Middle East latest: 93 'killed in Israeli strike' in Gaza - as Hezbollah appoints new leader (2025)

Some 41 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's military offensive in Gaza in the past 24-hour reporting period, the Hamas-run health ministry has said.

According to its latest figures, 43,061 people have now been killed by Israel since 7 October 2023.

A further 101,223 have been injured during that time, it added.

The toll does not include those killed in today's attack on the northern Gazan town of Beit Lahiya.

For context:The ministry's figures do not differentiate between Hamas fighters and civilians.

While Israeli officials have cast doubt on the numbers killed in Gaza, several independent groups say the ministry's figures have proved to be largely reliable and broadly in line with those later produced by the UN and Israel itself.

Examination of data from previous Gaza conflicts, comparing the ministry's counts with post-war United Nations analysis, shows the initial data is largely accurate with, at most, a 10-12% discrepancy.

The Israeli military told Sky News earlier this month that 20,000 Hamas militants had been killed, but this remains unverified.

By Deborah Haynes, security and defence editor

Israel's pre-dawn attack on Iran was one of the biggest and most complex air assaults the country has ever conducted.

Dozens of aircraft, including Western-made fifth-generation F-35 stealth jets as well as F-16 and F-15 warplanes, flew more than 1,000 miles tostrike multiple targets inside Iran, including the regime's prized, Russian-provided S-300 air defence systems.

An Israeli source said four of the S-300 systems were hit along with radars and other air defence capabilities, reducing the risk to Israeli aircraft should they be deployed on any future mission against the Iranian regime.

The raid - codenamed "Operation Days of Repentance" - also targeted sites whereIranwas manufacturing missiles used to threatenIsrael.

"It was a significant attack... We were able to achieve all the goals," the source said.

The Israeli government had vowed to retaliate afterIran launched more than 180 ballistic missiles at Israelon 1 October in response to Israeli attacks against Iranian interests.

Click here to read more on this story.

The number of people killed in an Israeli strike on the town of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza has risen to 93, according to the Gaza government media office.

Medics said at least 20 children are among the dead.

"A number of victims are still under the rubble and on theroads, and ambulance and civil defence crews cannot reach them," Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry added in a statement.

There has been no immediate Israeli comment on the attack.

Israel has increased its military operations in the north of Gaza in the past month as it tries to stop Hamas from regrouping in the enclave after more than a year of fighting.

Since then, the health ministry says hundreds of people have been killed and more than 60,000 others displaced under evacuation orders.

The UN's secretary-general warned last week the "widespread devastation and deprivation"caused by Israel's military operations in the north of Gaza have made life "untenable" for the population there.

Qatar says it will work with the Biden administration "until the last minute" before the US presidential election to help achieve a ceasefire deal in Gaza.

The Gulf state, along with the US and Egypt, has been spearheading negotiations to end the war between Israel and Hamas since the conflict erupted in October 2023.

The dynamic of talks could change in January when either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump replaces Joe Biden as US president, though Qatar says they won't be affected.

"We don't foresee any negative result of the elections onthe mediation process itself," Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said.

"We believe that we are dealingwith institutions, and in a country like the United States, theinstitutions are invested in finding a resolution to thiscrisis."

Ceasefire talks recently resumed in Doha after almost a month of silencebetween all parties, with Egypt proposing a 48-hour ceasefire that would allow four Israeli hostages to be released from Gaza and some Palestinian prisoners released.

Benjamin Netanyahu's office denied reports that Israel had received the proposal, saying it would have "accepted it immediately" if it had (see 11.06 post).

The office of Benjamin Netanyahu has denied reports that Israel received a proposalthat would include the release of four hostages in return for a 48-hour ceasefire in Gaza.

Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said his country proposed a two-day ceasefire in Gaza which would entail an exchange of four Israeli hostages for some Palestinian prisoners.

He also said that talks should resume within 10 days of the temporary ceasefire to continue efforts towards a permanent one.

"Israel has not received a proposal for the release of 4 hostages in return for a 48-hour ceasefirein Gaza," Mr Netanyahu's office said in a statement last night.

"If such a proposal had been raised, the PM would have accepted it immediately."

The head of the InternationalOrganisation for Migration (IOM) says the agency is keen to step up its support to people in crisis after Israel's decision to ban the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees.

Director-general Amy Pope cautioned, however, said there was "no way" that it could replace the work UNRWA does in Gaza.

Israel's government passed two laws last night that ban UNRWA from working within the country and severely curtail its ability to work in the West Bank and Gaza (see 6.39 post).

The ban is set to come into effect within three months, at which point millions of Palestinian refugees will be cut off from its help.

"UNRWA is absolutely essential to the people of Gaza, and Idon't want to leave anyone with the misimpression that IOM canplay that role, because we cannot, but we can provide support tothose people who are currently in crisis," Ms Pope said.

"That is a role that we are very, very keen to play, and onethat we will be stepping up with the support of variousstakeholders."

Israel has claimed UNRWA staff have colluded with Hamas in Gaza and that some workers participated in the 7 October attacks.

TheUN investigated and fired nine of the accused, but said Israel hadn't provided evidence for its broader allegations.

• Israel is continuing its military operations in Gaza and Lebanon, in an attempt to root out Iran-backed militants belonging to Hamas and Hezbollah;
• In northern Gaza, where Israel has been conducting a fresh offensive in the in recent weeks, 60 people have been killed following an airstrike in Beit Lahiya, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry (see 08.14 post);
• In Lebanon, the country's health ministry says yesterday's strikes on several areas of the eastern Bekaa Valley area killed 60 people. The region's governor called the attacks the "most violent" in the area since Israel invaded Lebanon last month (see 7.23 post);
• Hezbollah has appointed its deputy secretary-general Naim Kassem as its new leader, succeeding Hassan Nasrallah after he was assassinated in Beirut last month. Mr Kassem had been Hezbollah's acting leader since the death of Nasrallah (see 8.31 post);
  
• Israel has received condemnation from the US, UK and other Western nations following its decision yesterday to ban the UN relief and works agency for Palestinian refugees from the country (see 6.39 post).

Read more full and detailed analysis on some key stories in the Middle East from our correspondents:

• Deborah Haynes, security and defence editor: 'Operation Days of Repentance' - how Israel's strike on Iran unfolded
• Alistair Bunkall, Middle East correspondent: Israel's decision to ban UNRWA could have devastating impact on millions of Palestinians
• Tom Cheshire, data and forensics correspondent:Lebanon's internal refugees face racism, discrimination and evictions in search for safety

Naim Kassem is "pretty much the only" senior figure left in Hezbollah who could have been chosen as the group's new leader, says Middle East correspondent Alistair Bunkall.

The 71-year-old replaces Hassan Nasrallah as Hezbollah's leader after he was killed by an Israeli airstrike in Beirut last month.

Senior Hezbollah figure Hashem Safieddine, considered to be Nasrallah's most likely successor, was killed in another Israeli strike a week later.

Mr Kassem has been operating as Hezbollah's acting leader since Nasrallah's death.

"He's pretty much the only very senior figure within Hezbollah who has not been killed by the Israelis over the last month or so," says Bunkall.

"I think he's in Iran at the moment, having escaped Lebanon to go into exile in Iran. And he will lead the group from there.

"But the group will be severely diminished in terms of its leadership because of Israeli actions and the Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon."

We've been reporting this morning on Israeli attacks on several areas in the eastern Bekka Valley in Lebanon (see 7.23 post).

Lebanon's health ministry has said at least 60 people died yesterday across the region, which is a Hezbollah stronghold.

Images are now emerging from the aftermath of the attacks, showing rescuers working at a site damaged by the strikes.

Hezbollah has appointed the group's deputy secretary-general Sheikh Naim Kassem as its new leader.

He will succeed Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in Beirut in an Israeli airstrike in September.

Mr Kassem has been Hezbollah's acting leader since the death of Nasrallah.

Who isSheikh Naim Kassem?

Born in 1953 in Beirut, Mr Kassem has been a senior figure in Hezbollah for more than 30 years.

He was appointed deputy chief in 1991 and remained in his role when Hassan Nasrallah became leader a year later.

Mr Kassem was the first member of Hezbollah's top leadership to make televised remarks after Nasrallah was killed last month.

He said Hezbollah would choose a successor to its slain leader "at the earliest opportunity" and would continue to fight Israel in solidarity with Palestinians.

This month, he said the group supported the efforts of Lebanon's parliamentspeaker, Nabih Berri, to secure a ceasefire in the country.