Iran warns airlines to avoid airspace as World Central Kitchen staff killed in Gaza

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and the Israel Securities Authority have announced they have eliminated senior Hamas commander Nael Sakhl in the Gaza Strip.

Sakhl, who was believed to be playing a key role in Hamas’s West Bank Headquarters, was killed during a joint operation on 24 July, the IDF said today after receiving intelligence confirming his death.

The IDF said he played a role in “directing terror activities and supplying weapons to cells carrying out attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers”.

“This successful mission is a testament to the dedication and bravery of our forces in ensuring the safety and security of our nation,” it said.

Britain has joined Egypt in asking their airlines to avoid Iranian and Lebanese airspace amid growing fears of a possible broader conflict in the region after the killing of senior members of militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.

Britain’s advisory to its airlines to avoid Lebanon’s airspace came hours after Egypt instructed all of its airlines to avoid Iran’s airspace for three hours in the early morning on Thursday.

Airlines globally are revising their schedules to avoid Iranian and Lebanese airspace while also calling off flights to Israel and Lebanon.

Flights through conflict zones became a prominent industry safety issue a decade ago after Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board.

United Airlines said on Wednesday that its flights to Tel Aviv, which were paused on 31 July due to security concerns, remained suspended.

British carriers are not flying to Lebanon currently, according to flight tracking website Flightradar24.

Egypt’s NOTAM, a safety notice provided to pilots, said the instruction would be in effect from 1am to 4am GMT on Thursday.

“All Egyptian carriers shall avoid overflying Tehran (Flight Information Region). No flight plan will be accepted overflying such territory,” the notice said, referring to the three-hour period specified.

Iran will respond to the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh at the “right time” and in the “appropriate” manner, the acting foreign minister said, as intense diplomacy continues to defuse tensions in the Middle East.

Baqeri Ali Bagheri Kani made the comments during an emergency meeting organised by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), a group of states with Muslim-majority populations.

He said “it is expected” that the members will support Iran’s response to the killing.

“Iran’s action is not only a defence of its own sovereignty and national security but also a defence of the stability and security of the entire region,” he said.

The meeting was convened in Saudi Arabia to discuss Iran’s response to Haniyeh’s assassination in Tehran last week.

The US said it expected OIC members to caution Tehran against taking “steps to escalate the conflict”.

Releasing a statement, the OIC said it holds Israel “fully responsible” for the “heinous attack” and described it as “a serious infringement” of Iran’s sovereignty.

At least 18 people have been killed after Israel bombed areas in southern Gaza which have been designated humanitarian “safe zones”, Al Jazeera reported today.

Some of those killed were burned alive after the Israeli strikes hit tents sheltering people displaced in n Khan Younis.

Multiple pre-dawn strikes have been reported in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, days after Israeli forces withdrew from the area, it said.

French president Emmanuel Macron has urged Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “avoid a cycle of reprisals” in the Middle East amid growing tensions, his office said.

In a telephone call yesterday, Mr Macron told Mr Netanyahu that a cycle is putting the populations and “stability of the region at risk”.

The French presidency said a war between Israel and Lebanon “would have destructive consequences for the entire region”.

“Faced with rising tensions on the border between Israel and Lebanon, every effort must be made… to avoid a regional conflagration,” the statement said.

Mr Macron also told Mr Netanyahu that “the immediate achievement of a ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages” and delivery of humanitarian aid to the people remains the “absolute priority” for France.

It was a day after he told the Iranian president “to do everything in his power to avoid a new military escalation, which would be in nobody’s interest, including Iran’s”.

The UK will pledge £6 million towards aid in Gaza, as a Foreign Office minister calls for peace in the Middle East during a visit to Jordan.

Anneliese Dodds, the international development minister, has pledged a package of food, water, health, education and wellbeing support for Gazans.

She is visiting Jordan to meet ministers and discuss how the UK and its ally can work together on brokering a peace in the Israel-Hamas conflict, as well as quelling other regional tensions.

The Canadian government has said it will evacuate all the children of its diplomats out of Israel amid fears of escalating tensions.

Global Affairs Canada said it has approved the temporary relocation of the diplomats’ children and their guardians to a safe third country, according to Canadian media.

It added that diplomats stationed in Ramallah in the West Bank and in Beirut do not have dependents living with them.

It comes as Canada last week warned citizens to avoid all travel to Israel, citing the ongoing regional conflict and unpredictable security situation. It also urges its citizens to not travel to Gaza and the West Bank.

Israel‘s tensions with Iran and Hezbollah have fanned fears of a broader conflict in a region already on edge amid Israel‘s assault on Gaza which has killed tens of thousands and caused a humanitarian crisis, including widespread hunger.

There has been an increased risk of escalation into a broader Middle East war after the killings of Palestinian Islamist group Hamas’ leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran and of Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut drew threats of retaliation against Israel.

The US has urged Israel to probe the allegations of sexual abuse of a Palestinian prisoner after leaked surveillance footage purported to show an assault by masked soldiers.

State Department spokesperson said there ought to be “zero tolerance of any sexual abuse, rape, of any detainees, period”.

Israeli military police have arrested 10 soldiers on suspicion of their involvement in the abuse of a Palestinian detainee in a deserted military prison, Sde Teiman, where Israel is holding Palestinians detained in Gaza.

“We have seen the video and reports of sexual abuse of detainees are horrific,” Matthew Miller told reporters.

“Prisoners’ human rights need to be respected in all cases, and when there are alleged violations, the government of Israel needs to take steps to investigate those who are alleged to have committed abuses and, if appropriate, hold them accountable,” Miller said.

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel will skip this year’s atomic bombing memorial service in Nagasaki because Israel was not invited, the embassy said Wednesday.

Emanuel will not attend the event on Friday because it was “politicized” by Nagasaki’s decision not to invite Israel, the embassy said.

He will instead honor the victims of the Nagasaki atomic bombing at a ceremony at a Buddhist temple in Tokyo, it said.

Yahya Sinwar’s appointment as the top leader of Hamas formalizes a role he assumed in the early hours of Oct. 7, when the surprise attack into Israel that he helped mastermind ushered in the bloodiest chapter of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

He is seen as a hard-liner with closer ties to Hamas’ armed wing than his predecessor, Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in an explosion in Iran’s capital last month that was widely blamed on Israel and could spark an all-out regional war.

Sinwar was already seen as having the final word on any cease-fire agreement for Gaza and the release of dozens of Israeli hostages still held by Hamas.