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Live blog: Israeli air strikes across Gaza kill at least nine Palestinians
Tel Aviv’s year-long war on Gaza has killed at least 42,175 Palestinians. Separately, Israeli attacks across Lebanon since October 2023 have killed more than 2,255 people and uprooted another 1.2 million.
Local reports indicate that Israeli warplanes targeted a group of individuals east of Deir al Balah, killing one person and wounding several others. / Photo: AA
AA
Local reports indicate that Israeli warplanes targeted a group of individuals east of Deir al Balah, killing one person and wounding several others. / Photo: AA
Sunday, October 13, 2024
0837 GMT — At least nine Palestinians have been killed this morning as Israel continues to bomb various locations across Gaza, the Palestinian news agency WAFA has reported.
Local reports indicate that Israeli warplanes targeted a group of individuals east of Deir al Balah, killing one person and wounding several others.
In a separate incident, Israeli artillery shelling in Block 1 of the Bureij refugee camp killed three local Palestinians and left additional injuries.
In a further escalation, Israeli air strikes on the Al Ettesalat area, located west of the Jabalia refugee camp, killed five more Palestinians, with additional injuries reported.
These military actions coincide with reports of explosions from the Israeli army demolishing dozens of homes in Jabalia and surrounding areas, particularly in the al-Safatay and al-Tuwam neighbourhoods.
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0902 GMT — Israel envoy criticises Japan atomic survivor’s Gaza comparison
Israel’s ambassador to Japan has criticised a leader of Nihon Hidankyo, the atomic bomb survivors’ group awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, for comparing their experiences to the children of Gaza.
Gilad Cohen congratulated Nihon Hidankyo for winning this year’s prize but said in a post on social media platform X on Sunday the comparison drawn by the group’s co-chair Toshiyuki Mimaki “is outrageous and baseless”.
0851 GMT — Israeli strike injures Red Cross volunteers in Lebanon
Four Lebanese Red Cross volunteers have been injured during an Israeli air strike while responding to casualties from an earlier attack on a home in Srobbine, a village in Lebanon’s Nabatiyeh governorate, according to the Red Cross.
In a statement, the Red Cross reported that emergency teams were dispatched to the site of the first Israeli air strike in Srobbine around 8.00 am (0500GMT), in coordination with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
As the volunteers searched for victims, the house was struck again, injuring four Red Cross responders and damaging two ambulances. The injured were transported to a hospital with minor injuries and are reported to be in stable condition.
0845 GMT — Israel prepares for potential strike on Iran in coordination with US, deploys missile defence system
The Israeli army is reportedly preparing for possible action against Iran in coordination with the United States following a retaliatory missile attack by Iran on Israel earlier this month, Israeli media has reported.
Israel has “already decided on the type of response to Iran,” though the exact timing remains undecided, according to Channel 12.
On Saturday evening, the Israeli army announced the deployment of the US-made THAAD missile defence system in Israel to counter potential long-range ballistic missile threats from Iran.
0823 GMT — Palestinian detainee dies in Israeli hospital: Palestinian authority
A Palestinian prisoner receiving treatment in an Israeli hospital has died, the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs has announced.
According to the commission, Muhammad Munir Musa, a 37-year-old resident of Bethlehem in the southern occupied West Bank, died at Soroka Hospital in Beersheba, southern Israel.
The authority stated that Musa had been detained by Israeli authorities since April 20, 2023.
0810 GMT — Israeli tanks deepen their push into northern Gaza
Israeli forces widened their raid into northern Gaza, and tanks reached the north edge of Gaza City, pounding some districts of the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, residents have said, forcing many families to leave their homes.
Residents said Israeli forces have effectively isolated Beit Hanoun, Jabalia, and Beit Lahiya in the far north of the enclave from Gaza City, blocking access between the two areas except upon their permission for families willing to leave the three towns, heeding evacuation orders.
0624 GMT — Australian foreign minister lashes out at opposition for not supporting Gaza ceasefire
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong has lashed out at the opposition for not supporting the growing calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon.
Wong said that the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, is ‘extreme’ for not supporting Middle East ceasefire calls, local broadcaster SBS News reported.
Wong’s comments came after Liberal senator James Paterson said the opposition wants an end to lingering conflict in the Middle East, but refused to back a ceasefire.
0610 GMT — Israel bombs a historic mosque in southern Lebanon
In a series of pre-dawn air strikes, Israeli warplanes targeted multiple locations in southern Lebanon, causing significant destruction, according to the Lebanese National News Agency.
At approximately 3:45 a.m., an air strike levelled the historic old mosque in the centre of the town of Kfar Tibnit, completely destroying the structure, the agency reported.
Earlier, at around 12:15 a.m., another air strike targeted a three-storey building next to Ghabris station on the Zefta-Nabatieh highway, also destroying it, it added.
The strike caused the closure of the road as debris from the building blocked access. The same building had been previously struck in an air raid a week earlier, partially damaging it.
A third air strike was carried out at approximately 1:30 a.m., this time targeting the town of Aita al-Shaab. No further details on casualties or additional damage were immediately available.
0535 GMT — Hezbollah says clashes after Israeli troop infiltration attempts
Lebanon’s Hezbollah group has said it clashed twice with Israeli troops who attempted to infiltrate near a Lebanese border village and claimed several other attacks overnight.
Hezbollah fighters detonated explosive devices at Israeli soldiers and “clashed with them as they attempted to infiltrate” twice near the Lebanese village of Ramia, the group said, reporting fighting that lasted about an hour.
The group also claimed attacks on Israeli troops in Lebanon and on the Israeli side of the border.
0419 GMT — Venezuela sends 14 tons of humanitarian aid to Syria for Lebanese refugees
Venezuela has announced the delivery of 14 tons of humanitarian aid to Lebanese refugees who fled to Syria because of Israeli attacks.
Foreign Minister Yvan Gil said the donation was provided by the people of Venezuela, and the aid would be delivered to those in need as soon as possible.
A ceremony took at the Simon Bolivar International Airport in the city of Maiquetia in La Guaira state and was attended by Tatiana Pugh, deputy minister for Asia, the Middle East and Oceania, along with Lebanese and Syrian ambassadors Elias Lebbos and Kenan Zaher Al Deen, respectively.
0036 GMT — US expresses concern over Israeli attacks on UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon
US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin voiced concern about Israel’s attacks on UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) positions in southern Lebanon during a telephone call with Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
Austin “expressed his deep concern about reports that Israeli forces fired on UN peacekeeping positions in Lebanon as well as by the reported death of two Lebanese soldiers,” Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said in a statement.
“The Secretary strongly emphasised the importance of ensuring the safety and security of UNIFIL forces and Lebanese Armed Forces and reinforced the need to pivot from military operations in Lebanon to a diplomatic pathway as soon as feasible,” it said.
2241 GMT — Iran’s parliament speaker reiterates support for Lebanon amid Israeli aggression
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said that Tehran “supports all decisions issued by the government and the resistance in Lebanon” with the Israeli onslaught against that country.
“I bring with me a message from the Iranian leadership that it will remain by Lebanon’s side during these difficult times,” Qalibaf said at a news conference alongside his Lebanese counterpart, Nabih Berri, after a meeting in the Ain El Tineh area in western Beirut.
The Iranian speaker said that “the Iranian government and nation are ready to help the displaced and war-stricken people in Lebanon by widespread dispatch of supplies through an air corridor.”
2227 GMT — Gaza authorities say Israeli genocide part of displacement plan
The Gaza Media Office said that the Israeli army is intensifying genocide in northern Gaza, including the Jabalia refugee camp, with “massacres and deliberate killings” since its ground encroachment on October 6.
“The occupation army is preventing rescue teams and civil defence from retrieving more than 75 martyrs out of 285 who have been killed during its ground assault,” it said in a statement.
It “is committing crimes against humanity and engaging in premeditated killing by bombing displacement and shelter centres, carrying out horrific massacres against civilians through targeted shelling of gatherings of children and women,” it said.
2213 GMT — Israel kills 15 people, wounds scores in northern and central Lebanon
Israel has killed at least 15 people in its strikes in northern and central Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
The first strike targeted an apartment in a residential building in the town of Barja in Mount Lebanon in the central area of the country, killing four people and wounding 14 others, it said.
The air strike marked the first attack on the town since the onset of the onslaught, according to local media.
The second strike hit a home in the town of Maaysrah in Mount Lebanon, killing nine and wounding 15, said the ministry.
It reported separately that two people were killed and four injured in an Israeli airstrike on the town of Deir Billah in northern Lebanon.
2203 GMT — Israel kills six Palestinians in central besieged Gaza
Israel has killed six Palestinians in its strikes targeting a house in Nuseirat camp that belonged to the Abu Dalal family in central Gaza, a medical source told Anadolu Agency.
Israel has continued its carnage on besieged Gaza since October 2023, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.
2102 GMT — Israeli strikes wound patients at hospital in eastern Lebanon
A government hospital in the Baalbek region of eastern Lebanon said that several patients were wounded, and it sustained severe damage from Israeli air strikes near the hospital.
The Tamnin General Hospital said that “for the third consecutive time today, the aggressive Israeli enemy has targeted the area surrounding the hospital.”
The strikes “resulted in significant and severe damage to the hospital, in addition to injuring many patients present in the hospital due to flying glass and shrapnel.”
“While we condemn this aggression against healthcare institutions, we assure the enemy that its brutality will not deter us from continuing our path,” it added.
1951 GMT — Protests against Israeli aggression in Gaza, Lebanon erupt across Europe
Protests against Israel’s aggression on Gaza and Lebanon were held in several European cities, with hundreds rallying in Stockholm, Paris, and Berlin calling for an immediate ceasefire.
In Stockholm, demonstrators gathered at Odenplan, marching toward the Swedish parliament while chanting slogans such as “Killer Israel, get out of Palestine” and “Immediate and unconditional ceasefire.”
In Paris, supporters of Palestine and Lebanon convened near the Fontaine des Innocents, demanding an end to Israeli attacks and urging the French government to withdraw its support for Tel Aviv.
In Berlin, around 2,000 participants marched from Innsbruck Square to Steglitz metro station, denouncing the attacks with slogans like “Stop funding genocide” and “Freedom for Palestine.”
1935 GMT — Lives of children in Palestine, Lebanon ‘torn apart in unimaginable ways’: UNICEF chief
The lives of children in Palestine and Lebanon are “torn apart in unimaginable ways,” the executive director of UNICEF said.
“Tens of thousands of children have died. Thousands more are in captivity, displaced, orphaned, out of school, and suffer trauma from violence and war,” Catherine Russell said in a statement.
She said that all parties are obligated to protect civilians, including children, humanitarian workers and civilian infrastructure, including schools and health facilities.
“Parties must allow unfettered access to life-saving aid. These obligations are flagrantly disregarded,” Russell added.
Calling the deaths and suffering of children “shameful,” she said: “The daily bloodshed and horror for children are an affront to the most fundamental values of humanity. The violence against children, the most vulnerable among us, must end.”
For our live updates from Saturday, October 12, 2024, click here.
SOURCE: TRTWORLD AND AGENCIES