Middle East wars: Israeli strikes kill dozens in Lebanon and isolated northern Gaza Strip, officials say

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes killed dozens of people, including children, in Lebanon and the isolated north on Sunday Gazaas the world waited for signs of how the US election might affect the war against the Iran-backed militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had spoken to him three times Donald Trump since Tuesday's election and they “are of one mind about the Iranian threat and all its components.” Israeli President Isaac Herzog is scheduled to meet US President Joe Biden on Tuesday.

The Israeli airstrike in Lebanon killed at least 23 people, including seven children, in the village of Aalmat north of Beirut, far from areas to the east and south where Hezbollah fighters have a large presence. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, another six people were injured. There was no Israeli evacuation warning. There was no immediate Israeli comment.

After the war broke out in Gaza, Hezbollah began firing rockets, drones and missiles at Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas. Israel retaliated and a series of escalations led to all-out war.

In northern Gaza, an Israeli attack on a home for displaced people in the urban Jabaliya refugee camp killed at least 17 people, including nine women, Dr. Fadel Naim, director of Al-Ahly Hospital in Gaza City.

The Israeli military said it attacked a site where militants were operating, without providing evidence. It said the details of the strike were currently being reviewed.

A separate attack hit a house in Gaza City, killing Wael al-Khour, a minister in the Hamas-run government, as well as his wife and three children, according to Civil Defense, first responders working under the government.

Israel penetrates deeper into Lebanon

Israel has pushed deeper into Lebanon since September Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed as well as most of his top commanders. Hezbollah has expanded its rocket fire from northern to central Israel. According to the Health Ministry, more than 3,000 people were killed in the fighting in Lebanon and more than 70 people in Israel.

After the Israeli attack in Aalmat, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Beirut, lawmaker Raed Berro denied that Hezbollah personnel or assets were in the building hit, adding: “The important people are on the front lines and resist… That's it. It's impossible for them to be among people in civilian life.”

Hassan Ghaddaf, who lived next door and was slightly injured, said there were displaced people in the house hit.

“I had recently seen and met her,” said Ghaddaf. “They were peaceful. On the contrary, they had someone from the Lebanese internal security forces working for the state and we saw their clothes and clothing in the rubble.”

In Syria, an Israeli airstrike hit a residential building in the Damascus suburb of Sayyida Zeinab, state news agency SANA reported. The opposition's Britain-based war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said at least three people were killed and suggested Hezbollah had been targeted. Israel did not immediately comment.

Fear of famine in the north of the Gaza Strip

The middle of the month The deadline is approaching As an ultimatum, the Biden administration gave Israel either to allow more aid to Gaza Risk of possible restrictions on US military financing.

Israeli forces have encircled and largely isolated Jabaliya and the nearby towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza over the past month just a trickle of humanitarian aid. Say experts from a panel that monitors food security A famine is imminent or maybe it's already happening.

The northern third of Gaza, including Gaza City, has suffered the worst destruction of the 13-month war sparked by Hamas' attack on southern Israel. Israel has sent troops back after repeated deploymentsHe said Hamas had regrouped.

Women and children are often killed in Israeli attacks. The military says it only targets militants it accuses of hiding among civilians.

Also on Sunday, the Israeli military released what it said were video footage of Hamas abusing detainees. The silent footage from 2018 to 2020 appears to show hooded prisoners chained in stress positions. In some clips, men hit or shove them with batons.

It was not possible to independently verify the videos that the military said it seized during operations in Gaza.

Rights groups been accused for a long time The Hamas-led government in Gaza and the Western-backed Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank mistreat detainees and violently suppress dissent. Israel has been accused of similar abusesespecially since the beginning of the war. Israeli prison authorities say they follow relevant laws and investigate all allegations of misconduct.

The toll of war

The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7, 2023. They killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped about 250. Around 100 hostages are still in the Gaza StripAbout a third are considered dead.

The Israeli offensive killed over 43,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities. The count does not differentiate between civilians and militants; more than half of the dead are women and children.

Israeli bombing and ground invasions have left large parts of Gaza in ruins and around 90% of the population of 2.3 million people displaced, often multiple times. Hundreds of thousands of people live in tent camps with few or no services.

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

Qatar, a key Hamas mediator, said on Saturday it had stopped its efforts and would resume it if “the parties demonstrate their willingness and seriousness to end the brutal war.”

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Magdy reported from Cairo and Chehayeb from Beirut. Associated Press writers Lujain Jo in Aalmat, Lebanon, and Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.

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