Israel continues its deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, while the UN says it is “horrified” by the aftermath of one of the deadliest Israeli attacks in three months and calls for a transparent investigation, and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is outraged by the killing of their staff in Gaza and calls for an immediate end to attacks on medical staff, aid workers and civilians.
Hezbollah attacks Israeli soldiers near Al-Khiam
Hezbollah said a guided missile struck an Israeli Merkava tank on Tuesday south of Al-Khiam, six kilometres from the border. The group reported a fire in the tank and casualties among the crew. There were several other Hezbollah attacks on Israeli soldiers in Khallat Al-Asafir, Wati Al-Khiam, and Al-Amra.
Israeli tanks were deployed on a hill near the eastern border of Al-Khiam, marking the largest Israeli troop advance in southern Lebanon since late September, according to the Lebanese National News Agency.
Hezbollah claimed drone strikes on Shragha and Beit Hillel, rocket attacks on Israeli troops in Maalot Tarshiha and naval targets in Jall Al-Alam and Ras Al-Naqoura. The group said it shot down an Israeli Hermes-900 drone over Marjayoun in southern Lebanon and carried out strikes on Kiryat Shmona, Dalton and Kfar Vradim.
Israeli airstrikes hit southern Lebanon, including Deir Al-Zahrani, Sijud and other towns, according to an Al Jazeera correspondent. Strikes also hit the nearby towns of Kfardounine, Tebnine, Zibqin, Khiam and Shebaa.
Israeli air attacks on Baalbek in eastern Lebanon killed 63 people, including women and children, while others were injured, according to Lebanese authorities.
The Galilee Hospital in Nahariya treated 13 people injured in a Hezbollah rocket attack on Maalot Tarshiha in northern Israel. The rocket attack killed one person and critically wounded three others, Israeli emergency services said.
The Israel Broadcasting Authority said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold a meeting to negotiate a diplomatic settlement to the hostilities in Lebanon as the situation escalates. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told “Israel Hayom” that the dispute in the north could be resolved by the end of the year.
UN, US and NGOS slam Israel for air raid massacre of civilians
Activist NGOs, the international community and the US government are demanding an explanation from Israel for the “horrifying” air raid on northern Gaza on Monday night that killed nearly 100 civilians, including 20 children.
The UN says it is “horrified” by the aftermath of one of the deadliest attacks in three months and calls for a transparent investigation. The Israeli military has made no comment but, as in the past, does not seem to believe the estimates provided by Hamas health authorities. Meanwhile, the World Food Programme is calling for immediate action to prevent the food crisis in the Gaza Strip from becoming a famine, a real threat after Israel banned UNRWA.
More Palestinians killed as Israel launches fresh airstrikes in Gaza
Eight more Palestinians, including women and children, were killed in fresh Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, medical sources and eyewitnesses said.
An airstrike on a refugee tent west of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza killed three people and wounded several others, the source said. Most of those injured in the Israeli attack were children, he added.
Four more people, including a child and two women, were killed in another strike on a house east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, the source added.
Several people were also injured when Israeli artillery fire hit their home in Rafah in southern Gaza. One child was killed by Israeli strike in Jabalia town in northern Gaza, according to eyewitnesses.
MSF outraged by killing of their colleague in south Gaza
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is outraged by the repeated killing of our colleagues in Gaza, Palestine, and calls for an immediate end to attacks on medical staff, aid workers and civilians.
Israeli forces killed Hasan Suboh on the night of October 24 after an airstrike on his relative’s home where he was staying in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza. The attack destroyed several homes and killed 38 people, including 14 children and four members of Hassan’s family, according to the Health Ministry.
Hassan joined MSF as a skilled labourer in April, 2019. He was 41 years old and is survived by his wife and seven children.
Found under the rubble was Hassan’s tattered MSF waistcoat, which he wore at all times. This waistcoat symbolised Hasan’s commitment to helping people in distress, but in a more global sense it also symbolised health and humanitarian aid. That it was destroyed speaks to how in this war Israel, the US government and the rest of Israel’s allies have neglected to protect health workers and ripped the rules of war to shreds. The claim that aid workers are protected, that civilian lives are protected, has once again been exposed as a lie, as the whole world has seen, according to the organisation’s website.
The attack comes just two weeks after the killing of Nasser’s colleague Nasser Hamdi Abdelatif Al Shalfouh on October 10, who died after sustaining shrapnel wounds in ongoing attacks by Israeli forces in Jabalia, in northern Gaza. Eight MSF employees have been killed in Gaza since the beginning of the war.
MSF’s website states:
We denounce these killings in the strongest possible terms and are revolted by the fact that in over one year of war, Israel has acted with total impunity. Israel’s repeated direct attacks, which do not distinguish between military objectives and civilians, must be investigated independently.
Offensive on besieged Gaza in full swing
The Israeli army has continued its deadly offensive into northern Gaza since October 5 to allegedly prevent Hamas from regrouping amid a suffocating blockade of the area. Palestinians, however, accuse Israel of seeking to occupy the territory and forcibly displace its residents. More than 1,000 people have been killed in northern Gaza since the offensive began, according to the Palestinian Civil Defence Service.
The offensive was the latest episode in Israel’s brutal war against the Gaza Strip following a Hamas attack last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire.
Since then, more than 43,000 people, mostly women and children, have been killed and more than 101,000 others have been injured, according to local health authorities.
The Israeli offensive has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine. Israel also faces a genocide case in the UN International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.
