Israeli forces launch new air strikes on Beirut suburbs
- At least nine air raids reported on Beirut’s southern suburbs after Israeli army threatened residents to leave the area.
- Nearly 70 percent of those killed in Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza are women and children, the UN Human Rights Office says, calling it “a systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law”.
At least five strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs
We’re getting reports of at least five strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs.
This is an area where tens of thousands of people used to live and that has now been almost flattened.
The majority of the population has left the area, but some residents stayed, and it is possible that we will get reports of casualties in the coming hours, despite evacuation warnings by the Israeli army.
Another journalist killed by Israeli forces in Gaza
Israeli forces have killed another Palestinian journalist in Gaza.
The Gaza-based Government Media Office said Khaled Abu Zir, a journalist working for a local radio broadcaster, was killed by the Israeli army, bringing the death toll of journalists and media workers killed in Gaza killed by Israel since October last year to 184.
The statement urged the international community and international press groups to deter Israel and prosecute it before the international courts for its crimes committed against the Palestinians and journalists in particular.
Last week, UN chief said the killings of journalists in Gaza since October 7 last year have been “unacceptable”.
More on the Israeli raids on southern Beirut
Lebanon’s National News Agency is reporting an air raid near the Lebanese University in al-Hadath area, in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
It also reported two air raids targeting the Burj al-Barajneh area.
Israeli raids hit southern Beirut
Our colleagues on the ground are reporting that the Israeli army has launched a raid on the southern suburb of Beirut.
This raid comes shortly after the army called for the evacuation of buildings in Haret Hreik and Burj al-Barajneh in the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital.
Israeli army issues another threat against southern Beirut residents
The Israeli army has issued another threat to residents of Dahiyeh, a southern Beirut suburb, claiming that they are “located near facilities and interests belonging to Hezbollah, against which the Israeli Army will act strongly in the near future”.
“For your safety and the safety of your family members, you must evacuate these buildings and those adjacent to them immediately and move away from them by at least 500 metres [1,640 feet].”
Israeli forces raid Marda village in West Bank
Wafa news agency is reporting that Israeli forces have raided the Marda village, north of the occupied West Bank city of Salfit.
The report said that Israeli forces stormed the village while “firing barrages of live gunfire and flare bombs”.
The army also “sealed off the western entrance of the village at a time when the eastern entrance continues to be blocked by a metal gate for several months”.
Palestinian president says ready to work with Trump towards peace
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has congratulated Donald Trump in a phone call, the Wafa news agency has reported, expressing his readiness to work with him to achieve a “just and comprehensive” peace.
Trump stressed that he will work to stop the war and work with the concerned parties in the region to make peace, the report added.
New Israeli strikes reported in Bekaa and Tyre
Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) is reporting new strikes in the western Bekaa area, targeting the Rayhan Heights, the village of Wadi Barghaz and the western outskirts of the town of Labaya.
In Labaya, a house was completely destroyed by the air raid, NNA reported.
A new Israeli strike in Tyre has also been reported, hours after at least three people were killed and several wounded in an Israeli attack on two buildings in the southern Lebanese city.
UNIFIL targeted 40 times in southern Lebanon
The deputy spokesperson for UNIFIL, Kandice Ardiel, has told Al Jazeera the peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon was targeted 40 times, amid continuing fighting between the Israeli military and Hezbollah.
Ardiel said eight attacks were confirmed to have originated from the Israeli army, which requested that UNIFIL evacuate 29 sites near the Blue Line.
The spokesperson said the UN mission is committed to staying in the area despite having witnessed several deliberate attacks.
Many fear escalation in Israeli-Hezbollah conflict until Trump takes office
This is a strategy that they employed in the last major war with Israel in 2006. They continue to fire rockets and drones across the border, at times hitting Israeli military positions.
They’ve struck deep inside Israel, close to Tel Aviv international airport. But Israel responded to that attack by striking next to Beirut international airport.
Hezbollah acknowledges that Israel controls the skies and that Israel has a more technologically advanced army. But it says it is relying on its fighters, who they say are preventing the Israeli army from advancing deep inside Lebanon.
So, Hezbollah’s strategies are designed to make it costly for the Israeli army, to make sure that the people cannot return to their homes in the north and central Israel.
But this has been costly for both sides, and as there’s no prospect for a ceasefire, many fear, we’re going to see an escalation until the US president-elect, Donald Trump, takes office in January.
