By Abdul Adil
(AA, Al Jazeera, Wafa, NNA): At least 102 more Palestinians were killed in relentless indiscriminate Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, bringing the overall death toll since last year to 43,163, the Health Ministry in the enclave said on Wednesday.
A ministry statement added that some 101,510 others were injured in the ongoing assault.
“The Israeli occupation has committed five massacres of families in the last 24 hours, resulting in 102 deaths and 287 injuries,” the ministry said.
“Many people are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” it added.
Meanwhile, at least 27 people were killed and 36 others injured in a fresh wave of Israeli indiscriminate airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, according to Lebanese media.
More than 2,700 people have been killed and nearly 12,500 injured in Israeli attacks since last October, according to Lebanese health authorities.
GAZA
At least 29 more Palestinians, including women and children, were killed in fresh Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, according to medical sources and witnesses.
An airstrike targeted a refugee tent west of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, killing three people and injuring several others, the source said.
Most of the injured in the Israeli attack were children, he added.
Four more people, including a child and two women, were killed in another strike targeting a home east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, the source added.
Over 14 Palestinians were killed and others were injured on Wednesday as a result of the Israeli occupation’s shelling of citizens in the Al-Sultan neighborhood in Beit Lahia, north of the Gaza Strip, and the vicinity of Sheikh Radwan market, west of Gaza City.
Medical sources reported that eight Palestinians were killed and others were injured as a result of the Israeli army’s shelling of citizens in the Al-Sultan neighborhood in Beit Lahia, north of the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, five people were also killed and about 20 others were injured, most of them children, in the Israeli’s shelling of the vicinity of Sheikh Radwan market, west of Gaza City. A number of Palestinians were also injured as a result of the occupation’s artillery shelling of a group of citizens east of Al-Maghazi camp, central Gaza Strip.
The Israeli artillery fired its shells towards the eastern areas of Al-Zeitoun and Al-Sabra neighborhoods in Gaza City, and Jabalia camp in the north of the Strip.
Several people were also injured in Israeli artillery shelling targeting their home in Rafah in southern Gaza.
A child also lost her life in Israeli artillery shelling in the northern Gaza city of Jabalia, according to witnesses.
Eight more people were killed in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a gathering of civilians in Sultan neighborhood, west of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, as per a medical source.
Eight more people were killed and 15 others injured in two more Israeli strikes in the same city, the source added.
Another Israeli attack near a medical clinic killed five more people and injured several others in Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in northern Gaza City.
The attacks came as the Israeli army continued to blow up more Palestinian homes in the southwestern areas of Jabalia, witnesses said.
An airstrike targeted a refugee tent west of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, killing three people and injuring several others, the source said.
Most of the injured in the Israeli attack were children, he added.
Four more people, including a child and two women, were killed in another strike targeting a home east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, the source added.
Several people were also injured in Israeli artillery shelling targeting their home in Rafah in southern Gaza.
A child also lost her life in Israeli artillery shelling in the northern Gaza city of Jabalia, according to witnesses.
The attacks came as the Israeli army continued to blow up more Palestinian homes in the southwestern areas of Jabalia, witnesses said.
At least six civilians were killed and others were injured on Wednesday, as a result of an Israeli bombardment that targeted the Beit Lahia Project Market in the northern Gaza Strip.
Local sources said, quoting paramedics, that six people were killed as a result of an Israeli drone bombing a group of citizens in the Beit Lahia Project Market.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned on Wednesday Israel’s attack on a residential building in the Gaza Strip that killed nearly 100 people.
At least 93 Palestinians were killed Tuesday and dozens were injured in a strike on the building in the town of Beit Lahia, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said at a news conference that Guterres was “deeply shocked” by reports of the airstrike and the UN chief “unequivocally condemns the widespread killing and injury of civilians and the ongoing displacement of the population.”
“All parties to the conflict must comply by their obligations on international law, including the obligation to protect civilians,” said Dujarric.
“The toll of the violence in Gaza is unconscionable. There must be an immediate cease-fire. And he reiterates, once again, his call for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held in Gaza. Time to stop the bloodshed,” he added.
WEST BANK
llegal Israeli settlers uprooted hundreds of centuries-old olive trees in Qaryut village in the northern West Bank, according to a Palestinian farmer and activist on Wednesday.
“Around 2,000 dunams (2 square kilometers) are now almost empty of olive trees after settlers cut down hundreds of trees,” Bashar al-Qaryuti, an anti-settlement activist, told Anadolu.
He said farmers found the trees uprooted after they were allowed by the Israeli army to head to their farmlands near the settlement of Eli.
“Most of the uprooted trees were perennial,” he added.
Mohammad Badawi, a farmer, called the uprooting of the centuries-old olive trees a “real disaster.”
“I have lost 30 olive trees out of 100 trees by the settlers,” he said.
“For years, we have been facing intimidation and abuse by Israeli settlers,” Badawi added.
According to Palestinian figures, illegal Israeli settlers have carried out some 16,663 attacks on Palestinians and lands and properties across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since October last year
Data from the Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now show that there are half a million illegal settlers in 146 settlements and 224 outposts in the West Bank.
LEBANON
At least 27 people were killed and 36 others injured in a fresh wave of Israeli indiscriminate airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, according to Lebanese media.
More than 2,700 people have been killed and nearly 12,500 injured in Israeli attacks since last October, according to Lebanese health authorities.
The victims included 15 people, who were killed in a strike targeting a residential building in the border town of Sarafand, the state news agency NNA reported.
A 6-month-old infant was among those killed in the attack, the broadcaster said.
Ten people were also killed and 36 others injured in a series of Israeli airstrikes in Haret Saida of Sidon in southern Lebanon, the same source said.
Another strike in the southern town of Ghandouriyeh killed two people, NNA reported.
Several airstrikes were also reported in Safad al-Bateekh, Chaqra, Chaaitiyeh, Majdel Zun, Tayr Harfa, Jebbayn, and Hanine, but no information was yet available about casualties.
The attacks came as the Israeli army issued evacuation orders for residents in Baalbek and the nearby towns of Douris and Ain Bourday in eastern Lebanon
At least 19 people were killed and 15 injured Wednesday in two Israeli attacks against eastern Lebanon, according to officials.
Eight people were killed in an initial assessment following an airstrike on a residential home in a town in the Baalbek district of eastern Lebanon, according to the state Health Ministry.
The ministry added that “the successive Israeli airstrikes on the town of Sohmor in the Western Bekaa district resulted in an initial toll of 11 people killed and 11 others wounded,” without specifying the nature of the injuries.
This is by far the biggest assault by Israel since this escalation started on the historic city of Baalbek. A statement by the Israeli military in the last hour said it targeted what it described as Hezbollah fuel reservoirs in the area.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry says at least 11 people have been killed and 15 others injured. Palestinian Civil Defence units are using loud hailers to warn people to clear out along routes Israel said it wouldn’t hit.
Ballabek is of massive historical importance. The city dates back, by some accounts, 11,000 years.
It’s a city that has been used as a shelter for tens of thousands of people who fled fighting in the south and surrounding areas. So you can imagine this only adds to a sense of panic, the sense of pressure to accommodate these people as they are on the move once again.
Hezbollah says “fighters launched a complex attack” at 5pm (15:00 GMT) “with high-quality rockets and a swarm of drones”.
In a statement, it said it targeted the Ein Shemer Airfield, east of Hadera, as well as soldiers at the Eliakim camp south of Haifa and the Shraga base north of Acre.
The group says it hit its targets “accurately after the enemy failed to intercept” the rockets and drones.
Thousands of people have fled the city following the Israeli evacuation orders, NNA said.
Israel began a massive air campaign in Lebanon last month against what it claims are Hezbollah targets in an escalation from a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and the group since the start of Israel’s brutal offensive on Gaza.
The Israeli army ordered civilians in Baalbek in eastern Lebanon to immediately leave their areas ahead of airstrikes.
Military spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X that residents of the city and the nearby towns of Ain Bourday and Douris must leave the area through routes defined by the Israeli army.
He warned that the army will “forcefully operate” in the targeted areas against what he calls Hezbollah assets there.
An important urban center in the Bekaa Valley, Baalbek is famed for its towering Roman ruins. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is home to over 100,000 people.
Previous Israeli airstrikes in Douris have destroyed some ancient sites in the area.
The Israeli army said Wednesday said it detected the launch of 15 rockets from Lebanon into northern Israel.
A military statement said air-raid sirens sounded in the Galilee region and Haifa Bay after 15 rockets were fired from Lebanon.
The army said some of the rockets were intercepted while others impacted the ground in open areas.
Israeli Channel 12 said sounds of explosions were heard as a result of rocket interceptions.
No injuries or damage were reported.
A Hezbollah drone hit a factory that produces aviation parts in the northern Israeli city of Nahariya on Wednesday, causing minor damage, according to local media.
“In the last few minutes, an explosion was heard in the north of the city. Damage was caused to an industrial building, without a siren,” a spokesperson for Nahariya city said.
“The issue is under investigation, and the security forces are searching the area.”
According to The Times of Israel portal, the factory hit by the drone produces aviation parts.
The army said early Wednesday that a surface-to-surface missile fired from Lebanon towards northern Israel exploded in the air.
Another drone fired towards Western Galilee in northern Israel was intercepted by Israeli fighter jets, the army added.
According to foreign media, the Israeli army imposes strict control over reports of losses or material damage from Hezbollah or Hamas attacks to maintain public morale.
The new Hezbollah chief said Wednesday that his group is not fighting on behalf of Iran, but to protect and liberate Lebanese territory.
“We in Lebanon are not fighting on behalf of Iran or to implement its project, but to protect and liberate our land,” Naim Qassem said in a recorded speech.
“For 11 months we said that we do not want war, but we are ready if it is imposed on us.”
Qassem was elected Tuesday as Hezbollah chief, succeeding Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut last month.
“My program is to continue Nasrallah’s approach to stay on the path of war based on developments,” he said.
“Resistance exists to liberate the land and confront the occupation and its expansionist intentions in the region,” Qassem stressed.
The Hezbollah leader said support for Gaza was necessary to “confront the danger posed by Israel to the region through the Gaza Strip, and the people of Gaza have a humanitarian, Arab, Islamic, and national right for all of us to support them.”
“This war is not just Israeli; it is also American, European, and global, involving all resources to eradicate the resistance and the peoples of the region, using all brutality, extermination, and criminality.”
[Photo: Young Lebanese girl is seen inside her house, which was heavily damaged and some of its walls collapsed in the attack carried out by Israeli army in Sidon, Lebanon on 30 10, 2024. Photojournalist: Murat Şengül /AA]
