For two weeks, Israel has been carrying out a large-scale operation in the north of the Gaza Strip, claiming that Hamas has regrouped there. Palestinian authorities say hundreds of people have been killed and the health sector in the north is on the brink of collapse.
Israeli strikes on several homes in the northern Gaza Strip overnight and on Sunday left at least 87 people dead or missing, the Hamas-controlled territory’s health ministry said.
Forty other people were injured in the strikes on the town of Beit Lahiyawhich was one of the first targets of the Israeli ground invasion almost a year ago.
Among the victims of the strikes in Beit Lahiya were two parents and their four children, as well as a woman, her son, her daughter-in-law and their four children, according to Raheem Kheder, a nurse. He added that the strike destroyed a multi-story building and at least four neighboring houses.
The Israeli army did not immediately comment on the strikes.
Mounir al-Bursh, director general of the Health Ministry, said the influx of wounded following the strikes was worsening “an already catastrophic situation for the health care system” in the northern Gaza Strip, in a message posted on X.
Doctors Without Borders, the international charity known by the French acronym MSF, called on Israeli forces to “immediately cease their attacks on hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip” after the Health Ministry said the Israeli troops fired on two hospitals over the weekend.
The military said it was operating near one of the hospitals but did not fire directly at it, and was investigating the other incident.
No respite after Sinouar’s assassination
For two weeks, Israel has been carrying out a large-scale operation in the north of the Gaza Strip, claiming that Hamas has regrouped there. Palestinian authorities say hundreds of people have been killed and the health sector in the north is on the brink of collapse.
US urges Israel to push for ceasefire in Gaza after assassination of Hamas leader, Yahya Sinouarlast week. But neither Israel nor Hamas have shown renewed interest in such a deal, after months of negotiations that broke down in August.
Iran supports Hamas and the militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon, where a year of escalating tensions boiled into all-out war last month. Israel sent ground troops to Lebanon in early October.
SATURDAY, a drone targeted the house of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuwithout causing any casualties, as part of a barrage of projectiles launched across the country’s northern border. It was not possible to know whether the house had been hit.
Operations in Beirut and Jabaliya
Meanwhile, Israel has intensified its strikes on the southern neighborhoods of Beirut known as Dahiyeh, a highly populated residential area. Hezbollah has a strong presence there, but there are also large numbers of civilians and people not affiliated with the militant group.
For its part, the Lebanese army claims that three of its soldiers were killed during an Israeli strike on their vehicle in southern Lebanon. The Israeli military had no immediate comment on Sunday’s attack.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called civilian casualties in Lebanon “far too high” in Israel’s war with Hezbollah and urged Israel to reduce some of its strikes, particularly in and around Beirut .
For two weeks, Israel has been carrying out a major operation to Jabaliaalso in the north of the Gaza Strip. The army claims to have launched the operation against Hamas militants who had gathered there.
During the war, Israeli forces repeatedly returned to Jabaliya, a densely populated urban refugee camp that dates back to the 1948 war surrounding the creation of Israel.
The north has already suffered the heaviest destruction of the war and has been surrounded by Israeli forces since late last year, following Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel.
Israel ordered the entire population of the northern third of Gaza, including Gaza City, to evacuate to the south during the first weeks of the war and reiterated these instructions earlier this month. Most of the population fled last year, but around 400,000 people are believed to have remained in the north.
Palestinians who fled the north at the start of the war have not been allowed to return.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas militants blew holes in the Israeli security fence and stormed the territory, killing some 1,200 peoplefor the most part civilians, and in removing 250 others. Around a hundred captives are still held in Gaza, a third of whom are believed to have died.
The Israeli offensive in Gaza killed more than 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not distinguish between combatants and civilians. The war has destroyed large areas of Gaza and displaced about 90% of its population of 2.3 million.