The Israeli army announced on Tuesday an airstrike targeting Hezbollah’s central intelligence headquarters in Syria, while at least 10 Palestinians were killed and wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a house in Beit Lahiya town in the northern Gaza Strip.
Israeli airstrike targets Hezbollah intelligence headquarters in Syria
Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee said that “with the support of the Syrian regime, Hezbollah is endangering civilians in Syria by establishing headquarters and stationing forces in civilian areas across the country.”
In a statement, Adraee also said:
The Intelligence Section is considered the central intelligence body in Hezbollah, responsible for developing its intelligence picture, leading the organization’s intelligence efforts, and possessing information gathering and detection capabilities. The Intelligence Section operates an office inside Syria that includes collection and evaluation systems. The Section operates independently and under the direct guidance of the Intelligence Section Commander, Hussein Ali Hazima, who was killed in Beirut about a month ago along with Hashem Safi al-Din. Mahmoud Muhammad Shahin, Hezbollah’s Intelligence Section Chief in Syria, was also killed.
Last week, Hezbollah stepped up its operations against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, striking numerous Israeli troop concentrations and strategic sites in northern Palestine.
In a series of coordinated attacks, Hezbollah fighters fired several rockets at Israeli troops in the Khiam area, focusing on the al-Omra and al-Yaqousa areas. Later, Hezbollah air defence units intercepted an Israeli Hermes 450 drone and an Israeli warplane, forcing them to leave Lebanese airspace, Al-Mayadeen reported.
Israeli army kills 10 Palestinians in airstrike on home in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza
At least 10 Palestinians were killed and wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the northern Gaza Strip city of Beit Lahia on Monday night, sources said.
A medical source told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday that the bodies of 10 people had been recovered from the rubble. Several people were still missing and could be under the rubble, witnesses said.
The Israeli army imposed a siege in northern Gaza last month, claiming it was trying to stop the Palestinian resistance group Hamas from regrouping. Palestinians, however, accuse Israel of seeking to occupy the territory and forcibly displace its residents.
More than 1,800 people have died since then, according to Palestinian health authorities. Supplies of food and other aid are severely restricted.
Israeli strikes hit last partially functioning hospital in north Gaza
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said on Monday that Israeli troops were bombing the last partially functioning hospital in the northern territory, while Israel formally notified the United Nations that it had severed ties with the main aid agency for the Palestinians.
Rescue workers and UN agencies say hundreds of people have been killed and there is a severe shortage of basic necessities in the area.
Israelis “continue to bomb and destroy Kamal Adwan Hospital” in Jabalia, a densely populated town north of Gaza City, Gaza’s health ministry said on Monday in a statement it called “a distress signal that could be the last.” The shelling affected all areas of the hospital, caused “many” injuries among medical staff and patients and prevented medical staff from travelling between wards to assist their wounded colleagues, the statement said.
Kamal Adwan Hospital director Dr. Hussam Abu Safiyeh told Al Jazeera in an interview that the hospital was under continuous shelling for at least three hours on Monday. He also added:
I can’t leave the floor I am in. I was told a few of our medical teams have been injured on other floors but no one can reach them.
Both he and the health ministry said the hospital had been targeted. It was unclear what kind of munitions were used.
The Israeli military said it was looking into reports coming from the hospital but could not immediately comment. In a statement on Monday, the military said it facilitated the evacuation of patients and staff from Kamal Adwan and Al-Awda hospitals in Nuseirat to other hospitals in northern Gaza on Sunday and provided the hospitals with humanitarian aid. The statement did not say why the hospitals were evacuated.
Israeli officials have said in the past that the hospitals were damaged by strikes on nearby targets or attacks targeting Hamas militants operating inside the hospitals or in tunnels beneath them, but hospital administrators have denied the allegations. Gaza residents and human rights groups have accused Israel of deliberately destroying the enclave’s vital infrastructure, including medical facilities, which Israeli officials have denied.
Pressure on Gaza continues to mount
Kamal Adwan is one of the few hospitals in northern Gaza that is still functioning, but at a minimal level; Dr. Abu Safiyeh says there are only three doctors left. More than a year of rocket, bomb and artillery attacks, as well as raids by ground forces, have led to the evacuation of the population and severely damaged hospitals, leaving many of them non-functional and others with only minimal operations.
Israel has continued its devastating offensive on Gaza since Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, killing more than 43,000 people and rendering the enclave virtually uninhabitable.
Israel faces a genocide case in the UN International Court of Justice for its actions in the blockaded enclave.
