US discusses Gaza security force at UN, WHO prepares to restore health services

The New Arab's live blog on Israel and Gaza has now ended, and will resume at 0900am.

Thank you for following.

President Donald Trump said Thursday he expects a US-coordinated international stabilisation force to be on the ground in Gaza "very soon," following two years of war in the territory between Israel and Hamas.

"It's going to be very soon. And Gaza is working out very well," Trump said at a White House function with Central Asian leaders, referring to the multinational post-conflict task force that is expected to deploy in Gaza and is likely to include troops from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Iran has been asking if US sanctions against the country can be lifted. 

Syria thanked Washington on Thursday following a vote by the UN Security Council backing a US resolution to lift sanctions on Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, ahead of his White House visit next week.

"Syria expresses its appreciation to the United States and to friendly nations for their support of Syria and its people," Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said on X.

In a statement, his ministry also thanked the members of the Security Council and said the vote reflected "the growing confidence in the leadership of President al-Sharaa".

The United Nations Security Council voted in favor of a US resolution on Thursday to lift sanctions on Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, ahead of his White House visit next week.

"(The Council) decides that Ahmed al-Sharaa...and (Interior Minister) Anas Hasan Khattab are delisted from the ISIL and Al-Qaida Sanctions List," said the resolution, approved by 14 council members. China abstained.

A contentious football match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Aston Villa got underway amid tight security in Birmingham, central England, on Thursday, with visiting Israeli fans barred over safety fears.

More than 700 police were deployed across Birmingham as pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel protesters held separate demonstrations outside Villa Park stadium in the run-up to kick-off.

Villa announced last month that no Maccabi fans would be allowed at the match following a police risk assessment.

The decision sparked criticism, including from Prime Minister Keir Starmer who set about trying to reverse the move, but the Israeli club later announced it would decline tickets for its fans anyway, citing safety concerns.

Some 200 pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered near the stadium's Trinity Road stand. They chanted "Free Palestine" and displayed banners calling for a boycott of Israel and its exclusion from international football.

Police classified Thursday's fixture as "high risk", citing "violent clashes and hate crime offences" during a Europa League match in Amsterdam between Maccabi and local team Ajax last November.

That game sparked two days of clashes between locals and Israeli fans in the Dutch city.

AFP saw a large visible police presence outside Villa Park, with officers wearing protective padding and carrying riot helmets. Police horses were also deployed.

"We are experienced at policing high-profile football matches and demonstrations, and for many weeks now, we have been working closely with different faith and local community groups to listen to their views and concerns," West Midlands Police said in statement.

Signs were hung near the stadium reading "no war games allowed" and "Give Zionism the Red Card", while channels spearheaded by far-right activist Tommy Robinson had made Islamophobic statements about the match and planned protests.

Israeli soldiers injured a Palestinian child on Thursday evening after they attacked homes in the city of Hebron, south of the West Bank.

According to local sources, cited by the Palestinian Wafa agency, a group of colonists threw stones at residential houses in the Khallet al-Natsh area, east of Hebron. During the attack, Adam Hijazi al-Shantir, a young child, was struck in the face and sustained injuries.

The child was transferred to a nearby hospital for treatment.

The Lebanese army said Thursday that Israeli strikes on the country's south aimed to prevent the completion of its deployment there in line with last year's ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

"The Israeli enemy launched a wide-scale attack in the south, targeting several areas and towns. These condemned attacks are a continuation of the enemy's destructive approach, which aims to undermine Lebanon's stability... and prevent the completion of the army's deployment in accordance with the cessation of hostilities agreement," the army said in a statement.

Kazakhstan has been formally announced as the next Muslim-majority to join the Abraham Accords, which will see the normalisation of ties with Israel.

US Middle East envoy announced earlier that a new country would join the controversial Accords, without specifying. 

US special envoy Steve Witkoff said that a new country would be announced on Thursday night as entering the Abraham Accords that have normalised relations between Israel and Muslim-majority nations.

Witkoff told a business forum in Florida that he would be returning to Washington for the announcement, declining to say which country it would be.

Israeli strikes on the south Lebanon town of Toura have killed one person and wounded eight others, according to Lebanon's National News Agency.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is holding a security cabinet meeting to discuss the ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon, as well as other theatres, according to the Times of Israel, citing the office of a senior minister.

Hamas fighters holed up in the Israeli-held Rafah area of Gaza would surrender their arms in exchange for passage to other areas of the enclave under a proposal to resolve an issue seen as a risk to the month-old truce, according to two sources familiar with the talks.

Since the US-brokered ceasefire took effect in Gaza on 10 October, the Rafah area has been the scene of at least two attacks on Israeli forces which Israel has blamed on Hamas; the militant group has denied responsibility.

Egyptian mediators have proposed that, in exchange for safe passage, fighters still in Rafah surrender their arms to Egypt and give details of tunnels there so they can be destroyed, one of the sources, an Egyptian security official, said.

Israel and Hamas have yet to accept mediators' proposals, the two sources said. A third confirmed that talks on the issue were underway.

The Israeli Prime Minister's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the accounts; Hazem Qassem, a Hamas spokesperson in Gaza, declined to comment.

Israeli drones are flying low over the Lebanese capital and its southern suburbs, according to Lebanon's National News Agency. 

The presence of low-flying drones over the capital comes as Israel launches strikes on southern Lebanon.

Israeli jets struck three towns in southern Lebanon on Thursday after urging residents to leave, marking an escalation in their near-daily strikes on the country.

The airstrikes came hours after Hezbollah urged the Lebanese government not to enter negotiations with Israel.

Israeli Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee warned residents in Tayba near the border, Tayr Debba located just east of the coastal city of Tyre, and Aita al-Jabal, to flee 500 meters away from residential buildings they are targeting, which they say has been used by Hezbollah.

A Dutch appeals court on Thursday confirmed a decision to throw out a case brought by pro-Palestinian groups to stop the Netherlands exporting weapons to Israel and trading with Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories.

The court said it was up to the state to decide what actions to take and not judges.

In a written ruling, the court said it could not order a blanket ban because the pro-Palestinian groups had not shown that the government was routinely failing to consider whether exported arms or dual-use goods would be used to violate rights.

The court in The Hague added that the Dutch government already did enough to discourage companies from working in the occupied territories.

Pope Leo XIV met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for the first time on Thursday, and the two men discussed the urgent need to provide assistance to civilians in Gaza and to pursue a two-state solution to end the conflict in the region.

The meeting, which lasted about an hour and was described as "cordial" in a brief Vatican statement, comes nearly a month after the US-brokered ceasefire agreement came into effect in the Gaza Strip.

The pope and Abbas had not met in person previously. They had spoken over the phone in July to talk about developments in the conflict in Gaza and violence in the West Bank.

"During the cordial talks, it was recognised that there is an urgent need to provide assistance to the civilian population in Gaza and to end the conflict by pursuing a two-State solution," the Holy See said.

Abbas was visiting the Vatican to mark the 10th anniversary of the signing of the “Comprehensive Agreement between the Holy See and the State of Palestine.”

The Israeli military announced it had carried out an airstrike against members of Hezbollah's construction unit in the area of Tyre, in southern Lebanon.

Lebanon's National News Agency said the raid struck near the towns of Toura and Aabbasiyyeh.

A building in Gaza City's Daraj neighbourhood has collapsed, according to Al Jazeera, citing Gaza's emergency rescue agency, which added that people are trapped inside.

The majority of Gaza's buildings have either been damaged or destroyed by Israel's war on the enclave.

The UN's agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has said that it has expanded its health coverage in the enclave to reach 1,000 patients daily, and that it has reached 35,000 children through in-person teaching, in a new report.

The agency added that most UNRWA buildings have been severely damaged in Israel's war on the enclave.

Our latest on the situation in 📍#Gaza and the #WestBank:

🔹 UNRWA has expanded lifesaving health, education, and WASH operations across #Gaza, reaching over 1,000 patients daily and over 35,000 children through in-person learning.
🔹 Airstrikes on 28–29 Oct reportedly killed… pic.twitter.com/ZUZyf9gofd

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) November 6, 2025

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz on Thursday said he instructed the army to turn the area at the border with Egypt into a closed military zone to combat weapons smuggling via drones.

"I instructed the (military) to turn the area adjacent to the Israel-Egypt border into a closed military zone and to amend the rules of engagement accordingly in order to combat the drone threat that endangers the country's security," Katz said in a statement.

"Weapon smuggling via drones is part of the war in Gaza and is intended to arm our enemies, and all possible measures must be taken to stop it," he added.

A Palestinian child has been killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank town of Ya'bad, west of Jenin, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa. 

The health ministry in the West Bank said that Murad Fawzi Abu Seifen, 15, was killed by Israeli forces after they stormed the town.

Israeli forces then prevented ambulances from reaching him.

Israel on Thursday said the remains of a captive handed over by Hamas a day earlier belonged to Joshua Loitu Mollel, a Tanzanian student whose body was taken to Gaza after he was killed in the 7 October 2023, attack.

Hamas returned the remains on Wednesday evening as part of the ongoing Gaza ceasefire deal brokered by US President Donald Trump.

"Following the completion of the identification process... the ministry of foreign affairs informed the family of the abducted fallen hostage, Joshua Loitu Mollel... that their loved one has been returned," the prime minister's office said.

Lebanon's Hezbollah said on Thursday that the militia group had "a legitimate right to resist (Israeli) occupation", adding that it would support the Lebanese army.

Hezbollah also said that, while Lebanon was bound by a ceasefire, it was not obligated to be drawn into political negotiations with Israel.

Last week, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun instructed the army to confront any Israeli incursion into southern Lebanon after Israeli forces crossed the border overnight and killed a municipal employee, despite a US-brokered ceasefire.

"We affirm our legitimate right to resist occupation and aggression and to stand by our army and our people to protect the sovereignty of our country," the group said.

Hezbollah also said that it was exercising its right to defend itself against "an enemy that imposes war on our country, does not stop its attacks, and seeks to subjugate our state".