Death toll from Israeli assaults on Lebanon since last Oct. 8 reaches nearly 2,000: Health minister
Oct 3, 2024
The Lebanese health minister announced on Wednesday that the death toll from Israeli attacks on Lebanon has risen to 1,974, with another 9,384 injured since Oct. 8 of last year.
Firas Alabiad said at a press conference in Beirut that the Israeli onslaught has also claimed the lives of 127 children.
Israeli airstrikes have killed 40 staffers of medical and emergency teams, in addition to damaging dozens of healthcare facilities, he added.
Though Israel launched simultaneous attacks on Gaza and Lebanon, the attacks intensified after Sept. 23, Tel Aviv claimed to be targeting only Hezbollah targets throughout Lebanon, but the strikes killed more than 1,100 people, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
The aerial campaign was an escalation in yearlong cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of Tel Aviv’s brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip that has killed nearly 41,800 people, mostly women and children, since a Hamas attack last year.
The international community has warned that Israeli attacks in Lebanon could escalate the Gaza conflict into a wider regional war.
*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala in Istanbul
Published at www.aa.com.tr
New Israeli air attacks in Beirut are among biggest yet
Israel’s military is believed to have again used ‘bunker buster’ bombs on a densely populated area in south Beirut, in a major air attack that reportedly targeted potential Hezbollah leader Hashem Safieddine.
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Beirut’s Dahiyeh left deserted and destroyed after brutal Israeli bombardment
By Hanna Davis in Beirut
4 October 2024
The streets of the once-bustling Haret Hreik neighbourhood in southern Beirut were empty. Debris buried the wheels of a vegetable cart abandoned on the curb. Rows of shops stood shuttered, their entrances littered with shards of glass.
A man sped by on his motorcycle, laden with bags. Like many before him, he was likely fleeing his home, caught under fire.
Since 23 September, Israel has significantly escalated its attacks on what it says are Hezbollah targets throughout Lebanon. But residential buildings, civilian infrastructure, ambulances and civil defence personnel have also been hit.
The southern suburbs, commonly known as Dahiyeh, have borne the brunt of the Israeli bombardments in Beirut. Israel has targeted multiple senior Hezbollah members who live in the densely packed neighbourhood, destroying civilian infrastructure, homes and shops, and killing hundreds of people.
Middle East Eye visited Haret Hreik on a press tour organised by Hezbollah on Wednesday after consecutive days of Israeli attacks had reduced large parts of the residential area to rubble.
Continue reading at www.middleeasteye.net
Israeli Strikes in Gaza Kill at Least 99 Palestinians in 24 Hours
Oct 3, 2024
Gaza’s Health Ministry said Thursday that Israeli forces killed 99 Palestinians in Gaza over the previous 24-hour period, bringing its death toll since October 7, 2023, to 41,788.
Another 169 Palestinians were injured, bringing the number of wounded to 96,794. The ministry’s numbers only account for dead and wounded Palestinians who have been brought to hospitals and morgues.
“There are still a number of victims under the rubble and on the streets, and ambulance and civil defense crews cannot reach them,” the ministry wrote on Telegram.
The Palestinian news agency WAFA reported several Palestinians were killed on Thursday across Gaza, including in an Israeli attack on the al-Shati refugee camp west of Gaza City, which killed five. At least two Palestinians, including a child, were killed in an Israeli strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
Continue reading at news.antiwar.com
Israeli Strikes in Lebanon Killed at Least 37 on Wednesday
October 3, 2024egoriIsraeli strikes in Lebanon killed at least 37 people on Thursday, the country’s Health Ministry said early Friday.
“The Israeli enemy’s raids in the past 24 hours on towns and villages in southern Lebanon, Nabatieh, Bekaa, Baalbek-Hermel, Mount Lebanon, and the capital Beirut resulted in a total death toll of 37 people and 151 injuries,” the ministry wrote on X, just after midnight Beirut time.
The World Health Organization said Thursday that 28 healthcare workers had been killed over the past day as Israel is increasingly targeting medical facilities. “Many health workers are not reporting to duty and fled the areas where they work due to bombardments,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
One Israeli strike on Thursday targeted a building in central Beirut that was used by the Islamic Health Authority, a medical organization overseen by Hezbollah. A total of nine people were killed in the strike, including seven Health Authority workers. Lebanon’s National News Agency said Israel used white phosphorus, which can burn flesh to the bone and is prohibited from use as a weapon under international law.
Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad said that Israeli strikes in Lebanon have hit nine hospitals and 49 healthcare centers. “International laws are clear in protecting these people — I mean, paramedics,” he said, according to The Associated Press. “Who gave Israel the right to be the judge and the executioner at the same time?”
Continue reading at news.antiwar.com
18 killed in Israeli strike on West Bank’s Tulkarem refugee camp: Ministry
Oct 3, 2024
At least 18 people have been killed in an Israeli air attack on the Tulkarem refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.
The Israeli military said that its fighter jets had carried out the attack on Thursday in coordination with Israel’s internal security service, the Shin Bet.
The army said in a later statement that it had targeted the head of Hamas’s infrastructure in Tulkarem.
The Palestinian group did not immediately comment on the Israeli military’s claim.
A camp official, Faisal Salama, told the AFP news agency that the strike had been carried out with an F-16 fighter.
Footage verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking agency showed scenes of devastation in the camp, located northwest of Nablus in the north of the West Bank.
The area was filled with massive piles of wreckage and fires had broken out. Rescuers could be seen rushing injured victims to receive medical care.
Continue reading at www.aljazeera.com
An Israeli air strike on a West Bank cafe wipes out entire family
By Muhammad Ateeq in Tulkarm refugee camp, occupied Palestine
4 October 2024
As bulldozers worked to remove the rubble, stunned Palestinians watched in silence.
Others searched in the debris for what was here only a few hours ago. A man dusted children’s textbooks; another found a bloodstained mattress.
This was the aftermath of an Israeli air strike on the Tulkarm refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, leaving a scene reminiscent of the daily destruction inflicted in Gaza.
For the first time in more than 20 years, Israeli fighter jets bombed a West Bank city on Thursday night.
A cafe, where young men were gathered for shisha and food, was struck, alongside the residential apartment next door.
Eighteen people were killed and many others wounded, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Among those killed was the small family of Mohamed Abu Zahra, his wife Saja Karoush and their two young children, Karam and Sham Abu Zahra.
“An entire family was wiped out,” said Nimr Fayed, the targeted cafe’s owner.
“What did they do wrong? The children were torn to pieces.”
Continue reading at www.middleeasteye.net
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