Updates: Netanyahu fires Gallant; 54 killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza

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For more on Netanyahu firing Gallant, check out our story here.

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To read our explainer on the arrests made in Israel in connection with an alleged leak of classified documents from Netanyahu’s office, go here.

We will be closing this live page shortly. Here is a recap of the day’s events:

• Israel’s PM Netanyahu has dismissed Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. Former foreign minister Israel Katz has been appointed as his replacement while Gideon Saar takes over Katz’s position.
• Hundreds of Israelis are protesting in Tel Aviv and chanting slogans against Netanyahu’s government following Gallant’s firing.
• At least 61 people were killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza on Tuesday.
• At least seven people were killed in an Israeli military raid and air attacks on the occupied West Bank.
• An Israeli strike on the Lebanese town of Barja in central Lebanon has killed at least 15 people, the Health Ministry says.
• Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed at least 3,013 people and wounded 13,553 since October 2023, the Lebanese government has said.

The Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs has reported a worsening policy of deliberate medical negligence towards injured and sick inmates in Israeli prisons since the Gaza war began last year, according to Wafa news agency.

The commission’s lawyers who visited various Israeli prisons to assess the conditions of sick Palestinians there have reported that significant medical neglect, malnutrition, and physical violence had led to severe weight loss and overall deterioration in the health of the inmates, Wafa said.

Haunted by the daily violence ravaging the Middle East, Soujoud Hamade, a registered Democrat, felt compelled to back Green Party candidate Jill Stein in the US presidential election.

“It is very emotional,” the 32-year-old real estate lawyer told the AFP news agency after casting her ballot in Dearborn, the nation’s largest Arab-majority city, where voters could prove decisive in the key battleground of Michigan.

“Every time I watch the news or get on social media, I see my people being decimated, I see my home country being destroyed,” added the Lebanese American, disillusioned by the Biden-Harris administration’s unwavering support for Israel.

Stein, a Jewish physician and the Green Party’s perennial left-wing candidate, is predicted to do well among Muslims as well as progressives and youth voters nationwide.

“She’s the only one who’s anti-genocide,” said Muhammad Hijazi, a 28-year-old engineer who described himself as a “single-issue voter” who had previously voted Democrat but had now “lost faith”.

For all the latest on the ongoing US election, go to our live page, here.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry says that the death toll in an Israeli strike targeting a residential building in a town south of Beirut has gone up to 20.

“The raid by the Israeli enemy on Barja left 20 dead,” the ministry said of the raid on the coastal town about 20km (12 miles) south of the capital.

Flames continued to emerge from the building on Tuesday evening, according to AFP news agency, as several families fled the site.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right minister in Netanyahu’s coalition government, has praised the PM’s decision, saying Gallant was still “deeply trapped in the conception” that it “is not possible to achieve absolute victory”.

But Benny Gantz, Netanyahu’s main political rival, called the move “politics at the expense of national security”.

Yair Lapid, another opposition leader, said the move “in the middle of the war is an act of madness”, adding that Netanyahu was “selling out Israel’s security and the soldiers … for his own political survival”.

Gideon Saar has been named Israel’s new foreign minister in a cabinet shuffle following the dismissal of Defence Minister Gallant earlier today.

A former lawyer and journalist, Saar was first brought into politics 20 years ago by Netanyahu, who made him his cabinet secretary during his first term in office.

He was considered a rising star in Netanyahu’s Likud Party and one of the few independent voices in a party that has largely been synonymous with the prime minister and his policies.

Saar defected from Likud after unsuccessfully challenging Netanyahu for the party’s leadership. Late in 2020, Saar formed his own political movement dubbed New Hope.

In 2021, he joined the government of former prime minister Naftali Bennett as justice minister with the title of deputy prime minister. His political star had, however, dimmed in recent years.

While he participated in the emergency government formed in the wake of the October 7 attack, he joined the opposition in March after failing to get a seat in the war cabinet.

UN chief’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that “operations carried out by Israeli forces in … Jenin today involved lethal war-like tactics”.

At least seven people have been killed after Israeli forces carried out a raid in the occupied West Bank.

Dujarric added that the operation “seems to exceed law enforcement standards”.

“This has included air strikes and shoulder-fired explosive projectiles, resulting in fatalities.”

Israel’s new defence minister, Israel Katz, known for his abrasive style, is a long-time ally and loyalist of Netanyahu.

Katz, 69, labelled by Israeli media as a “bulldozer” for his direct and sometimes harsh style, is considered both close and loyal to Netanyahu. After his appointment, Katz vowed to defeat Israel’s enemies and achieve the country’s war goals.

A member of Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party, in which he was preciously president of the party’s convention, Katz has held multiple cabinet roles going back to 2003.

As foreign minister, Katz drew international attention for his pointed attacks on world leaders and international organisations that had expressed opposition to Israeli military actions, particularly in Gaza.

He spearheaded a diplomatic battle against UNRWA, and last month, Israel’s parliament banned the agency from working in Israel and occupied east Jerusalem. On Monday, Katz instructed his ministry to formally notify the UN that Israel was cancelling its agreements with UNRWA.

Last month, Katz triggered outrage when he declared UN chief Antonio Guterres “persona non grata in Israel”.

Before serving as foreign minister, Katz’s most notable role was as minister of transport.

The Israeli military says it intercepted a drone that entered Israeli territory from the east after sirens sounded in the Arava area, a valley that stretches from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Eilat.

Another drone that approached Israel from the east was also intercepted before crossing into Israel, the army said. No injuries have been reported.

Earlier, sirens sounded in the Red Sea port city of Eilat. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq said in a statement that it targeted a “vital target” in Eilat with drones.

The group has been launching attacks on Israel since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza.

Israel’s newly appointed defence minister, Israel Katz, has promised to prioritise the return of Israel’s captives from Gaza and the “destruction” of Hamas and Hezbollah.

“We will work together to march the security system to victory against our enemies and to achieve the goals of the war: The return of all the abductees as the most important value mission, the destruction of Hamas in Gaza, the defeat of Hezbollah in Lebanon, the containment of Iranian aggression and the return of the residents of the north and south to their homes in safety,” he said in his first post on X since being appointed.

Gallant has been an “important partner” to the US on all matters related to Israel’s security, a White House National Security Council spokesperson said.

“As close partners, we will continue to work collaboratively with Israel’s next Minister of Defense,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

Israeli forces have detained two Palestinians from Ramallah and Qalqilya, according to local security sources quoted by the Wafa news agency.

According to the report, Israeli troops detained a student from Birzeit University and a female psychiatrist who works with the Palestine Red Crescent Society.

More than 11,500 Palestinians have been detained in Israeli raids across the occupied West Bank since the war on Gaza began, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society.

An Israeli group campaigning for the release of captives in Gaza has urged the country’s newly appointed defence minister to “prioritise” a deal to free the captives.

“We expect the incoming defence minister, Israel Katz, to prioritise a hostage deal … to secure the immediate release of all hostages,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement, after Netanyahu fired Katz’s predecessor Gallant.

Hundreds of Israelis are rallying in Tel Aviv and chanting slogans against the government and Netanyahu.

Protesters also closed Ayalon Road in Tel Aviv in protest of Netanyahu’s dismissal of Gallant.

In videos taken by activists and verified by Al Jazeera, cars congesting the main road in the city can be seen.

מפגינים חוסמים כעת את נתיבי איילון בדרישה להדחת נתניהו pic.twitter.com/DgvsxQ2xTp

— תיעודי אלימות ופשעי מלחמה (@arixegal) November 5, 2024

Translation: Demonstrators are now blocking Ayalon Road, demanding Netanyahu’s ouster.

The Israeli military says sirens have been sounded in the Red Sea port city of Eilat.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq said in a statement that it had launched drones against a “vital target” in Eilat.

The Iraqi group has been launching similar attacks since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza.

Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed at least 3,013 people and wounded 13,553 since October 2023, the Lebanese government has said.

Earlier, citing the World Health Organization (WHO), we reported that emergency medical services in Lebanon have reported 201 attacks over the past year on rescue workers. The attacks have resulted in 151 deaths and 212 injuries, WHO said.