Middle East: Israel officially cuts ties with UNRWA

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 12 Palestinians in Gaza on Monday.

Medics said seven people were killed in an attack on two houses in Beit Lahiya, located in Gaza’s north. Five more people were killed in separate strikes in central and southern parts of the Gaza Strip, Reuters reported, citing medics.

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees reported that Israel is scaling back the number of aid trucks allowed into Gaza, despite shortages of food, medicines and other essential supplies.

Israel’s military said it eliminated Riad Rida Ghazzawi, a commander in the anti-tank missile unit of Hezbollah's Radwan force.

This comes as the pressure on reaching a cease-fire deal between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group continues to grow. 

At least 2,900 people have been killed and 13,150 wounded since the conflict erupted in Lebanon following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.

Germany has called on Israel to let more humanitarian aid into northern Gaza, where a lack of supplies has led to a "desperate" and "unbearable" situation, a German Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.

"We call on the Israeli government urgently to meet its responsibilities under international law," the spokesperson said at a press conference in Berlin, adding that Israel has the right to self-defense "within the framework of humanitarian international law."

This comes as German Development Minister Svenja Schulze arrived in Lebanon to pledge further aid to the country, which has been affected by the war between Israel and the Islamist militant group Hezbollah.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei criticized what he called the United States’ "destabilizing presence" after the deployment of B-52 bombers in the region.

Baghaei also added that the move "will not deter" the country’s resolve to defend itself. 

The US military announced the deployment of B-52 bombers in the Middle East as a warning to Iran, which has vowed to respond to Israeli strikes on its military sites on October 26. This attack was in retaliation for an Iranian missile barrage on Israel on October 1.

Two Iranian Revolutionary Guards were killed in a helicopter crash during an operation in Iran's southeast, state media reported.

According to the IRNA news agency, the crash took place in Sirkan, a city located in the Sistan-Balochistan province, where Iran's armed forces have been mounting an operation since the killing of 10 police officers by Sunni Muslim militants.

Helicopter accidents are rare in Iran, but former President Ebrahim Raisi was killed when his helicopter crashed into a mountainside in May, triggering snap elections in the country.  
 

Islamist militia Hezbollahsaid it launched a "big rocket salvo" attack at the Israeli city of Safed, the group said in a statement.

This is the latest development in more than a month of escalation between the Iran-backed group and Israel. Israel has been conducting strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon, with Lebanon now witnessing a humanitarian crisis amid the hostilities. 

Hezbollah joined the attacks against Israel a day after Hamas’ October 7 attacks, with the situation escalating several weeks ago, and with US-brokered cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Lebanontaking place. 

Israelhas officially informed the UN it is cutting ties with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), the main UN agency helping Palestinians in the Middle East, including in Gaza.

The country blames the UN agency for not thoroughly looking into its own employees taking part in the October 7 Hamas terror attacks on Israel.

"Despite the overwhelming evidence we submitted to the UN that substantiate Hamas' infiltration of UNRWA, the UN did nothing to rectify the situation," Israeli UN Ambassador Danny Danon posted on his official X account.

"The State of Israel will continue to cooperate with humanitarian organizations but not with organizations that promote terrorism against us."

UNRWA said in response that Israel's decision could cause the "collapse" of the humanitarian aid efforts in Gaza.

On October 28, the Israeli parliament voted to ban UNRWA, causing international criticism due to the human rights situation in Gaza.

ft/wd (Reuters, AFP, AP, dpa)