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37 killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon in past 24 hours, health ministry says

37 killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon in past 24 hours, health ministry says
Mourners march to a cemetery in the city of Sidon in southern Lebanon on October 1, 2024 with the bodies of victims of an Israeli air strike on the town of Ain al-Delb. Lebanon's health ministry said on September 30 that 45 people were killed and 70 wounded in the bombardment of Ain al-Delb. (AFP)
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Updated 04 October 2024

37 killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon in past 24 hours, health ministry says

37 killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon in past 24 hours, health ministry says
  • Nearly 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon since Israel and Hezbollah started swapping fire as the Gaza war worsened

BEIRUT: Thirty seven people were killed and 151 wounded in Israeli strikes on Lebanon in the past 24 hours, the Lebanese health ministry said in a statement early on Friday

Among the dead were nine residents of an apartment in the Lebanese capital, according to ministry.

Israel has been pounding areas of the country where the Hezbollah militant group has a strong presence since late September, but has rarely struck in the heart of Beirut.

There was no warning before the strike late Wednesday, which hit the building close to the United Nations headquarters, the prime minister’s office and parliament. Hezbollah’s civil defense unit said seven of its members were killed.
Israel is also conducting a ground incursion into Lebanon against Hezbollah, while also conducting strikes in Gaza that killed dozens, including children. The Israeli military said nine soldiers have died in the conflict in southern Lebanon.
Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire across the Lebanon border almost daily since the day after Hamas’ cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 Israelis and took 250 others hostage.

Israel declared war on the militant group in the Gaza Strip in response. More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory, and just over half the dead have been women and children, according to local health officials.

Nearly 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.


EU's von der Leyen says images of civilians killed in Gaza are 'unbearable'

Updated 4 sec ago

EU's von der Leyen says images of civilians killed in Gaza are 'unbearable'

EU's von der Leyen says images of civilians killed in Gaza are 'unbearable'
REUTERS


"Civilians cannot be targets. Never," von der Leyen wrote on X

BRUSSELS, July 22 (Reuters) - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday that the images of civilians being killed in Gaza during humanitarian aid distributions are "unbearable" and reiterated the EU's call for the safe and swift slow of humanitarian aid and respect for international law.

"Civilians cannot be targets. Never. The images from Gaza are unbearable. The EU reiterates its call for the free, safe and swift flow of humanitarian aid. And for the full respect of international and humanitarian law," von der Leyen wrote in a post on social media platform X.

"Israel must deliver on its pledges," she added.

Turkiye’s Erdogan says Gazans must not die for ‘hunk of bread’

Turkiye’s Erdogan says Gazans must not die for ‘hunk of bread’
Erdogan’s warning, made during a speech in Istanbul, came amid a mounting chorus of international criticism of Israel’s campaign
Updated 53 min 55 sec ago

Turkiye’s Erdogan says Gazans must not die for ‘hunk of bread’

Turkiye’s Erdogan says Gazans must not die for ‘hunk of bread’
  • Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday warned that it would be unacceptable for Palestinians to die from the want of a “hunk of bread or a mouthful of water“

ISTANBUL: Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday warned that it would be unacceptable for Palestinians to die from the want of a “hunk of bread or a mouthful of water.”
Erdogan’s warning, made during a speech in Istanbul, came amid a mounting chorus of international criticism of Israel’s campaign in Gaza, which has triggered a humanitarian crisis.
“No one endowed with a minimum of human dignity can accept this cruelty, in which dozens of innocent people die every day because they cannot find a hunk of bread or a mouthful of water,” he said.
Erdogan is a frequent critic of Israel but his declaration came as Israel faced several demands from United Nations agencies and international capitals to protect civilian lives and to allow aid into Gaza.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Israeli forces “must stop killing people” at food distribution points, and UN rights chief Volker Turk warned Israel that it was possibly violating international law.
Gaza’s civil defense agency said that Israeli strikes had killed 15 people in the Palestinian territory on Tuesday, after the World Health Organization said that troops had invaded its staff residence.


Gaza hospital: 21 children dead from starvation, malnutrition in 72 hours

Gaza hospital: 21 children dead from starvation, malnutrition in 72 hours
Updated 44 min 8 sec ago

Gaza hospital: 21 children dead from starvation, malnutrition in 72 hours

Gaza hospital: 21 children dead from starvation, malnutrition in 72 hours
  • More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces while attempting to access food

DUBAI: Twenty-one children have died from starvation across the Gaza Strip over a 72-hour period, the head of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said Tuesday.

“These deaths were recorded at hospitals in Gaza, including Al-Shifa in Gaza City, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah, and Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis,” Dr. Mohammed Abu Salmiya told reporters. He attributed the deaths to severe malnutrition and hunger-related complications amid ongoing shortages of food and medical supplies.

The figures add to growing concerns over the humanitarian situation in Gaza, where aid access remains severely limited.

According to the United Nations, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces while attempting to access food since the start of operations by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which is backed by the United States and Israel. Of those, 766 were killed near GHF distribution sites, and 288 were killed near UN and other aid convoys, UN human rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan said Tuesday. He stated that the deaths were caused by Israeli military fire.

In a separate statement Tuesday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warned that Israeli evacuation orders and subsequent military operations in Deir al-Balah could result in further civilian deaths.

“It seemed the nightmare couldn’t possibly get worse. And yet it does... Given the concentration of civilians in the area, and the means and methods of warfare employed by Israel until now, the risks of unlawful killings and other serious violations of international humanitarian law are extremely high,” he said.

Also on Tuesday, at least 20 people were killed by Israeli airstrikes, according to Palestinian health officials. The strikes occurred in areas that had previously seen relatively little direct fighting during the 21-month conflict.

The European Union's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, issued a statement on social media condemning the killing of civilians at aid distribution points. “The killing of civilians seeking aid in Gaza is indefensible,” she said. Kallas added that she had spoken with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar to reinforce expectations regarding humanitarian access and warned that “all options are on the table” should current pledges not be met.


UN Palestinian refugee staff and doctors fainting from hunger in Gaza, says UNRWA

UN Palestinian refugee staff and doctors fainting from hunger in Gaza, says UNRWA
Updated 40 min 19 sec ago

UN Palestinian refugee staff and doctors fainting from hunger in Gaza, says UNRWA

UN Palestinian refugee staff and doctors fainting from hunger in Gaza, says UNRWA
  • UNRWA said it had received dozens of emergency messages from its staff describing grave conditions and exhaustion
  • Lazzarini also criticized a US-backed aid distribution scheme run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation

GENEVA: The head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency said on Tuesday that its staff, as well as doctors and humanitarian workers, were fainting on duty in Gaza due to hunger and exhaustion.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East said it had received dozens of emergency messages from its staff describing grave conditions and exhaustion in the enclave, where Israel has been fighting a war against Hamas since October 2023.

“No one is spared: caretakers in Gaza are also in need of care. Doctors, nurses, journalists and humanitarians are hungry,” UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement, shared by his spokesperson at a press briefing in Geneva.

“Many are now fainting due to hunger and exhaustion while performing their duties: reporting atrocities or alleviating some of the suffering.”

Lazzarini also criticized a US-backed aid distribution scheme run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation that has been supplying aid since late May, when Israel, which controls supplies into Gaza, lifted an 11-week blockade.

“The so-called ‘GHF’ distribution scheme is a sadistic death trap. Snipers open fire randomly on crowds as if they are given a license to kill,” Lazzarini said.

The GHF uses private US security and logistics companies and largely bypasses a UN-led system, that Israel alleges has let Hamas-led militants loot aid shipments intended for civilians. Hamas denies the allegation.

More than 1,000 people have been reported killed while trying to receive food aid since the end of May, according to UNRWA estimates, Lazzarini said.

“UN has enough aid sitting in Gaza that they refuse to deliver and that could help end the desperation and help reduce or eliminate the violence around all aid distribution efforts if they would collaborate with us,” the GHF told Reuters in a statement.

Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office OCHA, told reporters on Tuesday that claims that the UN has stopped working are “manifestly incorrect.”

The GHF also claimed that the “deadliest attacks” on aid distribution in Gaza have been linked to
UN convoys.

At least 67 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire as they waited for UN aid trucks in northern Gaza on Sunday, the Gaza health ministry said, as Israel issued new evacuation orders for areas packed with displaced people.

The UN said on July 15 it had recorded at least 875 killings within the past six weeks at aid points in Gaza run by the GHF and convoys run by other relief groups. The majority of those killed were in the vicinity of GHF sites, while the remaining 201 were killed on the routes of other aid convoys.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry and COGAT, the Israeli military aid coordination agency, were not immediately available for comment.


Top Catholic cleric says Gaza humanitarian situation ‘morally unacceptable’

Top Catholic cleric says Gaza humanitarian situation ‘morally unacceptable’
Updated 21 min 17 sec ago

Top Catholic cleric says Gaza humanitarian situation ‘morally unacceptable’

Top Catholic cleric says Gaza humanitarian situation ‘morally unacceptable’
  • “We have seen men holding out in the sun for hours in the hope of a simple meal,” Pizzaballa said
  • “It’s morally unacceptable and unjustified“

JERUSALEM: The Roman Catholic church’s most senior cleric in the Holy Land said Tuesday the humanitarian situation in Gaza was “morally unacceptable,” after visiting the war-battered Palestinian territory.

“We have seen men holding out in the sun for hours in the hope of a simple meal,” Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa told a news conference in Jerusalem.

“It’s morally unacceptable and unjustified,” he added.

Pizzaballa said the Church and “the entire Christian community, will never abandon” Gazans, repeating what he had told Christians in Gaza during his visit.

He specified that his mission applied not only to a specific group but to all.

Pizzaballa and his Greek Orthodox counterpart, Theophilos III, made a rare visit to Gaza on Friday after Israeli fire hit the Holy Family Church, Gaza’s only Catholic church, killing three people.

“Three people died of our community, but thousands of people already died in Gaza,” Pizzaballa said, adding that the entire Palestinian people was affected in Gaza by the ongoing war, as well as in the West Bank which he recently visited to denounce Israeli settler violence.

Though the Italian foreign ministry announced Pizzaballa had entered Gaza with 500 tons of aid, Pizzaballa said the aid had not yet entered Gaza due to logistical issues.

Pizzaballa and Theophilos III reported meeting people in Gaza whose faces were emaciated from hunger, at a time when finding food in the Palestinian territory has become nearly impossible.

Pizzaballa, who has previously advocated for an end to the war in Gaza, said that he had witnessed unprecedented levels of destruction in comparison to his last visit in December.

Pizzaballa said he acknowledged the efforts of “many parts of the Israeli society” that helped with deliveries, but said that “this (war) policy of the Israeli government in Gaza is unacceptable.”

Known as a supporter of interfaith dialogue, Pizzaballa said he as praying for the liberation of people taken hostage during Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israel in October 2023.

He also said he hoped for a free press access to Gaza, with foreign journalists barred from entry since the start of the war save for a few visits embedded with Israel’s military.