By Abdul Adil
(AA, Al Jazeera, Wafa, NNA, The Muslim News):
Lebanon
In Lebanon, at least 3,823 people have been killed and 15,859 wounded in Israeli attacks since the war on Gaza began.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah issued its first statement Wednesday after a cease-fire between Lebanon and Israel took effect, affirming its readiness to confront any future Israeli aggressions.
“Our forces will remain fully ready to address the Israeli enemy’s ambitions and aggressions,” the statement read 17 hours after the deal took effect.
The group pledged to closely monitor the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon. “Our fighters’ eyes will remain fixed on the enemy’s movements and withdrawals beyond the borders, and their hands will stay on the trigger to defend Lebanon’s sovereignty,” the statement added.
A cease-fire deal took effect early Wednesday to end more than 14 months of fighting between the Israeli army and Hezbollah.
Israel will withdraw forces south of the Blue Line in a phased manner while the Lebanese army will deploy forces in southern Lebanon within a period that does not exceed 60 days, according to the terms of the deal.
The deal between Israel and Lebanon took effect hours after US President Joe Biden said a proposal to end the conflict had been reached, amid hopes it would stop Israeli airstrikes on Lebanese towns and cities and end the year-long cross-border fight.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati reiterated commitment on Wednesday to implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1701 following a cease-fire deal with Israel.
“We have affirmed the government’s commitment to implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1701 in its entirety, to enhance the presence of the Lebanese army in the south, and to cooperate with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL),” Mikati said in a speech.
He called on Israel to adhere to the cease-fire agreement, withdraw from the territories it occupied in southern Lebanon, and fully implement the UN resolution.
The Lebanese premier also called on countries of the world and international organizations to “take responsibility in this regard.”
However, Israeli forces opened fire on cars approaching a prohibited area in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, shortly after a cease-fire deal with Hezbollah came into force, the army said.
An Israeli military statement said its forces fired warning shots on vehicles in an area prohibited for movement to prevent it from advancing, without specifying where the incident took place.
“The Israeli Air Force remains ready to act across Lebanese territory,” the statement said.
Israeli forces shelled the towns of Kfarkela and Khiyam, shortly after the cease-fire took effect, Lebanese state news agency NNA said.
According to the broadcaster, three Israeli tanks also crossed the Fatima border gate towards Tal Nahas area in southern Lebanon.
Earlier, Israeli fighter jets carried out heavy airstrikes early Wednesday on the Lebanese capital Beirut’s southern suburbs, including one near Beirut International Airport, hours before a cease-fire agreement with Hezbollah was scheduled to take effect.
An Anadolu correspondent reported renewed Israeli airstrikes targeting the southern suburbs, one of which caused a massive explosion near the airport, sending thick plumes of smoke into the sky.
The strikes followed an evacuation warning by the Israeli military issued to residents in the Laylaki and Choueifat al-Amrousieh areas claiming the sites were close to Hezbollah facilities.
This marked the second evacuation alert within an hour, with a similar warning issued earlier to residents of Borj El Brajneh and Ghobeiry in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
In Tyre, located in southern Lebanon, the Israeli air force also conducted intense air raids, according to the Anadolu correspondent.
Separately, the Israeli military announced intercepting two drones — one approaching from the east near the Golan Heights and the other over the Red Sea.
In a statement, the military said that “following alarms activated at 11:22 PM and 11:23 PM for an infiltration by a hostile drone near northern Golan, the air force intercepted a drone coming from the east.”
“Shortly after, another drone approaching from the Red Sea toward Israeli territory was also intercepted,” it added.
The developments unfolded less than three hours before the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah was set to take effect amid heightened hostilities in the region.
GAZA
At least 33 more Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, bringing the overall death toll since last year to 44,282, the Health Ministry in the enclave said on Wednesday.
A ministry statement added that some 104,880 others were injured in the ongoing assault.
“Israeli forces killed 33 people and injured 134 others in three massacres of families in 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.
Three people, including a pregnant woman, were killed and eight others injured in fresh Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, medics said.
A third-month pregnant woman lost her life and five other people were injured in an Israeli strike in the Tel Al-Zaatar area in the northern city of Beit Lahia, Al-Awda Hospital said in a statement.
Two more people were killed and three others injured in a drone strike in the southern city of Khan Younis, a medical source said.
At least 17 Palestinians early Wednesday were killed in Israeli airstrikes on a shelter in Gaza City and a home in the northern Gaza Strip, as the Israeli artillery continues to shell areas across the war-torn enclave.
A medical source said 12 Palestinians, including three children, were killed on Wednesday, in an Israeli airstrike on the Al-Tabi’een school, in Al-Daraj neighbourhood, which shelters displaced people in Gaza City, reported Wafa News Agency.
Eyewitnesses told Anadolu that at dawn Israeli warplanes struck the school-turned-shelter, leaving fatalities among the displaced.
Search operations continue for missing people under the rubble, the witnesses added.
On Aug. 10 the same school was the scene of a bloody massacre when Israeli warplanes struck it while people were praying, killing over 100 Palestinians.
A medical source also told Anadolu that four Palestinians were killed and others injured in an Israeli airstrike on a home in the Shejaiya neighborhood of eastern Gaza City.
Three more people were killed by an Israeli airstrike on a group of people near the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, according to medics.
The facility of Kamal Adwan Hospital has been an active area for Israeli attacks in the past couple of hours, where two Palestinians have been confirmed killed, while here, in the central areas of Gaza, people have been under constant threat of Israeli drones.
Yet another Palestinian journalist was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, taking the overall death toll since last year to 190, local authorities said on Wednesday.
Gaza’s government media office identified the victim as Alaa Barhoum, an editor in several media outlets. It did not provide any details about the circumstances of his death.
The media office appealed to the international community and press groups “to deter Israel and prosecute it before international courts for its crimes against Palestinian journalists.”
Last month, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the killings of journalists in Gaza “unacceptable,” demanding protection of the press.
[Photo: Palestinians search for their belongings amongst the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli attacks on Gaza City, Gaza on November 27, 2024. Photojournalist: Mahmoud İssa/AA]
