The death toll from two Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon has risen to at least 13 – 10 civilians and 3 Hezbollah fighters – Lebanese state media reported on Thursday. This Wednesday is the deadliest day in more than four months of exchanges of fire at the border.
Lebanese Hezbollah, a political party and militia allied with Hamas and close to Iran, promised to respond to Israeli strikes which hit the town of Nabatiyeh and a village in southern Lebanon. The strikes come just hours after rockets fired from Lebanon killed an Israeli soldier.
Further Israeli strikes were reported in southern Lebanon on Thursday. In the village of Souaneh, a woman and her two young children were killed, while three Hezbollah fighters were also killed.
In Nabatiyeh, the strike destroyed part of a building, killing seven family members, including a child, the national news agency said. A boy initially reported missing was found alive under the rubble. Initial reports reported four deaths.
Hussein Badir, a neighbor of the Berjawi family who were killed in the strike, said he and other neighbors rushed to the street to dig through the rubble. The strike revived Hussein Badir’s memories of Israeli bombings during the 2006 war against Hezbollah, as well as during a 1996 offensive.Nobody does anything to help us“, did he declare. “It is our right to defend ourselves in our country, Lebanon.”
Deadliest day at the border since October 7
Earlier on Wednesday, gunfire from Lebanon struck the northern Israeli town of Safed, killing a female Israeli soldier and wounding eight others, all soldiers, according to the Israeli military. Hezbollah did not claim responsibility for the Safed attack.
The deaths mark a significant escalation in more than four months of daily cross-border exchanges triggered by the October 7 outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The war began with a surprise attack in southern Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, an ally of Hezbollah.
Government institutions, schools and the Lebanese university were to close their doors on Thursday in protest against the airstrikes.
Israeli forces enter Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis
Israeli forces stormed Nasser Hospital, the main health facility in the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday, hours after Israeli gunfire killed a patient and injured six others inside the Khan Younis compound. . The Israeli military said it was a limited operation to recover the remains of hostages taken by Hamas.
The raid took place a day after the army attempted to evacuate thousands of displaced people who had taken refuge at the Nasser hospital in Khan Younes. This southern city has been the main target of the Israeli offensive against Hamas in recent weeks.
The army said it had “credible information” that Hamas had held hostages at the hospital and that some of them may still be inside. Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, an army spokesman, said the forces were conducting an operation “precise and limited” on site and that they would not forcibly evacuate doctors or patients. Israel accuses Hamas of using hospitals and other civilian structures to protect its fighters.
Gaza health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said Israel had launched a “massive incursion” with heavy gunfire that injured many displaced people who had taken shelter there. He said the army had ordered doctors to move all the patients to an older building that was not equipped for their treatment.
“Many people cannot be evacuated, such as those with lower limb amputations, severe burns, or the elderly“, he said in an interview with Al Jazeera.
Truce negotiations deadlocked
Negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza appear to be at an impasse. On Wednesday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he rejected Hamas’ demands, deemed unrealistic. According to Israeli media, he ordered Israeli emissaries to leave the negotiating table.
The prime minister vowed to continue the offensive until Hamas is destroyed and the many hostages taken in the Oct. 7 attack that sparked the war are returned.