Palestinians gathered at the site of an Israeli strike on a house in Jabalia, located in the northern Gaza Strip, on November 10, 2024. The image was captured by Reuters.
Israeli air strikes claimed the lives of numerous individuals in both Lebanon and Gaza on Sunday, according to rescuers and local authorities, just before a US-imposed deadline for enhanced aid delivery to the Palestinian territory. In Gaza, rescuers reported that 13 children were among the 30 victims of Israeli strikes in the northern part of the territory. The initial strike, which occurred early Sunday, targeted a house in Jabalia, resulting in the deaths of at least 25 people, including 13 children, and injuring over 30 others, according to Gaza's civil defence agency.
Abdullah al-Najjar, a relative of the Alloush family, described the scene as devastating, stating, "There was a very huge explosion... When we arrived, all the bodies were torn apart." He recounted that the family had been preparing for breakfast when the strike occurred. Israel initiated a major air and ground assault on October 6, aiming to prevent Hamas militants from regrouping in northern Gaza. The United Nations has characterized the area as being under "siege," and Washington set a deadline for this week, urging Israel to increase aid delivery or face potential cuts in military assistance.
Following the Jabalia strike, Israel's military claimed it targeted "infrastructure" where militants were operating and posing a threat to troops in the area. A military spokesman emphasized that "numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of aerial surveillance and precise intelligence." Another strike in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City resulted in the deaths of five people, according to Gaza's civil defence agency. In Lebanon, the health ministry reported that an Israeli strike on the village of Almat north of Beirut killed 23 people, including seven children.
Hezbollah lawmaker Raed Berro, at the scene, refuted Israeli allegations that Hezbollah members or weapons were embedded among civilians, stating, "Under the rubble, there are only children, elderly men and women." In southern Lebanon, Israeli strikes claimed the lives of three Hezbollah-affiliated rescuers, according to the health ministry. Additionally, a war monitor reported that an Israeli strike on an apartment belonging to Hezbollah south of Damascus, Syria, resulted in the deaths of three people.
The conflict in Gaza escalated following Hamas's attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which led to 1,206 deaths, predominantly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures. Israel's retaliatory campaign has resulted in the deaths of 43,603 people in Gaza, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, which the UN considers reliable. Since late September, Israel has been engaged in a two-front war, shifting its focus to Lebanon and escalating air strikes and ground troop deployments after nearly a year of tit-for-tat exchanges of fire with Iran-backed Hezbollah.
The Lebanese group has expressed support for Hamas. Israel's primary military backer, the United States, issued a warning on October 15, stating that it could withhold some of its billions of dollars in military assistance unless Israel improves aid delivery to the Gaza Strip within 30 days—a deadline that expires on Wednesday. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller clarified that top US officials had made it "clear" to Israel's government that changes are necessary to ensure that the level of assistance reaching Gaza increases from its current, very low levels.
This demand was made before the election of President-elect Donald Trump, who has suggested he would grant Israel more freedom. On Saturday, a UN-backed assessment warned that famine is imminent in northern Gaza, with fewer aid shipments allowed into Gaza than at any time since October 2023, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report. The Famine Review Committee alerted of "an imminent and substantial likelihood of famine occurring, due to the rapidly deteriorating situation." Israel's military questioned the report's credibility, stating that "all assessments by the IPC have proven incorrect and inconsistent with the situation on the ground." It criticized "partial, biased data and superficial sources with vested interests." The IPC maintains that its process is "evidence-based" and ensures "a rigorous, neutral analysis."
In early November, the heads of UN agencies described northern Gaza as "under siege" and denied "basic aid and life-saving supplies." US Secretary of State Antony Blinken hopes to use the remaining weeks of his term to push for an end to the Gaza and Lebanon wars, a spokesman said on Thursday. However, fellow mediator Qatar announced on Saturday that it had suspended its role in trying to broker a deal. Doha's foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari stated, "Qatar would resume those efforts... when the parties show their willingness and seriousness."
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