Israel Steps Up Strikes Killing Dozens in Lebanon & Gaza While Netanyahu, Trump Speak

Deir al-Balah: Amid continued calls for the de-escalation of the Israel-Hamas conflict, dozens of people lost their lives in Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon and isolated northern Gaza on Sunday. This comes as the world watches closely how the victory of Donald Trump in US election can possibly change the course of the war as he claimed earlier. The conflict of the Jewish state with Iran-backed militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah, has generated a spillover effect in the Middle East.

In the latest, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has spoken three times with Donald Trump since November 5 US elections and they “see eye-to-eye regarding the Iranian threat and all of its components”.

Further, Israel's president, Isaac Herzog, is scheduled to call on US President Joe Biden on Tuesday.

The Israeli airstrike in Lebanon killed at least 23 people including seven children in Aalmat village north of Beirut, far from the areas in the east and south where Hezbollah has a major presence. There was no Israeli evacuation warning. There was no immediate Israeli comment.

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

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

Israel's military said it targeted a site where militants were operating, without providing evidence. It said the details of the strike are under review.

A separate strike 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 the Civil Defence first responders who operate under the government.

Israel strikes deeper into Lebanon Israel has struck deeper inside Lebanon since September, when it killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and most of his top commanders. Hezbollah has expanded its rocket fire from northern to central Israel. The fighting has killed over 3,100 people in Lebanon, according to the Health Ministry, and more than 70 people in Israel.

After Israel's strike in Aalmat, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Beirut, legislator Raed Berro denied that any Hezbollah personnel or assets were in the building hit: “Everyone can see, in front of cameras, that what is being pulled from under the rubble are women, children and elderly people who have nothing to do with weapons or rocket warehouses.” Hassan Ghaddaf, who lived next door and was lightly wounded while heading to his balcony with morning coffee, said displaced people were in the building.

“I had seen them and got to know them the other day,” Ghaddaf said. “They were peaceful. On the contrary, they had someone from the Lebanese Internal Security Forces that works for the state, and we saw their garb and clothes in the rubble.” In Syria, an Israeli airstrike hit a residential building in the Damascus suburb of Sayyida Zeinab and the Defence Ministry said seven civilians were killed, state news agency SANA reported. Britain-based opposition war monitor The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights suggested Hezbollah was targeted. Israel did not immediately comment.

Fears of famine in northern Gaza The mid-month deadline is approaching for the Biden administration's ultimatum for Israel: Allow more aid into Gaza or risk possible restrictions on US military funding.

Israeli forces have encircled and largely isolated Jabaliya and the nearby northern Gaza towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun for the past month, allowing only a trickle of humanitarian aid. Experts from a panel that monitors food security say famine is imminent or may already be happening.

The northern third of Gaza, including Gaza City, has suffered the heaviest destruction of the 13-month war. Israel has sent forces back in, saying Hamas has regrouped.

Israeli strikes often kill women and children. The military says it only targets militants, whom it accuses of hiding among civilians.

Also on Sunday, Israel's military released what it called footage of Hamas abusing detainees. The soundless footage, dated from 2018 to 2020, appears to show hooded detainees chained in stress positions. In some clips, men beat or poke them with batons. It was not possible to independently verify the videos, which the military said it recovered during operations in Gaza.

Rights groups have long accused the Hamas-run government in Gaza and the Western-backed Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank of abusing detainees and violently quashing dissent. Israel has been accused of similar abuses, especially since the start of the war. Israeli prison authorities say they follow relevant laws and investigate allegations of wrongdoing.

The toll of war The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7, 2023 and killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, about a third believed to be dead.

Israel's offensive has killed over 43,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities who do not distinguish between civilians and militants in their count but say over half the dead were women and children.

Israeli bombardment and ground invasions have left vast areas of Gaza in ruins and displaced around 90 per cent of the population of 2.3 million people, often multiple times. Hundreds of thousands live in tent camps with few if any services.

Cease-fire talks mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt have repeatedly stalled, as have parallel efforts by the US and others to halt the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Qatar, a key mediator with Hamas, said Saturday it had suspended its efforts and would resume them when “the parties show their willingness and seriousness to end the brutal war”. 

(With AP inputs)