The Israeli military said on Sunday it had carried out a ground raid into Syria and captured a Syrian national linked to Iranian networks, while UNICEF said more than 50 children had been killed in devastating attacks in northern Gaza that put many aid workers at risk.
Israeli forces kill 2 paramedics in in southern Lebanon
Israeli forces struck a medical centre in the southern Lebanese town of Bazouriye, killing two paramedics, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said on Sunday. It said in a statement:
The Israeli enemy targeted a positioning point for the Islamic Health Association in Bazouriye.
The ministry said the death toll in Lebanon’s health sector has reached 180 and the number of wounded has reached 294 since the start of hostilities.
Israel has intensified its air campaign in Lebanon since late September against what it claims are Hezbollah targets, an escalation after years of cross-border warfare between Israel and the Lebanese group since Israel launched its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip.
According to Lebanese health authorities, Israeli attacks have killed nearly 3,000 people and injured more than 13,300 since October 2023. Israel expanded the conflict by launching an invasion of southern Lebanon on October 1 this year.
More than 50 children killed in “deadly weekend” in Gaza: UNICEF
More than 50 children have been killed in devastating attacks in northern Gaza, with many aid workers at risk, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement released on Saturday:
This has already been a deadly weekend of attacks in north Gaza. In the past 48 hours alone, over 50 children have reportedly been killed in Jabalia, where strikes leveled two residential buildings sheltering hundreds of people.
UNICEF said the personal vehicle of one of its staff members involved in the polio vaccination campaign came under fire from a quadrocopter that appeared to be driving in Jabalia al-Nazla. Although the vehicle was damaged, the staff member was not injured but was “badly shaken.”
Another strike injured three children outside a vaccination clinic in Sheikh Radwan, where the polio campaign was continuing, Russell said. She also said, describing the escalation as part of “one of the darkest periods” of this war:
These attacks on Jabalia, the vaccination clinic, and the UNICEF staff member are yet further examples of the grave consequences of the indiscriminate strikes on civilians in the Gaza Strip.
Russell also emphasised that international humanitarian law requires the protection of civilians and civilian structures, including aid workers and homes.
She noted that “relocation or evacuation orders do not allow either side to the conflict to treat all people or facilities in an area as military targets.” Russell also condemned the repeated disregard for these principles, which has resulted in “tens of thousands of children killed, injured and deprived of basic services necessary for survival.”
UNICEF called on Israel to conduct an “immediate investigation” into the incident involving its staff and demanded that those responsible be held accountable. Russell said, adding that it is beyond time to end this war:
UNICEF also calls on member states to use their influence to ensure respect for international law, prioritising the protection of children.
The war began on October 7, 2023 when Hamas-led militants stormed southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping another 250. The Israeli offensive has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, which do not say how many were combatants but say more than half were women and children.
Israel carried out ground raid into Syria, seizing a Syrian citizen connected to Iran
The Israeli military said on Sunday it carried out a ground raid into Syria and seized a Syrian citizen linked to Iranian networks. It was the first time in the current war that Israel announced that its troops were operating in Syrian territory.
Israel has repeatedly carried out airstrikes inside Syria over the past year, targeting members of Lebanon’s Hezbollah organisation and officials from Iran, a close ally of Hezbollah and Syria. However, they had not previously reported any ground forays into Syria.
The Israeli military said the capture was part of a special operation “that has been carried out in recent months,” although it did not say when exactly it was carried out. Syria did not immediately confirm the claim, but the pro-government Syrian radio station Sham FM reported on Sunday that Israeli troops carried out a “kidnapping operation” in the south of the country over the summer.
Israel has been conducting an escalating bombing campaign in Lebanon for the past six weeks, as well as a ground invasion along the countries’ shared border, promising to cripple Hezbollah. On Saturday, an Israeli military official said the navy raided a town in northern Lebanon and captured a man it identified as a senior Hezbollah militant.
The army identified the man as Ali Soleiman al-Assi, saying he lives in the southern Syrian region of Saida. They said the man had been under military surveillance for months and was involved in Iranian initiatives targeting areas of the Golan Heights, annexed by Israel, near the border with Syria.
Surveillance video released by the army shows soldiers seizing a man wearing a white T-shirt inside a building. The man was taken to Israel for interrogation, the military said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the border with Lebanon on Sunday, saying his aim was to prevent Hezbollah from rearming by using the “oxygen lifeline” of Iranian weapons supplied to Lebanon via Syria. Israel says its campaign in Lebanon is aimed at pushing Hezbollah away from the border and ending more than a year of shelling into northern Israel.
