Mehdi Hasan

Over the past year, Israel has launched attacks on multiple countries and occupied territories: the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iran.

Yet countries and territories aside, Israel has also targeted one specific organization with a series of unprecedented rhetorical and violent attacks.

Yes, the United Nations. We have all witnessed Israel, effectively, declare war on the UN.

Consider the record of recent weeks and months:

Israel’s prime minister, while standing on stage at the UN general assembly, denounced the body as “contemptible”, a “house of darkness” and a “swamp of antisemitic bile”.

Israel’s outgoing ambassador to the UN shredded a copy of the UN charter with a miniature paper shredder while also standing at the podium of the general assembly, and later said the UN headquarters in New York “should be closed and wiped off the face of the Earth”.

Israel’s foreign minister falsely accused the UN secretary general of not having condemned Iran’s attacks on Israel, declared him “persona non grata in Israel” and announced that he had “banned him from entering the country”.

• US secretary of state Antony Blinken and defence secretary Lloyd Austin have reportedly told Israel it must take urgent steps to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza to avoid legal action involving US military aid. “We are writing now to underscore the US government’s deep concern over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, and seek urgent and sustained actions by your government this month to reverse this trajectory,” they wrote in an October 13 letter to their Israeli counterparts, posted by an Axios reporter on X.

• The UK foreign minister David Lammy criticised the “inaction of the Israeli government” for allowing “impunity to flourish” among extremist settlers in the West Bank while announcing a fresh wave of sanctions against the groups in response to continued violence. The measures target three outposts and four organisations that have supported and perpetrated “heinous abuses of human rights” against Palestinian communities in the occupied territory, Lammy said.

• The United Nations human rights office said the Israeli military appeared to be “cutting off North Gaza completely from the rest of the Gaza Strip.” “Amid intense ongoing hostilities and evacuation orders in northern Gaza families are facing unimaginable fear, loss of loved ones, confusion, and exhaustion. People must be able to flee safely, without facing further danger,” Adrian Zimmerman, ICRC Gaza head of sub-delegation, said in a statement.

• The Pentagon said components for an advanced anti-missile system began arriving in Israel on Monday and that it would be fully operational in the near future, according to a statement.

• An assailant shot dead an Israeli policeman and wounded five other people near the southern city of Ashdod on Tuesday in what police called a “terrorist” attack. The gunman was killed during the attack at the Yavne interchange along the highway connecting Ashdod to Tel Aviv, the authorities said.

• The death toll of people killed in Israeli military strikes has risen to 50, Reuters reports, as Israeli forces tightened their squeeze around Jabalia in the north of the enclave on Tuesday, amid fierce battles with Hamas-led fighters.

• Palestinian health officials said at least 17 people were killed by Israeli fire near Al-Falouja in Jabalia, the largest of Gaza’s eight historic refugee camps, while 10 others were killed in Bani Suhaila in eastern Khan Younis in the south when an Israeli missile struck a house.

• Following the Israeli airstrike on the northern Lebanon village of Aitou, the UN human rights office said it had received reports that most of the 22 victims of the hit on a building there were women and children.

• Israeli military strikes killed at least 40 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip as Israeli forces tightened their squeeze around Jabalia in the north of the enclave on Tuesday, amid fierce battles with Hamas-led fighters. Palestinian health officials said at least 11 people were killed by Israeli fire near Al-Falouja in Jabalia, the largest of Gaza’s eight historic refugee camps, while 10 others were killed in Bani Suhaila in eastern Khan Younis in the south when an Israeli missile struck a house.

Jason Burke

Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has said that Israel will decide alone on the form of any retaliation to Iran’s barrage of 180 missiles fired at the country earlier this month, although it would listen to advice from Washington.

The comments came after US media reported that the Israeli prime minister had given an assurance to the US president, Joe Biden, that Israel would not attack sites associated with Iran’s nuclear programme or oilfields before the US presidential election.

On Tuesday, Israel continued to press its offensive in Lebanon and Gaza, with airstrikes in Gaza killing a further 50 Palestinians as Israeli forces fought Hamas and other militants in the north of the territory.

Tens of thousands of civilians have been trapped in the densely populated northern Gaza neighbourhood of Jabaliya by a new Israeli military operation there. Most are suffering appalling conditions and mounting casualties from Israeli shelling, bombs and missiles.

In Lebanon, Israel’s military launched several strikes in eastern areas, a day after Netanyahu vowed to “mercilessly strike Hezbollah in all parts of Lebanon – including Beirut”.

Back to events in Gaza now, and as we reported in our post at 1.32pm BST, the UN believe the area is facing the worst restrictions on aid since the current conflict began on October 7

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and defence secretary Lloyd Austin have reportedly told Israel it must take urgent steps to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza to avoid legal action involving US military aid.

“We are writing now to underscore the US government’s deep concern over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, and seek urgent and sustained actions by your government this month to reverse this trajectory,” they wrote in an October 13 letter to their Israeli counterparts, posted by an Axios reporter on X.

More now on those new sanctions announced by the UK government as targeting three settler outposts and four organisations in the West Bank.

The UK Foreign Office has released a statement expanding on the reasoning behind the move, made – it says – in response to a rise in violence against Palestinian communities. This is expected to peak during this month – the start of the olive harvest.

The illegal settler outposts sanctioned – Tirzah Valley Farm Outpost, Meitarim Outpost, and Shuvi Eretz Outpost – have been “involved in facilitating, inciting, promoting or providing support for activity that amounts to a serious abuse of the right of Palestinians not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,” the Foreign Office said.

They’ve also provided details on the four organisations now subject to sanctions.

Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva is a religious school embedded in the Yitzhar settlement, while Hashomer Yosh is a non-governmental organisation that provides volunteers for illegal outposts, including Meitarim Outpost, also sanctioned today). Meitarim was founded by the extremist settler Yinon Levy, who the UK sanctioned in February.

Torat Lechima is a registered Israeli charity that has been documented as providing financial support to illegal settler outposts linked with acts of violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank.

Amana has overseen the establishment of illegal outposts and provides funding and other economic resources for Israeli settlers involved in threatening and perpetrating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinian communities in the West Bank.

The UK foreign minister David Lammy criticised the “inaction of the Israeli government” for allowing “impunity to flourish” among extremist settlers in the West Bank while announcing a fresh wave of sanctions against the groups in response to continued violence.

The measures target three outposts and four organisations that have supported and perpetrated “heinous abuses of human rights” against Palestinian communities in the occupied territory, the Foreign Secretary said.

Settler outposts sanctioned on Tuesday include Tirzah Valley Farm Outpost, Meitarim Outpost and Shuvi Eretz Outpost.

The four organisations targeted are Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva, Hashomer Yosh, Torat Lechima and Amana.

Lisa O’Carroll

Ireland is not going to “wait” for the rest of the EU to take action against extremist Israeli settlers, the country’s prime minister has said, amid growing frustration in Dublin and Madrid over Brussels’ perceived inaction.

On his way into a cabinet meeting in Dublin, Simon Harris said he Ireland is “not going to wait for consensus” in the EU to take action.

It comes as Ireland looks afresh at drating legislation which could block imports of products made in the occupied territories.

Such laws were considered in 2020 but it is thought a stronger legal case exists in the wake of July’s International Court of Justice advisory opinion that there were multiple breaches of international law in the occupation of Palestinian territories.

Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez called on the European Commission to “once and for all” respond to the “formal request” made by Dublin and Madrid in February “to suspend” the trade association agreement.

After his meeting with Joe Biden in Washington last week Harris said he would be asking the EU to revisit the trade agreement complaining the world was not doing enough to stop the human catastrophe in the Middle East.

“When people look back at this time in history, it will be a moment of shame of the world that more is not done to stop the war,” he said.

The United Nations human rights office said on Tuesday the Israeli military appeared to be “cutting off North Gaza completely from the rest of the Gaza Strip.”

“Amid intense ongoing hostilities and evacuation orders in northern Gaza families are facing unimaginable fear, loss of loved ones, confusion, and exhaustion. People must be able to flee safely, without facing further danger,” Adrian Zimmerman, ICRC Gaza head of sub-delegation, said in a statement.

“Many, including the sick and disabled, cannot leave, and they remain protected under international humanitarian law all possible precautions must be taken to ensure they remain unharmed. Every person displaced has the right to return home in safety,” he added.

The Israeli military’s humanitarian unit, Cogat, which overseas aid and commercial shipments to Gaza, said in a statement on Tuesday that the operations in Jabalia were targeting terrorist infrastructure and operatives embedded inside civilian areas. It said it was facilitating humanitarian and in particular medical aid to residents.