Israeli troops have stepped up bombardment across the Gaza Strip and ordered evacuations, triggering a new wave of displacement from northern Gaza where Palestinians fear they can no longer return.
Israeli tanks are pushing deeper into the Gaza Strip
As Israeli tanks advanced on Beit Lahiya, a month after a new offensive began in northern Gaza, dozens of families streamed there. They arrived at schools and other shelters in Gaza City with whatever belongings and food they could bring.
One displaced person said drones were hovering overhead transmitting evacuation orders, which were also disseminated on social media, in audio and text messages sent to residents’ phones. He also added:
After they displaced most or all of the people in Jabalia, now they are bombing everywhere, killing people on the roads and inside their houses to force everyone out.
Palestinian officials say Israel is carrying out an “ethnic cleansing” plan. Residents say no aid has reached Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun since the operation began on October 5.
The Israeli military says it was forced to clear Jabalia and begin mopping up nearby Beit Lahiya on Wednesday to confront Hamas militants it believes have regrouped there.
Intense fighting in Jabalia
The Israeli army denied press reports that people evacuated from northern Gaza would not be allowed to return and said it was continuing to deliver aid to northern Gaza and the Jabalia neighbourhood, where it said there was “intense fighting.”
Palestinian health officials said at least 10 people were killed and several others injured in an Israeli airstrike on a school housing displaced families in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City.
The army has issued new evacuation orders to residents in the area, citing rocket attacks by Palestinian militants from there. The new orders cover the northern part of Shati camp and three other neighbourhoods in Gaza City.
Later on Thursday, Palestinian media reported that dozens of people were killed and injured in an Israeli airstrike on a house belonging to the Mabhouh family in Jabalia.
Israel’s ground campaign to destroy the Islamist movement after it attacked southern Israel on October 7 last year, killing some 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages, has turned much of the Gaza Strip into a desert humanitarian disaster. More than 43,300 Palestinians have been killed by Israel.
West Bank violence
The Israeli-occupied West Bank has also seen an upsurge in violence. In Tulkarm, Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian man during a raid, medics said, and an Israeli drone injured five others, including a mother and her son, who has learning difficulties.
Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in clashes with Israeli security forces, including armed fighters, stone-throwing youths and peaceful bystanders.
The Palestinian Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its casualty figures, put the death toll at 775, including 167 children. Dozens of Israelis have been killed in Palestinian street attacks over the past year.
Peacekeepers wounded in Israeli strike in Lebanon
At least five UN peacekeepers were injured in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon on Thursday, the United Nations said, which also killed three civilians.
Israel, which has not commented on the incident in the Lebanese city of Sidon, launched a flurry of strikes after Hezbollah said on Wednesday it had launched a rocket attack on a military base near Israel’s main international airport.
Hezbollah and Israel have been at war since late September, when Israel shifted its focus from fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip to securing its northern border, although the war in Gaza continues.
The strike, in which UN peacekeepers were wounded, took place near an army checkpoint in Sidon, Lebanon’s main city.
The Lebanese army said Israel struck a car at the checkpoint, killing three civilians and wounding three soldiers, as well as members of the Malaysian contingent of the UN peacekeeping force, UNIFIL. Urging all parties not to endanger peacekeepers and civilians, UNIFIL said in a statement:
Five peacekeepers were lightly injured.
Malaysia’s Defence ministry said six peacekeepers were injured when the strike “damaged a bus carrying them.” Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry accused Israel of repeated “attacks on UNIFIL forces, Lebanese army personnel and civilians.”
Raids on Beirut
Overnight, Israel carried out raids on Beirut’s southern suburbs, one of which hit an area near the airport. Taxi driver Abu Elie, who was at the airport at the time of the raid, told AFP:
People were carrying their suitcases on their shoulders and running.
Officials told AFP that the raid caused minor damage but the terminal building was not damaged and flights were operating as normal.
In southern Lebanon, near the Israeli border, Hezbollah said its fighters had ‘ambushed’ advancing Israeli troops and also reported a rocket attack on an army base south of the city of Haifa.
In Lebanon, the strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs were so intense that many of the city’s residents could not sleep. Ramzi Zaiter, a resident of south Beirut, said:
Death has become a matter of luck. We can either die or survive.
Health Minister Firass Abiad said Israeli strikes on Lebanon have killed more than 2,600 people since September 23.
Houthi shoot down US drone in Yemen
Yemen’s Houthi forces shot down a US drone on Friday morning, according to witnesses, marking an escalation of Houthi attacks on US drones.
Video footage circulating online shows the drone appearing to burn and then falling in Yemen’s Al-Jawf province.
The US military confirmed it was aware of the footage and said it was investigating the incident without revealing details about the type of aircraft involved.
According to the US Congressional Research Service, the drone is believed to be an MQ-9, a model that costs about $28 million per unit. Drones of this type can climb up to 50,000 feet and remain airborne for 24 hours.
The US military and the CIA have been using MQ-9 type drones for years to monitor Yemen. The Houthis reportedly have surface-to-air missiles, including the Iranian-made 358, capable of shooting down such aircraft.
According to military analysts, the downed US drone indicates the Houthi air defence capabilities are expanding.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea has not issued an official statement, although the group has historically described such actions as defensive measures against “hostile actions.” The US Central Command (CENTCOM) also refrained from commenting on the incident.
Escalation of the Houthi campaign
According to media reports, the Houthis have shot down ten US drones inside Yemen since February 2024, indicating an escalation in their military activity since announcing support for Gaza on November 8. These incidents occurred in Yemeni territorial waters, in the provinces of Al-Hudaydah, Saada, Marib, Al-Bayda, and Dhamar.
The Houthi attacks disrupted shipping in this strategically important region, through which about 12% of world trade passes. In response, the US has assembled an international naval coalition to counter these threats, with some operations involving the UK.
US forces have also struck Houthi positions in Yemen, while the Houthis have escalated their rhetoric, declaring US and British vessels as military targets.
