Saturday,
09.28.2024,
9:07 p.m.,
Chicago. Illinois time:
Dear Global Forum Members & Readers:
07.02.2007 - I originally Posted this Powerful, Predictive Headline & Supporting Material.
Why is Israel really at War right now w/ Gaza & Lebanon ?
thoughts...
best...
bb.
Monday
07.02.2007
3:49 p.m.,
Chicago, Illinois time:
Dear Forum Members and Readers:
I recommend this book, and the others written by the same author - Joel C. Rosenberg.
In 10 - 15 years many of you may agree with me about the importance of this book, and the facts
and points raised by the author, Mr. Joel C. Rosenberg. I think that he did a Masterful Job.
Epicenter, by Joel C. Rosenberg, also author of The Last Jihad, The Last Days, The Ezekiel Option,
and The Copper Scrollare all worth the read.
"The eyes of the world are on the Epicenter."
* Iran's president vows to wipe Israel 'off the map' and says the end of the world is pending...
* A leading U.S. Presidential candidate says that if Iran goes nuclear, 'we could have Armageddon.'
* Russia signs a billion-dollar arms deal with Iran and helps Iran build nuclear facilities.
* The President of the United States refuses to rule out preemptive nuclear strikes to stop Iran.
What does the future hold ?
How will it affect your world ?
The politics of the Middle East can be murky and confusing.
But one thing is increasingly certain: the eyes of the nations are riveted upon Israel and her neighbors,
the epicenter of the momentous events shaking our world and shaping our future.
And now a crisis is brewing..."
COMMENTARY:
Forget Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Forget the smoke and mirrors of religion, and the land of Jesus Christ,
Moses and Mohammed, etc.
The CIA and the Military Industrial Complex became aware of one major factor not readily known to
the world yet, some time ago.
This was discovered by the most powerful satellites from the Star Wars Program that the U.S. has
ever divised.
The world's second greatest, untapped oil supply is UNDER ISRAEL.
(Who knows where the greatest untapped oil reserves in the world are ?)
Discover why this book is now required reading material for the CIA.
As always, I strongly recommend that you first read, research, and study material completely
yourself about a Subject Matter, and then formulate your own Opinions and Theories.
Any additional analyses, interviews, investigations, readings, research, studies, thoughts, or
writings on any aspect of this Subject Matter ?
Bear in mind that we are trying to attract and educate a Whole New Generation of JFK
Researchers who may not be as well versed as you.
Comments ?
Respectfully,
BB.
Friday
12.18.2020
10:58 p.m.,
Chicago, Illinois time:
Dear JFK RFK MLK Forum Members and Readers:
07.02.2007 - I originally Posted this Important Headline and Supporting Material.
For Centuries and Decades Ongoing Conflicts and all Related Subject Matters pertaining to Middle
East Conflicts and Israel have abounded.
In 2007 I reviewed The Most Modern New Theory Alleged going forward relative to the future of
Israel - OIL !
Allegedly Advanced Satellite Photo and Sonic Imaging have confirmed That The World's Second
Greatest Oil Supply is underneath Israel.
As always, I strongly recommend that you first read, research, and study material completely
yourself about a Subject Matter, and then formulate your own Opinions and Theories.
Any additional analyses, interviews, investigations, readings, research, studies, thoughts, or
writings on any aspect of this Subject Matter ?
Bear in mind that we are trying to attract and educate a Whole New Generation of JFK
Researchers who may not be as well versed as you.
Comments ?
Respectfully,
BB.
Wednesday
07.03.2024
9:53 p.m.,
Chicago, Illinois time:
Dear Global Forum Members & Readers:
07.02.2007 - I originally Posted this Headline & Supporting Material suggesting
that in 10 - 15 years Israel may become "...the Global Epicenter of problems."
07.03.2024 - What is your deepest analysis of the increasing Israel vs. Gaza War ?
thoughts...
best...
bb.
EPICENTER - WHY IS ISRAEL REALLY AT WAR ?
-
Bruce P. Brychek
- Global Moderator, Senior Member
- Posts: 5196
- Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2006 4:53 am
-
Bruce P. Brychek
- Global Moderator, Senior Member
- Posts: 5196
- Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2006 4:53 am
EPICENTER - WHY IS ISRAEL REALLY AT WAR ?
Saturday
09.28.2024
9:37 p.m.,
Chicago, Illinois time:
Dear Global Members & Readers:
Israel must gain access to the Red Sea through Gaza.
Israel is partially land locked.
thoughts...
best...
bb.
From: Brighteon <noreply@brighteon.com>
To: "bpbrychek@yahoo.com" <bpbrychek@yahoo.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 7, 2023 at 02:13:27 PM CST
Subject: Gaza sacrificed for lucrative Ben Gurion canal that will cut across Israel to the Red Sea
Brighteon
Gaza sacrificed for lucrative Ben Gurion canal that will cut across Israel to the Red Sea
Mike Adams
A competitor to the Suez Canal is being planned to cut across Israel and connect the Mediterranean
Sea with the Red Sea.
This canal would give the U.S. and Israel control over a key chokepoint in the world for military ships,
grain exports, energy and other commodities.
The planned route of the canal goes right through northern Gaza, and many analysts believe that Gaza
is being destroyed and wiped out right now to make way for the construction of this canal, which would
bring in billions of dollars a year for Israel (and grant Israel control over its access).
09.28.2024
9:37 p.m.,
Chicago, Illinois time:
Dear Global Members & Readers:
Israel must gain access to the Red Sea through Gaza.
Israel is partially land locked.
thoughts...
best...
bb.
From: Brighteon <noreply@brighteon.com>
To: "bpbrychek@yahoo.com" <bpbrychek@yahoo.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 7, 2023 at 02:13:27 PM CST
Subject: Gaza sacrificed for lucrative Ben Gurion canal that will cut across Israel to the Red Sea
Brighteon
Gaza sacrificed for lucrative Ben Gurion canal that will cut across Israel to the Red Sea
Mike Adams
A competitor to the Suez Canal is being planned to cut across Israel and connect the Mediterranean
Sea with the Red Sea.
This canal would give the U.S. and Israel control over a key chokepoint in the world for military ships,
grain exports, energy and other commodities.
The planned route of the canal goes right through northern Gaza, and many analysts believe that Gaza
is being destroyed and wiped out right now to make way for the construction of this canal, which would
bring in billions of dollars a year for Israel (and grant Israel control over its access).
-
Bruce P. Brychek
- Global Moderator, Senior Member
- Posts: 5196
- Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2006 4:53 am
EPICENTER - WHY IS ISRAEL REALLY AT WAR ?
Tuesday
10.29.2024
6:29 p.m.,
Chicago, Illinois time:
Dear Global Members & Readers:
Israel has continued & increased Northern Gaza bombings
as I predicted for the New Ben Gurion Canal.
thoughts...
best...
bb.
10.29.2024
6:29 p.m.,
Chicago, Illinois time:
Dear Global Members & Readers:
Israel has continued & increased Northern Gaza bombings
as I predicted for the New Ben Gurion Canal.
thoughts...
best...
bb.
-
Bruce P. Brychek
- Global Moderator, Senior Member
- Posts: 5196
- Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2006 4:53 am
EPICENTER - WHY IS ISRAEL REALLY AT WAR ?
Thursday
11.07.2024
12:07 p.m.,
Chicago, Illinois time:
Dear Global Members & Readers:
"ISRAEL EXPANDS NORTHERN GAZA OPERATIONS..."
The New Ben Gurion Canal Operation escalates as I have written for over a decade.
thoughts...
best...
bb.
Associated Press
Middle East latest: Large airstrikes hit Beirut suburbs as Israel expands northern Gaza operations
The Associated Press
Updated Thu, November 7, 2024 at 11:50 AM CST·11 min read
Smoke and fire rise from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Lebanon, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
In this handout photo, civil defense workers and paramedics stand next to a charred car in an Israeli airstrike at the entrance of the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo)French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, center, walks with staff on the Mount of Olives during his visit to Jerusalem, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)In this handout photo, Lebanese army soldiers stand guard next to a damaged bus of the Malaysian U.N. peacekeepers at the site of an Israeli strike hit a car, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo)Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)Smoke and fire rise from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Lebanon, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot poses for photographers overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem, including the Dome of the Rock Mosque in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, right, from the Mount of Olives during his visit to Jerusalem, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
1 / 7
APTOPIX Lebanon Israel
Smoke and fire rise from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Lebanon, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)ASSOCIATED PRESS
Several large airstrikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs early Thursday, including one on a site adjacent to Lebanon’s only international airport. The Israeli military had issued an evacuation notice for the site, saying Hezbollah facilities were there, without giving more details.
Also Thursday, the Israeli military announced it expanded its month-old ground operation in northern Gaza to include part of Beit Lahiya, a town that has been heavily bombed since the earliest days of the war and where Israel says Hamas militants have regrouped.
Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem said in a speech aired Wednesday that the Lebanese militant group is open for cease-fire negotiations only once “the enemy stops its aggression.” His speech marked the 40-day mourning period since former Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was assassinated in Beirut.
Hezbollah began firing into Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, in solidarity with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Since the conflict erupted, more than 3,000 people have been killed and some 13,600 wounded in Lebanon, the health ministry reported.
The Israel-Hamas war began after Palestinian militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducting 250 others. Israel's military response in Gaza has killed more than 43,000 people, Palestinian health officials say. They do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but say more than half of those killed were women and children.
___
Here’s the latest:
14 killed at school-turned-shelter in Gaza City
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Palestinian rescue workers say Israel struck a school-turned-shelter run by the United Nations in Gaza City, killing 14 people and wounding dozens of others.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the attack Thursday that hit the school operated by the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency known as UNRWA.
In recent months Israel has conducted dozens of airstrikes on schools across the embattled enclave, structures where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced by fighting have sought refuge.
The Gaza-based Civil Defense emergency service reported rescuers recovering the bodies of 14 people in the rubble of the school building in Shati refugee camp, just west of Gaza City along the Mediterranean coast. Israeli officials have defended such attacks in the past by claiming that Hamas uses school compounds as bases for militant operations.
Shortly after the strike, the Israeli army ordered the evacuation of Shati camp among other neighborhoods west of Gaza City, spreading panic among Palestinians who in recent days had sought refuge in those areas from Israel’s renewed offensive against Hamas militants further north.
Since the yearlong Israel-Hamas war began, schools in Gaza have been closed and served as shelters for Palestinians fleeing the fighting.
Israeli military to allow 300 truckloads of aid from UAE into Gaza
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says it will allow 300 truckloads of humanitarian aid supplied by the United Arab Emirates to enter the Gaza Strip in the coming days.
That’s less than the 350 trucks per day that the United States has said it wants to see enter the war-ravaged territory.
COGAT, the military body in charge of civilian affairs in Gaza, said the aid was brought in by sea and unloaded at the Israeli port of Ashdod, just north of Gaza. It said the shipment, which includes food, water, medical equipment, shelter and hygiene supplies, would be inspected before being trucked into Gaza, though it did not specify a date.
The amount of aid entering Gaza dropped dramatically in October as Israel launched another offensive in the territory’s north. By the end of October, an average of just 71 trucks a day were entering Gaza, according to the latest U.N. figures.
The United States has warned Israel to ramp up the entry of aid by mid-November, saying failure to do so could lead to a reduction in military support.
Israel says it allows plenty of aid to enter Gaza and blames U.N. agencies and other aid groups for not distributing it. Humanitarian groups say their efforts are hobbled by Israeli restrictions, ongoing fighting and the breakdown of law and order.
Dozens of Lebanese killed in struck apartment building are laid to rest
TYRE, Lebanon — Dozens of Lebanese were laid to rest Thursday following an Israeli airstrike that hit an apartment building in the town of Barja, just north of the port city of Sidon.
The Lebanese Civil Defense said it pulled at least 30 bodies and remains following Tuesday's strike.
Among the killed were many members of the Basma family, who had fled deeper into southern Lebanon for safety. Family members who survived found shelter elsewhere or weren’t in the building at the time.
“My sister was killed last week, and now my brother, my nephew, and my other nephew with members of his family,” said Hassan Basma.
Nearby, Khadija Daramsis, who washes the bodies of the dead before burial in accordance with Islamic tradition, found herself doing the same for her nieces. She had just seen them last week.
“They told me they were scared of the strikes and then they were struck,” Daramsis said as she wept. “What did they have to do with anything? Are they resistance? Are they Hezbollah?”
Israel says its strikes target Hezbollah militants or the group’s assets. The strike in Barja came without warning.
Khalil Basma says the war and Israel’s military escalation is the worst he’s seen in Lebanon.
“Knowing the wars we have gone through, this is regretfully the first time we see such crimes,” he said. “May God protect everyone and end this crisis.”
Israeli drone strike kills 3 in southern Lebanon city of Sidon, Lebanese state media says
BEIRUT — Lebanon’s state news agency says an Israeli drone strike has hit a car at an army checkpoint in the southern port city of Sidon, killing three people and wounding several others including U.N. peacekeepers.
The National News Agency said one of the wounded was taken to the hospital while the peacekeepers were treated for minor injuries at the scene of the attack at the northern entrance of Sidon, Lebanon’s third-largest city.
The U.N. peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL said in a statement that a convoy bringing newly-arrived peacekeepers to south Lebanon was passing by when a drone strike took place near it. The strike lightly injured five peacekeepers, it said.
“We remind all actors of their obligation to avoid actions putting peacekeepers or civilians in danger. Differences should be resolved at the negotiating table, not through violence,” the statement said.
A drone strike earlier Thursday hit a car on a main highway just outside Beirut, killing one woman, according to local media.
French diplomat urges diplomatic solution
PARIS — France’s top diplomat has urged action in the coming weeks toward a political solution to the wars in the Mideast.
Visiting Israel, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Thursday that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has ″never hid his wish to end the interminable wars in the Middle East."
“So the conditions seem right to me to move in the coming weeks toward a diplomatic solution to the current conflict. Because force alone cannot suffice to guarantee Israel’s security,” Barrot said.
Barrot called for a halt to Israel’s bombings of northern Gaza, saying they are contrary to Israel’s long-term interests.
″The Palestinian question will not disappear, regardless of what American administration is in office,″ Barrot told reporters.
He also warned Iran against further escalation, and called for a diplomatic solution for Lebanon. He met his Israeli counterpart and heads next to the Palestinian territories for talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Iran's Supreme Leader says militant groups against Israel remain strong
TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says its alliance of militant groups opposed to Israel remains strong despite the killing of many of their senior leaders.
“God willing, the world will see a day when the Zionist regime will be defeated by them,” Iranian state TV reported the leader as saying Thursday.
The report quoted Khamenei as saying that Hamas and other “leaders of the resistance” are “still fighting” even though some of their leaders have been killed by intensified Israel airstrikes.
Israeli strikes and military operations in recent months have killed the top leaders of both Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as many of their senior commanders.
Both groups are part of what is known as the Axis of Resistance, which includes other Iran-backed groups in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
Iran and its allies have repeatedly traded fire with Israel and the United States over the past year following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, raising fears of a regional war.
Israel announces $5.2 billion fighter jet deal with Boeing
JERUSALEM — Israel has reached an agreement to purchase 25 advanced F-15 fighter jets from U.S. aerospace giant Boeing for $5.2 billion.
The Defense Ministry said the agreement, concluded Wednesday, was part of a broader aid package approved by the U.S. government earlier this year. Deliveries will begin in 2031, and there’s an option to purchase an additional 25 aircraft.
The United States has provided crucial military support to Israel as it has battled Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and traded fire with Iran.
The Biden administration recently warned Israel that if it did not facilitate the delivery of more aid to Gaza, U.S. laws may force the administration to curb some of its military support.
The State Department said this week that Israel had yet to sufficiently improve aid deliveries ahead of a mid-November deadline.
President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to end the wars in the Middle East without saying how he plans to do it. He was a staunch supporter of Israel during his previous term but also cultivated close ties with Arab Gulf leaders.
Israeli military extends shutdown of Al Jazeera's West Bank bureau
RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Al Jazeera news network says the Israeli military has extended the order shutting down its bureau in the occupied West Bank.
Walid al-Omari, the network’s bureau chief, said Israeli troops raided the office in Ramallah again early Thursday and posted a notice extending the closure for an additional 45 days.
Israel had previously raided the office and shut it down on Sept. 22. Earlier this year, authorities took the rare step of barring the Qatar-based network from operating in Israel.
Israel accuses Al Jazeera of serving as a mouthpiece for Hamas, an allegation denied by the network. Last month, Israel accused six Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza of being Palestinian militants, which the network also denied.
Al-Jazeera has provided near 24-hour coverage from inside Gaza since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, with a heavy focus on the war’s toll among Palestinian civilians. Several of its correspondents have been killed or wounded by Israeli forces.
It also routinely airs unedited Hamas videos showing attacks on Israeli forces and hostages speaking under duress.
Israel passes law that would allow it to deport the families of Palestinian attackers, including citizens
Israel’s parliament passed a law early Thursday that would allow it to deport family members of Palestinian attackers, including the country’s own citizens, to the war-ravaged Gaza Strip or other locations.
The law, which was championed by members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and his far-right allies, passed with a 61-41 vote but is likely to be challenged in court.
It would apply to Palestinian citizens of Israel and residents of annexed east Jerusalem who knew about their family members’ attacks beforehand or who “express support or identification with the act of terrorism.”
Read the full story here.
Israel expands its ground operation in northern Gaza
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military has expanded its month-old ground operation in northern Gaza to a town that has been heavily bombed since the earliest days of the war.
The military said in a statement Thursday that “troops started to operate” in the area of Beit Lahiya after intelligence indicated the presence of militants there. Hamas has repeatedly regrouped in areas where the military already conducted major operations.
The town in the northwestern corner of Gaza was among the first targets of the ground invasion launched over a year ago, after Hamas’ attack into southern Israel. The northern third of the territory has been encircled by Israeli forces since then.
Israel launched another major offensive in nearby Jabaliya, a decades-old urban refugee camp, in early October. It has sharply restricted the amount of aid entering northern Gaza and ordered a full evacuation. Tens of thousands have fled to nearby Gaza City in the latest mass displacement of the war.
Airstrikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs, including one on site adjacent to airport
BEIRUT — Several large airstrikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs early Thursday, including one on a site adjacent to Lebanon’s only international airport.
The Israeli military had earlier issued an evacuation notice for the site, saying that there were Hezbollah facilities there, without giving more details.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Beirut’s airport has not been directly targeted in the war between Israel and Hezbollah, and national air carrier Middle East Airlines has continued to operate commercial flights.
___
For more Middle East news: https://apnews.com/hub/middle-east
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Up next
dpa international
Heavy Israeli airstrikes target Beirut's southern suburbs
DPA
Wed, November 6, 2024 at 11:12 AM CST·2 min read
15
Civil defense workers search among rubble of building that was targeted by an Israeli air strike in the village of Barja, south of Beirut. At least 20 people were killed in the strike, said the Lebanese Ministry of Health. Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
Civil defense workers search among rubble of building that was targeted by an Israeli air strike in the village of Barja, south of Beirut. At least 20 people were killed in the strike, said the Lebanese Ministry of Health. Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
Heavy Israeli airstrikes hit Beirut's southern suburbs on Wednesday, an hour after an Israeli army spokesman issued an evacuation warning for three areas in the Hezbollah stronghold.
Loud blasts echoed throughout the capital Beirut and mount Lebanon and black smoke covered the targeted areas.
Some eight powerful airstrikes were documented by a dpa reporter from an area which overlooks Beirut's southern suburbs.
Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee had warned residents to evacuate the southern suburbs of Burj al-Barajneh, Laylaki and Haret Hreik in a post on X.
His warning coincided with a recorded televised speech given by Hezbollah's Secertary General Naim Qassem during which he vowed to continue confronting the Israeli "aggression on Lebanon."
Qassem was speaking to mark 40 days since his predecessor Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli strike.
“We have weapons that will last us for a long time,” Qassem threatened. “The days will come when rockets will rain down on Israel.” He stressed that his militia will not accept defeat.
Earlier on Wednesday, Lebanon's Baalbeck-Hermel governor, Bashir Khodr, said Israeli warplanes launched 20 air strikes on eastern Lebanon, particularly on the ancient city of Baalbeck.
He added that one shell fell in a parking lot near the Roman ruins in Baalbeck city. It was not immediately clear whether the ruins were damaged.
Israel's army had issued evacuation warnings for Nabatiyeh but not for eastern Lebanon.
The Israeli army said Hezbollah had fired about 120 projectiles across the border.
A civil defense worker is seen outside a building that was targeted by an Israeli air strike in the village of Barja, south of Beirut. At least 20 people were killed in the strike, said the Lebanese Ministry of Health. Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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Up next
WKRN Nashville
Large Israeli airstrikes hit Beirut
WKRN Nashville
Thu, November 7, 2024 at 4:47 AM CST
Large Israeli airstrikes hit BeirutScroll back up to restore default view.
Large Israeli airstrikes hit Beirut
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Reuters Videos
Israeli strikes on Lebanon ruin swathes of Beirut's southern suburbs
Reuters Videos
Thu, November 7, 2024 at 11:01 AM CST
STORY: Timelapse video captures multiple Israeli airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, subjected to two waves of bombing, one late Wednesday and another early Thursday.
At least one strike was just meters from the runways of Beirut's airport.
This was the scene of devastation on Thursday morning - whole swathes reduced to rubble.
Testament to how negotiations to stop the war stalled ahead of the U.S. election.
A Hezbollah lawmaker, asked about U.S. Republican Donald Trump's election victory, said the armed group welcomed any effort to stop the war in Lebanon but didn't pin its hopes for a ceasefire on a particular U.S. administration.
Ibrahim al-Moussawi said it wanted to see U.S. actions, not words.
Israel's government has welcomed Trump's return to power, saying he was a leader who would support them "unconditionally."
The Israel military has repeatedly battered strongholds of the Iranian-backed armed group Hezbollah in the Lebanese capital's southern suburbs, and in the south and east of the country.
Further south in Sidon, a damaged bus belongs to a United Nations peacekeepers' convoy.
The Lebanese army said an Israeli strike on a car passing through a checkpoint killed three Lebanese citizens and wounded three Lebanese soldiers and four Malaysian personnel with the UNIFIL peacekeeping mission.
Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah infrastructure and military assets, while avoiding civilians, but Lebanese authorities and Hezbollah point to the widespread damage and soaring death toll.
More than 3,000 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon over the last year, the vast majority in the escalation of the past six weeks.
Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire for more than a year, in parallel with the Gaza war.
Some of the most deadly of the latest Israeli strikes were in the eastern Bekaa valley on Wednesday.
Lebanon's health ministry said at least 40 people were killed around the city of Baalbek.
This historic Ottoman-era building next to the city's famed Roman temples was also destroyed.
It was the closest Israel has come yet to striking the UNESCO-listed site.
Since fighting intensified in September, Israeli troops have fought their way into Lebanese villages.
The army releasing this footage on Thursday showing Israeli soldiers in a ruined landscape said to be southern Lebanon.
View comments
Up next
Reuters Videos
Israeli airstrikes on Beirut continue as suburbs turned to rubble
Reuters Videos
Thu, November 7, 2024 at 4:40 AM CST
1
STORY: :: Waves of Israeli airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs have left some areas destroyed
:: Beirut, Lebanon
:: November 7, 2024
"My comment on this is that this is not a war in which there is justice, walls are getting broken and homes getting destroyed, it is not a war, the war is on the ground, I mean this is too destructive, Netanyahu is too destructive, this is not how wars happen, not like this, everything is wrong and victory is ours, God willing, for the ally of the resistance, victory is for the resistance, for the Lebanese people, all the Lebanese will be victorious in the war, God willing."
The Israeli military ordered residents in the southern suburbs to evacuate several locations on Wednesday (November 6). Two waves of bombing followed, one late Wednesday and another early Thursday.
Lebanon's Al Jadeed TV reported there were at least four strikes on Thursday. There was no immediate report of casualties or details on what was hit.
Israel has repeatedly battered strongholds of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah in the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut, with both sides having exchanged fire for over a year in parallel with the Gaza war.
But fighting has escalated since late September, with Israeli troops intensifying bombing of Lebanon's south and east and making ground incursions into border villages.
Israeli strikes on Wednesday around the eastern city of Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley killed 40 people and wounded 53, the country's health ministry said.
The Israeli military did not comment.
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Up next
Reuters Videos
Huge fireball over Beirut as Israel steps up strikes on Lebanon
Reuters Videos
Wed, November 6, 2024 at 8:55 PM CST
2
STORY: :: Eyewitness video shows huge blast
in Beirut as Israel intensifies strikes
:: November 7, 2024
:: Baabda, Lebanon
Israeli strikes on Lebanon killed 40 people around the eastern city of Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley on Wednesday (November 6), according to the country's health ministry, and at dusk more strikes hit Beirut's southern suburbs.
Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have exchanged fire for over a year in parallel with the Gaza war but fighting has escalated since late September, with Israeli troops intensifying bombing on swathes of Lebanon's south and east and making ground incursions into border villages.
U.S. diplomatic efforts to halt fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which included a 60-day ceasefire proposal, faltered last week ahead of the U.S. election on Tuesday (November 5) in which former President Donald Trump recaptured the White House.
View comments (2)
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11.07.2024
12:07 p.m.,
Chicago, Illinois time:
Dear Global Members & Readers:
"ISRAEL EXPANDS NORTHERN GAZA OPERATIONS..."
The New Ben Gurion Canal Operation escalates as I have written for over a decade.
thoughts...
best...
bb.
Associated Press
Middle East latest: Large airstrikes hit Beirut suburbs as Israel expands northern Gaza operations
The Associated Press
Updated Thu, November 7, 2024 at 11:50 AM CST·11 min read
Smoke and fire rise from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Lebanon, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
In this handout photo, civil defense workers and paramedics stand next to a charred car in an Israeli airstrike at the entrance of the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo)French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, center, walks with staff on the Mount of Olives during his visit to Jerusalem, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)In this handout photo, Lebanese army soldiers stand guard next to a damaged bus of the Malaysian U.N. peacekeepers at the site of an Israeli strike hit a car, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo)Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)Smoke and fire rise from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Lebanon, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot poses for photographers overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem, including the Dome of the Rock Mosque in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, right, from the Mount of Olives during his visit to Jerusalem, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
1 / 7
APTOPIX Lebanon Israel
Smoke and fire rise from Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Lebanon, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)ASSOCIATED PRESS
Several large airstrikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs early Thursday, including one on a site adjacent to Lebanon’s only international airport. The Israeli military had issued an evacuation notice for the site, saying Hezbollah facilities were there, without giving more details.
Also Thursday, the Israeli military announced it expanded its month-old ground operation in northern Gaza to include part of Beit Lahiya, a town that has been heavily bombed since the earliest days of the war and where Israel says Hamas militants have regrouped.
Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem said in a speech aired Wednesday that the Lebanese militant group is open for cease-fire negotiations only once “the enemy stops its aggression.” His speech marked the 40-day mourning period since former Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was assassinated in Beirut.
Hezbollah began firing into Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, in solidarity with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Since the conflict erupted, more than 3,000 people have been killed and some 13,600 wounded in Lebanon, the health ministry reported.
The Israel-Hamas war began after Palestinian militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducting 250 others. Israel's military response in Gaza has killed more than 43,000 people, Palestinian health officials say. They do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but say more than half of those killed were women and children.
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Here’s the latest:
14 killed at school-turned-shelter in Gaza City
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Palestinian rescue workers say Israel struck a school-turned-shelter run by the United Nations in Gaza City, killing 14 people and wounding dozens of others.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the attack Thursday that hit the school operated by the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency known as UNRWA.
In recent months Israel has conducted dozens of airstrikes on schools across the embattled enclave, structures where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced by fighting have sought refuge.
The Gaza-based Civil Defense emergency service reported rescuers recovering the bodies of 14 people in the rubble of the school building in Shati refugee camp, just west of Gaza City along the Mediterranean coast. Israeli officials have defended such attacks in the past by claiming that Hamas uses school compounds as bases for militant operations.
Shortly after the strike, the Israeli army ordered the evacuation of Shati camp among other neighborhoods west of Gaza City, spreading panic among Palestinians who in recent days had sought refuge in those areas from Israel’s renewed offensive against Hamas militants further north.
Since the yearlong Israel-Hamas war began, schools in Gaza have been closed and served as shelters for Palestinians fleeing the fighting.
Israeli military to allow 300 truckloads of aid from UAE into Gaza
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says it will allow 300 truckloads of humanitarian aid supplied by the United Arab Emirates to enter the Gaza Strip in the coming days.
That’s less than the 350 trucks per day that the United States has said it wants to see enter the war-ravaged territory.
COGAT, the military body in charge of civilian affairs in Gaza, said the aid was brought in by sea and unloaded at the Israeli port of Ashdod, just north of Gaza. It said the shipment, which includes food, water, medical equipment, shelter and hygiene supplies, would be inspected before being trucked into Gaza, though it did not specify a date.
The amount of aid entering Gaza dropped dramatically in October as Israel launched another offensive in the territory’s north. By the end of October, an average of just 71 trucks a day were entering Gaza, according to the latest U.N. figures.
The United States has warned Israel to ramp up the entry of aid by mid-November, saying failure to do so could lead to a reduction in military support.
Israel says it allows plenty of aid to enter Gaza and blames U.N. agencies and other aid groups for not distributing it. Humanitarian groups say their efforts are hobbled by Israeli restrictions, ongoing fighting and the breakdown of law and order.
Dozens of Lebanese killed in struck apartment building are laid to rest
TYRE, Lebanon — Dozens of Lebanese were laid to rest Thursday following an Israeli airstrike that hit an apartment building in the town of Barja, just north of the port city of Sidon.
The Lebanese Civil Defense said it pulled at least 30 bodies and remains following Tuesday's strike.
Among the killed were many members of the Basma family, who had fled deeper into southern Lebanon for safety. Family members who survived found shelter elsewhere or weren’t in the building at the time.
“My sister was killed last week, and now my brother, my nephew, and my other nephew with members of his family,” said Hassan Basma.
Nearby, Khadija Daramsis, who washes the bodies of the dead before burial in accordance with Islamic tradition, found herself doing the same for her nieces. She had just seen them last week.
“They told me they were scared of the strikes and then they were struck,” Daramsis said as she wept. “What did they have to do with anything? Are they resistance? Are they Hezbollah?”
Israel says its strikes target Hezbollah militants or the group’s assets. The strike in Barja came without warning.
Khalil Basma says the war and Israel’s military escalation is the worst he’s seen in Lebanon.
“Knowing the wars we have gone through, this is regretfully the first time we see such crimes,” he said. “May God protect everyone and end this crisis.”
Israeli drone strike kills 3 in southern Lebanon city of Sidon, Lebanese state media says
BEIRUT — Lebanon’s state news agency says an Israeli drone strike has hit a car at an army checkpoint in the southern port city of Sidon, killing three people and wounding several others including U.N. peacekeepers.
The National News Agency said one of the wounded was taken to the hospital while the peacekeepers were treated for minor injuries at the scene of the attack at the northern entrance of Sidon, Lebanon’s third-largest city.
The U.N. peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL said in a statement that a convoy bringing newly-arrived peacekeepers to south Lebanon was passing by when a drone strike took place near it. The strike lightly injured five peacekeepers, it said.
“We remind all actors of their obligation to avoid actions putting peacekeepers or civilians in danger. Differences should be resolved at the negotiating table, not through violence,” the statement said.
A drone strike earlier Thursday hit a car on a main highway just outside Beirut, killing one woman, according to local media.
French diplomat urges diplomatic solution
PARIS — France’s top diplomat has urged action in the coming weeks toward a political solution to the wars in the Mideast.
Visiting Israel, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Thursday that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has ″never hid his wish to end the interminable wars in the Middle East."
“So the conditions seem right to me to move in the coming weeks toward a diplomatic solution to the current conflict. Because force alone cannot suffice to guarantee Israel’s security,” Barrot said.
Barrot called for a halt to Israel’s bombings of northern Gaza, saying they are contrary to Israel’s long-term interests.
″The Palestinian question will not disappear, regardless of what American administration is in office,″ Barrot told reporters.
He also warned Iran against further escalation, and called for a diplomatic solution for Lebanon. He met his Israeli counterpart and heads next to the Palestinian territories for talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Iran's Supreme Leader says militant groups against Israel remain strong
TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says its alliance of militant groups opposed to Israel remains strong despite the killing of many of their senior leaders.
“God willing, the world will see a day when the Zionist regime will be defeated by them,” Iranian state TV reported the leader as saying Thursday.
The report quoted Khamenei as saying that Hamas and other “leaders of the resistance” are “still fighting” even though some of their leaders have been killed by intensified Israel airstrikes.
Israeli strikes and military operations in recent months have killed the top leaders of both Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as many of their senior commanders.
Both groups are part of what is known as the Axis of Resistance, which includes other Iran-backed groups in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
Iran and its allies have repeatedly traded fire with Israel and the United States over the past year following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack, raising fears of a regional war.
Israel announces $5.2 billion fighter jet deal with Boeing
JERUSALEM — Israel has reached an agreement to purchase 25 advanced F-15 fighter jets from U.S. aerospace giant Boeing for $5.2 billion.
The Defense Ministry said the agreement, concluded Wednesday, was part of a broader aid package approved by the U.S. government earlier this year. Deliveries will begin in 2031, and there’s an option to purchase an additional 25 aircraft.
The United States has provided crucial military support to Israel as it has battled Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and traded fire with Iran.
The Biden administration recently warned Israel that if it did not facilitate the delivery of more aid to Gaza, U.S. laws may force the administration to curb some of its military support.
The State Department said this week that Israel had yet to sufficiently improve aid deliveries ahead of a mid-November deadline.
President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to end the wars in the Middle East without saying how he plans to do it. He was a staunch supporter of Israel during his previous term but also cultivated close ties with Arab Gulf leaders.
Israeli military extends shutdown of Al Jazeera's West Bank bureau
RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Al Jazeera news network says the Israeli military has extended the order shutting down its bureau in the occupied West Bank.
Walid al-Omari, the network’s bureau chief, said Israeli troops raided the office in Ramallah again early Thursday and posted a notice extending the closure for an additional 45 days.
Israel had previously raided the office and shut it down on Sept. 22. Earlier this year, authorities took the rare step of barring the Qatar-based network from operating in Israel.
Israel accuses Al Jazeera of serving as a mouthpiece for Hamas, an allegation denied by the network. Last month, Israel accused six Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza of being Palestinian militants, which the network also denied.
Al-Jazeera has provided near 24-hour coverage from inside Gaza since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, with a heavy focus on the war’s toll among Palestinian civilians. Several of its correspondents have been killed or wounded by Israeli forces.
It also routinely airs unedited Hamas videos showing attacks on Israeli forces and hostages speaking under duress.
Israel passes law that would allow it to deport the families of Palestinian attackers, including citizens
Israel’s parliament passed a law early Thursday that would allow it to deport family members of Palestinian attackers, including the country’s own citizens, to the war-ravaged Gaza Strip or other locations.
The law, which was championed by members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and his far-right allies, passed with a 61-41 vote but is likely to be challenged in court.
It would apply to Palestinian citizens of Israel and residents of annexed east Jerusalem who knew about their family members’ attacks beforehand or who “express support or identification with the act of terrorism.”
Read the full story here.
Israel expands its ground operation in northern Gaza
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military has expanded its month-old ground operation in northern Gaza to a town that has been heavily bombed since the earliest days of the war.
The military said in a statement Thursday that “troops started to operate” in the area of Beit Lahiya after intelligence indicated the presence of militants there. Hamas has repeatedly regrouped in areas where the military already conducted major operations.
The town in the northwestern corner of Gaza was among the first targets of the ground invasion launched over a year ago, after Hamas’ attack into southern Israel. The northern third of the territory has been encircled by Israeli forces since then.
Israel launched another major offensive in nearby Jabaliya, a decades-old urban refugee camp, in early October. It has sharply restricted the amount of aid entering northern Gaza and ordered a full evacuation. Tens of thousands have fled to nearby Gaza City in the latest mass displacement of the war.
Airstrikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs, including one on site adjacent to airport
BEIRUT — Several large airstrikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs early Thursday, including one on a site adjacent to Lebanon’s only international airport.
The Israeli military had earlier issued an evacuation notice for the site, saying that there were Hezbollah facilities there, without giving more details.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Beirut’s airport has not been directly targeted in the war between Israel and Hezbollah, and national air carrier Middle East Airlines has continued to operate commercial flights.
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dpa international
Heavy Israeli airstrikes target Beirut's southern suburbs
DPA
Wed, November 6, 2024 at 11:12 AM CST·2 min read
15
Civil defense workers search among rubble of building that was targeted by an Israeli air strike in the village of Barja, south of Beirut. At least 20 people were killed in the strike, said the Lebanese Ministry of Health. Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
Civil defense workers search among rubble of building that was targeted by an Israeli air strike in the village of Barja, south of Beirut. At least 20 people were killed in the strike, said the Lebanese Ministry of Health. Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
Heavy Israeli airstrikes hit Beirut's southern suburbs on Wednesday, an hour after an Israeli army spokesman issued an evacuation warning for three areas in the Hezbollah stronghold.
Loud blasts echoed throughout the capital Beirut and mount Lebanon and black smoke covered the targeted areas.
Some eight powerful airstrikes were documented by a dpa reporter from an area which overlooks Beirut's southern suburbs.
Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee had warned residents to evacuate the southern suburbs of Burj al-Barajneh, Laylaki and Haret Hreik in a post on X.
His warning coincided with a recorded televised speech given by Hezbollah's Secertary General Naim Qassem during which he vowed to continue confronting the Israeli "aggression on Lebanon."
Qassem was speaking to mark 40 days since his predecessor Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli strike.
“We have weapons that will last us for a long time,” Qassem threatened. “The days will come when rockets will rain down on Israel.” He stressed that his militia will not accept defeat.
Earlier on Wednesday, Lebanon's Baalbeck-Hermel governor, Bashir Khodr, said Israeli warplanes launched 20 air strikes on eastern Lebanon, particularly on the ancient city of Baalbeck.
He added that one shell fell in a parking lot near the Roman ruins in Baalbeck city. It was not immediately clear whether the ruins were damaged.
Israel's army had issued evacuation warnings for Nabatiyeh but not for eastern Lebanon.
The Israeli army said Hezbollah had fired about 120 projectiles across the border.
A civil defense worker is seen outside a building that was targeted by an Israeli air strike in the village of Barja, south of Beirut. At least 20 people were killed in the strike, said the Lebanese Ministry of Health. Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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Large Israeli airstrikes hit Beirut
WKRN Nashville
Thu, November 7, 2024 at 4:47 AM CST
Large Israeli airstrikes hit BeirutScroll back up to restore default view.
Large Israeli airstrikes hit Beirut
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Reuters Videos
Israeli strikes on Lebanon ruin swathes of Beirut's southern suburbs
Reuters Videos
Thu, November 7, 2024 at 11:01 AM CST
STORY: Timelapse video captures multiple Israeli airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, subjected to two waves of bombing, one late Wednesday and another early Thursday.
At least one strike was just meters from the runways of Beirut's airport.
This was the scene of devastation on Thursday morning - whole swathes reduced to rubble.
Testament to how negotiations to stop the war stalled ahead of the U.S. election.
A Hezbollah lawmaker, asked about U.S. Republican Donald Trump's election victory, said the armed group welcomed any effort to stop the war in Lebanon but didn't pin its hopes for a ceasefire on a particular U.S. administration.
Ibrahim al-Moussawi said it wanted to see U.S. actions, not words.
Israel's government has welcomed Trump's return to power, saying he was a leader who would support them "unconditionally."
The Israel military has repeatedly battered strongholds of the Iranian-backed armed group Hezbollah in the Lebanese capital's southern suburbs, and in the south and east of the country.
Further south in Sidon, a damaged bus belongs to a United Nations peacekeepers' convoy.
The Lebanese army said an Israeli strike on a car passing through a checkpoint killed three Lebanese citizens and wounded three Lebanese soldiers and four Malaysian personnel with the UNIFIL peacekeeping mission.
Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah infrastructure and military assets, while avoiding civilians, but Lebanese authorities and Hezbollah point to the widespread damage and soaring death toll.
More than 3,000 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon over the last year, the vast majority in the escalation of the past six weeks.
Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire for more than a year, in parallel with the Gaza war.
Some of the most deadly of the latest Israeli strikes were in the eastern Bekaa valley on Wednesday.
Lebanon's health ministry said at least 40 people were killed around the city of Baalbek.
This historic Ottoman-era building next to the city's famed Roman temples was also destroyed.
It was the closest Israel has come yet to striking the UNESCO-listed site.
Since fighting intensified in September, Israeli troops have fought their way into Lebanese villages.
The army releasing this footage on Thursday showing Israeli soldiers in a ruined landscape said to be southern Lebanon.
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Reuters Videos
Israeli airstrikes on Beirut continue as suburbs turned to rubble
Reuters Videos
Thu, November 7, 2024 at 4:40 AM CST
1
STORY: :: Waves of Israeli airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs have left some areas destroyed
:: Beirut, Lebanon
:: November 7, 2024
"My comment on this is that this is not a war in which there is justice, walls are getting broken and homes getting destroyed, it is not a war, the war is on the ground, I mean this is too destructive, Netanyahu is too destructive, this is not how wars happen, not like this, everything is wrong and victory is ours, God willing, for the ally of the resistance, victory is for the resistance, for the Lebanese people, all the Lebanese will be victorious in the war, God willing."
The Israeli military ordered residents in the southern suburbs to evacuate several locations on Wednesday (November 6). Two waves of bombing followed, one late Wednesday and another early Thursday.
Lebanon's Al Jadeed TV reported there were at least four strikes on Thursday. There was no immediate report of casualties or details on what was hit.
Israel has repeatedly battered strongholds of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah in the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut, with both sides having exchanged fire for over a year in parallel with the Gaza war.
But fighting has escalated since late September, with Israeli troops intensifying bombing of Lebanon's south and east and making ground incursions into border villages.
Israeli strikes on Wednesday around the eastern city of Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley killed 40 people and wounded 53, the country's health ministry said.
The Israeli military did not comment.
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Reuters Videos
Huge fireball over Beirut as Israel steps up strikes on Lebanon
Reuters Videos
Wed, November 6, 2024 at 8:55 PM CST
2
STORY: :: Eyewitness video shows huge blast
in Beirut as Israel intensifies strikes
:: November 7, 2024
:: Baabda, Lebanon
Israeli strikes on Lebanon killed 40 people around the eastern city of Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley on Wednesday (November 6), according to the country's health ministry, and at dusk more strikes hit Beirut's southern suburbs.
Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have exchanged fire for over a year in parallel with the Gaza war but fighting has escalated since late September, with Israeli troops intensifying bombing on swathes of Lebanon's south and east and making ground incursions into border villages.
U.S. diplomatic efforts to halt fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which included a 60-day ceasefire proposal, faltered last week ahead of the U.S. election on Tuesday (November 5) in which former President Donald Trump recaptured the White House.
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Bruce P. Brychek
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EPICENTER - WHY IS ISRAEL REALLY AT WAR ?
Sunday
11.10.2024
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Chicago, Illinois time:
Dear Global Members & Readers:
Bombing & destruction needed for takeover for The New Ben Gurion Canal continue unabated.
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bb.
Israeli strikes kill dozens in Lebanon and isolated northern Gaza while Netanyahu and Trump speak
WAFAA SHURAFA, SAMY MAGDY and KAREEM CHEHAYEB
Updated Sun, November 10, 2024 at 12:18 PM CST·5 min read
Rescue workers and people search for victims under the rubble of a destroyed house hit in an Israeli airstrike, in Aalmat village, northern Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A woman with a child pass at the site where an Israeli airstrike hit a house in Aalmat village, northern Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)Rescue workers use excavators to remove the rubble of a destroyed house hit in an Israeli airstrike, as they search for victims in Aalmat village, northern Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)People check a damaged car at the site where an Israeli airstrike hit a house in Aalmat village, northern Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)Rescue workers search for victims under the rubble of a destroyed house hit in an Israeli airstrike, in Aalmat village, northern Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)Rescue workers and people, centre, search for victims under the rubble of a destroyed house hit in an Israeli airstrike, in Aalmat village, northern Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)A man cleans a house, as a portrait hanging on the wall shows the late Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, at the site where an Israeli airstrike hit a house in Aalmat village, northern Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)Rescue workers search for victims under the rubble of a destroyed house hit in an Israeli airstrike, in Aalmat village, northern Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)Rescue workers use excavators to remove the rubble of a destroyed house hit in an Israeli airstrike, as they search for victims in Aalmat village, northern Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)Rescue workers use an excavator to remove the rubble of a destroyed house hit in an Israeli airstrike, as they search for victims in Aalmat village, northern Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)Rescue workers use an excavator to remove the rubble of a destroyed house hit in an Israeli airstrike, as they search for victims in Aalmat village, northern Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
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Lebanon Israel
Rescue workers use an excavator to remove the rubble of a destroyed house hit in an Israeli airstrike, as they search for victims in Aalmat village, northern Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)ASSOCIATED PRESS
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes killed dozens of people including children on Sunday in Lebanon and isolated northern Gaza, as the world watched for signs of how the U.S. election might affect the war against Iranian-backed militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has spoken three times with Donald Trump since Tuesday’s election and they “see eye-to-eye regarding the Iranian threat and all of its components.” Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, is scheduled to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday.
The Israeli airstrike in Lebanon killed at least 23 people including seven children in Aalmat village north of Beirut, far from the areas in the east and south where Hezbollah has a major presence. There was no Israeli evacuation warning. There was no immediate Israeli comment.
Hezbollah began firing rockets, drones and missiles into Israel after war broke out in Gaza, in solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas. Israel retaliated, and a series of escalations have led to all-out war.
In northern Gaza, an Israeli strike on a home sheltering displaced people in the urban refugee camp of Jabaliya killed at least 17 people including nine women, according to Dr. Fadel Naim, director of Al-Ahly Hospital in Gaza City.
Israel's military said it targeted a site where militants were operating, without providing evidence. It said the details of the strike are under review.
A separate strike hit a house in Gaza City, killing Wael al-Khour, a minister in the Hamas-run government, as well as his wife and three children, according to the Civil Defense first responders who operate under the government.
Israel strikes deeper into Lebanon
Israel has struck deeper inside Lebanon since September, when it killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and most of his top commanders. Hezbollah has expanded its rocket fire from northern to central Israel. The fighting has killed over 3,100 people in Lebanon, according to the Health Ministry, and more than 70 people in Israel.
After Israel's strike in Aalmat, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Beirut, legislator Raed Berro denied that any Hezbollah personnel or assets were in the building hit: “Everyone can see, in front of cameras, that what is being pulled from under the rubble are women, children and elderly people who have nothing to do with weapons or rocket warehouses.”
Hassan Ghaddaf, who lived next door and was lightly wounded while heading to his balcony with morning coffee, said displaced people were in the building.
“I had seen them and got to know them the other day,” Ghaddaf said. “They were peaceful. On the contrary, they had someone from the Lebanese Internal Security Forces that works for the state, and we saw their garb and clothes in the rubble.”
In Syria, an Israeli airstrike hit a residential building in the Damascus suburb of Sayyida Zeinab and the Defense Ministry said seven civilians were killed, state news agency SANA reported. Britain-based opposition war monitor The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights suggested Hezbollah was targeted. Israel did not immediately comment.
Fears of famine in northern Gaza
The mid-month deadline is approaching for the Biden administration's ultimatum for Israel: Allow more aid into Gaza or risk possible restrictions on U.S. military funding.
Israeli forces have encircled and largely isolated Jabaliya and the nearby northern Gaza towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun for the past month, allowing only a trickle of humanitarian aid. Experts from a panel that monitors food security say famine is imminent or may already be happening.
The northern third of Gaza, including Gaza City, has suffered the heaviest destruction of the 13-month war. Israel has sent forces back in, saying Hamas has regrouped.
Israeli strikes often kill women and children. The military says it only targets militants, whom it accuses of hiding among civilians.
Also on Sunday, Israel's military released what it called footage of Hamas abusing detainees. The soundless footage, dated from 2018 to 2020, appears to show hooded detainees chained in stress positions. In some clips, men beat or poke them with batons. It was not possible to independently verify the videos, which the military said it recovered during operations in Gaza.
Rights groups have long accused the Hamas-run government in Gaza and the Western-backed Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank of abusing detainees and violently quashing dissent. Israel has been accused of similar abuses, especially since the start of the war. Israeli prison authorities say they follow relevant laws and investigate allegations of wrongdoing.
The toll of war
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 and killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, about a third believed to be dead.
Israel's offensive has killed over 43,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities who do not distinguish between civilians and militants in their count but say over half the dead were women and children.
Israeli bombardment and ground invasions have left vast areas of Gaza in ruins and displaced around 90% of the population of 2.3 million people, often multiple times. Hundreds of thousands live in tent camps with few if any services.
Cease-fire talks mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt have repeatedly stalled, as have parallel efforts by the U.S. and others to halt the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
Qatar, a key mediator with Hamas, said Saturday it had suspended its efforts and would resume them when “the parties show their willingness and seriousness to end the brutal war.”
___
Magdy reported from Cairo and Chehayeb from Beirut. Associated Press writers Lujain Jo in Aalmat, Lebanon, and Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel contributed to this report.
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Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Israeli strikes kill dozens in Lebanon and northern Gaza
Associated Press
Sun, November 10, 2024 at 8:30 AM CST·5 min read
Hassan Ammar/AP
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli strikes killed dozens of people on Sunday in Lebanon and the northern Gaza Strip, where the military has been waging a major offensive for more than a month that aid groups say has further worsened the humanitarian crisis in the besieged enclave.
An Israeli airstrike killed at least 23 people in the village of Aalmat, north of Beirut and far from the areas in southern and eastern Lebanon where the militant Hezbollah group has a major presence. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said a further six people were wounded. There was no immediate Israeli comment.
In northern Gaza, an Israeli strike on a home sheltering displaced people in the urban refugee camp of Jabaliya killed at least 17 people, according to the director of a nearby hospital that received the bodies.
Dr. Fadel Naim, director of the Al-Ahly Hospital in Gaza City, said the dead include nine women, and that the toll was likely to rise as rescue efforts continue.
The Israeli military said it targeted a site where militants were operating in Jabaliya, without providing evidence. It said the details of the strike are under review.
A separate strike on Sunday hit a house in Gaza City, killing Wael al-Khour, a minister in the Hamas-run government, as well as his wife and three children, according to the Civil Defense, a first responders organization that operates under the government.
Israeli forces have encircled and largely isolated Jabaliya and the nearby towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun for the past month, allowing in only a trickle of humanitarian aid. Hundreds of people have been killed since the offensive began on Oct. 6, and tens of thousands of people have fled to nearby Gaza City.
On Friday, experts from a panel that monitors food security said famine is imminent in the north or may already be happening. The growing desperation comes as the deadline approaches for an ultimatum the Biden administration gave Israel to raise the level of humanitarian assistance allowed into Gaza or risk possible restrictions on U.S. military funding.
The northern third of Gaza, including Gaza City, was the first target of Israel’s ground invasion and has suffered the heaviest destruction of the 13-month-old war, which was triggered by Hamas’ attack into southern Israel. As in other areas of Gaza, Israel has sent forces back in after repeated operations, saying Hamas has regrouped.
The military says it only targets militants, whom it accuses of hiding among civilians in homes and shelters. Israeli strikes often kill women and children.
On Sunday, the Israeli military released what it said was video footage of Hamas abusing detainees. The soundless footage, dated from 2018 to 2020, appears to show detainees with hoods over their heads chained up in stress positions. In some of the clips, men beat or poke them with batons.
It was not possible to independently verify the videos, which the military said it had recovered during operations in Gaza.
Rights groups have long accused the Hamas-run government in Gaza and the Western-backed Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank of abusing detainees and violently quashing dissent. Israel has been accused of similar abuses, especially since the start of the war. Israeli prison authorities say they follow relevant laws and investigate any allegations of wrongdoing.
Hezbollah began firing rockets, drones and missiles into Israel after war broke out in Gaza in solidarity with the Palestinians and its fellow Iran-backed militant group Hamas.
Israel retaliated, and a series of escalations over several months led to all-out war in September, when Israel carried out a wave of heavy strikes and killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, as well as most of his top commanders.
Since then, Israel has struck areas deeper and deeper inside Lebanon, while Hezbollah has expanded its rocket fire from northern to central Israel. The fighting has killed over 3,000 people in Lebanon, according to the Health Ministry, and more than 70 people in Israel.
In videos purporting to show the aftermath of Sunday’s strike in Aalmat, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Beirut, people were seen pulling the body of a little girl out of the rubble. The house had been flattened, and several cars nearby were also damaged.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants blew holes in the border fence and stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. They killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, about a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 43,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities who do not distinguish between civilians and militants in their count but say over half the fatalities were women and children.
Israeli bombardment and ground invasions have left vast areas of Gaza in ruins and displaced around 90% of the population of 2.3 million people, often multiple times. Hundreds of thousands of people are living in crowded tent camps with few if any public services and no idea of when they might return to their homes or rebuild.
Cease-fire talks mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt have repeatedly stalled since the start of the year, as have parallel efforts by the U.S. and others to halt the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
Qatar, which has served as a key mediator with Hamas, said over the weekend that it had suspended its efforts and would only resume them when “the parties show their willingness and seriousness to end the brutal war and the ongoing suffering of civilians.”
United Press International
Israeli airstrikes hit Gaza, Beirut, Tyre; reports: Qatar ends cease-fire mediation
Mike Heuer
Sat, November 9, 2024 at 4:56 PM CST·2 min read
UPI
Gazans inspect their damaged shelters following an Israeli airstrike inside the Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital compound in Deir Al Balah, central Gaza Strip, on Saturday. Photo by Mohammed Saber/EPA-EFE
Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Israel Defense Forces carried out airstrikes in Gaza and Lebanon that killed dozens while targeting Hamas and Hezbollah militants Saturday morning.
While Israel's wars with Hamas and Hezbollah continue in Gaza and Lebanon, Qatar officials no longer will mediate a cease-fire deal on behalf of Hamas, NBC News reported. CNN and Fox News unnamed U.S. officials also confirmed the decision.
IDF airstrikes throughout much of Gaza began at dawn Saturday and killed at least 40, Al Jazeera reported.
Local officials and first-responders reported 40 Gazans killed during the airstrikes, including 24 in northern Gaza and others near Khan Younis, Beit Lahiya, Gaza City and Deir el-Balah.
The Palestinian Red Crescent confirmed 14 deaths, including women and children, while IDF officials said dozens of Hamas militants were killed in northern Gaza, VOA News reported.
An airstrike killed five and wounded 22 when Israeli aircraft struck the Fahad Al-Sabah school in Gaza City's Al-Tuffah district. The casualties were taken to the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital for treatment.
The IDF said its forces killed "dozens of terrorists" in northern Gaza's Jabalia area where a ground operation has been underway for more than a month to stop Hamas from regrouping in the area.
The IDF said it also killed militants in the Rafah area of southern Gaza while engaged in a two-front war with Hamas to the south and Hezbollah to the north in Lebanon.
The IDF carried out airstrikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut and in Tyre in Lebanon.
"Over the past day, the [Israel Air Force] struck over 50 targets in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip," the IDF said in a statement.
"Among the targets were military structures, weapons storage facilities and launchers," the IDF said.
The IDF targeted Hezbollah embedded its operations in residential and manufacturing centers in and near Beirut despite the resulting dangers to Lebanese citizens, the Jerusalem Post reported.
The IDF has targeted Hamas and Hezbollah militants during dozens of military actions begun Friday morning and continuing through the overnight hours and into Saturday.
Hamas recently rejected a cease-fire proposal mediated by Qatar.
Qatar officials notified Hamas, Israeli and U.S. officials regarding its decision to expel Hamas 10 days ago.
"Qatar has become increasingly frustrated with a lack of progress toward a cease-fire by both Hamas and Israel," one of the diplomats told NBC News Saturday morning.
"Hamas has been told that if this continues then Qatar cannot continue to host them."
The officials did not say whether Hamas was given a deadline.
Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani has played a key role in mediating talks between Hamas and Israel, alongside Egypt and the U.S., since the Oct. 7 war.
AFP
Deadly strikes on Gaza, Lebanon as Israel faces aid deadline
Pierre-Henry Deshayes with Aya Iskandarani in Beirut
Sun, November 10, 2024 at 10:44 AM CST·4 min read
Gaza's civil defence agency said a strike on a house killed at least 25 people in Jabalia (Omar AL-QATTAA)
Gaza's civil defence agency said a strike on a house killed at least 25 people in Jabalia (Omar AL-QATTAA) (Omar AL-QATTAA/AFP/AFP)
Israeli air strikes killed dozens of people in Lebanon and Gaza Sunday, rescuers and authorities said, ahead of a US deadline for improved aid delivery to the Palestinian territory.
Rescuers in the Gaza Strip said 13 children were among 30 people killed by Israeli strikes in the territory's north.
The first strike early Sunday hit a house in Jabalia, killing at least 25 people including 13 children and injuring more than 30, Gaza's civil defence agency said.
At around 6:00 am, "there was a very huge explosion" at the Alloush family home, said relative Abdullah al-Najjar.
"When we arrived here, all the bodies were torn apart," the distraught man added.
Vowing to stop Hamas militants from regrouping in already ravaged north Gaza, Israel on October 6 began a major air and ground assault.
The United Nations has described the area as "under siege", and Washington set a deadline of this coming week for Israel to get more aid in or face possible cuts to military assistance.
After the strike in Jabalia, Israel's military said it hit "infrastructure" in which militants were operating and "posed a threat" to troops in the area.
"Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians," a military spokesman said.
Another strike on the Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City killed five people, the civil defence agency said.
- US threat -
In Lebanon, the health ministry said an Israeli strike on the village of Almat north of Beirut killed 23 people including seven children.
"Under the rubble, there are only children, elderly men and women," Hezbollah lawmaker Raed Berro said at the scene, denying Israeli allegations that Hezbollah members or weapons were embedded among civilians.
The ministry reported at least another 12 dead in strikes on the Baalbek area in the east where Hezbollah has a strong presence.
In the south, Israeli strikes killed three Hezbollah-affiliated rescuers, the ministry said.
A war monitor also reported that an Israeli strike on an apartment belonging to Hezbollah south of Syria's capital Damascus killed seven people.
Since late September Israel has been engaged in a two-front war after turning its focus north towards Lebanon.
Israel admitted for the first time Sunday it was behind a wave of deadly attacks on Hezbollah communications devices in September.
Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesman said the Israeli prime minister "greenlighted the pager operation in Lebanon" in which hundreds of devices exploded.
The attacks killed nearly 40 people and wounded some 3,000 others, and preceded Israel's ongoing military operation in Lebanon.
Israel escalated air strikes and later sent in ground troops after almost a year of tit-for-tat exchanges of fire with Iran-backed Hezbollah. The Lebanese group said it was acting in support of Hamas.
The war in Gaza erupted with Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel which resulted in 1,206 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed 43,603 people in Gaza, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, which the UN considers reliable.
Israel's main military backer the United States on October 15 warned 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.
- Qatar suspends mediation -
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said at the time that top US officials made "clear" to Israel's government that changes need to be made "to see that the level of assistance making it into Gaza comes back up from the very, very low levels that it is at today".
The demand came before Tuesday's vote for President-elect Donald Trump, who has suggested he would give freer rein to Israel.
On Saturday, a UN-backed assessment warned that famine is imminent in northern Gaza.
Fewer aid shipments were allowed into Gaza than at any time since October 2023, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report.
The alert from the Famine Review Committee warned of "an imminent and substantial likelihood of famine occurring, due to the rapidly deteriorating situation".
Israel's military questioned the report's credibility.
A military statement denounced "partial, biased data and superficial sources with vested interests".
The IPC says its process is "evidence-based" and ensures "a rigorous, neutral analysis".
The heads of UN agencies in early November described north 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 press for an end to the Gaza and Lebanon wars, a spokesman said on Thursday, before fellow mediator Qatar said Saturday it had suspended its role in trying to broker a deal.
"Qatar would resume those efforts... when the parties show their willingness and seriousness," Doha's foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said in a statement.
burs-it/srm/ami
Associated Press
Qatar suspends its mediation efforts on Gaza and the Hamas office there may have to leave
WAFAA SHURAFA, SAMY MAGDY and MATTHEW LEE
Updated Sat, November 9, 2024 at 6:55 PM CST·6 min read
Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike in the courtyard of the Al-Aqsa Hospital where displaced people live in tents, in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinian citizens of Israel protest against Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, in Umm Al-Fahm, Israel, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)Residents check the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)People march in a protest in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024 against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and call for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, marking 400 days since their capture. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike in the courtyard of the Al-Aqsa Hospital where displaced people live in tents, in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)Palestinian citizens of Israel protest against Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, in Umm Al-Fahm, Israel, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)Palestinian citizens of Israel protest against Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, in Umm Al-Fahm, Israel, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. The placard in Arabic reads: "the head of the snake is America, Israel and Arab reactionaries." (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)A local resident stands next to debris inside his house after it was struck by projectiles fired from Lebanon in Kfar Yasif, north west Israel, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)Civil defense workers extinguish a fire as smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)A resident checks the site of an Israeli airstrike in Tyre, southern Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zaatari)Resident check the site of an Israeli airstrike in Tyre, southern Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zaatari)People protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, and call for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, marking 400 days since their capture. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
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Israel Palestinians
Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike in the courtyard of the Al-Aqsa Hospital where displaced people live in tents, in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)ASSOCIATED PRESS
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Qatar has suspended its key mediation efforts between Hamas and Israel, it said Saturday, after growing frustration with the lack of progress on a cease-fire deal for Gaza.
It wasn't immediately clear whether the remaining Hamas leadership hosted by Qatar must leave, or where it would go. Hamas has good relations with Iran and Turkey, and some of its leaders are now in Lebanon.
However, Qatar is highly likely to return to mediation efforts if both sides show “serious political willingness” to reach a deal, according to an official with Egypt, the other key mediator.
Qatar told Israel and Hamas it can't continue to mediate “as long as there is a refusal to negotiate a deal in good faith” and "as a consequence, the Hamas political office no longer serves its purpose” in Qatar, a diplomatic source briefed on the matter said. Qatar told Hamas it will have to leave if it isn't ready to engage in serious negotiations, the source said.
In Washington, a U.S. official said the Biden administration informed Qatar two weeks ago that the Hamas office's continued operation in Doha was no longer useful and the Hamas delegation should be expelled.
A senior U.S. official said that after Hamas rejected the last proposal for a cease-fire, Qatar accepted the advice and informed the Hamas delegation of the decision 10 days ago.
A senior Hamas official said they were aware of Qatar’s decision to suspend mediation efforts, “but no one told us to leave.” Hamas has repeatedly called for an end to the war and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza as a condition for any cease-fire deal. Israel seeks the return of all hostages taken in Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and insists on a presence in Gaza.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. The Israeli prime minister’s office had no comment.
Late Saturday, the state-run Qatar News Agency published comments attributed to Majed bin Mohammed al-Ansari, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, confirming that Doha informed parties in the talks 10 days ago that it “would stall its efforts to mediate between Hamas and Israel if an agreement was not reached in that round.”
“Qatar will resume those efforts with its partners when the parties show their willingness and seriousness to end the brutal war and the ongoing suffering of civilians," the report said.
There continued to be no end in sight to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and the Israel-Hezbollah war in Lebanon, where Israel’s military said it struck command centers and other militant infrastructure in Beirut’s southern suburbs and elsewhere. An Israeli airstrike on the southern port city of Tyre late Friday killed at least seven, officials and a resident said.
Hezbollah “should continue (the fight) and we will continue to back them up even if we lose our families, our homes, and end up in the dirt,” said one Beirut resident, Mohammed Mekdad, as people searched the smoking rubble.
In Gaza, Israeli strikes killed at least 16 people on Saturday, Palestinian medical officials said, while Israel announced the first delivery of humanitarian aid in weeks to the territory's hungry, devastated north.
One strike hit a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City’s eastern Tufah neighborhood, killing at least six people, the territory's Health Ministry said. Two local journalists, a pregnant woman and a child were among the dead, it said. Israel's army said the strike targeted a militant belonging to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, offering no evidence.
Another Israeli strike killed seven people, including two women and a child in the southern city of Khan Younis, according to Nasser Hospital. Israel's army didn't respond to a request for comment.
And an Israeli strike hit tents in the courtyard of central Gaza’s main hospital, killing at least three people and wounding a local journalist, Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah said. It was the eighth Israeli attack on the compound since March.
Israel says aid trucks reach northern Gaza
The Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid to Gaza, COGAT, said 11 aid trucks containing food, water and medical equipment reached the enclave's far north on Thursday. It's the first time any aid has reached there since Israel began a new military campaign last month.
But not all the aid reached the agreed drop-off points, according to the the U.N. World Food Program. In the urban refugee camp of Jabaliya, Israeli troops stopped one convoy bound for nearby Beit Lahiya and ordered the supplies to be offloaded, WFP spokesperson Alia Zaki said.
Israel’s offensive has focused on Jabaliya, where Israel says Hamas had regrouped. Other areas affected include Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun just north of Gaza City.
U.S. deadline is looming for Israel
The aid announcement came days before a U.S. deadline demanding that Israel improve aid deliveries across Gaza or risk losing access to U.S. weapons funding. The U.S. says Israel must allow a minimum of 350 trucks a day carrying food and other supplies.
A report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, issued Thursday said there's a strong likelihood that famine is imminent in parts of northern Gaza, the territory's most isolated area.
COGAT rejected those findings and said the report relied “on partial, biased data and superficial sources with vested interests.”
No emergency services functioning north of Gaza City
The U.N. estimates that tens of thousands of people remain in northern Gaza. Earlier this week, the Health Ministry said there were no ambulances or emergency crews operating north of Gaza City.
The conflict has left 90% of Palestinians in Gaza displaced, according to U.N. figures.
More than a year of war in Gaza has killed more than 43,000 people, Palestinian health officials say. They don't distinguish between civilians and combatants, but say more than half of those killed were women and children.
The war began after Palestinian militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducting 250 others. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, about a third believed to be dead.
“It has been 400 days and the hostages are still in Gaza. There is a war without a direction. It’s so sad,” said Eial Tiskim, who attended the latest protest in Tel Aviv on Saturday night to demand a cease-fire deal.
___
Magdy reported from Cairo and Lee from Washington. Associated Press writer Jack Jeffery contributed to this report from Ramallah, West Bank.
___
Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
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Israeli strikes kill dozens in Lebanon and isolated northern Gaza while Netanyahu and Trump speak
WAFAA SHURAFA, SAMY MAGDY and KAREEM CHEHAYEB
Updated Sun, November 10, 2024 at 12:18 PM CST·5 min read
Rescue workers and people search for victims under the rubble of a destroyed house hit in an Israeli airstrike, in Aalmat village, northern Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
A woman with a child pass at the site where an Israeli airstrike hit a house in Aalmat village, northern Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)Rescue workers use excavators to remove the rubble of a destroyed house hit in an Israeli airstrike, as they search for victims in Aalmat village, northern Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)People check a damaged car at the site where an Israeli airstrike hit a house in Aalmat village, northern Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)Rescue workers search for victims under the rubble of a destroyed house hit in an Israeli airstrike, in Aalmat village, northern Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)Rescue workers and people, centre, search for victims under the rubble of a destroyed house hit in an Israeli airstrike, in Aalmat village, northern Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)A man cleans a house, as a portrait hanging on the wall shows the late Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, at the site where an Israeli airstrike hit a house in Aalmat village, northern Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)Rescue workers search for victims under the rubble of a destroyed house hit in an Israeli airstrike, in Aalmat village, northern Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)Rescue workers use excavators to remove the rubble of a destroyed house hit in an Israeli airstrike, as they search for victims in Aalmat village, northern Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)Rescue workers use an excavator to remove the rubble of a destroyed house hit in an Israeli airstrike, as they search for victims in Aalmat village, northern Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)Rescue workers use an excavator to remove the rubble of a destroyed house hit in an Israeli airstrike, as they search for victims in Aalmat village, northern Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
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Lebanon Israel
Rescue workers use an excavator to remove the rubble of a destroyed house hit in an Israeli airstrike, as they search for victims in Aalmat village, northern Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)ASSOCIATED PRESS
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes killed dozens of people including children on Sunday in Lebanon and isolated northern Gaza, as the world watched for signs of how the U.S. election might affect the war against Iranian-backed militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has spoken three times with Donald Trump since Tuesday’s election and they “see eye-to-eye regarding the Iranian threat and all of its components.” Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, is scheduled to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday.
The Israeli airstrike in Lebanon killed at least 23 people including seven children in Aalmat village north of Beirut, far from the areas in the east and south where Hezbollah has a major presence. There was no Israeli evacuation warning. There was no immediate Israeli comment.
Hezbollah began firing rockets, drones and missiles into Israel after war broke out in Gaza, in solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas. Israel retaliated, and a series of escalations have led to all-out war.
In northern Gaza, an Israeli strike on a home sheltering displaced people in the urban refugee camp of Jabaliya killed at least 17 people including nine women, according to Dr. Fadel Naim, director of Al-Ahly Hospital in Gaza City.
Israel's military said it targeted a site where militants were operating, without providing evidence. It said the details of the strike are under review.
A separate strike hit a house in Gaza City, killing Wael al-Khour, a minister in the Hamas-run government, as well as his wife and three children, according to the Civil Defense first responders who operate under the government.
Israel strikes deeper into Lebanon
Israel has struck deeper inside Lebanon since September, when it killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and most of his top commanders. Hezbollah has expanded its rocket fire from northern to central Israel. The fighting has killed over 3,100 people in Lebanon, according to the Health Ministry, and more than 70 people in Israel.
After Israel's strike in Aalmat, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Beirut, legislator Raed Berro denied that any Hezbollah personnel or assets were in the building hit: “Everyone can see, in front of cameras, that what is being pulled from under the rubble are women, children and elderly people who have nothing to do with weapons or rocket warehouses.”
Hassan Ghaddaf, who lived next door and was lightly wounded while heading to his balcony with morning coffee, said displaced people were in the building.
“I had seen them and got to know them the other day,” Ghaddaf said. “They were peaceful. On the contrary, they had someone from the Lebanese Internal Security Forces that works for the state, and we saw their garb and clothes in the rubble.”
In Syria, an Israeli airstrike hit a residential building in the Damascus suburb of Sayyida Zeinab and the Defense Ministry said seven civilians were killed, state news agency SANA reported. Britain-based opposition war monitor The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights suggested Hezbollah was targeted. Israel did not immediately comment.
Fears of famine in northern Gaza
The mid-month deadline is approaching for the Biden administration's ultimatum for Israel: Allow more aid into Gaza or risk possible restrictions on U.S. military funding.
Israeli forces have encircled and largely isolated Jabaliya and the nearby northern Gaza towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun for the past month, allowing only a trickle of humanitarian aid. Experts from a panel that monitors food security say famine is imminent or may already be happening.
The northern third of Gaza, including Gaza City, has suffered the heaviest destruction of the 13-month war. Israel has sent forces back in, saying Hamas has regrouped.
Israeli strikes often kill women and children. The military says it only targets militants, whom it accuses of hiding among civilians.
Also on Sunday, Israel's military released what it called footage of Hamas abusing detainees. The soundless footage, dated from 2018 to 2020, appears to show hooded detainees chained in stress positions. In some clips, men beat or poke them with batons. It was not possible to independently verify the videos, which the military said it recovered during operations in Gaza.
Rights groups have long accused the Hamas-run government in Gaza and the Western-backed Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank of abusing detainees and violently quashing dissent. Israel has been accused of similar abuses, especially since the start of the war. Israeli prison authorities say they follow relevant laws and investigate allegations of wrongdoing.
The toll of war
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 and killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, about a third believed to be dead.
Israel's offensive has killed over 43,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities who do not distinguish between civilians and militants in their count but say over half the dead were women and children.
Israeli bombardment and ground invasions have left vast areas of Gaza in ruins and displaced around 90% of the population of 2.3 million people, often multiple times. Hundreds of thousands live in tent camps with few if any services.
Cease-fire talks mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt have repeatedly stalled, as have parallel efforts by the U.S. and others to halt the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
Qatar, a key mediator with Hamas, said Saturday it had suspended its efforts and would resume them when “the parties show their willingness and seriousness to end the brutal war.”
___
Magdy reported from Cairo and Chehayeb from Beirut. Associated Press writers Lujain Jo in Aalmat, Lebanon, and Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel contributed to this report.
___
Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Israeli strikes kill dozens in Lebanon and northern Gaza
Associated Press
Sun, November 10, 2024 at 8:30 AM CST·5 min read
Hassan Ammar/AP
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli strikes killed dozens of people on Sunday in Lebanon and the northern Gaza Strip, where the military has been waging a major offensive for more than a month that aid groups say has further worsened the humanitarian crisis in the besieged enclave.
An Israeli airstrike killed at least 23 people in the village of Aalmat, north of Beirut and far from the areas in southern and eastern Lebanon where the militant Hezbollah group has a major presence. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said a further six people were wounded. There was no immediate Israeli comment.
In northern Gaza, an Israeli strike on a home sheltering displaced people in the urban refugee camp of Jabaliya killed at least 17 people, according to the director of a nearby hospital that received the bodies.
Dr. Fadel Naim, director of the Al-Ahly Hospital in Gaza City, said the dead include nine women, and that the toll was likely to rise as rescue efforts continue.
The Israeli military said it targeted a site where militants were operating in Jabaliya, without providing evidence. It said the details of the strike are under review.
A separate strike on Sunday hit a house in Gaza City, killing Wael al-Khour, a minister in the Hamas-run government, as well as his wife and three children, according to the Civil Defense, a first responders organization that operates under the government.
Israeli forces have encircled and largely isolated Jabaliya and the nearby towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun for the past month, allowing in only a trickle of humanitarian aid. Hundreds of people have been killed since the offensive began on Oct. 6, and tens of thousands of people have fled to nearby Gaza City.
On Friday, experts from a panel that monitors food security said famine is imminent in the north or may already be happening. The growing desperation comes as the deadline approaches for an ultimatum the Biden administration gave Israel to raise the level of humanitarian assistance allowed into Gaza or risk possible restrictions on U.S. military funding.
The northern third of Gaza, including Gaza City, was the first target of Israel’s ground invasion and has suffered the heaviest destruction of the 13-month-old war, which was triggered by Hamas’ attack into southern Israel. As in other areas of Gaza, Israel has sent forces back in after repeated operations, saying Hamas has regrouped.
The military says it only targets militants, whom it accuses of hiding among civilians in homes and shelters. Israeli strikes often kill women and children.
On Sunday, the Israeli military released what it said was video footage of Hamas abusing detainees. The soundless footage, dated from 2018 to 2020, appears to show detainees with hoods over their heads chained up in stress positions. In some of the clips, men beat or poke them with batons.
It was not possible to independently verify the videos, which the military said it had recovered during operations in Gaza.
Rights groups have long accused the Hamas-run government in Gaza and the Western-backed Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank of abusing detainees and violently quashing dissent. Israel has been accused of similar abuses, especially since the start of the war. Israeli prison authorities say they follow relevant laws and investigate any allegations of wrongdoing.
Hezbollah began firing rockets, drones and missiles into Israel after war broke out in Gaza in solidarity with the Palestinians and its fellow Iran-backed militant group Hamas.
Israel retaliated, and a series of escalations over several months led to all-out war in September, when Israel carried out a wave of heavy strikes and killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, as well as most of his top commanders.
Since then, Israel has struck areas deeper and deeper inside Lebanon, while Hezbollah has expanded its rocket fire from northern to central Israel. The fighting has killed over 3,000 people in Lebanon, according to the Health Ministry, and more than 70 people in Israel.
In videos purporting to show the aftermath of Sunday’s strike in Aalmat, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Beirut, people were seen pulling the body of a little girl out of the rubble. The house had been flattened, and several cars nearby were also damaged.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants blew holes in the border fence and stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. They killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, about a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 43,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities who do not distinguish between civilians and militants in their count but say over half the fatalities were women and children.
Israeli bombardment and ground invasions have left vast areas of Gaza in ruins and displaced around 90% of the population of 2.3 million people, often multiple times. Hundreds of thousands of people are living in crowded tent camps with few if any public services and no idea of when they might return to their homes or rebuild.
Cease-fire talks mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt have repeatedly stalled since the start of the year, as have parallel efforts by the U.S. and others to halt the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
Qatar, which has served as a key mediator with Hamas, said over the weekend that it had suspended its efforts and would only resume them when “the parties show their willingness and seriousness to end the brutal war and the ongoing suffering of civilians.”
United Press International
Israeli airstrikes hit Gaza, Beirut, Tyre; reports: Qatar ends cease-fire mediation
Mike Heuer
Sat, November 9, 2024 at 4:56 PM CST·2 min read
UPI
Gazans inspect their damaged shelters following an Israeli airstrike inside the Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital compound in Deir Al Balah, central Gaza Strip, on Saturday. Photo by Mohammed Saber/EPA-EFE
Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Israel Defense Forces carried out airstrikes in Gaza and Lebanon that killed dozens while targeting Hamas and Hezbollah militants Saturday morning.
While Israel's wars with Hamas and Hezbollah continue in Gaza and Lebanon, Qatar officials no longer will mediate a cease-fire deal on behalf of Hamas, NBC News reported. CNN and Fox News unnamed U.S. officials also confirmed the decision.
IDF airstrikes throughout much of Gaza began at dawn Saturday and killed at least 40, Al Jazeera reported.
Local officials and first-responders reported 40 Gazans killed during the airstrikes, including 24 in northern Gaza and others near Khan Younis, Beit Lahiya, Gaza City and Deir el-Balah.
The Palestinian Red Crescent confirmed 14 deaths, including women and children, while IDF officials said dozens of Hamas militants were killed in northern Gaza, VOA News reported.
An airstrike killed five and wounded 22 when Israeli aircraft struck the Fahad Al-Sabah school in Gaza City's Al-Tuffah district. The casualties were taken to the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital for treatment.
The IDF said its forces killed "dozens of terrorists" in northern Gaza's Jabalia area where a ground operation has been underway for more than a month to stop Hamas from regrouping in the area.
The IDF said it also killed militants in the Rafah area of southern Gaza while engaged in a two-front war with Hamas to the south and Hezbollah to the north in Lebanon.
The IDF carried out airstrikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut and in Tyre in Lebanon.
"Over the past day, the [Israel Air Force] struck over 50 targets in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip," the IDF said in a statement.
"Among the targets were military structures, weapons storage facilities and launchers," the IDF said.
The IDF targeted Hezbollah embedded its operations in residential and manufacturing centers in and near Beirut despite the resulting dangers to Lebanese citizens, the Jerusalem Post reported.
The IDF has targeted Hamas and Hezbollah militants during dozens of military actions begun Friday morning and continuing through the overnight hours and into Saturday.
Hamas recently rejected a cease-fire proposal mediated by Qatar.
Qatar officials notified Hamas, Israeli and U.S. officials regarding its decision to expel Hamas 10 days ago.
"Qatar has become increasingly frustrated with a lack of progress toward a cease-fire by both Hamas and Israel," one of the diplomats told NBC News Saturday morning.
"Hamas has been told that if this continues then Qatar cannot continue to host them."
The officials did not say whether Hamas was given a deadline.
Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani has played a key role in mediating talks between Hamas and Israel, alongside Egypt and the U.S., since the Oct. 7 war.
AFP
Deadly strikes on Gaza, Lebanon as Israel faces aid deadline
Pierre-Henry Deshayes with Aya Iskandarani in Beirut
Sun, November 10, 2024 at 10:44 AM CST·4 min read
Gaza's civil defence agency said a strike on a house killed at least 25 people in Jabalia (Omar AL-QATTAA)
Gaza's civil defence agency said a strike on a house killed at least 25 people in Jabalia (Omar AL-QATTAA) (Omar AL-QATTAA/AFP/AFP)
Israeli air strikes killed dozens of people in Lebanon and Gaza Sunday, rescuers and authorities said, ahead of a US deadline for improved aid delivery to the Palestinian territory.
Rescuers in the Gaza Strip said 13 children were among 30 people killed by Israeli strikes in the territory's north.
The first strike early Sunday hit a house in Jabalia, killing at least 25 people including 13 children and injuring more than 30, Gaza's civil defence agency said.
At around 6:00 am, "there was a very huge explosion" at the Alloush family home, said relative Abdullah al-Najjar.
"When we arrived here, all the bodies were torn apart," the distraught man added.
Vowing to stop Hamas militants from regrouping in already ravaged north Gaza, Israel on October 6 began a major air and ground assault.
The United Nations has described the area as "under siege", and Washington set a deadline of this coming week for Israel to get more aid in or face possible cuts to military assistance.
After the strike in Jabalia, Israel's military said it hit "infrastructure" in which militants were operating and "posed a threat" to troops in the area.
"Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians," a military spokesman said.
Another strike on the Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City killed five people, the civil defence agency said.
- US threat -
In Lebanon, the health ministry said an Israeli strike on the village of Almat north of Beirut killed 23 people including seven children.
"Under the rubble, there are only children, elderly men and women," Hezbollah lawmaker Raed Berro said at the scene, denying Israeli allegations that Hezbollah members or weapons were embedded among civilians.
The ministry reported at least another 12 dead in strikes on the Baalbek area in the east where Hezbollah has a strong presence.
In the south, Israeli strikes killed three Hezbollah-affiliated rescuers, the ministry said.
A war monitor also reported that an Israeli strike on an apartment belonging to Hezbollah south of Syria's capital Damascus killed seven people.
Since late September Israel has been engaged in a two-front war after turning its focus north towards Lebanon.
Israel admitted for the first time Sunday it was behind a wave of deadly attacks on Hezbollah communications devices in September.
Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesman said the Israeli prime minister "greenlighted the pager operation in Lebanon" in which hundreds of devices exploded.
The attacks killed nearly 40 people and wounded some 3,000 others, and preceded Israel's ongoing military operation in Lebanon.
Israel escalated air strikes and later sent in ground troops after almost a year of tit-for-tat exchanges of fire with Iran-backed Hezbollah. The Lebanese group said it was acting in support of Hamas.
The war in Gaza erupted with Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel which resulted in 1,206 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed 43,603 people in Gaza, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, which the UN considers reliable.
Israel's main military backer the United States on October 15 warned 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.
- Qatar suspends mediation -
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said at the time that top US officials made "clear" to Israel's government that changes need to be made "to see that the level of assistance making it into Gaza comes back up from the very, very low levels that it is at today".
The demand came before Tuesday's vote for President-elect Donald Trump, who has suggested he would give freer rein to Israel.
On Saturday, a UN-backed assessment warned that famine is imminent in northern Gaza.
Fewer aid shipments were allowed into Gaza than at any time since October 2023, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report.
The alert from the Famine Review Committee warned of "an imminent and substantial likelihood of famine occurring, due to the rapidly deteriorating situation".
Israel's military questioned the report's credibility.
A military statement denounced "partial, biased data and superficial sources with vested interests".
The IPC says its process is "evidence-based" and ensures "a rigorous, neutral analysis".
The heads of UN agencies in early November described north 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 press for an end to the Gaza and Lebanon wars, a spokesman said on Thursday, before fellow mediator Qatar said Saturday it had suspended its role in trying to broker a deal.
"Qatar would resume those efforts... when the parties show their willingness and seriousness," Doha's foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said in a statement.
burs-it/srm/ami
Associated Press
Qatar suspends its mediation efforts on Gaza and the Hamas office there may have to leave
WAFAA SHURAFA, SAMY MAGDY and MATTHEW LEE
Updated Sat, November 9, 2024 at 6:55 PM CST·6 min read
Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike in the courtyard of the Al-Aqsa Hospital where displaced people live in tents, in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinian citizens of Israel protest against Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, in Umm Al-Fahm, Israel, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)Residents check the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)People march in a protest in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024 against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and call for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, marking 400 days since their capture. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike in the courtyard of the Al-Aqsa Hospital where displaced people live in tents, in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)Palestinian citizens of Israel protest against Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, in Umm Al-Fahm, Israel, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)Palestinian citizens of Israel protest against Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, in Umm Al-Fahm, Israel, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. The placard in Arabic reads: "the head of the snake is America, Israel and Arab reactionaries." (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)A local resident stands next to debris inside his house after it was struck by projectiles fired from Lebanon in Kfar Yasif, north west Israel, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)Civil defense workers extinguish a fire as smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)A resident checks the site of an Israeli airstrike in Tyre, southern Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zaatari)Resident check the site of an Israeli airstrike in Tyre, southern Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zaatari)People protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, and call for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, marking 400 days since their capture. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
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Israel Palestinians
Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike in the courtyard of the Al-Aqsa Hospital where displaced people live in tents, in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)ASSOCIATED PRESS
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Qatar has suspended its key mediation efforts between Hamas and Israel, it said Saturday, after growing frustration with the lack of progress on a cease-fire deal for Gaza.
It wasn't immediately clear whether the remaining Hamas leadership hosted by Qatar must leave, or where it would go. Hamas has good relations with Iran and Turkey, and some of its leaders are now in Lebanon.
However, Qatar is highly likely to return to mediation efforts if both sides show “serious political willingness” to reach a deal, according to an official with Egypt, the other key mediator.
Qatar told Israel and Hamas it can't continue to mediate “as long as there is a refusal to negotiate a deal in good faith” and "as a consequence, the Hamas political office no longer serves its purpose” in Qatar, a diplomatic source briefed on the matter said. Qatar told Hamas it will have to leave if it isn't ready to engage in serious negotiations, the source said.
In Washington, a U.S. official said the Biden administration informed Qatar two weeks ago that the Hamas office's continued operation in Doha was no longer useful and the Hamas delegation should be expelled.
A senior U.S. official said that after Hamas rejected the last proposal for a cease-fire, Qatar accepted the advice and informed the Hamas delegation of the decision 10 days ago.
A senior Hamas official said they were aware of Qatar’s decision to suspend mediation efforts, “but no one told us to leave.” Hamas has repeatedly called for an end to the war and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza as a condition for any cease-fire deal. Israel seeks the return of all hostages taken in Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and insists on a presence in Gaza.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. The Israeli prime minister’s office had no comment.
Late Saturday, the state-run Qatar News Agency published comments attributed to Majed bin Mohammed al-Ansari, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, confirming that Doha informed parties in the talks 10 days ago that it “would stall its efforts to mediate between Hamas and Israel if an agreement was not reached in that round.”
“Qatar will resume those efforts with its partners when the parties show their willingness and seriousness to end the brutal war and the ongoing suffering of civilians," the report said.
There continued to be no end in sight to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and the Israel-Hezbollah war in Lebanon, where Israel’s military said it struck command centers and other militant infrastructure in Beirut’s southern suburbs and elsewhere. An Israeli airstrike on the southern port city of Tyre late Friday killed at least seven, officials and a resident said.
Hezbollah “should continue (the fight) and we will continue to back them up even if we lose our families, our homes, and end up in the dirt,” said one Beirut resident, Mohammed Mekdad, as people searched the smoking rubble.
In Gaza, Israeli strikes killed at least 16 people on Saturday, Palestinian medical officials said, while Israel announced the first delivery of humanitarian aid in weeks to the territory's hungry, devastated north.
One strike hit a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City’s eastern Tufah neighborhood, killing at least six people, the territory's Health Ministry said. Two local journalists, a pregnant woman and a child were among the dead, it said. Israel's army said the strike targeted a militant belonging to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, offering no evidence.
Another Israeli strike killed seven people, including two women and a child in the southern city of Khan Younis, according to Nasser Hospital. Israel's army didn't respond to a request for comment.
And an Israeli strike hit tents in the courtyard of central Gaza’s main hospital, killing at least three people and wounding a local journalist, Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah said. It was the eighth Israeli attack on the compound since March.
Israel says aid trucks reach northern Gaza
The Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid to Gaza, COGAT, said 11 aid trucks containing food, water and medical equipment reached the enclave's far north on Thursday. It's the first time any aid has reached there since Israel began a new military campaign last month.
But not all the aid reached the agreed drop-off points, according to the the U.N. World Food Program. In the urban refugee camp of Jabaliya, Israeli troops stopped one convoy bound for nearby Beit Lahiya and ordered the supplies to be offloaded, WFP spokesperson Alia Zaki said.
Israel’s offensive has focused on Jabaliya, where Israel says Hamas had regrouped. Other areas affected include Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun just north of Gaza City.
U.S. deadline is looming for Israel
The aid announcement came days before a U.S. deadline demanding that Israel improve aid deliveries across Gaza or risk losing access to U.S. weapons funding. The U.S. says Israel must allow a minimum of 350 trucks a day carrying food and other supplies.
A report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, issued Thursday said there's a strong likelihood that famine is imminent in parts of northern Gaza, the territory's most isolated area.
COGAT rejected those findings and said the report relied “on partial, biased data and superficial sources with vested interests.”
No emergency services functioning north of Gaza City
The U.N. estimates that tens of thousands of people remain in northern Gaza. Earlier this week, the Health Ministry said there were no ambulances or emergency crews operating north of Gaza City.
The conflict has left 90% of Palestinians in Gaza displaced, according to U.N. figures.
More than a year of war in Gaza has killed more than 43,000 people, Palestinian health officials say. They don't distinguish between civilians and combatants, but say more than half of those killed were women and children.
The war began after Palestinian militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducting 250 others. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, about a third believed to be dead.
“It has been 400 days and the hostages are still in Gaza. There is a war without a direction. It’s so sad,” said Eial Tiskim, who attended the latest protest in Tel Aviv on Saturday night to demand a cease-fire deal.
___
Magdy reported from Cairo and Lee from Washington. Associated Press writer Jack Jeffery contributed to this report from Ramallah, West Bank.
___
Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
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Bruce P. Brychek
- Global Moderator, Senior Member
- Posts: 5196
- Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2006 4:53 am
EPICENTER - WHY IS ISRAEL REALLY AT WAR ?
Friday
11.29.2024
2:15 p.m.,
Chicago, Illinois time:
Dear Global Members & Readers:
From my Brilliant research/study/writing buddy John Hankey.
Some will disagree. I think the Gaza attacks were a very successful Operation Northwoods - False Flag, Israel/U.S. allowed/created, etc. Think
09.11.2001, Who Benefitted, Who Had/Has the power to accomplish & cover-up, just like the JFK Removal.
Securing Norther Gaza has been a decades long secret project to benefit Israel, the U.S., France & the U.K. w/ The New Ben Gurion Canal. Israel & the U.S. will collect all the tariffs & tolls.
In addition Israel has the SECOND LARGEST UNTAPPED OIL RESERVES IN THE WORLD that must all exit Northern Gaza.
The Egypt/Arab owned Suez Canal is old, out dated, crumbling & only allows passage of one (1) ship at a time. Egypt collects all the tariffs & tolls.
The Israel owned Ben Gurion Canal will allow 2 of the worlds largest air craft carriers, battleships, auto, grain, oil, petroleum products, etc.,
barges or tankers, simultaneously.
thoughts...
best...
bb.
Israel waits 2 whole days before celebrating Trumps "victory" as a victory for their genocide. Be sure to alert me when Trump makes a move to stop
John Hankey
To: bpbrychek@yahoo.com
Fri, Nov 29 at 11:16 AM
Israel reacts to Trump election by declaring their seizure of Norther Gaza permanent; and as US ambassador a fanatic who says Israel should expel all Palestinians and seize the West Bank
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/202 ... fd67f90000
'There Will Be No Return': Israeli Army Says It Will Not Allow Residents to Return to North Gaza
The military stated that so far, approximately 55,000 residents of Jabalya have fled south, adding that 'no one is returning to the northern area. According to a report in The Guardian, the statement was made by the commander of Division 162, Brig. Gen. Itzik Cohen
Send in e-mailSend in e-mail
Palestinians displaced from the Jabalya area make their way to the southern Gaza Strip along the Salah al-Din route, last month.Credit: AFP
Yaniv Kubovich
Nov 8, 2024
Israel's army said it will not allow residents evacuated from the northern Gaza Strip to return to their homes. "No one is returning to the northern area. There is no return to the north, and there will not be," military sources said this week, noting that about 55,000 residents from Jabalya had fled south.
According to a report in The Guardian, this statement was made by Brig. Gen. Itzik Cohen. Senior IDF officials have previously made similar statements. Cohen, the commander of the 162nd Division, explained that this decision was driven by the need for Israeli forces to resume operations in areas of northern Gaza, like Jabalya. He said humanitarian aid would only be allowed to enter regularly in the south of the Strip, not the north, "because there are no residents left there."
IDF's destruction of northern Gaza reveals the government's plan: We're here to stay
Israeli troops in north Gaza: You may be complicit in a war crime
'We won't leave': North Gaza residents staying put as Israeli army steps up pressure
The Guardian reported that an IDF spokesperson claimed on Thursday that Cohen's remarks were taken out of context and did not "reflect the IDF's objectives and values." The spokesperson added that the IDF does allow humanitarian aid to be delivered to the north, including to Jabalya.
Footage from Jabalya in northern Gaza, on November 5. Yaniv Kubovich
The army said Hamas prevented these residents from leaving Jabalya for a long period of time, withholding food and water and even executing people. According to estimates, only a few hundred residents now remain in Jabalya.
The IDF has reported on its operations in the area as successful, and claims that about 700 people suspected of being members of Hamas or other terror organizations were captured and transferred to Shin Bet interrogations, providing valuable intelligence. Around 1,000 militants were killed in these operations, and of the approximately 200 booby-trapped homes, Hamas was able to activate explosives in only two locations.
A person walks among the rubble of buildings in Jabalya, last month.Credit: Stringer/Reuters
The IDF acknowledged that this is the implementation of "certain parts" of the "General's Plan," developed by retired senior officers, which calls for the forcible expulsion of the entire Palestinian population to the southern half of Gaza, south of the Netzarim corridor (the Gaza River area) controlled by the IDF. According to the plan, which faced international criticism, anyone choosing to remain in the northern Gaza Strip would be considered a Hamas militant and could be targeted. The plan also called for blocking the entry of humanitarian aid into the north.
While the residents did not move south of the Netzarim corridor, they were effectively expelled from the northern quarter of the Gaza Strip, to areas south of Jabalya, possibly even to the Al-Shati refugee camp, slightly further south. This operation has involved massive destruction of homes and infrastructure in the northern Gaza Strip, some of which appears unrelated to direct combat. These are almost irreversible changes, and Palestinians will likely need years to repair them, if at all.
Last month, it was reported that, under pressure from political officials, the IDF is preventing the return of Jabalya residents to their homes, despite most of the military objectives of the operation in northern Gaza being achieved. It remains unclear if and when the tens of thousands of residents, who were evacuated at the army's request, will be allowed to return to the area, where Israeli forces are still operating.
11.29.2024
2:15 p.m.,
Chicago, Illinois time:
Dear Global Members & Readers:
From my Brilliant research/study/writing buddy John Hankey.
Some will disagree. I think the Gaza attacks were a very successful Operation Northwoods - False Flag, Israel/U.S. allowed/created, etc. Think
09.11.2001, Who Benefitted, Who Had/Has the power to accomplish & cover-up, just like the JFK Removal.
Securing Norther Gaza has been a decades long secret project to benefit Israel, the U.S., France & the U.K. w/ The New Ben Gurion Canal. Israel & the U.S. will collect all the tariffs & tolls.
In addition Israel has the SECOND LARGEST UNTAPPED OIL RESERVES IN THE WORLD that must all exit Northern Gaza.
The Egypt/Arab owned Suez Canal is old, out dated, crumbling & only allows passage of one (1) ship at a time. Egypt collects all the tariffs & tolls.
The Israel owned Ben Gurion Canal will allow 2 of the worlds largest air craft carriers, battleships, auto, grain, oil, petroleum products, etc.,
barges or tankers, simultaneously.
thoughts...
best...
bb.
Israel waits 2 whole days before celebrating Trumps "victory" as a victory for their genocide. Be sure to alert me when Trump makes a move to stop
John Hankey
To: bpbrychek@yahoo.com
Fri, Nov 29 at 11:16 AM
Israel reacts to Trump election by declaring their seizure of Norther Gaza permanent; and as US ambassador a fanatic who says Israel should expel all Palestinians and seize the West Bank
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/202 ... fd67f90000
'There Will Be No Return': Israeli Army Says It Will Not Allow Residents to Return to North Gaza
The military stated that so far, approximately 55,000 residents of Jabalya have fled south, adding that 'no one is returning to the northern area. According to a report in The Guardian, the statement was made by the commander of Division 162, Brig. Gen. Itzik Cohen
Send in e-mailSend in e-mail
Palestinians displaced from the Jabalya area make their way to the southern Gaza Strip along the Salah al-Din route, last month.Credit: AFP
Yaniv Kubovich
Nov 8, 2024
Israel's army said it will not allow residents evacuated from the northern Gaza Strip to return to their homes. "No one is returning to the northern area. There is no return to the north, and there will not be," military sources said this week, noting that about 55,000 residents from Jabalya had fled south.
According to a report in The Guardian, this statement was made by Brig. Gen. Itzik Cohen. Senior IDF officials have previously made similar statements. Cohen, the commander of the 162nd Division, explained that this decision was driven by the need for Israeli forces to resume operations in areas of northern Gaza, like Jabalya. He said humanitarian aid would only be allowed to enter regularly in the south of the Strip, not the north, "because there are no residents left there."
IDF's destruction of northern Gaza reveals the government's plan: We're here to stay
Israeli troops in north Gaza: You may be complicit in a war crime
'We won't leave': North Gaza residents staying put as Israeli army steps up pressure
The Guardian reported that an IDF spokesperson claimed on Thursday that Cohen's remarks were taken out of context and did not "reflect the IDF's objectives and values." The spokesperson added that the IDF does allow humanitarian aid to be delivered to the north, including to Jabalya.
Footage from Jabalya in northern Gaza, on November 5. Yaniv Kubovich
The army said Hamas prevented these residents from leaving Jabalya for a long period of time, withholding food and water and even executing people. According to estimates, only a few hundred residents now remain in Jabalya.
The IDF has reported on its operations in the area as successful, and claims that about 700 people suspected of being members of Hamas or other terror organizations were captured and transferred to Shin Bet interrogations, providing valuable intelligence. Around 1,000 militants were killed in these operations, and of the approximately 200 booby-trapped homes, Hamas was able to activate explosives in only two locations.
A person walks among the rubble of buildings in Jabalya, last month.Credit: Stringer/Reuters
The IDF acknowledged that this is the implementation of "certain parts" of the "General's Plan," developed by retired senior officers, which calls for the forcible expulsion of the entire Palestinian population to the southern half of Gaza, south of the Netzarim corridor (the Gaza River area) controlled by the IDF. According to the plan, which faced international criticism, anyone choosing to remain in the northern Gaza Strip would be considered a Hamas militant and could be targeted. The plan also called for blocking the entry of humanitarian aid into the north.
While the residents did not move south of the Netzarim corridor, they were effectively expelled from the northern quarter of the Gaza Strip, to areas south of Jabalya, possibly even to the Al-Shati refugee camp, slightly further south. This operation has involved massive destruction of homes and infrastructure in the northern Gaza Strip, some of which appears unrelated to direct combat. These are almost irreversible changes, and Palestinians will likely need years to repair them, if at all.
Last month, it was reported that, under pressure from political officials, the IDF is preventing the return of Jabalya residents to their homes, despite most of the military objectives of the operation in northern Gaza being achieved. It remains unclear if and when the tens of thousands of residents, who were evacuated at the army's request, will be allowed to return to the area, where Israeli forces are still operating.