Israeli strikes kill dozens in Lebanon and distance northern Gaza as Netanyahu and Trump speak – national

Israeli strikes killed scores of people, including children, on Sunday in Lebanon and northern Gaza, as the world watched for signs of how the US election could affect the war against Iran-backed terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has spoken three times with Donald Trump since Tuesday's election and “they agree on the threat of Iran and all its components.” The president of Israel, Isaac Herzog, is scheduled to meet with US President Joe Biden on Tuesday.

An Israeli airstrike in Lebanon killed at least 23 people, including seven children, in the Aalmat village north of Beirut, far from areas in the east and south where Hezbollah militants are active. Lebanon's Ministry of Health said six other people were injured. There was no warning to leave Israel. There was no immediate comment from Israel.

Hezbollah began firing rockets, drones and missiles at Israel after the outbreak of war in Gaza, in cooperation with the Palestinians and Hamas. Israel retaliated, and the escalation of the series has led to a deadly war.

In northern Gaza, an Israeli strike on a refugee shelter in the refugee camp in the town of Jabaliya killed at least 17 people, including nine women, according to Dr. Fadel Naim, director of Al-Ahly Hospital in Gaza City.

The Israeli military said it was targeting a military base, without providing evidence. It said the details of the strike are being reviewed.

A separate strike hit a house in Gaza City, killing Wael al-Khour, a minister in the Hamas-run government, along with his wife and three children, according to Civil Defense, the government's first responders.

Israel invades Lebanon

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Israel has invaded Lebanon since September, killing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and most of his top commanders. Hezbollah increased its rocket fire from northern to central Israel. The war has killed more than 3,000 people in Lebanon, according to the Ministry of Health, and more than 70 people in Israel.

After the Israeli strike in Aalmat, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Beirut, lawmaker Raed Berro denied that there were any Hezbollah personnel or property in the building that was hit, adding: “The important people are first.” fighting … it is impossible for them to be among non-combatants. “

Hassan Ghaddaf, who lives next to his house and was slightly injured, said that the people who fled were in the house that was hit.

“I had seen them and I knew them one day,” said Ghaddaf. “They were peaceful. Instead, they had someone from the Lebanese Internal Security Forces working for the state, and we saw their uniforms and clothes in the rubble.”

In Syria, Israeli airstrikes hit a residential building in Damascus in Sayyida Zeinab and the Ministry of Defense said seven people were killed, SANA news agency said. Britain-based opposition war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights suggested Hezbollah was targeted. Israel had no immediate comment.

Fear of famine in northern Gaza

A mid-month deadline looms for the Biden administration to offer Israel to allow more aid to Gaza or risk possible restrictions on US military funding.

Israeli forces have surrounded and largely isolated Jabaliya and the nearby northern Gaza towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun for the past month, allowing only a handful of humanitarian aid. Food security experts say famine is imminent or may have already begun.

The northern third of Gaza, including Gaza City, suffered the most destruction from the 13-month war that began with Hamas attacks in southern Israel. Israel has returned troops after several operations, saying Hamas has regrouped.

Israeli strikes often kill women and children. The military says it is only targeting terrorists, whom it suspects of hiding among civilians.

Also on Sunday, the Israeli army released what is not believed to be a video of Hamas torturing prisoners. The silent video, which dates from 2018 to 2020, appears to show chained prisoners in stress areas. In some clips, men beat or poke them with sticks.

The videos, which the military said they obtained during operations in Gaza, could not be independently verified.

Rights groups have long accused the Hamas-led government in Gaza and the Western-backed Palestinian Authority in the West Bank of abusing prisoners and violently suppressing dissent. Israel has been accused of similar abuses, especially since the start of the war. Israeli prison authorities say they are following the relevant laws and investigating any allegations of wrongdoing.

The difficulty of war

The war in Gaza began when militants led by Hamas invaded southern Israel on October 7, 2023. They killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and kidnapped about 250. Another 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, about a third of whom are believed to be dead. .

The Israeli offensive has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities who do not distinguish between civilians and hostages in their numbers but say more than half of the dead are women and children.

Israeli bombardment and ground attacks have left large areas of Gaza in ruins and displaced 90 percent of the 2.3 million people, often multiple times. Hundreds of thousands of people live in tent camps with few if any services.

Ceasefire talks brokered by the United States, Qatar and Egypt have repeatedly stalled, as have similar efforts by the US and others to stop fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Qatar, a key mediator for Hamas, said on Saturday it had suspended its efforts and would resume when “the parties show their resolve and determination to end the brutal war.”