Updates: Death toll mounts in Gaza, Lebanon as Israel ramps up strikes

People in Lebanon’s northern town of Ain Yaaqoub are in shock after yesterday’s attack. The town is about 125km (80 miles) north of Beirut and is not considered a Hezbollah stronghold.

The target was a residential building with 30 people,16 of whom died. Among them was a Syrian family living on the ground floor and another family from southern Lebanon that came to Akkar in search of safety.

It’s the first time this area has been hit. The Israeli military did not say what the target was. In recent weeks, the military has been hitting residential areas across Lebanon and has accused Hezbollah of hiding its members and capabilities among civilians, which the group categorically denies.

This is now a war with no clear front line.

For more on the deadly Israeli attacks on the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, read our story, here.

Check out more on Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich ordering preparations for the annexation of the occupied West Bank, here.

You can also read about Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman saying Israel must immediately stop its “genocide” in Gaza and attacks on Lebanon, here.

We will be closing this live page soon. Here is a recap of today’s news:

• Twenty Palestinians were killed and more than 30 wounded after Israeli tanks stormed the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza and quadcopter drones opened fire.
• Israel’s military also fired artillery and launched drones to strike Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza as the monthlong siege continues.
• An Israeli bombing of a tent cafe in the al-Mawasi “humanitarian zone” in southern Gaza killed 10 people with dozens wounded.
• In the northern Lebanese town of Ain Yaaqoub, an Israeli air attack killed at least 14 people.
• Israel’s newly appointed defence minister, Israel Katz, said “there will be no ceasefire” and “no break in the strikes against Hezbollah” in Lebanon.
• US Central Command said it hit nine targets in two locations it claimed were associated with Iran-backed armed groups in Syria, “in response to several attacks on US personnel in Syria over the last 24 hours”.

Israeli tanks stormed the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza with a spate of ground and air attacks killing at least 20 Palestinians and wounding dozens of others.

Resident Zaik Mohammad said the tank incursion caught residents by surprise.

“Some people couldn’t leave and remained trapped inside their homes, appealing to be allowed out, while others rushed out with whatever they could carry as they fled,” said Mohammad, 25, who lives 1km (half a mile) from the targeted area.

There was no Israeli comment on Monday’s violence. With the war in Gaza now in its 14th month, Israel is focusing its attacks on the north and centre of the Palestinian enclave, in what it says is a campaign to stop Hamas fighters from waging attacks and regrouping.

Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says he ordered preparations for the annexation of the occupied West Bank in the hope that “2025 will be, with God’s help, the year of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria”.

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Hamas has called on Arab and Muslim countries to translate their pledges of support into action and take measures to stop Israel’s bloody war on Gaza.

“The establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital would require more immediate efforts and practical solutions to force [Israel] to stop its aggression and genocide against our people,” Hamas said in a statement.

The comments come after Arab and Muslim leaders demanded at a summit in Saudi Arabia that Israel withdraw from occupied Palestinian territory as a precondition for regional peace.

Israeli forces stormed the town of al-Khader, south of Bethlehem, the Wafa news agency reports.

The Israeli military deployed troops across the town. The operation is reportedly linked to the search for an alleged perpetrator behind a car-ramming attack on Israeli soldiers at the Baloua Triangle earlier in the day.

Israeli incursions in the occupied West Bank have intensified since the war on Gaza began in October 2023. Hundreds have been killed and more than 11,500 people have been detained.

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit highlighted an article in a concluding statement at a summit in Saudi Arabia that moved to revoke Israel’s membership in the UN General Assembly over its wars on Gaza and Lebanon.

Aboul Gheit said that suspending Israel’s membership in the world body would not come under the Security Council’s jurisdiction and could be decided by the General Assembly.

“We might witness soon the freezing of the membership [of Israel] through a UNGA majority decision,” he said.

The summit’s concluding statement demanded that all countries ban exports or transfers of weapons and ammunition to Israel and urged the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for civilian and military officials in Israel.

The “axis of resistance” is a network of groups that have been a key part of Iran’s defence strategy for years.

But we’ve now seen Israel and Iran attack each other directly, while Israel has invaded Lebanon to go after the biggest group in the axis, Hezbollah.

So, what does this mean for the balance of power in the region, and where does the axis of resistance fit into it now?

This is more proof that the Israeli claims about “evacuation zones” and “safe areas” are nothing more than false narratives. In the past hour, there was an attack on a small café in al-Mawasi with at least 10 civilians killed.

People go to this coffee shop to connect to the internet and the outside world or to watch a football game on the big screen. A drone fired at least two missiles at the café while people were inside. A witness said it was packed.

Victims who arrived at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis for treatment were completely disfigured. The drone missiles are packed with nails and shrapnel. The body of a young child has not been identified yet because it was so badly disfigured.

The wounded are still pouring into the hospital with seven people now undergoing surgery.

The Israeli drone strike west of Khan Younis city in southern Gaza has now killed 10 people with dozens wounded, our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic report.

The Israeli military designated the al-Mawasi area as a humanitarian zone. There are thousands of Palestinians sheltering there.

The United Nations issued an urgent call to Israel to allow humanitarian access to northern Gaza as fears of famine rise because of its military blockade.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told a news conference that “access to [the] north Gaza governorate is still extremely limited” and expressed concern for the “fate of Palestinians” remaining there.

The UN “urgently calls on Israel to open up the area to humanitarian operations at the scale needed given the massive needs”.

“In October, humanitarian organisations submitted 50 requests to the Israeli authorities to enter [the] north Gaza governorate. Thirty-three of those requests were rejected outright, and eight were initially accepted but then faced impediments along the way,” Dujarric said.

“Attempts to coordinate the evacuation of an injured UN staff member from the Jabalia area was also denied, with Israeli authorities suggesting that this person could attempt to be carried out on foot by relatives waving white flags to identify themselves.”

Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer will soon meet US Secretary of State Antony Blinken with talks on a ceasefire in Lebanon high on the agenda.

The Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reports that Israel and Lebanon exchanged drafts through US envoy Amos Hochstein, signalling progress in efforts to reach a final agreement.

In Beirut, Hezbollah official Mohammad Afif linked intensified political contacts to the looming change of US leadership. “There is a great movement between Washington and Moscow and Tehran and a number of capitals,” he said.

“We hear a lot of talk but so far, according to my information, nothing official has reached Lebanon or us in this regard,” he told a news conference.

The contacts are “in the phase of testing the waters and presenting initial ideas”.

Israeli forces are continuing their attacks on Gaza City.

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic report a series of raids on the Tal al-Hawa area, southwest of the central Gaza city.

In the Zeitoun neighbourhood, Israeli forces opened fire on people’s homes, our reporters on the ground say.

The UN peacekeeping chief is heading to Lebanon for a three-day visit to support peacekeepers monitoring the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict on the front line.

Undersecretary-General Jean-Pierre Lacroix arrives on Tuesday, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

Lacroix is also scheduled to visit the headquarters of the UN peacekeeping mission in Naqoura in southern Lebanon and front-line positions along the UN-drawn boundary between Lebanon and Israel to meet peacekeepers and “thank them for their dedication in carrying out their work under extremely difficult conditions”, Dujarric said.

Israel’s army has repeatedly attacked the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered it to leave – something UNIFIL refused to do.

At least 39 people have been killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip since this morning, medical sources told Al Jazeera.

At least 20 people were killed and dozens wounded after an Israeli drone strike on central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp.

Israel’s genocide in Gaza has killed at least 43,603 Palestinians and wounded 102,929 since October 7, 2023.

The Europa League match between Turkish football team Besiktas and Israeli rivals Maccabi Tel Aviv has been moved from Istanbul to Debrecen in Hungary, UEFA announced.

“The match will be played behind closed doors following a decision of the local Hungarian authorities,” the governing body of European football said in a statement.

The announcement comes days after street fights broke out involving Israeli football supporters before and after a match on Thursday between visiting Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

Police said tensions built up ahead of the match as Maccabi fans burned a Palestinian flag in Amsterdam’s central Dam Square and vandalised a taxi.

Besiktas already announced the match against Maccabi on November 28 would be played “in a neutral country” for security reasons.

Israel’s new defence minister suggested an attack on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.

Israel Katz’s comments came during his first meeting with the General Staff Forum, led by Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, according to Israel’s Channel 12.

“Iran is more vulnerable than ever to targeting its nuclear facilities. There is [now] a possibility of removing the threat,” Katz said. “The primary goal is achievable – to thwart and eliminate the threat of Israel’s annihilation.”

Katz was named last week to replace Yoav Gallant, who used his exit to criticise the Israeli leadership.

Iranian officials have vowed to retaliate for Israel’s October 26 attack on Tehran, which resulted in the deaths of four soldiers.