of goods, making any attempts at customs fraud more challenging. However, the issue of customs exemptions benefiting many religious and community institutions remains problematic.
No maritime blockade: On Monday, the Arabic-speaking spokesperson of the Israeli army, Avichai Adraee, called on ships to avoid the maritime area from the Awali River, at Saida level, to Naqoura, further south, in anticipation of a military operation against Hezbollah. Director of the Beirut Port Omar Itani, however, stated that “all circulating information indicating that Israel was planning to target the port was unfounded,” adding that an “emergency plan” had nonetheless been put in place to address any eventuality and that there was “no official decision of a maritime blockade” of the country.
On the same day, Food Importers’ Union Chief Hani Bohsali dispelled fears of food shortages as long as “Beirut’s Airport, the Beirut Port and the Tripoli Port are operational.”
Caretaker Finance Minister Youssef Khalil for his part urged additional effort by customs officials to expedite the clearance process. Last Tuesday, Turkey sent two naval ships bringing approximately 300 tonnes of humanitarian aid, including tents, bedding, hygiene kits and kitchenware, according to Turkish Ambassador Ali Baris Ulusoy. The ships also evacuated around 2,000 citizens from Lebanon.
Meeting the emergency: French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed that the previously-announced international conference seeking “to meet the emergency protection and relief needs” and to provide support for Lebanese institutions, notably the army, will take place on Thursday, October 24.
The EU, meanwhile, announced three upcoming air shipments of hygiene products and temporary shelters for Lebanon along with funding for aid deliveries to the country from several member states. Amid an international rush to send aid to Lebanon and exfiltrate foreign nationals from the country, no diplomatic progress has been made towards a cease-fire, said Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s to Saudi daily al-Sharq al-Awsat.
LF meeting:
A national meeting was held at the Lebanese Forces Party headquarters, led by Samir Geagea, to present a rescue roadmap for Lebanon amid the ongoing war and humanitarian crisis. Geagea emphasized the urgent need for a ceasefire as the first step to halting the country’s collapse, highlighting the severe toll of violence, displacement, and destruction on the Lebanese people, who are already suffering from deep political, economic, and social crises. He called for a united national effort to stop the tragedies and restore hope for a dignified life.
In The Region
Attempting the sea route: On Thursday, October 10, at around 10 pm, a boat sank off the coast of Tripoli, north Lebanon, carrying about 100 Syrian refugees towards the Cyprus territories. They were intercepted by the Cypriot authorities who prevented them from entering the country, and later corresponded to Lebanon to be repatriated.
Some of the passengers, human-rights lawyer Mohammad Sablouh reported, made a distress call for rescue, afraid of being forcibly returned to either Syria or Lebanon, both war-torn.
The boat returned to the Lebanese waters in the morning of Friday, October 11, when the would-be migrants were sorted by the Lebanese Army between those who entered Lebanon in 2012, thus registered with the UNHCR, and those who have come at a later stage and have not been registered.
Returning to AANES areas: On October 9, the first groups of Syrian refugee families who previously smuggled through areas controlled by Assad have begun crossing into northwestern Syria from northeastern Syria, marking yet another chapter in the ongoing cycle of displacement.
Previously on September 24, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria’s (AANES) representation in Lebanon formed a committee to assist Syrians wishing to return to northeastern Syria. For those in the Beirut area, it set the Nowruz Cultural and Social Association as a headquarters to gather families and transport them across the Syrian-Lebanese border. For Syrians living in the Beqaa Valley, it designated the square in the town of Chtoura as a gathering point, media outlet Syria Direct reported.
Many of those returning to northeastern Syria have no homes to return to. Several centers have been established for returnees to register with the AANES, including the Social Welfare Center in Raqqa, which was previously concerned with organizing returns from al-Hol, a detention camp holding the families of Islamic State (IS) members.
The AANES’ Crisis Cell stated that “the total number of returnees to the northern and eastern region of Syria coming from Lebanon is 19,324 people,” among whom only 69 of Lebanese nationality.
However, while the fear of conscription or detention is particularly acute in regime-controlled areas, military-aged men in AANES territory also face conscription into what is known as “self-defenses duty.” The AANES defines it as 12 months of “mandatory service for males from AANES areas of northeastern Syria who have completed 18 years of age.” It is a requirement for people from its areas, as well as any residents who have lived there for five years.
Hitting Damascus: In the evening of Tuesday, Israeli jets from the Syrian occupied Golan targeted a residential building in Al-Maza neighborhood – which houses the Iranian embassy and other diplomatic facilities – near Buildings 14 in the capital Damascus, with three rockets that destroyed four floors of the building and killed nine civilians, including children, and two members of Hezbollah, with the multiple blasts injuring 11 others.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights identified the civilians killed as a Yemeni doctor, his wife and their three children, as well as a woman and her child, a female doctor and a man. On Wednesday morning, students of the Medical College of Damascus mourned their colleagues Dr. Rahaf Qamhiya and Dr. Shawki Aloudi, who was killed in the Israeli bombardment along with his wife and three daughters. Iran’s embassy said no Iranian citizens were among the casualties.
The New York Times quoted Israeli officials, confirming that the bombing was an attempt to assassinate an important figure in Hezbollah involved in arms smuggling from Syria to Lebanon. The Israeli Jerusalem Post said that the bombing targeted a meeting involving high-level officials in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Hezbollah.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Israeli air and artillery strikes have targeted Syrian territory on 104 occasions since January, killing at least 296 people and resulting in the damage or destruction of about 190 targets, including not only weapons depots, but vehicles and civilian infrastructure.
Military siege in northern Gaza: For ten days, the trapped civilian population in northern Gaza has been herded under heavy bombardment that has already destroyed the majority of buildings. This is the third time air raids and ground incursions have occurred in the area since the start of the war, but this time the fear among residents is increasing because there’s no way out. Palestinians were ordered to evacuate but the Israeli military failed to provide any exit corridor.
Palestinians in northern Gaza, about 400,000 people, are trapped, with the Israeli military not allowing anyone to leave the area despite issuing an evacuation order. People are stuck in their homes and not getting any food, water supplies or other essentials. They’ve been cut off from the outside world and constantly bombarded.
“This is a systematic mass slaughter. At least 200 people have been killed since the beginning of this ground offensive earlier this month. More than 70 bodies are still on the streets of Jabalia, Beit Lahiya, and Beit Hanoon as civil defense workers say they’re unable to retrieve them because of Israeli attacks,” Hani Mahmoud reported from Deir el-Balah, central Gaza.
Quadcopters and attack drones fill the skies of the northern part of the Strip, including Jabalia refugee camp, chasing and shooting at people indiscriminately over the past few days. Journalists covering the crimes of the Israeli military were also targeted by these quadcopters.
Endless massacres: Israeli forces are committing “another massacre” in northern Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp, the UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territory said. Francesca Albanese stated Palestinian civilians in Jabalia “are killed – both in groups and one by one – amid unspeakable cruelty and sadism” by Israeli troops “who have accepted to be ‘willing executioners’ of a genocidal plan”.
The Israeli attacks are being conducted with Western support and weapons, Albanese noted. It has been carrying out a large-scale military incursion for ten days in northern Gaza, where the Jabalia camp is located, preventing aid from entering.
Bushra Khalidi, from the British charity Oxfam, says the hunger situation in besieged northern Gaza has deteriorated so drastically that people have resorted to eating animal feed, donkeys and horses just to survive. “I don’t know how people will survive. It’s likely they’ll die of starvation, die from the massacres we’re seeing in the north, or die trying to evacuate to the south.”
Gazans are burning: On Sunday night, Palestinians were seen burning alive after Israeli forces attacked tents within the grounds of the Al Aqsa hospital in Gaza’s Deir al-Balah region, in the central Strip. The tents were housing displaced Palestinians who had nowhere else to go.
Journalist Saleh al Jafarawi recorded the scenes as it happened, explaining that they had nothing to extinguish the flames. At least four people have been confirmed dead and about 70 are injured, with the death toll expected to rise as teams scramble to rescue survivors.
The “American right to defend Israel”: Following US media reports of an anti-missile system being sent to Israel along with US troops to operate it, the Pentagon has confirmed that it will deploy a high-altitude anti-missile system and its US military crew to Israel.
At the direction of US President Joe Biden, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin “authorized the deployment of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery and associated crew of US military personnel to Israel to help bolster Israel’s air defenses following Iran’s unprecedented attacks against Israel on April 13 and again on October 1,” Pentagon press secretary Pat Ryder said in a statement.
The United States government has given Israel at least 17.9 billion dollars in military aid over the past year, according to a new report by Brown University’s Costs of War project, published last Monday. This is by far the largest amount in a single year, since US military aid to Israel began in 1959. These transfers are, according to Amnesty International, a violation of international and US law. “President Biden must end US complicity with the government of Israel’s grave violations of international law and immediately suspend the transfer of weapons to the government of Israel,” Amnesty International earlier said in April.
Indeed, the 17.9 billion figure is “a fraction of the full value of US support for this war, which will only be determined over time,” the researchers say, citing the Biden administration’s “efforts to hide the full amounts of aid and types of systems through bureaucratic maneuvering.” It also does not include a 20.3 billion dollars arms sale approved by the Biden administration on August 13, 2024, which currently faces a challenge from US Senator Bernie Sanders that could block it, if Sanders’ resolution gets enough votes.
In comparison to the billions the US is spending on Israeli military aid, the US spent a relatively paltry 386 million on aid in Lebanon in the past year, and recently announced an additional 157 million. In Palestine, the US has announced more than 1 billion dollars in aid since October 2023, including 336 million announced on September 30. The cost of damage done by US weapons so far in this war is likely to far outmatch these amounts.
Second round: Palestinian Health Minister Majid Abu Ramadan said the second round of the polio vaccination drive in Gaza will begin today, Monday, October 14, news agency Wafa reported. The Ministry stressed the campaign’s success depends on the continuation of a humanitarian truce with Israel, which would allow health workers to safely administer the necessary vaccines to children under the age of 10.
During the first round of the vaccination campaign, the length of the humanitarian pause was agreed to last from 6am to 3pm every day in designated areas in Gaza. The campaign aims to vaccinate 591,700 children through both mobile and fixed teams to ensure comprehensive coverage across Gaza.
In the West Bank: At least 30 Palestinians were arrested in the Israeli-occupied West Bank over two days. The detainees included former prisoners, according to a statement by the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society and the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs. The Palestinians were taken during raids in the Israeli-occupied Jenin, Bethlehem, Nablus, Qalqilya and Ramallah governorates, a statement said.
More than 11,200 Palestinians have been arrested in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since October 7, 2023.
Araghchi in Baghdad: During the weekend, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in the Iraqi capital as part of a regional tour focused on Israel’s war on Gaza that has also taken him to Lebanon, Syria and Saudi Arabia so far. Araghchi is to continue “consultations with Muslim countries on critical situations in our region as the result of the Israeli regime’s genocidal attacks and aggressions in Gaza and Lebanon,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said in a post on X.
At the same time, the Foreign Ministers of Iran and Iraq have said at a news conference in Baghdad they hope to prevent Israel from dragging the Middle East into full-scale war. “Communications are ongoing to push the specter of war away from the region,” Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein told reporters, shortly after welcoming his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi. “If there is a war, Iraq and its airspace must be kept out of it.”
Araghchi said Tehran is prepared for both a ceasefire and war, but is pushing to stop Israeli aggression against Gaza and Lebanon. His regional tour has also been aimed at ensuring Arab countries of the region do not allow Israel to use their airspace to carry out its promised attack on Iran.
Upon arriving in the Iraqi capital, Araghchi visited the site where Iran’s top general Qassem Soleimani was assassinated by the US in January 2020 while travelling with Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. The top Iranian diplomat will next travel to Oman, according to Iranian media, potentially eyeing a crucial Jordan visit as well.
Sudan, no end in sight: On Sunday, October 13, the Sudanese military carried out an air strike on a marketplace in the capital Khartoum, killing at least 23 people and injuring 40, says a local network of volunteer rescuers. The market is near one of the main camps in the Sudanese capital, where the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has been fighting the military, in a civil war that has killed tens of thousands of people.
Fierce fighting has raged since Friday around Khartoum, much of which is controlled by the RSF, with the military hitting the center and south of the city from the air. The military is advancing towards Khartoum from nearby Omdurman, where clashes erupted on Saturday, witnesses said.
The government loyal to the army is based in Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast, where the army has retained control. The RSF, meanwhile, has taken control of nearly all of the vast western region of Darfur, rampaged through the agricultural heartland of central Sudan and pushed into the army-controlled southeast.
The ongoing war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary RSF has raged since April 2023, killing 20,000 people and displacing more than 10 million, including 2.4 million who have fled to other countries, according to estimates by the United Nations. The conflict has left more than 25 million people – about half the population of Sudan – in desperate need of food and healthcare.
What We’re Reading
The ghost of October 7 and the presidential saga: Rebuilding the Lebanese state with a strong army, backed by a population weary of Hezbollah’s vision of resistance, is an attainable goal. Achieving this will demand focused American commitment and strong political resolve. However, the question remains: can General Aoun navigate Lebanon’s intricate political landscape and garner broad-based support, or will his potential candidacy deepen existing divisions? Maan Barazy questioned.
Good Lebanese, bad Lebanese: With the intensity of the Israeli aggression rapidly intensifying in the country, sectarian tensions are re-emerging, as many Lebanese are facing exclusion, threats, and multiple violence, for being Shiite – wrote Valeria Rando.
Filling their gaps: The Lebanese government and Hezbollah-affiliated organizations’ failure to provide adequate shelter and support for the displaced population has faced intense criticism from both supporters and critics, Rodayna Raydan reported. Whilst thousands of people fleeing violence in southern Lebanon, the Beqaa Valley, and Beirut suburbs, they have found themselves without sufficient protection or resources. Instead of state-organized shelters or help from organizations that belong to the government or Hezbollah, local initiatives and NGOs have stepped in to fill the void.
The end of Hezbollah: For decades, Hezbollah framed itself as Lebanon’s primary defense against Israeli aggression, positioning itself as a resistance force, Ramzi Abou Ismail analyzed for NOW. Yet, it has always served Iranian interests behind the scenes. Recent events – particularly the October 8 attacks and the 2023-24 war – have now exposed this dissonance to the public, making it clear that Hezbollah’s role is less about Lebanon’s defense and more about advancing Iran’s geopolitical agenda.
A ring of fire: As war intensifies in Lebanon, its citizens are stuck at the crossroad decision: to leave or to stay, Marya Wazen wrote for NOW.
Making Beirut unsafe: On Thursday evening, Israeli warplanes launched airstrikes on two areas in the heart of Lebanon’s capital, Beirut – Noueiri and Ras al-Nabaa. Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) reported that one of the strikes hit a building near the Khatam al-Anbiya complex in the Noueiri district. Another airstrike targeted a location near the Al-Amaliyah building in the Ras al-Nabaa neighbourhood, further shaking an already tense capital, Dana Hourany reported. Emergency services immediately deployed to the areas, with ambulances rushing to assist the injured, as plumes of dark smoke filled the sky, blanketing parts of Beirut in a haze of destruction.
Lebanon +
Al Jazeera’s ‘Inside Story’ Podcast’s latest episode tackled the Israeli double attack on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon. The multi-nation UNIFIL force has been in southern Lebanon since 1978. Ali Riza, Political and Security Affairs Analyst, Rami Khouri, Distinguished Public Policy Fellow, and Professor Raymond Murphy, wondered why Israel is targeting the mission, and whether it can still remain in place.
