Israeli forces killed 39, injured 123 Palestinians & killed dozens of people in Lebanon

8 months ago
Israeli forces killed 39, injured 123 Palestinians & killed dozens of people in Lebanon

By Abdul Adil

(AA, Al Jazeera, NNA, Wafa):

GAZA

At least 39 more Palestinians were killed in Israeli indiscriminate bombings in the Gaza Strip, bringing the overall death toll since last year to 43,508, the Health Ministry in the enclave said on Friday.

A ministry statement added that some 102,684 others were injured in the ongoing assault.

“Israeli forces killed 39 people and injured 123 others in three massacres of families over the last 24 hours,” the ministry said.

“Many people are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” it added.

The UN Human Rights Office on Friday said nearly 70% of those killed in the ongoing Gaza conflict are women and children, calling it “a systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law.”

Meanwhile, at least 12 Palestinians, including children, were killed on Friday in a series of Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip.

Medical sources at the Baptist Hospital in Gaza City reported that an Israeli airstrike targeted the home of the Hamadeh family, killing nine Palestinians, including three children and several women. A number of others, including an infant, were also injured in the attack.

Eyewitnesses reported artillery fire hitting areas west of Jabalia Refugee Camp and the town of Beit Lahia, while Israeli forces intensified the demolition of residential areas in northern Gaza, where explosions and rising smoke could be seen from central Gaza City.

In central Gaza, Palestinian medics confirmed injuries following an airstrike on a residence in the Abu Maala neighbourhood north of the Nuseirat Refugee Camp.

Meanwhile, an Israeli naval strike on Rafah’s coastal fishing huts killed a fisherman and wounded three others, according to medical sources at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis.

Additionally, two Palestinians were killed and several were injured in Khan Younis when Israeli jets struck the Omran family’s home in the al-Tahliya neighbourhood.

Four civilians were killed and several others were injured on Friday in an Israeli shelling of Beit Lahia, north of the Gaza Strip.

Six civilians were killed and many others were injured on Friday morning in Israeli airstrikes targeting Gaza City and the Nuseirat refugee camp in the centre of the Gaza Strip.

A WAFA correspondent reported that four civilians were killed and others were injured in an Israeli air raid that targeted a house near the Mashtal Hotel northwest of Gaza City. Two civilians were also killed in Israeli shelling west of the Nuseirat refugee camp.

Several civilians were injured in Israel’s shelling of Halima Al-Sadia School in Jabalia, north of the Strip.

Meanwhile, nearly 70 percent of those killed in Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza are women and children, the UN Human Rights Office says, calling it “a systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law.”.

The office published the figures in a 32-page report, which covers the six months from November 2023 to April 2024.

It said in a news release accompanying the report that the office has been verifying the personal details of those killed in Gaza by strikes, shelling, and other conduct of hostilities, and of those fatalities, “it has so far found close to 70 per cent to be children and women, indicating a systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, including distinction and proportionality.”

The continuation of these attacks, killing evenly across the population, “demonstrates an apparent indifference to the death of civilians and the impact of the means and methods of warfare selected,” the statement said.

It is essential that there is due reckoning concerning the allegations of serious violations of international law through credible and impartial judicial bodies and that, in the meantime, all relevant information and evidence are collected and preserved,” said Volker Turk, the UN human rights chief.

According to the detailed analysis, about 80% of the victims were killed in residential buildings or similar housing, out of which 44% were children and 26% were women.

The high number of fatalities per attack was principally due to the Israeli use of weapons with wide area effects in densely populated areas, the office said.

The most represented verified fatalities were children aged 5 to 9, between ages 10 to 14, and babies and children from 0 to 4 years old. The youngest victim whose death was verified was a one-day-old boy, and the oldest was a 97-year-old woman.

“Our monitoring indicates that this unprecedented level of killing and injury of civilians is a direct consequence of the failure to comply with fundamental principles of international humanitarian law—namely the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precautions in attack,” Turk said.

He urged that the violence must stop immediately, the hostages and those arbitrarily detained must be released, and the focus must be flooding Gaza with humanitarian aid.

Regarding the killing of civilians and breaches of international law by Israel, the report said that in many instances they could amount to war crimes.

“If committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against a civilian population, further to a state or organisational policy, these violations may constitute crimes against humanity,” it said and warned: “And if committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group, they may also constitute genocide.”

However, asked during the UN press briefing in Geneva whether the office is considering whether the situation in Gaza constitutes genocide or ethnic cleansing, human rights spokesperson Jeremy Laurance said the office does not make determinations of crimes but provides information for local or international courts to consider and make such determinations.

Laurance also clarified that the office did not receive any comment from the Israeli side regarding the report.

WEST BANK

Several illegal Israeli settler attacks took place in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian news agency Wafa reports:

Settlers cut down about 70 olive, grape, and almond trees owned by Palestinian residents in the town of Nahalin, west of Bethlehem. Israeli forces and settlers have recently escalated their attacks on Nahalin.

Settlers attacked Palestinian olive-pickers in the village of Deir Jarir, east of Ramallah. Since the beginning of the olive harvest season, Palestinian farmers have been subjected to near-daily attacks.

Israeli settlers placed a caravan on Palestinian land in the village of Jalud to the south of Nablus, in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, in an apparent prelude to taking over the land.

Israeli forces Friday prevented Palestinian farmers and foreign volunteers from picking olives in the village of Burin, south of Nablus, said a local official.

Ibrahim Imran, head of the Burin village council, told WAFA that Israeli soldiers stormed the southern part of the village, prevented farmers and foreign activists from picking olives, and forced them to leave.

The Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission reports that between the start of this year’s olive harvest and October 29, Israeli occupation forces and settlers have conducted 239 attacks on olive harvesters, including 109 incidents where farmers were denied access to their land.

Meanwhile, Israeli occupation forces Thursday informed the family of a slain Palestinian of their intention to punitively demolish their house in the Idhna town, west of the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, according to local sources.

They said that the Israeli forces stormed the house of Muhannad al-Asoud in the town, occupied its rooftop, and informed his family of their intention to tear it down, all simultaneously while firing barrages of gunfire and concussion grenades.

Fully equipped and furnished to be inhabited, the house consists of two storeys and covers an area of over 240 square meters.

In early September 2024, the Israeli occupation forces broke into the house, took its measurements, and made scores of holes in the walls of the house in preparation for the punitive demolition.

On September 1, 2024, the occupation forces had gunned down Al-Asoud, 34, during an attack with ammunition and shells on a house he was hiding in. Al-Asoud opened fire in the morning of that day at the Tarkumiya checkpoint in southwest Hebron, killing three Israeli soldiers. His body was withheld by the occupation forces afterwards.

LEBANON

In Lebanon, at least 3,102 people have been killed and 13,819 wounded in Israeli attacks since the war on Gaza began.

Between October 5 and November 5, one child a day has been killed, according to UNICEF. About 10 children a day are also being injured, and the psychological effect of that is incredible.

The town of Nabatieh has been attacked, but this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the widespread destruction taking place in southern Lebanon, with villages along the border almost completely destroyed in Israel’s assault.

Israeli forces destroyed a newly built healthcare centre along a road connecting Ras al-Ain and Naqoura in southern Lebanon in an airstrike on Friday, killing one local paramedic.

The victim, identified as Zahir Ibrahim Ataya from the southern town of Tayr Harfa, was working for the Health Association, Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported.

The airstrike destroyed the centre, which had been established to provide emergency medical assistance to residents of the region.

The health sector is also under attack. There are only seven hospitals that remain open. Eight hospitals have been completely closed down. The health sector is working at about 25 percent more capacity than in normal times.

Israel keeps saying, “We are killing thousands of Hezbollah fighters,” but the figures we’re getting from Lebanon’s health ministry show a large percentage of the people being killed are women and children, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Six people were killed on Friday in Israeli airstrikes targeting areas in southern Lebanon.

Lebanon’s official National News Agency said an Israeli airstrike targeted a building located on the main road of Kfar Tebnit in the Nabatieh district, killing two people.

The building, which houses residential apartments and commercial shops, was destroyed.

Later, the agency reported a separate incident where four people were killed in Israeli airstrikes on the town of Ghandouriyeh in Bint Jbeil, also in the Nabatieh district.

It added that six Syrian nationals were injured by Israeli artillery fire that targeted areas around the town of Ras El Ain and the al-Qlaileh Plain in Tyre, southern Lebanon.

The Lebanese agency also reported that intermittent Israeli artillery shelling targeted the town of Kounine in Nabatieh’s Bint Jbeil district.

Israeli warplanes also struck the town of Khirbet Selm, also in Bint Jbeil.

In the capital Beirut, the agency reported heavy Israeli drone activity at low altitudes over the city and its southern suburbs since Friday morning.

At least two people were killed on Friday in an Israeli airstrike that destroyed a building in the town of Kfar Tebnit, Nabatieh district of southern Lebanon, the state news agency reported.

The agency reported that Israeli warplanes targeted towns including Tayr Harfa, As-Sultaniyah, Tibnine, Shaqra, Kounine, and Khirbet Selm throughout the night and into Friday morning.

Additional strikes hit a building in central Tyre, injuring a number of residents.

Two people were killed Thursday in an Israeli airstrike targeting a vehicle in Nabatiyeh in southern Lebanon.

“An Israeli airstrike targeted a vehicle between the towns of Doueir and Ansar in Nabatiyeh, resulting in two martyrs,” Lebanon’s National News Agency reported.

Meanwhile, Israeli reconnaissance and combat drones continued hovering over the region, firing illumination rounds along the border with Israel, according to local sources.

Israeli machine gun fire targeted forested areas near the villages of Ramyeh, Aita al-Shaab, and Qouzah along the international border early Friday morning, while artillery shelling on Alma al-Shaab, Wadi Sulouqi, Majdal Selm, and Bint Jbeil caused severe damage to shops and homes.

Israel reported the launch of at least 10 rockets from Lebanon early Friday, aimed at the northern regions of Western Galilee and Upper Galilee.

According to the Israeli army, some of the rockets were intercepted, while others reportedly landed in the targeted areas.

Prior to the incident, air raid sirens sounded in Haifa, Nazareth, and multiple towns across Western and Upper Galilee.

In a statement, the Israeli army noted: “Following alerts activated in the Western and Upper Galilee areas, approximately ten launches from Lebanese territory were identified. Some were intercepted, while others landed in the vicinity.”

The statement did not detail the extent of damage or casualties from the rocket impacts.

The army further reported the downing of a drone in the Carmel region of northern Israel, shortly after the air raid sirens were heard. No injuries were reported in connection with this incident.

Separately, the Lebanese group Hezbollah reported on Friday that it had targeted two Israeli military bases and an airport in northern Israel with “high-precision” rockets.

In a statement, the group said it had attacked the Stella Maris naval base on Israel’s northern coastline, northwest of Haifa, and the Ramat David base and airport, located in the southeast of Haifa.

YEMEN

The Israeli army reported early Friday that it successfully intercepted a missile launched from Yemen toward its southern regions.

In a statement, the Israeli army confirmed: “Regarding the alarms in the Dead Sea and north of Eilat, one missile launched from Yemen was intercepted.”

No damage or casualties were reported in the area.

There has been no official response from Yemen’s Houthi movement, which has previously claimed responsibility for launching missile and drone attacks on Israel in “solidarity with Gaza.”

[Photo: View of heavy damage to buildings and historical structures around Baalbek Castle, caused by an Israeli attack in Baalbek, Lebanon, on November 8, 2024.] The city of Baalbek, which has been under Israeli attack since September 23, is a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) World Heritage Site. Photojournalist: Houssam Shbaro/AA]