More than 150 Palestinians were killed and wounded Thursday night in Israeli airstrikes on some 10 homes in Jabalia, northern Gaza, and on Friday at least three media workers were killed in an Israeli bombing of a hotel housing journalists in southern Lebanon.
150 Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes on Jabalia
More than 150 Palestinians were killed and wounded on a Thursday night in Israeli airstrikes on about 10 homes in Jabalia, in northern Gaza, where a siege began 20 days ago. The Gaza Civil Defence said in a statement:
“A horrific massacre is unfolding in Jabalia, with over 150 martyrs and injured people due to Israeli shelling. No one is moving to rescue them.”
The statement said that the Israeli military shelled houses belonging to Najjar, Abu Al-Ouf, Salman, Hijazi, Abu Al-Qumsan, Aqel Abu Rashid, Abu Al-Tarabish, Zaqoul, and Shaalan families. The statement said:
“The (Israeli) occupation forces bombed an entire residential block in the area, and citizens are calling for help to transport the wounded even now. Residents are facing extreme difficulty in evacuating the dead and wounded after the Israeli forces disrupted the operations of civil defense and medical services in the northern part of Gaza.”
Israeli troops imposed a siege on the north about three weeks ago, launching air and ground strikes, surrounding hospitals and refugee shelters and ordering residents to move south. Hospitals in the area have either stopped providing medical services or are virtually inoperable because of the offensive.
The total death toll from Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip since last October is approaching 43,000.
Israeli troops storm the Kamal Adwan hospital in Gaza
The Israeli army stormed Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza city of Beit Lahiya on an early Friday morning.
Eyewitnesses reported that soldiers stormed the hospital, ordering patients to move to the main courtyard.
Meanwhile, the hospital director noted that some windows in patients’ rooms were broken due to continuous shelling by Israeli troops. The hospital was surrounded last night, with Israeli military vehicles shelling the hospital, endangering the sick children there, WAFA news agency reported.
The soldiers also blocked access to the hospital, where more than 15 patients need urgent surgeries that cannot be performed under the current siege conditions.
Three journalists killed in Israeli attack in southern Lebanon
At least three media personnel were killed in an Israeli bombardment of a hotel housing journalists in southern Lebanon on an early Friday morning.
The dead include a cameraman and an engineer working for the Lebanese news channel Al Mayadeen, as well as a cameraman working for Al Manar TV.
Al Mayadeen TV named the cameraman as Ghassan Najjar and the engineer as Mohammed Rida, while Al Manar TV said its cameraman Wissam Qassim was also killed in the attack in Hasbaya, where many media outlets covering Israel’s war with Hezbollah in the south are based. The Samir Kassir Foundation’s SKeyes Centre for Media and Cultural Freedom monitor said:
“Another war crime and a direct attack on journalists resting after a day of covering intense attacks.”
Earlier this week, Israel attacked the offices of Al Mayadeen TV channel in southern Lebanon, which had already been evacuated. Two journalists from the channel were killed when Israel bombed their positions last November.
The attacks came more than a year after a Reuters cameraman was killed and six other journalists were injured in Israeli shelling of border areas in southern Lebanon. Human rights groups have called for the October 2023 attack that killed Issam Abdallah to be investigated as a war crime.
At least 128 journalists in Gaza Strip
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 128 journalists and media workers have been killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip since Israel launched a military offensive against the Palestinian enclave on October 7 last year.
Earlier this week, there was an explosion when Israel claimed that six Al Jazeera journalists were current or former paid fighters of Palestinian militant groups. Al Jazeera said the allegations were “fabricated.”
Israel continued its overnight bombardment of southern Beirut with at least 13 strikes on various neighbourhoods. The Israeli army warned residents to leave the city minutes before the attacks began. No casualties were reported.
Israel resumed its daily bombardment of the Lebanese capital after a brief lull last week. Israel has stepped up its attacks on Lebanon over the past month, destroying large swathes of southern Lebanon and parts of Beirut despite international calls for a ceasefire.
More than 2,500 people have been killed and 1.2 million displaced from their homes in Lebanon since Hezbollah and Israel began shelling border areas on October 8 last year.
