Israel terminates agreement with U.N. agency

Israel said Monday that it has terminated the agreement facilitating the work of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees in what appeared to be a step to implement legislation passed last month that would sever ties with the agency and prevent it from operating in Israel.

Israel says the agency, known as UNRWA, has been infiltrated by Hamas. UNRWA denies the allegations and says it takes measures to ensure its neutrality.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Guterres on Monday stressed that UNRWA is essential and there is no alternative.

Israel sent a letter notifying the U.N. General Assembly that it was terminating its agreement for UNRWA to operate in the Palestinian territories that has been in effect since the end of the 1967 Mideast war.

The letter follows the Israeli parliament’s adoption of two laws banning UNRWA from operating in the Palestinian territories. The laws take effect in 90 days.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration is stepping up criticism of Israel for not doing enough to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza as a 30-day deadline for Israeli officials to meet certain requirements or face potential sanctions looms.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller on Monday gave Israel a “fail” grade in terms of meeting the conditions for an improvement in aid deliveries to Gaza laid out in a letter last month to senior Israeli officials by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

He said there were still roughly nine days until the deadline expires, but that limited progress thus far has been insufficient.

Miller also said the U.S. is studying a decision by the Israeli government to sever ties with the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees.

At the same time, Miller said the U.S. is “deeply concerned” by a recent escalation in attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank.

3K killed, Lebanon ministry says

Lebanon’s health ministry said Monday more than 3,000 people have been killed during 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel the day after Hamas-led terrorists stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, igniting the war in Gaza. Hezbollah and Hamas are both allied with Iran.

The conflict dramatically escalated on Sept. 23 with Israeli airstrikes on south and east Lebanon as well as Beirut’s southern suburbs. Israel began a ground invasion of south Lebanon on Oct. 1.

In Israel, 72 people have been killed from Hezbollah attacks, including 30 soldiers.

Syria’s state news agency reported an Israeli airstrike on a southern suburb of the Syrian capital of Damascus, saying it caused material damage but not casualties.

SANA says the Monday airstrike hit near the suburb of Sayida Zeinab. Iran-backed groups are active in the area south of the capital, which is home to a holy Shiite Muslim shrine.

The Israeli military said the air force struck Hezbollah targets belonging to the group’s intelligence headquarters in Syria.

The military said in a statement that the target hit was Hezbollah’s central intelligence body, responsible for intelligence assessments, the direction of intelligence activities, and the intelligence gathering and detection capabilities.

The military said the body was led by Mahmoud Mohammed Shaheen, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in a Beirut suburb last month.

More draft notices sent

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday approved sending an additional 7,000 draft notices to members of the country’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community.

Under long-standing political arrangements, ultra-Orthodox Jews had been exempt from military service, which is compulsory for most Jewish men and women. However, Israel’s Supreme Court in June ordered the government to begin drafting ultra-Orthodox Jewish men into the army.

About 63,000 ultra-Orthodox students are eligible for enlistment. The army sent draft notices to 3,000 over the summer, but just a few hundred showed up for enlistment, according to Israeli media.

Israel’s Parliament is preparing to vote on bills this week dealing with financial subsidies for ultra-Orthodox Jews who refuse to serve in the military. Some members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, including members of his own party, have said they plan to vote against the bill.

Meanwhile, a senior Hamas official said Monday members of the terrorist group held a meeting with a delegation from the rival Fatah party in Cairo to discuss the war in Gaza and the enclave’s future governance, though the meeting did not lead to any major breakthroughs.

Osama Hamdan described the talks between the two heavyweights of Palestinian politics as “positive” but “frank.” He said the two sides discussed the formation of a future government for the Palestinian territories but provided few details as to how and when that would occur.

“During this meeting, many ideas were discussed, including the formation of a body to follow up on Gaza’s affairs and needs on various issues until the conditions are ready to form a national consensus government,” Hamdan said.

In July, Hamas and Fatah agreed to form a government together, in its latest attempt at resolving a longstanding rivalry that looms over any potential vision for the rule of Gaza after the war with Israel. Israel has said it will not allow Hamas or Fatah to have any role in the future governance of Gaza

Hamdan reiterated Hamas’ position on the cease-fire talks, demanding that any deal bring about a complete end to the war and full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.