November 1, 2024, updates on war in the Middle East

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A house that was hit following a projectiles attack from Lebanon towards Israel, in the central Israeli town of Tira, on November 2, 2024.

At least 19 people were injured in the central Israeli city of Tira after three projectiles crossed over from Lebanon overnight into Saturday, local officials said, raising the number of injured from 11 earlier.

Dashcam video geolocated by CNN shows an explosion near a row of shops in the city, which is about 24 kilometers (15 miles) northeast of Tel Aviv, and whose residents are Palestinian citizens of Israel.

Four of the 19 injured people remained in a moderate condition, according to Israeli police, with the rest suffering light injuries.

This post has been updated.

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in the Dahiyeh suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on November 1, 2024.

Israeli strikes have killed at least 2,267 people and injured 11,022 more in Lebanon since Israel stepped up its campaign against Hezbollah in mid-September, according to a CNN tally of Lebanese health ministry statements.

The ministry’s latest report on Friday included 52 deaths and 72 injuries from strikes in Lebanon’s Baalbek-Hermel region, affecting residents across 14 villages in the country’s southern and eastern areas.

Israel’s military said on Friday it had struck Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon and the capital Beirut.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said “numerous” precautions were taken before the strikes to minimize risks to civilians, including issuing advance warnings to residents in targeted areas. However, a CNN reporter found that many of the areas where casualties occurred on Friday had not received warnings through the usual channels, including the X and Telegram accounts of the IDF’s Arabic spokesperson.

The IDF also reiterated Israeli concerns that Hezbollah has embedded its weapons and military facilities within civilian-populated areas across Lebanon. It says the militant group has used these positions to launch recent attacks against Israel, including rocket strikes that killed seven civilians in the country on Thursday, according to Israeli officials.

Earlier on Thursday, Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes targeted 40 hospitals, 84 medical and ambulance centers, and a total of 243 medical facilities, killing 178 medical staff members since October last year.

At least 11 people were injured in the central Israeli city of Tira after three projectiles crossed over from Lebanon overnight into Saturday, local officials said.

Dashcam video geolocated by CNN shows an explosion near a row of shops in the city, which is about 24 kilometers (15 miles) northeast of Tel Aviv, and whose residents are Palestinian citizens of Israel.

Three of the 11 injured people were evacuated in a moderate condition, according to Israeli police, with the rest treated at the scene.

Israel’s military said “a fallen projectile was most likely identified in the area.”

This post has been updated with additional information.

The Pentagon has ordered the deployment of additional assets to the Middle East that will arrive in the coming months, to replace a carrier strike group that will be leaving the region, Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said on Friday.

The assets will include additional destroyers, fighter squadron and several B-52 long-range strike bombers, Ryder said. They will arrive as the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier prepares to depart.

An Iran-made missile is carried past an Iranian flag during a military parade in Tehran on September 21.

Iran will likely increase the range of its missiles, the head of its Strategic Council on Foreign Relations Kamal Kharrazi has said, according to state-run Press TV.

“If the Islamic Republic of Iran faces an existential threat, we will inevitably change the policy of our military doctrine,” he said on Friday, Press TV reported, citing Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen TV.

Iran is also capable of producing nuclear weapons, he said, but remains curbed by a mandate by the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei against weapons of mass destruction, Press TV reported.

On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s “supreme objective” is stopping Iran from getting nuclear weapons, in a speech outlining his strategy as Israel battles Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

“The brash words of the leaders of the regime in Iran cannot cover up the fact that Israel has greater freedom of action in Iran today than ever before. We can reach anywhere in Iran as needed,” Netanyahu said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Ron Dermer, Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister and confidante to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, about “necessary steps for regional de-escalation,” a State Department readout said.

The Friday call – a day after top White House officials met in person with Dermer, Netanyahu and other top Israeli officials – comes as Israel’s military campaigns in Lebanon and Gaza continue and as the United Nations warns that the situation in northern Gaza is “apocalyptic.” It also comes as Iran warns of a response against Israel, that could come before the US election on Tuesday.

Blinken “emphasized the importance of ending the war in Gaza and bringing all of the hostages home, as well as charting a path forward in the post-conflict period that provides governance, security, and reconstruction,” the readout said.

“He discussed the dire status of humanitarian conditions in Gaza, reviewed steps that have been taken to improve the situation, and urged further actions to surge aid to civilians,” it continued.

In a letter last month, Blinken gave the Israeli government 30 days to take steps to improve the humanitarian situation in the war-torn strip or face potential military aid ramifications.

Blinken and Dermer, according to the readout, also discussed “ongoing efforts to reach a diplomatic resolution in Lebanon that allows both Lebanese and Israeli civilians to return safely to their homes.”

A Palestinian child sits next to the shrouded bodies of people killed in an Israeli strike in northern Gaza on Thursday.

The situation in northern Gaza is “apocalyptic,” a group of 15 United Nations heads warned Friday.

A letter signed by leaders from UN organizations including OCHA, the UN’s humanitarian affairs body, UNHCR, the UN’s high commissioner for refugees, and the World Health Organization (WHO), warns that “the entire Palestinian population in North Gaza is at imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence.”

Northern Gaza has been under siege by the Israeli military for almost a month. Hundreds of people have been killed, hospitals have been hit, and schools sheltering displaced families have been attacked.

People are desperate for food because “livestock are also dying, crop lands have been destroyed, trees burned to the ground, and agrifood systems infrastructure has been decimated,” the letter stated.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it launched operations after detecting Hamas members in the area at the beginning of October. The IDF has said it is “doing everything possible to avoid causing harm to uninvolved civilians.”

The UN leaders called on Israel to “cease its assault on Gaza and on the humanitarians trying to help,” adding that the area has been “denied basic aid and life-saving supplies while bombardment and other attacks continue.”

“International humanitarian law, including the rules of distinction, proportionality and precautions, must be respected,” the letter said. International humanitarian law obligations “do not depend on reciprocity. No violation by one party ever releases the other from its legal obligations,” it said.

A child is vaccinated against polio in Jabalia, Gaza, on September 10.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says it is ready to resume polio vaccinations in northern Gaza, after the campaign was suspended last month amid escalating Israeli attacks in the area.

The UN-led campaign was dealt a major blow on October 23, when Israeli forces struck a school in northern Gaza where vaccinations were set to take place, forcing the temporary suspension of the program. The three-phased campaign, which began in September, has been facilitated by a series of pauses in fighting agreed to by the Israeli military.

In a statement on Friday, the WHO said it had received the necessary assurances to restart the campaign in northern Gaza, caveating that the area covered by the humanitarian pause will be smaller this time.

To ensure more displaced people can access vaccinations, more staff have been drafted in and the time period for humanitarian pauses has also been extended by two hours, the WHO statement said.

Israel’s recent bombing campaign targeting Hamas in the northern towns of Jabalya, Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun means that roughly 15,000 children “still remain inaccessible and will be missed during the campaign,” the WHO said.

Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, or COGAT, which manages the flow of aid into the strip, said Friday that polio vaccinations would resume from Saturday-Monday. In coordination with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) through COGAT, the international organizations will “vaccinate hundreds of thousands of children over the next three days,” COGAT said.

A former Israeli intelligence official has told CNN there is a “high possibility” that militia groups in Iraq will be used by Iran to carry out a potential retaliatory strike against Israel, following Israeli air strikes on Iranian military targets last week.

“This would be a way for Iran to retaliate without being held directly responsible, at least in their thinking,” said Miri Eisen, a former colonel in Israeli military intelligence and now a fellow at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism.

“Iraqi groups are physically near Iran, more accessible, and not degraded, unlike Hezbollah in Lebanon which is fighting for its existence,” Eisen told CNN.

According to a recent report by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a US-based think tank, Israel has been facing a growing number of drone attacks from pro-Iranian militias in Iraq in recent months, although there is “very little evidence of effective strikes in Israel, due to interceptions,” the report said.

Earlier an Israeli military source confirmed the country was on a “high level of readiness” for a response from Iran. But the source told CNN the Israeli military is “still assessing the decision-making process in Iran” to determine if and when a retaliation will take place.

This comes after CNN reported Wednesday that Iran would carry out a “definitive and painful” response to Israel’s recent attack on October 25, citing a high-ranking source. The source on Wednesday did not provide an exact date for the expected attack but said it “will probably take place before the day of the US presidential election.”

Two top White House officials have returned to Washington DC, after a last pre-election push to forward efforts to resolve the conflicts in the Middle East, a US official told CNN Friday.

Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk’s Thursday meetings did not result in any concrete resolutions to any of the range of issues, including Gaza and Lebanon. There was little expectation that they would, particularly as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waits to see the results of the US election.

Just hours after Hochstein and McGurk’s visit, Israeli forces unleashed a barrage of strikes that caused “massive destruction” in Beirut, according to Lebanon’s state news agency.

The US official described as “substantive” and “constructive,” noting that they “focused on a number of issues in depth, including Iran, Lebanon, Gaza, and securing the release of hostages.”

“There was a particular focus on efforts to secure a ceasefire deal in Lebanon that allows people on both sides of the Blue Line to return safely to their homes, as well as new initiatives to secure the release of hostages, which Hamas must do without delay,” the official said, adding that they “will not negotiate either issue in public.”

Hochstein and McGurk met with Netanyahu, Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, Director of Shin Bet Bank Ronan Bar, Director of Mossad David Barnea, and other senior Israeli officials in Israel on Thursday, the US official said.

On Thursday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there has been “good progress” on efforts for full implementation of UN Security Council 1701 to bring an end to the conflict in Lebanon, but “we still have more work to do.”

The Iron Beam laser defense system uses a high-power laser to shoot down incoming projectiles.

Israel expects its “Iron Beam” laser defense system to be operational within one year, saying it will bring “a new era of warfare” as it engages in a war of drones and missiles with Iran and its regional partners.

The Jewish state spent more than $500 million on deals this week with Israeli developers Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, architect of Israel’s Iron Dome and Elbit Systems to expand production of the shield. Dubbed the Iron Beam, the shield aims to use high-power lasers to counter an array of projectiles, including missiles, drones, rockets and mortars, Israel’s defense ministry said this week.

“It heralds the beginning of a new era in warfare,” Eyal Zamir, director general of the defense ministry, said in a statement this week. “The initial capability of the ground-based laser system … is expected to enter operational service within one year,” he said.

Israel first unveiled a prototype of the Iron Beam in 2021 and has since been working to get it up and running.

The defense ministry’s comments come as Israel presses on with wars in Gaza and Lebanon, and after its military engaged twice in direct missile attacks with Iran.

Related article Israel plans to use lasers to shoot down incoming missiles

Israel’s military said Friday it had struck Hezbollah targets in Beirut and southern Lebanon overnight.

Meanwhile, Lebanon’s state news agency said that Israeli warplanes executed “intense airstrikes” on southern Beirut that had caused “massive destruction … with dozens of buildings leveled to the ground.”

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that “numerous” precautions were taken before the strikes to “mitigate” risks to civilians, including issuing advance warnings to residents in affected areas.

The IDF also reiterated Israeli concerns that Hezbollah has embedded its weapons and military facilities within civilian-populated areas across Lebanon, a tactic it claims the militant group has used to launch recent attacks against Israel, including rocket strikes that killed seven civilians in the country on Thursday, according to Israeli officials.

Israel has for the past month carried out a massive, country-wide bombing campaign in Lebanon in its fight against Hezbollah. Over 2,500 people have been killed and more than 12,000 injured in Lebanon over the past year of conflict, with most of the casualties occurring since Israel escalated its attacks on September 17, according to the World Health Organization.

On Thursday, the IDF vowed to respond to Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel and advised residents to vacate several buildings in southern Beirut, known to be a Hezbollah stronghold.

Smoke rises in the aftermath of an Israeli strike in Beirut as seen from Baabda, Lebanon, on November 1.

Strikes on Beirut and military evacuation orders for Lebanese cities are all “indicators” that Israel is rejecting efforts to reach a ceasefire, Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati reportedly said during a meeting with UN peacekeepers in Beirut on Friday.

“The Israeli enemy’s renewed expansion of the scope of its aggression on Lebanese regions, its repeated threats to the population to evacuate entire cities and villages, and its renewed targeting of the southern suburbs of Beirut with destructive raids, are all indicators that confirm the Israeli enemy’s rejection of all efforts being made to cease fire in preparation for the full implementation of Resolution 1701,” Mikati said according to Lebanese state-run news agency NNA.

The Lebanese prime minister was referring to UN Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Hezbollah-Israel war.

Israeli warplanes executed extensive strikes on south Beirut overnight into Friday. On Wednesday, residents of Lebanon’s northeast city of Baalbek fled after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders. Israel said it is targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Mikati’s latest comments contradict statements he gave earlier this week expressing optimism that a ceasefire could be reached in Lebanon before Tuesday’s (November 5) US presidential election.

On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told visiting US envoys Amos Hochstein and Brett McGurk that Israel must have the ability to enforce a potential ceasefire agreement in Lebanon to thwart threats from the country.

Michael Fakhri speaks to the press at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on October 28, 2022.

Israel’s ban on the United Nations’ agency for Palestinian refugees is a “death sentence” for the nearly 2 million people facing extreme hunger in war-torn Gaza, a UN official said.

UN special rapporteur on the right to food Michael Fakhri joins a growing list of humanitarian workers and organizations to condemn the move by Israel’s parliament Monday to pass laws banning UNRWA from operating in the country.

The ban is expected to severely restrict UNRWA from operating in territories Israel occupies, including Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. It would not only undermine Gazans’ right to food but was also an attack on the United Nations itself, Fakhri said.

“What we’re seeing in Gaza today is nothing less than horror and devastation,” he added.

Smoke rises in the aftermath of an Israeli strike in Beirut, as seen from Baabda, Lebanon, on November 1.

Tensions remain high in the Middle East on Friday after an Israeli military source told CNN the country was at a “high level of readiness” for a response from Iran to recent Israeli strikes.

Israel’s attacks on Iran last weekend were the latest escalation in a decades-long shadow war that has come into the open over the past year as conflict between the Jewish state and Iranian proxies in Gaza and Lebanon has raised the specter of a wider regional war.

The Israeli military source said Israel was “still assessing the decision-making process in Iran,” adding that Tehran faced a dilemma created by the degradation of its defenses and strike capabilities in the Israeli attacks.

The remarks come after a high-ranking source told CNN Iran would carry out a “definitive and painful” response to Israel, that “will probably take place before the day of the US presidential election.”

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The Israeli military struck Beirut’s southern suburbs for the first time in nearly a week overnight into Friday, according to Lebanese state media.

CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment.

The IDF on Thursday vowed retribution against Hezbollah for deadly attacks on Israel and told residents to leave several buildings in the south of the Lebanese capital, which is a Hezbollah stronghold.

Hezbollah fired about 90 rockets into northern Israel on Thursday, killing seven civilians, according to the IDF.

Four Thai workers and an Israeli were killed by rocket fire in Metula, near the Lebanon border, officials said. Another strike near the city of Haifa killed two people, according to the IDF.

Thailand's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maris Sangiampongsa, delivers his statement in New York City on September 29.

Four Thai nationals were killed and another injured by rocket fire in northern Israel on Thursday, Thailand’s foreign minister Maris Sangiampongsa said in an X post on Friday.

The “direct hit” on the city of Metula near the Lebanese border killed five people, including four foreign workers, local officials said earlier. Hezbollah, which has fired rockets at the area over the past year, did not immediately claim responsibility for the attack.

Israel’s agriculture industry employs thousands of Thai workers and Thais made up the largest group of foreign nationals killed in the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023.

Last month, a Thai worker was killed in northern Israel by “an explosion of dropped ammunition,” according to the Thai foreign ministry.

Israel is at a “high level of readiness” for a response from Iran, an Israeli military source told CNN. But the source added they are “still assessing the decision-making process in Iran” to determine if and when a retaliation will take place.

The source added that the recent Israeli strikes on Iranian missile production facilities and air defense installations have “created a dilemma for Tehran” as its capability to strike Israel and defend against future Israeli strikes has been degraded.

This comes after CNN reported Wednesday that Iran would carry out a “definitive and painful” response to Israel’s recent attack, citing a high-ranking source. The source on Wednesday did not provide an exact date for the expected attack but said it “will probably take place before the day of the US presidential election.”

Some background: The Israeli military said it hit “precise” military targets in Iran on October 25, in retaliation for the ballistic missile barrage launched by Tehran last month. It was the first time Israel publicly acknowledged striking Iranian territory – marking a step toward a more direct confrontation with their longtime adversary. Although, Iran initially appeared to downplay the severity of Israel’s strikes.

Top US officials arrived in the Middle East this week with the goal of deterring further Iranian military action.

In subtle but increasingly vocal ways, Israel’s military leaders are signaling that the country has achieved all it can militarily in Lebanon and Gaza, and it’s time for the politicians to strike a deal.

It comes as Lebanon’s prime minister says that a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel could be imminent. Both candidates for the American presidency have also made clear they do not want wars in Gaza and Lebanon to be on the agenda when they take office.

When the Israel Defense Forces’ top general sat down with officers in northern Gaza – who are waging one of the military’s fiercest operations since last year’s invasion – he went further than ever in suggesting the military phases of both conflicts should end.

What those achievements should be is the subject of much consternation.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly pledged “absolute victory.” His defense minister and longtime political tormentor Yoav Gallant has bristled at that goal. In August, he told a closed-door parliamentary committee meeting that the idea of “absolute victory” in Gaza was “nonsense,” according to Israeli media.

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