Live: Israeli military bans Lebanese residents from returning to several villages in south

29/11/2024 - 11:25

Israel releases dozens of detained Palestinians

Israeli authorities have released around 30 Palestinians whom it had detained during the ongoing offensive in Gaza in the past months. The released arrived at a hospital in southern Gaza for medical checkups, medics said.

Freed Palestinians, detained during the war, have complained of ill-treatment and torture in Israeli detention after they were released, but Israel denies torture.

29/11/2024 - 11:23

• Israeli tanks retreat from central Gaza camp, medics say 30 killed
• Lebanese residents banned by Israeli army to return to several villages in south

29/11/2024 - 11:23

Israeli tanks retreat from central Gaza camp, medics say 30 killed

Israeli military strikes killed at least 30 Palestinians overnight in the Gaza Strip, most of them in the Nuseirat camp at the centre of the enclave, medics said after some tanks pulled back from an area they had raided.

Medics said they had recovered 19 bodies of Palestinians killed in the northern areas of Nuseirat, one of the enclave’s eight long-standing refugee camps.

Some tanks remained active in the western area of the camp and the Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said teams were unable to respond to distress calls from residents trapped inside their houses.

The rest were killed in the northern and southern areas of the Gaza Strip, medics added. There was no fresh statement by the Israeli military, but on Thursday it said its forces were continuing to “strike terror targets as part of the operational activity in the Gaza Strip”.

29/11/2024 - 11:10

Dutch highest court advised to uphold ruling on export ban of F-35 components to Israel

The Supreme Court of the Netherlands, the country’s highest court, on Friday was advised by its advocate general to uphold the ruling saying the Dutch State must put an end to export of F-35 components to Israel.

In February, The Hague Court of Appeal ordered the government to block those exports over concerns they were being used to violate international law during the war in Gaza, prompting the government to then say it would go to the Supreme court.

“According to the advocate general (of the Supreme Court), the Court of Appeal was justified in finding that there is a clear risk that Israel’s F-35 fighter jets are being used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law in the Gaza Strip,” the court’s adviser said.  

29/11/2024 - 11:09

France envoy urges Lebanon to pick president

France’s special envoy said it was urgent for Lebanon to elect a president, after a parliamentary vote to end over two years without a head of state was announced for January.

Jean-Yves Le Drian’s visit to Lebanon came just two days after the start of the fragile ceasefire to end the war between Israel and Hezbollah.

“I came to Lebanon immediately after the ceasefire announcement to signal France’s support for its full implementation and to stress the urgent need, more than ever, to elect a president and restart the institutional process,” he told AFP.

He said he was in support Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri recent announcement of a presidential election to be held on January 9.

Lebanon has been without a president since Michel Aoun’s term ended in October 2022, with neither of the two main blocs— the Iran-backed Hezbollah and its opponents — having the majority required to elect one. However, Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said in a wartime speech that Hezbollah would “bring an effective contribution to the election of a president”.

29/11/2024 - 07:17

Iran to hold nuclear talks with Europeans

Iran is set to hold talks with Britain, France and Germany in Geneva on Friday over its nuclear programme, less than two months before Donald Trump returns as US president.

The meeting is shrouded in discretion, with the countries’ foreign ministries giving away few details on what they will discuss — or even where the talks are taking place.

Iranian diplomat Majid Takht-Ravanchi, the political deputy to Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, will represent Iran in the talks, which follow on from a meeting in New York in September.

Laying the groundwork on Thursday, Takht-Ravanchi and deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs Kazem Gharibabadi met with Enrique Mora, deputy secretary general of the European Union’s foreign affairs arm.

Mora said on X that they held a “frank exchange ... on Iran’s military support to Russia that has to stop, the nuclear issue that needs a diplomatic solution, regional tensions (important to avoid further escalation from all sides) and human rights”.

29/11/2024 - 07:06

Lebanese residents banned by Israeli army to return to several villages in south

Lebanese residents are prohibited from moving south to a line of villages and their surroundings until further notice, Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on X on Friday.

Israel said it opened fire on Thursday towards what it called “suspects” with vehicles arriving at several areas in the southern zone, saying it was a breach of the truce with Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah, which came into effect on Wednesday.

29/11/2024 - 06:59

Morning, and welcome to our liveblog on the conflict in the Middle East.

Yesterday's key developments:

• The Israeli army warned Lebanese from returning to homes south of the ‘Blue Line’ zone near the Israeli border.
• The Israeli air force said it struck a Hezbollah facility in southern Lebanon.
• At least 26 people were killed in Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip.

• Israel and Hezbollah accused each other of violating the ceasefire: Hezbollah said Israel had fired at civilians in southern Lebanon, while Israel said Hezbollah suspects had breached the no-go zones in the same area.

   

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP, and Reteurs)

About casualty figures from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry:

Gaza’s health ministry collects data from the enclave’s hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent. For more on the health ministry’s casualty figures, click here.