Israel-Lebanon live: Deadly strike on central Beirut kills 22 as UN decries ‘extermination’ of Gaza hospitals
It comes after Israeli airstrike on school housing displaced people in Gaza killed 28 and injured 54 others
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At least 22 people have been killed and over 100 wounded as Israel launched fresh airstrikes on central Beirut on Thursday evening, Lebanon’s health ministry said.
The first strike appeared to target an eight-story apartment block in Ras al-Nabaa, with witnesses reporting continued explosions within the building as a large emergency response rushed to the scene.
The second strike, in the area of Burj Abi Haidar, is reported to have collapsed an entire building, which was engulfed in flames.
It came as the UN’s peacekeeping force said two of its staff were injured after an Israeli tank shot at a watchtower in southern Lebanon, accusing Israeli of “deliberately” firing at the agency’s other positions in what would mark “a grave violation of international humanitarian law”.
And a separate UN inquiry found that Israel’s “relentless and deliberate attacks” on the health system in Gaza amounts to the crime against humanity of extermination, accusing Israeli forces of deliberately killing and torturing medical personnel, targeting medical vehicles and restricting permits for patients to leave the Gaza strip.
Israel strike on Gaza school kills 28, injures 54, including children
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UN-backed experts say Israel is destroying Gaza's health sector and both sides have tortured people
Airline bans two items from luggage amid conflict in the Middle East
US and France leading ceasefire charge, Lebanon PM says
Lebanese prime minister Najib Mikati said on Thursday that the United States and France are trying to revive a ceasefire deal for the Middle East.
“There are contacts taking place between the United States and France with the aim of reviving a ceasefire declaration for a specific period in order to resume the search for political solutions,” he is quoted as saying, according to Reuters.
Lebanese militant group Hezbollah yesterday supported calls for a ceasefire, and dropped a Gaza truce from their ceasefire conditions.
“We support the political efforts led by (Parliament Speaker Nabih) Berri under the banner of achieving a ceasefire. Once the ceasefire is firmly established and diplomacy can reach it, all other details will be discussed and decisions will be made collaboratively,” Deputy Secretery General Naim Qassem said.
But Israel’s invasion of Lebanon continues, and Netanyahu told the people of Hezbollah to throw out Hezbollah if they want to avoid the “destruction and suffering like we see in Gaza”.
Nelson Mandela’s grandson ‘prevented’ from entering UK to address pro-Palestine events
Nelson Mandela’s grandson, who has been supportive of the Hamas militant group, claimed he was “prevented” from entering the UK, where he was due to address a series of pro-Patestine events.
Zwelivelile Mandla Mandela said he was forced to cancel his flight after he did not receive a UK visa in time for his departure.“It seems that there are those who are intent on preventing me from being physically with you [in Britain],” he said yesterday, according to Middle East Eye.
The “struggle against Apartheid and against colonisation cannot be stopped or silenced”, he added.
A group called Sheffield Palestine Coalition against Israeli Apartheid said Mr Mandela was “prevented from traveling to the UK”.
British officials initially told Mr Mandela that his South African government passport did not require a visa to enter the UK, according to the group.
However, on Monday, he was informed that he did require a visa, it added.
Despite high level approaches from senior figures, the British embassy has not relented or issued a visa, the group claimed.
More than 42,000 Palestinians killed since October 7, Gaza health ministry says
More than 42,065 Palestinians have been killed and 97,886 injured in Israel’s bombardment and invasion of Gaza since October 7, when Hamas carried out attacks in souther Israel, Gaza’s health ministry said on Thursday.
On Thursday, 28 people were killed and 54 injured in a major airstrike on a school in Gaza, which Israel says was targeting Hamas militants.
Iran’s military commander under probe for suspicion of spying
The commander of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards is under investigation for allegedly spying for Israel, according to reports.
Esmail Qaani has not been seen in public since 4 October when Israeli forces struck a bunker in Beirut where he was believed to be meeting Hezbollah members.
Qaani suffered a heart attack during his interrogation and was hospitalised, Middle East Eye reported, citing sources.
Israel needs to address ‘catastrophic conditions’ in Gaza, US says
The US has called on Israel to urgently address the “catastrophic conditions” in Gaza and stop “intensifying suffering” by limiting the delivery of aid.
Speaking to the UN security council, US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said: “These catastrophic conditions were predicted months ago, and yet, have still not been addressed. That must change, and now.”
Ms Thomas-Greenfield added that there must be “no demographic or territorial change” in the Gaza strip, The Guardian reported.
Israeli tanks attacked northern Gaza with force this week, stating they were preventing Hamas from regrouping.
Israel strike on Gaza school kills 28, injures 54
An Israeli strike on a school where displaced people were sheltering in Gaza killed 28 people, including women and children, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.
Dozens were injured in the strike on Rufaida School in western Deir Al-Balah, where more than one million displaced people are sheltering after fleeing a year of war.
The Israeli military said it was targeting militants, claiming it took “numerous steps” to mitigate harm to civilians.
Alex Croft has more.
Israel strike on Gaza school kills 28, injures 54, including children
The UN today said Israel’s destruction of the Gaza health system amounts to the crime against humanity of “extermination”
Hezbollah claims to push back advancing Israeli troops in border clashes
Hezbollah claimed on Monday its fighters have managed to push Israeli troops back near the border village of Labbouneh, having fired several rocket salvoes.
Further east, the Lebanese militant group said it had attacked Israeli soldiers in the village of Maroun el-Ras and unleashed missile barrages at Israeli forces advancing towards the twin border villages of Mays al-Jabal and Mouhaybib.
Video footage posted on social media and geolocated by Reuters had shown three Israeli soldiers raising their country’s flag in Maroun el-Ras, marking the first time for decades they are known to have done so on Lebanese territory Israel occupied from 1982-2000.
UN peacekeeping mission says Israel tanks ‘directly’ fired at its tower
The UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, said in a statement that its headquarters and positions “have been repeatedly hit” by Israeli forces.
It said an Israeli tank “directly” fired on an observation tower at the force’s headquarters in the town of Naqoura, Lebanon, and that soldiers had attacked a bunker near where peacekeepers were sheltering. The attack damaged vehicles and a communication system, it said.
The two UNIFIL troops wounded in the attacks and hospitalised were Indonesian.
The Israeli military acknowledged opening fire at a UN base in southern Lebanon yesterday and said it had ordered the peacekeepers to “remain in protected spaces”.
The UN peacekeeping chief said 300 peacekeepers in frontline positions on southern Lebanon’s border have been temporarily moved to larger bases, and plans to move another 200 will depend on security conditions as the conflict escalates.
Israel strikes kill 22 in deadliest attack on central Beirut
Israeli airstrikes on central Beirut killed 22 people and wounded dozens, Lebanon’s health ministry said.
The air raid on central Beirut — the deadliest in over a year of war — apparently targeted two residential buildings in separate neighborhoods simultaneously.
The bombing brought down one eight-story building and wiped out the lower floors of the other.
Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV reported that an attempt to kill Wafiq Safa, a top security official with the group, had failed. It said that Safa had not been inside of either of the targeted buildings.
Israeli soldiers demand hostage deal
Over 100 Israeli soldiers have threatened to stop fighting if Netanyahu’s government does not secure a hostage release deal.
In a letter addressed to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence minister Yoav Gallant, 130 soldiers said: “If the government does not change course immediately and work towards securing a deal to bring the hostages home, we will not be able to continue serving.
“For some of us, the red line has already been crossed, and for others, it is rapidly approaching: the day when, with broken hearts, we will stop reporting for service.”
The group includes both reserve and regular soldiers, some of whom have served in Gaza and on Israel’s northern border since last year’s 7 October Hamas attacks.
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