Israeli strikes kill dozens in Lebanon and Gaza

2024-11-10 14:36:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Israeli shelling killed dozens of people in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip on Sunday, officials said.

An Israeli airstrike killed at least 23 people in the village of Almat, north of Beirut, and in southern and eastern parts of Lebanon, where the militant group Hezbollah has a presence. Lebanon's Health Ministry said six people were injured. Israel has not yet commented on the attack.

In the northern Gaza Strip, an Israeli attack on a house housing displaced people in the Jabaliya refugee camp killed at least 17 people, according to the director of a nearby hospital, which received the bodies of the victims. Fadel Naim, director of Al-Ahly Hospital in Gaza City, said nine women were among the dead, and that the death toll could rise.

The Israeli army said it attacked an area where militants were operating in Jabaliya, without providing evidence.

Israeli forces have surrounded and sealed off Jabaliya and surrounding towns such as Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun for the past month, allowing only a small amount of humanitarian aid to enter. Hundreds of people have been killed since the offensive began on October 6, and tens of thousands have been displaced.

Israel strikes deeper and deeper into Lebanon

Hezbollah began firing rockets and drones into Israel after the Gaza war broke out in October 2023, in support of the Palestinians and the Iran-backed militant group Hamas.

Hezbollah, which controls southern Lebanon, has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States, while the European Union has blacklisted its armed wing but not its political party.

Hamas has also been declared a terrorist organization by the US and the EU.

Israel retaliated against Hezbollah and a series of escalations over several months led to all-out war between them in September, when Israel carried out a wave of heavy attacks and killed Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, as well as most of its top commanders.

Since then, Israel has struck deeper and deeper into Lebanon, while Hezbollah has expanded its rocket attacks from north into central Israel. The fighting has killed more than 3,000 people in Lebanon, according to the Health Ministry, and more than 70 people in Israel. The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants breached border defenses and entered southern Israel on October 7, 2023. They killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped around 250 others. About 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, and a third of them are believed to be dead.

Israel's war has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health authorities.

As a result of Israel's bombing and ground war, most of Gaza has been completely destroyed and about 90% of the population of 2.3 million people has been displaced, often repeatedly.

Hundreds of thousands of people are living in overcrowded tent camps with little or no public services and no idea when they will be able to return to their homes or rebuild.

Ceasefire talks brokered by the United States, Qatar and Egypt have repeatedly stalled since the start of the year, as have parallel efforts by the US and other countries to stop fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Qatar, which has served as the main mediator with Hamas, said over the weekend that it had suspended its efforts and would only resume them when "the parties show the will and seriousness to end the brutal war and the ongoing suffering of civilians"./ Rel