An Israeli offensive in northern Gaza has killed several dozen people and trapped thousands in the past 24 hours, while ongoing attacks on Lebanon have caused more people to flee the south.
The Israeli military said Wednesday that its warplanes struck some 230 targets belonging to Lebanese Hezbollah and Hamas in Gaza as fighting intensified in both places. However, civilians have been hardest hit, with the latest casualties in Gaza taking the toll from the year-long war in the enclave to more than 42,000 people, the health ministry reported.
The Israeli Air Force attacked approximately 185 Hezbollah and 45 Hamas targets, including military buildings and infrastructure, observation posts, rocket launchers and operatives, the army said on X.
He also said three of his soldiers were seriously injured Tuesday and Wednesday during fighting in southern Lebanon.
Iran-backed Hezbollah said it targeted Israeli soldiers near the Lebanese border village of Labbouneh with artillery shells and rockets on Wednesday, pushing the troops back.
Further east, it said it attacked Israeli soldiers in the village of Maroun el-Ras and fired barrages of missiles at Israeli forces advancing toward the twin border villages of Mays al-Jabal and Mouhaybib.
Rocket sirens sounded continuously across northern Israel, including the main port city of Haifa, on Wednesday following heavy fire from Lebanon. The Israeli military said around 40 projectiles were launched during a barrage on Haifa, some of which were intercepted while others fell in the area.
Israeli paramedics said two people were killed in strikes on the border town of Kiryat Shmona and at least six people were injured in Haifa.
The escalation in Lebanon, after a year of war in Gaza, is raising fears of a broader conflict in the Middle East that could suck in Iran and Israel’s iron ally, the United States.
Israeli bombardment of Lebanon has killed more than 2,100 people, most in the past two weeks.
It also forced 1.2 million people from their homes, authorities reported.
On Wednesday, the country’s disaster management authorities said at least 58,898 displaced people fleeing Israeli attacks in the south and east of the country had taken shelter in the northern districts.
Trapped
At least 45 people were killed in Israeli military strikes on Gaza over the past 24 hours, Palestinian medics reported, as Israeli forces continued their raid on the Jabalia refugee camp in the north of the enclave.
The Israeli military says the raid, now in its fifth day, aims to prevent Hamas fighters from launching further attacks from Jabalia and prevent them from regrouping.
It has repeatedly issued evacuation orders to residents of Jabalia and neighboring areas, but Palestinian and United Nations officials say there is no safe place to flee to in the Gaza Strip.
At least 400,000 people are “trapped” in northern Gaza following Israel’s evacuation orders, the head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA, has revealed.
North #Gaza: no end to hell.
At least 400,000 people are trapped in the area.Recent evacuation orders from Israeli authorities are forcing people to flee again and again, particularly from the Jabalia camp.
Many refuse because they know too well that there is no room anywhere…
– Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) October 9, 2024
Residents of Jabalia said thousands of people have been trapped in their homes since the operation began on Sunday, as Israeli planes and drones buzz overhead and troops battle Palestinian fighters in the streets.
“Quadcopters are everywhere and they shoot anyone. You can’t even open the window,” Mohamed Awda told the Associated Press news agency.
Gaza’s health ministry said the Israeli army had ordered three hospitals in the north to evacuate their staff and patients.
Hussam Abu Safia, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of the facilities ordered evacuated, told Tel Aviv Tribune he feared a repeat of the violence inflicted on Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital earlier in the war.
“We cannot leave the hospital because there is no other hospital that provides services and treatment to children except Kamal Adwan Hospital,” he added.