Israeli attack on northern Gaza kills at least 109, dozens missing
- An Israeli air strike has destroyed a five-storey residential building sheltering displaced families in Gaza’s Beit Lahiya, killing at least 109 Palestinians, including children, and wounding dozens.
- Hezbollah has announced Naim Qassem will succeed slain leader Hassan Nasrallah as secretary-general of the group.
‘People pulling bodies, limbs and wounded from under the rubble’
Palestinian rescuers and family members are scouring through the concrete wreckage of the demolished five-storey residential building in Beit Lahiya in the north of Gaza that Israel destroyed, killing at least 109 people.
A charred body with long hair hung out of an upper-storey window and corpses wrapped in blankets were lined up in the street below, as stunned relatives sought to identify the dead.
“The explosion happened at night and I first thought it was shelling, but when I went out after sunrise I saw people pulling bodies, limbs and the wounded from under the rubble,” said Rabie al-Shandagly, 30, who took refuge in a nearby school in Beit Lahiya.
“Most of the victims are women and children, and people are trying to save the injured. But there are no hospitals or proper medical care,” he said.
The Israeli military said it’s “looking into the reports” of the strike in Beit Lahiya.
Irish PM calls on EU to review trade relations with Israel
The Republic of Ireland’s Prime Minister Simon Harris has called on the EU to review its ties with Israel following its ban on the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
“The most important action that the European Union could take right now is reviewing trade relations,” Harris told reporters in Dublin.
“What Israel and the Israeli Knesset did last night was despicable, disgraceful and shameful. More people will die, more children will starve,” he said.
Harris said there’s “no alternative” to UNRWA and will discuss “how Europe now needs to find the moral courage … to act in relation to this”.
Ireland, Spain, Belgium, and Slovenia, which all recognised Palestinian statehood earlier this year, have been calling for the bloc to take more action on the war, he added.
50% of Gaza’s telecommunications infrastructure destroyed
The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media says that since October 2023, at least 50 percent of the total infrastructure has been destroyed, resulting in repeated disruptions to internet services and other communications.
The organisation, known as 7amleh, said communications services were cut off at least 15 times from October 2023 to March. The damage inflicted on communication towers and the fibre optic infrastructure is estimated at $90m up to March, 7amleh said.
Palestine official calls for Israel’s ouster from UN over UNRWA ban
The president of the Palestinian National Council, Rawhi Fattouh, has called for Israel’s expulsion from the United Nations if it fails to reverse its ban on UNRWA functioning in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory.
Fattouh said Israel’s decision is in clear violation of the UN Charter and part of Israel’s policy is “ethnic cleansing”, Wafa news agency reported.
He urged UN member states to hold a General Assembly session to compel Israel to reverse its legislation or face legal consequences that could result in expulsion from the world body.
The ban on the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) not only jeopardises the rights of refugees but also undermines international legitimacy and goes against UN resolutions concerning the Palestinian issue, Fattouh said.
Israel’s Gallant: New Hezbollah leader will be ’temporary’
In a post on X in English, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant describes Naim Qassem as the new Hezbollah chief as a “Temporary appointment. Not for long.”
“The countdown has begun,” Gallant wrote in a separate post in Hebrew.
Hezbollah announced Qassem’s appointment as its new secretary-general, replacing Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli air strike last month.
Israeli TV host faces backlash for blowing up house in Lebanon
Israeli TV presenter Danny Kushmaro has been criticised for blowing up a building in southern Lebanon.
He did it during an embed with the Israeli forces for a report that aired on Israel’s Channel 12.
