Israel intensifies attacks on Lebanon, Gaza, occupied West Bank

04/10/2024

Israel launches the heaviest air strikes on Beirut so far with dozens reportedly killed across Lebanon over the past day.
At least 18 Palestinians are killed in an Israeli jet fighter attack on the Tulkarem refugee camp in the occupied West Bank with the death toll expected to rise.

Two Israeli soldiers killed in combat in northern Israel
Israeli military officials say two soldiers from the Golani Brigade have been killed in combat in northern Israel.

Two others were severely injured.

Israel says 250 Hezbollah fighters killed in south Lebanon

An Israeli military spokesperson says that Israeli forces have killed around 250 Hezbollah fighters, including a number of battalion and company commanders, since the start of a ground operation in Lebanon.

Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said that the military was still assessing the damage caused by air strikes in southern Beirut on Thursday night, which he said targeted Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters.

Hezbollah has not confirmed the number of fighters killed in combat so far.

Successful attacks on Hezbollah emboldened Netanyahu to hit Iran: Analyst

Military analyst Elijah Magnier says it is not accurate that Netanyahu is holding off on a potential attack on Iranian nuclear sites due to public pressure inside its country.

Just before the assassination of top Hezbollah leaders, including Hassan Nasrallah, Netanyahu “was looking for a way out and was in a corner with a majority of Israeli opinion against him, wanting to stop the war on Gaza and secure the release of all prisoners”, Magnier said

“But once he turned his guns toward Lebanon, everything changed,” the analyst said, adding that bombing Yemen twice, killing Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, the explosion of the pagers and the walkie-talkies, and hitting Hezbollah boosted his reputation.

Adding Gideon Saar back into his cabinet also granted Netanyahu more support in the Knesset, along with four new seats, Magnier said.

“For the moment, it is in Netanyahu’s interest to keep escalating until November, he needs to know who becomes president in the United States,” he said. “We see possibility to attack Iran will increase manyfolds if Trump wins”.

Strike near Marjayoun hospital ‘sent shockwaves’ in majority Christian town

Israel’s attack near Marjayoun hospital in southern Lebanon has shaken the majority Christian town, which had been spared in previous conflicts.

Israeli jets targeted the area around the government hospital, killing four paramedics and leading to the hospital’s closure.

“If you go back to the war in 2006, Marjayoun was spared,” Al Jazeera’s Assed Baig said.

But earlier this year, an Israeli drone strike targeted the town for the first time, he noted.

“It sent shockwaves,” Baig said. “The targeting of this vicinity around the hospital will again shock many people in Marjayoun. Targeting hospitals is an alarming thing for many people in Lebanon.”

‘Please don’t cry for me’: Gaza family discovers will of child killed in Israeli bombing

The family of 10-year-old Rasha Al-Ar’eer have found her last will written in a note after she and her 11-year-old brother Ahmad were killed in an Israeli air strike in northern Gaza.

“My will if I am martyred … please do not cry for me, because it just hurts to see you in tears. I want my clothes to be given to those in need, and my accessories, bead boxes, allowance, books, notebooks, and toys to be shared with my cousins. Please do not shout at my brother Ahmad. I do hope you honor my will,” she wrote.

The Palestinian foreign ministry said the two siblings had survived an Israeli air strike on their home just three months earlier.

Attacks on health workers and facilities in Lebanon reminiscent of Gaza

What we’re hearing is that four paramedics were killed in the Marjayoun hospital. It’s a place I’ve spent a lot of time in before we had to evacuate from there.
A Lebanese medical source told Al Jazeera that they were killed after Israeli fighter jets targeted an ambulance belonging to the Islamic health authority in the vicinity of the hospital. After that attack, the decision was made to shutter the hospital.

That’s 38 medical facilities out of 137 that have now been shuttered across the 120-kilometre (75-mile) border. Most of them were very close to the border areas and the doctors and medical staff there felt that those strikes were coming in too close for them to guarantee to be able to operate safely.

And now, this hospital, which is a major one for this entire area, has shuttered its doors, as well.

Once again that word keeps coming up when you talk about southern Lebanon: Gaza.

People are looking at the attacks on hospital infrastructure in Gaza which has been completely decimated and wondering how much time is going to take for that to happen here.

Islamic Resistance in Iraq says three projectiles launched at Israeli targets

The umbrella group of Iran-aligned armed forces in Iraq says it launched projectiles against three targets in occupied Golan and Tiberias in Israel.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq added in a statement that its forces used drones at the targets, with the attacks taking place at dawn on Friday.

It promised to continue “operations to pound the enemy’s strongholds at an escalating pace.

Israel targeting Palestinian fighters in West Bank ‘in a way we haven’t seen before’

Israel has increased its campaign against the West Bank resistance. In the West Bank, you didn’t really have a lot of armed resistance for many years, but that’s something that has changed over the last few years.

More youth are frustrated with the reality of the occupation, which becomes entrenched; the increasing expansion of settlements; the more violent behaviour by the illegal settlers in the occupied West Bank – in fact, you have settlers in government these days. That’s the ideology that a couple [Israeli] ministers hold.

You’ve had increased armed resistance, and Israel has really been clamping down on that in a way that we haven’t seen before.

It’s significant that in Tulkarem they actually used a fighter jet to target a busy cafe, killing a Hamas commander but also civilians. Israel doesn’t seem to care about what they call “collateral damage”. They say that the Hamas commander was in charge of organising attacks against Israel, but this is a massive strike, and it’s also a massive death toll of civilians.

Israel simply doesn’t care about that. It seems to now have a very long list of targets that it is eliminating as it goes, whether it’s in Lebanon, in Gaza, in the West Bank, and I think it’s also a message to those in the West Bank: “While we are busy in Lebanon and Gaza, we can still get you.”

‘What happened yesterday was a major massacre’

We’ve been reporting on the Israeli air strike that killed 18 people in the occupied West Bank. Israel says it targeted a commander from Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Faisal Salama, an official in the Tulkarem refugee camp, said the attack destroyed a two-story building with many Palestinians gathered in a popular cafe on the lower floor.

“What happened yesterday was a major massacre. They were in pieces,” Salama told Al Jazeera, describing the victims.

Most of those inside were killed immediately with 10 others wounded, he said.

“We consider this is an aggression targeting all our people, and we demand an end to this war, an end to the occupation, and that we live in freedom, security and safety like all the peoples of the world,” said Salama.

“This is collective punishment practised by the occupation against our people. Most of those who were martyred yesterday were innocent civilians who were targeted inside their home.”

Al Jazeera condemns the assault on its journalist Laith Jaar by Palestinian Security

Al Jazeera Media Network strongly condemns the assault by a member of the Palestinian Authority’s security on its correspondent, Laith Jaar, in the West Bank while he was covering the Israeli bombardment of the Tulkarem refugee camp. According to Laith’s testimony, security officer Ahmad Ghassan Quzah assaulted him and threatened to shoot him.

The Network also condemns the subsequent detention and arrest of Laith by the national security, while filing a complaint against the security officer who assaulted him. The Network consider this action is part of a systematic incitement campaign against Laith and Al Jazeera’s coverage.

This attack and arrest represent a serious escalation and a clear violation of journalists’ rights, adding to the ongoing systematic targeting of our reporters in the Palestinian territories, particularly following the illegal closure of the Al Jazeera bureau in Ramallah by the Israeli occupation authorities.

Al Jazeera emphasises the need to protect journalists and their right to perform their professional duties without threats or intimidation. Any attack infringing upon this right is intolerable.

Al Jazeera calls on the responsible entities in the Palestinian Authority to immediately release our colleague Laith Jaar, open an urgent and comprehensive investigation into this incident, and hold those responsible for the incitement and attack accountable with the utmost seriousness and transparency.

The Network also stresses the need to take the necessary measures to ensure the safety of journalists and prevent the recurrence of such violations.

Al Jazeera Media Network reaffirms its unwavering commitment to conveying the truth and exposing all violations, and it will not back down from its journalistic responsibilities, regardless of the challenges and pressures.

04/10/2024

Two Israeli soldiers killed in combat in northern Israel

Israel says 250 Hezbollah fighters killed in south Lebanon

Successful attacks on Hezbollah emboldened Netanyahu to hit Iran: Analyst

Strike near Marjayoun hospital ‘sent shockwaves’ in majority Christian town

‘Please don’t cry for me’: Gaza family discovers will of child killed in Israeli bombing

Attacks on health workers and facilities in Lebanon reminiscent of Gaza

Islamic Resistance in Iraq says three projectiles launched at Israeli targets

Israel targeting Palestinian fighters in West Bank ‘in a way we haven’t seen before’

‘What happened yesterday was a major massacre’

Al Jazeera condemns the assault on its journalist Laith Jaar by Palestinian Security

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