New Israeli bombings kill at least 77 people in Lebanon and Gaza

Beirut—

Israel launched intense bombardments on farming villages in northeastern Lebanon on Friday, killing at least 52 people and wounding several others, the Lebanese health ministry said.

Meanwhile, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have recovered the bodies of 25 people killed in Israeli bombardments that began Thursday, medical officials said.

Israel has stepped up its offensive against Hamas fighters in Gaza, destroying areas in the northern Palestinian territory, sparking fears the humanitarian situation there will worsen.

In Lebanon, Israel has expanded its attacks on large urban centers, such as the city of Baalbek, where 80,000 people live, after initially targeting smaller border villages in the south, where Hezbollah operates.

Hezbollah is a major political party and social service provider in Lebanon. After Israel launched its offensive into Gaza in response to the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, it began firing rockets, drones and missiles from Lebanon towards Israel in a show of solidarity with Hamas.

The fighting escalated into a full-scale war on 1 October, when Israeli forces launched a ground offensive into southern Lebanon for the first time since 2006.

attacks and displacement

In Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, where small villages, olive groves and vineyards nestled among the country’s mountain ranges had been largely spared Israeli bombardment until last month, Israel intensified bombardment on Friday, killing at least 52. People died, and more families were forced to flee. And sending thick columns of smoke over the horizon.

Israeli attacks in and around the northeastern city of Baalbek have displaced 60,000 people, prompting the evacuation of nearby villages, said Hussein Haj Hassan, the Lebanese MP who represents the area.

Rescue workers searched for survivors and demolished a building housing 20 people in the village of Yunin after Israeli shelling killed nine people.

Other Israeli attacks killed 12 people in the village of Amhaz and 31 in at least a dozen villages in northeastern Lebanon, the health ministry said, bringing the death toll to 52.

The ministry said 72 other people were injured in the bombings. Israel has not yet commented on the attacks.

aircraft bombing

In the Lebanese capital, Israeli planes bombed the southern suburb of Dahiyah overnight and into Friday morning for the first time in four days, causing panic. The Israeli military, which had warned residents to evacuate at least nine locations in Dahiyah, said it had struck Hezbollah weapons manufacturing sites and command centers.

There were no reports of any casualties from Dahiyah, where residents flee en masse every night for fear of Israeli bombardment.

Excavators cleared debris from streets where Israeli warplanes had destroyed dozens of buildings.

Formerly home to families and businesses, mid-rise apartment blocks were left open to the wind, with walls torn and furniture buried. In several places, Hezbollah supporters raised the group’s yellow flag over the debris.

More than 2,897 people have been killed and 13,150 injured in Lebanon since the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah began last year, according to health ministry data, which does not yet include Friday’s death toll.

attacks in palestine

Israel continued bombing Gaza on Friday also. At least 21 Palestinians, including an 18-month-old boy and his 10-year-old sister, were killed in a series of Israeli attacks on the Nuseirat refugee camp in the center of the Gaza Strip, according to health officials at Shahid al-Hospital. Aqsa.

Hospital officials said Israel also struck a motorcycle in Juwayda and a house in Deir al-Balah, killing four more people, bringing the total number of deaths in Gaza to 25 on Friday.

Israel said it had struck Hamas infrastructure and a militia operating near the Nussirat refugee camp, but did not comment on attacks outside the camp. He said he was aware of reports of civilian casualties and was investigating.

In a separate announcement, the Israeli military said its strike on a vehicle in the southern city of Khan Yunis killed Izz al-Din Kassab, a senior member of Hamas’ political bureau, and his assistant Ayman Ayish.

So far there have been no signs of progress in ceasefire talks in Lebanon or Gaza. Hamas reiterated on Friday that any ceasefire must be permanent and include Israel’s complete withdrawal from Gaza, noting that Israel has only offered a temporary pause in fighting and an increase in aid shipments in recent talks. At present there has been no comment from Israel.

More than 43,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s war in Gaza since October 7, 2023, when Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people in Israel and captured about 250.

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