Israel said it targeted Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters in its latest attacks on the Lebanese capital Beirut on Sunday, while officials in Gaza said rescue workers were still pulling people from the debris after an Israeli strike killed dozens of people .
The health ministry in the Palestinian territory said at least 87 people were killed or missing after an air strike on Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza late Saturday, one of the highest deaths from a single attack in several months. Israel said it was investigating reports of the incident.
It marked an intensification of Israeli attacks against Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, days after the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in ceasefire talks to end more than a year of conflict in the Middle East. Hope has arisen. ,
As the US elections approach, officials, diplomats and other sources in the region say Israel is trying to protect its borders through military operations and ensure its rivals cannot regroup.
Israel is also preparing to retaliate for an Iranian missile attack earlier this month, although Washington has pressured it not to attack Iranian energy facilities or nuclear sites.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was the victim of an assassination attempt on Saturday by “Iran’s proxy Hezbollah” when a drone was directed at his vacation home. In a call with former US President Donald Trump, the prime minister reiterated that Israel will take decisions based on its interests, according to a statement from Netanyahu’s office.
Israel’s government has rebuffed multiple attempts by its main ally and military backer, the United States, to push for a ceasefire in both Gaza and Lebanon.
withdrawal order
In Gaza, the Health Ministry said rescue operations following the attack in Beit Lahiya were being hampered by communications problems and ongoing Israeli military operations.
The attack came two weeks after a major offensive around Jabaliya, just south of Beit Lahiya, where Israel says its troops, backed by tanks, are trying to root out remaining Hamas fighters.
Israel said the attack hit Hamas targets, questioning the death toll of 73 released earlier by the Hamas media office.
According to the United Nations, as fighting continues, two of the three remaining hospitals in northern Gaza have been attacked and patients, medical staff and displaced people have been injured. The United Nations is demanding immediate access.
Israel says militants use civilian areas including schools and hospitals to hide, a charge Hamas denies.
Israeli military spokesman Avichai Adrai said on social media platform X that more than 5,000 Palestinians left Jabaliya through designated routes.
The evacuation orders have raised fears among many Palestinians that the operation is aimed at removing them from northern Gaza to allow Israeli control of the area after the war.
Israel denies this, saying it is trying to protect civilians and separate them from Hamas fighters.
Palestinians were also shocked by the footage, which showed a group of people on a street in Jabaliya being attacked as they were coming to rescue someone already affected. Reuters confirmed the location of the footage, but not the date. Israeli officials had no immediate comment.
The Israeli offensive, which began with a Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, has left most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people homeless, caused mass starvation and destroyed hospitals and schools.
“Horrid scenes are unfolding in Gaza amid conflict, sustained Israeli attacks and an ever-worsening humanitarian crisis,” UN Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland posted on Twitter.
beirut attacks
In Beirut, Israel said its air force had struck Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters in the capital on Saturday as well as an underground weapons workshop.
The Israeli military said in a statement that warplanes killed three Hezbollah commanders.
Reuters witnesses saw smoke rising from Beirut’s southern suburbs, once a densely populated area that also housed Hezbollah offices and underground installations.
Hezbollah had no immediate comment on the attacks, but said it had fired missiles at Israeli forces in Lebanon and a base in northern Israel.
The cross-border fighting between Israel and Hezbollah began a year ago when the Iranian-backed group began launching rockets in support of Hamas.
In early October, Israel launched a ground offensive inside Lebanon in an attempt to stabilize the border area for its civilians who had fled rocket attacks into northern Israel.
In southern Lebanon on Sunday, security and civil defense sources said two aid workers were killed in an Israeli attack on a house being used as a clinic, while the Lebanese army said three of its soldiers were killed in an attack on an army vehicle. Went.
Over the past year, Lebanese authorities estimate that more than 2,400 people have been killed and more than 1.2 million displaced. Israeli officials say 59 people have been killed in northern Israel and the occupied Golan Heights during the same period.
According to Israeli figures, Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people and took 250 hostage in the attack, which sparked the war. Palestinian officials say more than 42,500 people have been killed in the Israeli military response to Gaza.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
