Middle East: Israel strikes Beirut, rejects cease-fire

Israeli firms banned from having stands, equipment at Paris defense show

The major Euronaval defense show in Paris will not feature any stands of Israeli companies, the organizers said on Wednesday.

This comes after French President Emmanuel Macron criticized the number of civilian casualties in the Israeli wars against Shiite militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon and Islamist group Hamas in Gaza.

Israeli citizens and companies will still be allowed to take part, with the condition that they don't have their own stand or exhibit any equipment.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called the move a "disgrace" in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Euronaval is a biennial event that attracts naval defense companies from around the world. According to the organizers, seven Israeli companies are affected by the decision.
 

Back in May, Israeli defense manufacturers were banned from the Eurosatory land defense and security exhibition by the French government, although the decision was later overturned by the courts.



UK 'looking' at sanctioning two far-right Israeli ministers

The UK is considering sanctioning two Israeliministers over comments they made about civilians in Gaza, Prime Minister Keir Starmer confirmed on Wednesday.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, both considered part of Israel's far-right, voiced their support for blocking aid from entering the Gaza Strip, as well as backing the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in the enclave and in the occupied West Bank.

Asked during Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday whether he would sanction the two men, Starmer said: "We are looking at that."

Former UK Foreign SecretaryDavid Cameron revealed on Tuesday that the previous Conservative government had been working on sanctions against the two politicians, whom he called "extreme."

Current Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced that the UK, France and Algeria had called an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council following UN reports that "barely any food has entered" northern Gaza in the past two weeks.



Israel allows 50 aid trucks into northern Gaza after US criticism

Israel says it has allowed 50 trucks carrying humanitarian aid into northern Gaza, after the US warned it to boost aid efforts or risk losing military support.

According to COGAT, the Israeli military body supervising civilian affairs in the Palestinian territories, the aid included food, water, medical supplies and shelter equipment. The aid was provided by Jordan.

This comes after the US administration criticized Israel for not letting enough humanitarian aid enter the northern part of the enclave amid its military campaign in the Gaza Strip.

COGAT said the delivery was made at the direction of Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and the "political echelon."

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, warned Wednesday that a famine or acute malnutrition in Gaza "is unfortunately again a likelihood."



Germany's Scholz pledges to keep supplying arms to Israel

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has promised to continue supporting Israel with arms deliveries.

In the past eight weeks, the German government has approved military equipment and munitions exports to Israel worth around €31 million ($33.7 million) — more than twice as much as during the entire rest of the year, the German news agency DPA reported.

"There are deliveries and there will always be further deliveries. Israel can rely on that," Scholz said in remarks to Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag.

Germany must keep Israel "in a position to defend its country," Scholz emphasized. "Israel can rely on our solidarity — now and in the future," he added.

The chancellor's comments came after conservative opposition lawmakers accused the government of failing to provide enough support and of delaying approvals for weapons shipments to Israel.

Scholz also said in his speech that there was still a need for humanitarian aid for civilians in the Gaza Strip and called for the rules of international law to be observed in the conflict in the Middle East.

The German chancellor contended that hope for a two-state solution in which Israel would grant Palestinians their own country is also needed.



Lebanon denounces airstrike at Nabatiyeh municipal meeting

Officials in Lebanon said the Israeli airstrike on Nabatiyeh targeted a municipal building where a meeting coordinating relief efforts was taking place. The mayor of the city is said to have been killed by the strike.

Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati accused Israel of "deliberately targeting" the meeting.

Mikati "condemned the new Israeli aggression against civilians in the city of Nabatiyeh, which deliberately targeted a meeting of the municipal council that was discussing the city's services and relief situation," he said in a statement.

Mikati accused the international community of being "silent" about Israeli strikes that have killed civilians and attacks on peacekeepers. "What solution can be hoped for in light of this reality?" he added.

Lebanese Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said in a separate statement that a civil defense member was among those killed during the meeting held to coordinate relief work and aid distribution for people who have remained in southern Lebanon.
Israel hits Beirut with fresh airstrikes: Karim El-Gawhary reports