October 15, 2024 news on the wars in the Middle East

Our live coverage of?the?conflict in the Middle East has moved here.

The Israeli government is reviewing the Biden administration’s letter demanding that it improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, CNN analyst Barak Ravid and Reuters reported.

“Israel takes this matter seriously and intends to address the concerns raised in this letter with our American counterparts,” an Israeli official in Washington said, according to Reuters.

Ravid also reported the letter was being “thoroughly reviewed” by Israeli security officials, citing an Israeli official.

Earlier, CNN reported the Biden administration?sent the letter to the Israeli government demanding it act to improve the?humanitarian situation in Gaza?within the next 30 days or risk?violating?US laws governing foreign military assistance,?suggesting US military aid could be in jeopardy.

It is unclear, however, if the US would follow through. In May, Biden warned it would cut off bombs and artillery to Israel if it launched a major invasion of Rafah. Israel did launch an invasion into Rafah. Shortly after that, the Biden administration announced a $1 billion weapons package to Israel.

The Sunday letter, jointly written by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin,?is addressed to Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant and Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer.

CNN has reached out to the Israeli prime minister’s office for comment.

This post has been updated with background on previous US warnings to Israel.

Vehicles lie among the ruins of a house that was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Aitou, Lebanon, on Tuesday.

At least 41 people have been killed and 124 injured by Israeli attacks in Lebanon over the past day, Lebanese authorities said Tuesday, as a government report said the total number of attacks in the country had passed 10,000.

There were 146 Israeli attacks on Lebanon in the past 24 hours alone, according to?a report released Tuesday by the Lebanese government’s emergency committee, which said there had been a total of 10,012 raids since the onset of “Israeli aggression.”?It did not specify the date it was referring to for the onset of attacks.

Here’s more details in the report from Dr. Nasser Yassin, the committee’s coordinator and the environment minister:

Palestinians in northern Gaza carry their belongings as they flee areas north of Gaza City on October 12.

Israel is “effectively sealing off North Gaza” and may be carrying out the “large-scale forced transfer of the civilian population,” The United Nations Human Rights Office warned, adding that this would amount to a war crime.

The Israeli military has, for more than a week, been carrying out an intense offensive in the north of the Palestinian enclave. It has ordered all civilians north of Gaza City to leave and has?blocked all food from entering northern Gaza?since the beginning of the month, according to the World Food Programme.

The UN Human Rights Office said Monday that Israel’s roadblocks were effectively sealing off northern Gaza, and that the Israeli military had reportedly fired on civilians attempting to flee,?as CNN and others have reported.

Here are other headlines you should know:

Hezbollah strikes and threats:

Israeli strikes:?

Humanitarian crisis:?

Funeral for Abbas Nilforoushan:

Smoke rises from Metula in northern Israel after a rocket was fired from southern Lebanon near the settlement on October 15, as seen from Marjayoun, Lebanon.

Ninety rockets have been fired at Israel from Lebanon as of 9 p.m. local time, and at least one landed in a yard near the northern city of?Haifa, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said. There were no reports of injuries.

Hezbollah on Tuesday claimed responsibility for some of the barrages.

On Monday, 115 rockets were fired at Israel from Lebanon, according to the IDF.

Lebanese soldiers deploy around a destroyed building hit by an Israeli airstrike, in Barja village, south of Beirut, on October 12.

Around a fifth of people in Lebanon have fled their homes, and around a quarter of the country is under Israeli military evacuation orders, according to the Middle East director of the United Nations Refugee Agency.

Lebanon’s entire population is around 5 million people.

“You can imagine how dramatic it is that over one million people are now without shelter and on the move – or rather, not without shelter because they are being housed in collective centers, but are being forced to flee their homes in search of safety,” Rema Jamous Imseis told a press briefing in Geneva on Tuesday.

“Israeli airstrikes and Israeli evacuation orders continue to increase the areas impacted … we have over 25% of the country under a direct Israeli military evacuation order. Just yesterday (Monday), we had another 20 villages issued with an evacuation order in the south of the country,” she added.

On Sunday, the Israeli military expanded its evacuation warnings to residents of 21 more villages in southern Lebanon, bringing the total number of villages affected by a series of evacuation directives to 157 for that week.

Remember: The Israel Defense Forces has insisted its ground operation in Lebanon is “limited” and “localized” — even though four of its divisions are now involved in the fighting.

The US “opposes” Israel’s bombing campaign over recent weeks in Beirut specifically, according to a State Department spokesperson.

The US has “concerns about the nature of the campaign,” he said, pointing to specific concerns largely about the “civilian toll” of the strikes.

Some context: Miller’s comment is the first time the Biden administration has publicly said it opposes that facet of the Israeli operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon.?As recently as last week, US officials were not opposing the strikes publicly.

Miller would not say whether there would be consequences in Israel if the country were to continue that scale of bombings in Beirut.

Palestinians line up for food in Rafah, Gaza, on December 21, 2023.

US President Joe Biden’s administration wrote a letter to the Israeli government demanding action on the humanitarian situation in Gaza because aid has “fallen by over 50% from where it was at its peak,” according to a State Department spokesperson.

Israel increased the level of humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza after calls from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in April, but the levels have “not been sustained” over the last few months, said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller on Tuesday, characterizing the current levels as “very, very low.”

The US held intense talks with Israel, where it conveyed its concerns about aid, Miller said, but “ultimately we did not see our concerns addressed,” which prompted the letter.

Unclear on possible consequences: Miller would not say what the potential consequences would be if Israel did not comply —?other than to say there are implications in US law.

In May, the Biden administration had issued a report to Congress finding that Israel had not violated international law in its war in Gaza, Miller said, noting that Blinken’s assessment was “based on the changes that we had seen them put into place and the increased levels of humanitarian assistance.”

However, those increased levels need to be sustained, he added. The US wanted to make clear to Israel which changes needed to be made, before making a change to the assessment overnight, which could trigger changes in US policy.

Miller said the 30-day deadline was not influenced by the upcoming November presidential election.

The thick scent of blood fills the emergency ward of Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza. Near the morgue, Palestinians whisper funeral prayers for loved ones killed by Israeli strikes.

Just outside the facility in Khan Younis, vendors sell mangoes and young children play soccer against the backdrop of blown-out buildings, according to Dr. Deborah Weidner.

“The site is half destruction,” Weidner, an American psychiatrist who was deployed to the hospital earlier this year, told CNN in September. “Bombs send shockwaves. They can be a couple of miles away, yet they shake the building.”

Medical workers are struggling to cope with the constant flow of people wounded by attacks, as the Israeli bombardment and siege of Gaza starves hospitals of critical supplies, Weidner said. Local staff are burdened by the fear that their loved ones will arrive in the floods of mass casualties.

Those with pre-existing mental health?conditions, including schizophrenia, are deteriorating, said Weidner, adding that some “fear for their own behavior.” Others arrive at the hospital begging for medication.

“They (the Palestinian staff) just keep going,” she said. “So much of it is about faith and trust in God. Trust in Allah … The people are generally hopeful. But I worry what will happen if nothing changes.”

Fadi Wael Abdel Karim Al-Wahidi, seen in a hospital bed, is a Palestinian photojournalist who was shot while covering an Israeli incursion and could be paralyzed, his doctor at Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital said. His colleague, Anas Al-Sharif, warned that Al-Wahidi is unable to receive adequate medical treatment because they are “trapped in northern Gaza under siege.”

A 24-year-old Palestinian reporter who spoke to CNN in May about documenting the horrors of the war in Gaza could now be paralyzed, according to his doctor, after he was fired on last week while covering the Israeli incursion in northern Gaza.

Fadi Wael Abdel Karim Al-Wahidi, a photojournalist working for Al Jazeera, was shot in the neck near the Jabalya refugee camp on October 9, the network said, accusing the Israeli military of shooting at a group of reporters.

Dr. Fadel Naim, a medic at Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City, told CNN?Friday that Al-Wahidi’s condition was “very serious.”

“A piece of shrapnel struck his neck, severing the veins there,” Naim said.

Al Jazeera cameraman Fadi al-Wahidi is carried to Al Ahly Hospital after being injured from gunfire in Gaza on October 9.

Naim said there were not enough supplies in northern Gaza to stabilize Al-Wahidi, who needs surgery. Israel’s campaign has caused severe drug shortages in the besieged strip. “He will likely suffer from paraplegia,” the doctor added.

The Israeli military told CNN it was “not aware of IDF (Israel Defense Forces) troops in the specified area” at that time.

The Israeli offensive in Gaza since the Hamas-led October 7 attacks has killed a record number of journalists, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, which reported Tuesday that at least 128 journalists and media workers — mostly Palestinian — have been killed.

Medical staff are seen examining newborns at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza on June 28.

The Kamal?Adwan?Hospital?in?Gaza’s Jabalya?refugee camp?is?currently?running?out?of?vital supplies,?according to?its?director,?as?Israel continues?its?bombardment?of?the strip.

The?hospital’s health care system?is?facing “terrifying challenges,”?and?supplies such?as?milk?and?food?are dwindling,?hospital?Director?Dr. Hussam?Abu Safiya?said in?a?video uploaded to Instagram on Tuesday.

His?plea?comes less than?a?week since the World?Food?Programme?told CNN?that no food trucks have entered northern Gaza this month.

An?aid convoy eventually delivered fuel to the?hospital?on Sunday,?after it had?issued multiple warnings that it was in danger?of?losing power to run life-saving medical equipment.

The?Israeli military has been carrying?out?an intense military campaign in the north?of?the Palestinian enclave for more than?a?week.?The United Nations Human Rights?Office warned on Monday that?Israel?is?“effectively sealing?off North?Gaza.”

Addressing the international community, Safiya?urged humanitarian organizations to take?action to open humanitarian corridors that would?allow fuel, medical delegations, supplies?and?food?to reach the?hospital.

Meanwhile,?at least 40 Palestinians were killed in overnight?Israeli strikes?across?Gaza,?according to emergency?and?civil defense?officials in the enclave on Tuesday.?This?included 17 people who were killed?and more than six injured in strikes on?Gaza?City?and?areas to the north.

A general view shows a tent camp sheltering displaced Palestinian people, amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, in Al-Mawasi area in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on October 15.

US President Joe Biden’s administration?sent a letter to the Israeli government demanding it act to improve the?humanitarian situation in Gaza?within the next 30 days or risk?violating?US laws governing foreign military assistance,?suggesting US military aid could be in jeopardy.

The?Sunday?letter, jointly written by?US?Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin,?is?addressed to Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant and Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer.?It?marks a significant new step by the US to try to compel Israel to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The letter notes that the US State and Defense departments, under US law, “must continually assess” Israel’s adherence to its assurances made earlier this year that it would not restrict aid flows into the enclave.

The deadline falls after the US presidential election on November 5.

Despite the stern warning, the US is continuing to provide military assistance to Israel, including an advanced air defense system.

Some of the US demands include that Israel:

The letter closes by calling for a new channel between the US and Israeli governments to “discuss civilian harm incidents,” with the first meeting to be held at the end of the month.

This post has been updated with additional details.

People watch Hezbollah deputy leader Naim Qassem delivering a televised address as they sit in a cafe in Beirut, Lebanon, on October 15.

Hezbollah’s Deputy Secretary General Naim Qassem has called on Israelis to accept a ceasefire in Lebanon or face “pain” as the group changes its strategy to strike harder and deeper into Israel.

He addressed the Israeli public, calling on it to choose a truce with Hezbollah two days after the group carried out its deadliest attack in Israel since the war started, when it struck a military base near Haifa, killing four soldiers.

After a ceasefire is reached, Israelis can return to their homes in the north of the country, Qassem said, warning that without a truce, more Israelis will be displaced “and more than 2 million people will be in danger at any time, at any hour or day.”

The Israeli government last month added the return of displaced residents in the north of the country as an objective of its war.

Qassem?said Hezbollah’s response to Israeli attacks across Lebanon now includes striking any area within Israel, “without exception.”

The top Hezbollah official said that despite the “hard hits” his group has sustained following pager and walkie-talkie attacks on members last month, the group remains strong.

Qassem also taunted the Israeli military about what he suggested were limited gains in its ground operation in Lebanon.

Palestinians walk on a ravaged road in front of Nasser Hospital, southern Gaza, on May 2.

Bullet marks scar the walls of Nasser Hospital, according to Dr. Tammy Abughnaim — a stark reminder of the Israeli offensive in southern Gaza.

Palestinians seeking refuge from bombardment line the hallways of the medical facility, the US emergency doctor told CNN in September.

Israeli forces left the hospital “non-functional and severely damaged, with no food, water, electricity, food or oxygen,” according to the nongovernmental organization Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), following a deadly siege that Israel said targeted Hamas militants in February.

“They had essentially destroyed a lot of the infrastructure of the hospital. They burned down the entire dialysis building. The overhead communications were damaged. A lot of the electricity and water systems were damaged,” said Abughnaim, who treated patients in Gaza earlier this year. The Chicago-based physician was stationed in the enclave from July 25 to August 15 as part of an emergency medical team organized by MAP and the International Rescue Committee.

A man inspects the damage in a room following Israeli bombardment at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, on December 17.

Just 17 out of 36 hospitals in the strip are partially functional, according to the United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Workers in Nasser Hospital do not have adequate air conditioning or ventilation, according to Abughnaim.

“As much as hospitals are supposed to be a safe haven, they also cannot act as a displacement camp. … Some people actually slept on the mass grave site some nights, because it was just so hot that being in the building was intolerable,” she added.

An advance team of US military personnel and some components of the advanced air defense system the US is providing to Israel arrived in the country on Monday, the Pentagon said in a statement. Additional troops and components will be arriving in Israel in the coming days.

What is THAAD?: The defense system is one of the US military’s most powerful anti-missile weapons, capable of intercepting ballistic missiles at ranges of 150 to 200 kilometers?(93 to 124 miles) and with a?near-perfect?success rate in testing.

Using a combination of advanced radar systems and interceptors, THAAD, short for Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, is the only US missile defense system that can engage and destroy short-, medium-, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles both inside or outside the atmosphere during their terminal phase of flight — or dive on their target.

THAAD interceptors are kinetic, meaning they take out incoming targets by colliding with them rather than exploding near the incoming warhead.

An Israeli strike on a Christian-majority village of Aitou in northern Lebanon that killed 21 people is “being examined,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Monday.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it struck what it claimed was a Hezbollah target in the area on Monday, adding that “the claim that Lebanese civilians were killed as a result of the strike is under review.”

Monday’s strike destroyed an entire building housing people who fled the bombardment in southern Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Red Cross.

Members of Israeli security and emergency services deploy at the site of a shooting on the Yavne interchange, near the southern Israeli city of Ashdod, on October 15.

One person was killed and four others injured in a shooting near the Israeli city of Ashdod on Tuesday, according to hospitals in the area that received the victims.

One person is in moderate condition, the Assuta Ashdod Medical Center said, while two others are lightly injured. The person killed was dead on arrival, the medical center added.

Another hospital,?Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot, said it received a 37-year-old with a gunshot wound in his leg.

Israel’s emergency service Magen David Adom (MDA) said it received reports of two shootings at 11:06 local time on Highway 4, which is between Ashdod and Tel Aviv.

Israel Police spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner Asi Aharoni, described the shooting as a “terror attack” on Israeli television, and said that the shooter has been “neutralized.”

A general view of Isfahan refinery, one of the largest refineries in Iran, on November 8.

Oil prices fell sharply Tuesday as concerns about a potential hit to supply subsided and the International Energy Agency predicted a “sizable” global surplus of the commodity next year.

Israel has said it will consider US opinions but will ultimately decide on its response to Iran’s October 1 attack based on its own national interests, following media reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed the United States that Israel may avoid targeting Iranian nuclear and oil sites.?US officials have made clear they do not want Israel to target those sites.

The price of a barrel of Brent crude, the global benchmark, dropped just over 5% to $73.5, after losing 2% in the previous trading session. Likewise, West Texas Intermediate, the US oil benchmark, fell more than 5% to $70, extending Monday’s losses.

“Oil was lower (Monday) on reports that Israel would not be targeting Iran’s oil facilities,” Mohit Kumar, an economist at Jefferies, wrote in a note.

Oil prices came under further pressure Tuesday when the International Energy Agency forecast the global glut of the commodity in 2025, as ample supply collides with persistently weak demand in China, the world’s largest oil importer.

Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have assured the United States that a counterstrike on Iran will be limited to military targets rather than oil or nuclear facilities, according to a person familiar with the discussions.

President Joe Biden, who has conveyed in public his opposition to striking Tehran’s nuclear and oil facilities, discussed Israel’s plans with Netanyahu during a classified phone call last week. During that conversation, Netanyahu relayed to Biden his plan to hit military targets, the person said.

The Washington Post first reported that Netanyahu had reassured Biden of his plans to avoid nuclear and oil targets.

Israel has been weighing a response after the Islamic Republic fired a barrage of missiles at the Jewish state on October 1, which Iran said was in retaliation to the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Iranian commander Abbas Nilforoushan.

Key context: An Israeli retaliation that targets Iran’s nuclear or oil supplies could cause a significant escalation in the conflict between the two countries.?Concerns about Israel potential targeting Iran’s nuclear and oil facilities sparked a jolt in oil prices, as well as fears of a wider war that would draw in the US and Iran’s oil producing Arab neighbors. A disruption in Middle Eastern oil supply could have a major impact on global energy prices ahead of the US elections next month.

Relatives react next to the bodies of Palestinians who were killed in an Israeli strike in Khan Younis, Gaza, on October 15.

Israeli strikes across Gaza killed at least 40 Palestinians overnight, according to emergency and civil defense officials in the enclave.

In southern Gaza, an Israeli airstrike on Bani Suhaila in Khan Younis hit a residential building, killing at least 10 people and trapping others under the rubble, according to officials at Nasser Hospital and family members of the dead.

An attack struck a house in the town of Al-Fokhari, killing five, including a woman and two children. Their bodies were transferred to the Gaza European Hospital, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and hospital officials.

In central Gaza, Israeli strikes in and around the Al-Nuseirat camp killed eight people.

A strike on a house near the residential Nawri tower killed six people, according to the Gaza Civil Defense, while a strike on a residential home near the Radi petrol station killed two, according to PRCS paramedics. The victims from both attacks were transferred to Al-Awda Hospital.

In northern Gaza, 17 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza City and areas to its north.

A strike near the Salah Eddine Mosque in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood southeast of Gaza City killed three people, while another two were killed in airstrikes near a mosque in Tal Al-Hawa, to the southwest, according to civil defense officials who said more victims were trapped under the rubble.

Twelve bodies arrived at the Kamal Adwan Hospital on Tuesday morning following Israeli air and artillery attacks in the Al-Fallujah area west of the Jabalya camp, according to first responders and the civil defense.

Displaced Palestinians make their way as they flee areas in northern Gaza following an Israeli evacuation order on October 12.

The United Nations Human Rights Office has warned that Israel is “effectively sealing off North Gaza” and may be carrying out the “large-scale forced transfer of the civilian population,” which it said would amount to a war crime.

The Israeli military has, for more than a week, been carrying out an intense offensive in the north of the Palestinian enclave. It has ordered all civilians north of Gaza City to leave and has blocked all food from entering northern Gaza since the beginning of the month, according to the World Food Programme.

The UN Human Rights Office said Monday that Israel’s roadblocks were effectively sealing off northern Gaza, and that the Israeli military had reportedly fired on civilians attempting to flee,?as CNN and others have reported.

Some background: Israel’s operation in northern Gaza bears?striking resemblance?to a “surrender or starve” proposal made last month by retired Israeli general Giora Eiland. Known as “The General’s Plan,” it recommended that the military order all civilians out of northern Gaza and then besiege any Hamas fighters left behind.

Israel’s cabinet has not adopted Eiland’s proposal in full. But Eiland told CNN last week that while there were differences in what the military was doing in northern Gaza, the government had adopted a version of his plan.

The military told CNN that “the evacuation of the civilian population from the combat areas in the northern Gaza Strip is carried out in order to protect the uninvolved population.” The military said that it is committed to abiding by international law.

The “forcible transfer of the population of North Gaza would amount to a war crime and may amount to other atrocity crimes,” it added.

People attend the funeral ceremony of Iranian Revolutionary Guards' (IRGC) deputy commander Brigadier General Abbas Nilforoushan in Tehran, Iran, on October 15.

A funeral is underway in Tehran for a top Iranian military figure following his death last month in an Israeli drone strike.

Abbas Nilforoushan, a senior commander in the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was killed alongside Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli attack on Beirut.

Hundreds of mourners could be seen in the crowds, with many holding photos of Nilforoushan alongside flags representing?Iran, Hezbollah, Lebanon and Palestine.

The service included a performance by a girls’ choir celebrating those who have died, followed by speeches and eulogies that included the phrases “death to America” and “death to Israel.”

The commander of the IRGC’s elite Quds Force branch was among the officials at the proceedings, according to CNN’s team on ground.

The public appearance of Brig. Gen. Esmail Qaani, hours after his appearance on state media, follows his two-week absence from public view that had raised questions about whether he was still alive.

Lebanese Red Cross vehicles are parked at a site damaged by an Israeli air strike in the Christian-majority region of Aitou in north Lebanon, the Lebanese health ministry said, October 14, 2024.

The death toll from an Israeli strike on a Christian-majority village in northern Lebanon has risen to 21, with eight injured, according to the Health Ministry.

The ministry said the numbers were preliminary and DNA tests were being conducted to determine the identity of remains?removed from the site.

Monday’s strike destroyed an entire building housing people who fled Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Red Cross.

Australia has announced fresh sanctions on Iran in response to its missile attack on Israel.

The financial sanctions and travel bans against five Iranian individuals accused of contributing to Iran’s missile program come on the back of similar punitive measures by the United States and the United Kingdom aimed at the?Iranian energy sector.

Iran’s October 1 missile barrage against Israel “was a dangerous escalation that increased the risk of a wider regional war,” the office of Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a statement.

Iran has said the attack was in response to Israeli strikes that killed Hezbollah chief?Hassan Nasrallah, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, and others.

As tensions rise in the Middle East, Australia has increased its travel warning to the highest level for parts of the region.

Israeli soldiers carry the flagged-covered coffin of Sgt. Amitai Alon, killed by a Hezbollah drone attack, during his funeral near Ramot Naftali, Israel, on October 14, 2024.

Israel will strike Hezbollah everywhere in Lebanon “without mercy,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Monday, a day after a Hezbollah strike killed at least four Israeli soldiers and injured more than 60 others.

“We will continue to strike Hezbollah without mercy everywhere in Lebanon — including Beirut,” Netanyahu said at the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Golani Brigade Training Base.

The Hezbollah drone that hit the base evaded Israel’s defense system, prompting the country to launch an investigation into the deadly breach.

Netanyahu’s remarks also come after CNN learned there had been a reprieve of Israeli strikes in Beirut in recent days amid growing “understandings” between US and Israeli officials, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The commander of the elite Quds Force branch of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)?has appeared?on state media?following a two-week absence from public view that had raised questions about whether he was still alive.

Brig. Gen. Esmail Qaani was shown in a live report by Iranian state broadcaster IRINN on Tuesday morning as the body of a senior IRGC figure killed in Lebanon arrived at Tehran’s Mehrabad airport.

Sitting alongside other officials, Qaani was seen attending a ceremony?to receive the body of?Abbas Nilforoushan?before the slain?commander’s funeral, expected to take place later Tuesday.

Nilforoushan was killed along with Hezbollah leader?Hassan Nasrallah?in an Israeli strike on Beirut in September. CNN analysis later showed that American-manufactured?2,000-pound bombs?were likely used in the attack. Qaani’s absence from official events since the?start of October had fueled speculation?about whether the top general had met a similar fate.

Iranian officials and state media had repeatedly denied the rumors of Qaani’s death.

Qaani took charge of Iran’s vast paramilitary network across the Middle East in 2020 after replacing Qasem Soleimani?following the killing of the former Quds Force chief in a US drone strike. He is sanctioned by the United States, the United Kingdom and other Western nations.

Update: This post has been updated with additional information about the strike.?

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Updated 5:54 AM EDT, Wed October 16, 2024

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Parents whose son was killed by Hamas describe the conditions of his captivity

03:59 - Source: CNN

The parents of?Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli-American murdered by Hamas militants in Gaza in August, have told CNN about the “crushing blow” of losing their son.

They say they fear that other families will receive the same “devastating news” unless world leaders take urgent action to secure the release of the remaining hostages.

“I’m stunned that we still have not seen world leaders emerge on a global stage all together and demand that the hostages be let go,” Jon Polin told CNN’s Anderson Cooper in an exclusive interview Monday alongside his wife, Rachel Goldberg.

Both parents were wearing stickers with “374” written on them to mark the number of days that have passed since the hostages were taken captive to Gaza by Hamas.

Goldberg-Polin was one of six hostages whose bodies were discovered by the Israeli military in tunnels under Gaza shortly after they had been?killed by Hamas.

Read the full story.

People look at the damage after an Israeli strike hit the courtyard of Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza, on Monday.

The death toll from an Israeli strike on the courtyard of the Al Aqsa hospital in Gaza’s Deir al-Balah?has risen to five, according to Medecins sans Frontiers (MSF), which is also known as Doctors Without Borders.

Another 65 people were wounded in the attack, according to MSF, which said it was supporting the hospital housing displaced people.

“It is the seventh time that Al Aqsa hospital compound was bombed since March 2024; three of them in the last month,” said MSF on X on Monday.

It quoted MSF nurse Eliza Sabatini, who described “a scene of devastation.”

The Israel Defense Forces has previously said it conducted a “precise strike” on a Hamas command center embedded at the site. It said it had taken steps to limit harm to civilians and blamed Hamas for using civilian infrastructure.

According to MSF, another strike hours earlier had hit a school in the Nuseirat refugee camp. At least 22 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Al Mufti school in the Nuseirat camp, officials from Gaza’s Al Awda and Al Aqsa hospitals said on Sunday. More than 5,000 displaced people were sheltering at the site, according to Gaza’s civil defense.

The strikes caused the United Nations to cancel polio vaccinations which were due to take place there, according to UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini.

CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment on the Nuseirat strike.

Israel requested an advanced missile defense system from the US several weeks ago, according to a US defense official and a source familiar with the conversations.

This comes after the?Pentagon announced Sunday?that it was deploying the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery to Israel with approximately 100 US troops to operate the system. The US has only 7 THAAD systems in its inventory, according to the Congressional Research Service.

The US deployed a THAAD battery to the Middle East shortly after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, though the Pentagon declined to say where the system would be located.

The defense official says the request came at least as early as the?Israeli strike that killed Hassan Nasrallah?on September 27.

Nasrallah’s killing came days before Iran launched more than 180 ballistic missiles at Israel on October 1. Though many of the missiles were intercepted, a number of missiles did penetrate Israel’s aerial defense network.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a commemoration ceremony for soldiers killed during the 2014 Gaza war, also known as Operation Protective Edge, at the Memorial Hall on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem on July 16.

Israel will continue to strike Hezbollah targets everywhere in Lebanon, including the country’s capital Beirut, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

“We will continue to strike Hezbollah without mercy everywhere in Lebanon — including Beirut,” he said at the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Golani Brigade Training Base in a video released by the country’s government press office.

That training base was hit Sunday evening by a Hezbollah drone launched from southern Lebanon,?killing four Israeli soldiers?and injuring more than 60 people.

Netanyahu expressed his condolences to the families of the four Israeli soldiers killed in Sunday’s strike, adding he would visit those who were wounded.

Netanyahu’s remarks come after CNN learned Israeli strikes on Beirut paused in recent days amid growing “understandings” between US and Israeli officials, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Two Israeli strikes killed at least 22 people and wounded more than 100 in Beirut on Thursday. Since then, there have been no strikes on the Lebanese capital, however they have continued elsewhere, particularly in the south of the country.

The foreign ministers of France, Germany,?Italy?and the United Kingdom have expressed concern for the safety of UN peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon amid Israel’s ground incursion.

In a joint statement, the ministers said they condemned “unequivocally any threat to the security of?UNIFIL,” the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, adding that “any deliberate attack against UNIFIL goes against international humanitarian law and United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701.”

United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) peace keeping troops from the Spanish contingent conduct an early morning patrol in the southern Lebanese village of Qliyaa on October 11.

Some context:?Over the past week, the UN has said the Israeli military has fired on its peacekeepers, forcibly entered a base, stopped a critical logistical movement and injured more than a dozen of its troops in southern Lebanon.

Israel has accused Hezbollah of operating in areas near UNIFIL posts. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Sunday that UN peacekeeping forces in Lebanon were in “harm’s way.”

In their joint statement, the European foreign ministers urged Israel and all parties to safeguard the well-being and operational freedom of UNIFIL personnel.

The ministers also reaffirmed the contribution of the UN in resolving armed conflicts and mitigating their humanitarian toll.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Monday that indirect talks between Iran and the United States, facilitated by Oman, have been paused due to escalating tensions in the region.

Speaking during a visit to Oman’s capital, Muscat, Araghchi said the negotiations, known as the “Muscat process,” have been halted “due to the specific circumstances of the region.”

He emphasized, however, that the current regional turmoil has rendered further talks impossible for the time being. “We do not see any ground for these talks until we can get past the current crisis,” he said, leaving the door open for the process to resume at a later stage.

Asked whether any message was conveyed to the US during his visit, Araghchi said:

Araghchi said the US and European nations, as well as regional actors, must recognize Iran’s stance on recent developments. “Our position is crystal clear,” Araghchi said. “We do not seek war or conflict, but we are fully prepared for it. We believe that diplomacy must be used to prevent escalation.”

The halt in talks comes amid mounting tensions since Iran launched a barrage of missiles toward Israel on October 1, a retaliatory move after the?assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah?and an Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander in Beirut. Israel had?targeted Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh?in a strike on Tehran two months prior.

With Israel vowing a response, concerns about a wider regional conflict are intensifying.

UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon) armoured personnel carriers depart a base to patrol near the Lebanon- Israel border on October 5.

Over the past week, the UN said that the Israeli military fired on its peacekeepers, forcibly entered its base, stopped logistics and injured more than a dozen of its troops in southern Lebanon.

Israel’s attacks on the peacekeeping mission, which has operated in Lebanon for more than 45 years, have been widely condemned by the international community. UNIFIL —?the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon — has called the violations “shocking” while Israel has accused Hezbollah of operating in areas near UNIFIL posts.

So, what is UNIFIL and what doe?s it do?

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was established by the UN Security Council?following Israel’s first invasion into southern Lebanon in 1978.

Its mandate was to confirm the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the country, restore international peace and security, and assist the Lebanese government to restore its effective authority in the area. In June 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon for a second time and subsequently established a security zone inside the country, which remained until its withdrawal in 2000.

In 2000 UNIFIL established?the Blue Line?— an area spanning 120 kilometers (around 75 miles) along southern Lebanon to ensure the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces. It acts as a de-facto border between the two countries since Lebanon and Israel have an ongoing border dispute.

The mission is made up of more than 10,000 personnel from 50 countries, the majority of whom are troops. Indonesia, Italy, India, Nepal, Ghana and Malaysia contribute the most troops. The UNIFIL troops are tasked with monitoring border violations and keeping the area, which includes Hezbollah strongholds — secure.

Read more about UNIFIL and what it does.