An Israeli offensive in northern Gaza has killed several dozen people and trapped thousands over the past 24 hours, while ongoing attacks on Lebanon have sent more people fleeing from the south.
The Israeli military claimed on Wednesday that its fighter jets had hit some 230 targets belonging to Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Gaza’s Hamas as fighting intensified in both places. However, civilians have borne much of the brunt, with the latest casualties in Gaza pushing the death toll from the yearlong war in the enclave above 42,000, the Ministry of Health reported.
The Israeli air force attacked about 185 Hezbollah and 45 Hamas targets, including military buildings and infrastructure, observation posts, rocket launchers and operatives, the army said on X.
It also reported that three of its soldiers were severely injured on Tuesday and Wednesday during combat in southern Lebanon.
In a fresh strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs, the Israeli army also carried out three air raids near al-Rayah Stadium and on the Haret Hreik neighbourhood, Lebanon’s National News Agency said.
The Iran-backed Hezbollah said it targeted Israeli soldiers near the Lebanese border village of Labbouneh with artillery shells and rockets on Wednesday, pushing the troops back.
Further east, it said it had attacked Israeli soldiers in the village of Maroun el-Ras and fired missile barrages at Israeli forces advancing towards the twin border villages of Mays al-Jabal and Mouhaybib.
Rocket sirens sounded constantly across northern Israel on Wednesday, including in the major port city of Haifa, following heavy fire from Lebanon. Israel’s military said about 40 projectiles were launched in one barrage at Haifa, some of which were intercepted while others fell in the area.
Israeli ambulance workers said two people were killed in strikes on the town of Kiryat Shmona near the border and at least six were wounded in Haifa.
Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, reporting from Amman, said the air defence systems “failed several times to intercept all the rockets”.
“Those rocket [attacks] have been intensifying, not just in number, but also in reach as the Israeli offensive on Lebanon intensifies,” Odeh said.
Meanwhile, Israeli media quoted defence minister Yoav Gallant as saying Israel’s response to Iran’s missile attack last week “will be deadly, precise and above all surprising. They will not understand what happened and how.”
The escalation in Lebanon, after a year of war in Gaza, has raised fears of a wider Middle East conflict that could suck in Iran and Israel’s iron-clad ally the United States.
Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon has killed more than 2,100 people, most of them in the last two weeks.
It has also forced 1.2 million people from their homes, officials have reported.
On Wednesday, the country’s disaster management authorities said at least 58,898 displaced people fleeing Israeli attacks in southern and eastern parts of the country have sought refuge in the northern districts.
Trapped
At least 45 people were killed in Israeli military strikes on Gaza in the past 24 hours, Palestinian medics reported, as Israeli forces pressed on with a raid on the Jabalia refugee camp in the enclave’s north.
The Israeli military says the raid, now in its fifth day, is intended to stop Hamas fighters staging further attacks from Jabalia and to prevent them regrouping.
It has repeatedly issued evacuation orders to residents of Jabalia and nearby areas, but Palestinian and United Nations officials say there are no safe places to flee to in the Gaza Strip.
At least 400,000 people are “trapped” in northern Gaza following Israel’s evacuation orders, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA, revealed.
Northern #Gaza: no end to hell.
At least 400,000 people are trapped in the area.Recent evacuation orders from the Israeli Authorities are forcing people to flee again & again, especially from Jabalia Camp.
Many are refusing because they know too well that no place anywhere…
— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) October 9, 2024
Residents of Jabalia said thousands of people have been trapped in their homes since the operation began on Sunday, as Israeli jets and drones buzz overhead and troops battle Palestinian fighters in the streets.
“The quadcopters are everywhere, and they fire at anyone. You can’t even open the window,” Mohamed Awda told The Associated Press news agency.
The Gaza Health Ministry said the Israeli army ordered three hospitals in the north to evacuate staff and patients.
Hussam Abu Safia, director at Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of the facilities ordered to evacuate, told Al Jazeera he feared a repeat of the violence inflicted on Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital earlier in the war.
“We cannot leave the hospital because there is no other hospital that is providing services and treatments to children, except Kamal Adwan Hospital,” he added.
Meanwhile, Al Jazeera cameraman Fadi al-Wahidi has been injured by Israeli gunfire in northern Gaza, becoming the second Al Jazeera cameraman to be injured in an Israeli attack this week.
On Tuesday, Ali al-Attar was wounded in an Israeli attack near Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza. The Committee to Protect Journalists – a US-based media watchdog – said it has been pushing for his immediate evacuation.
Al Jazeer’a Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Deir el-Balah, said Israeli forces are “intentionally” targeting journalists.
“The Israeli military does not like any critical voices talking about the many atrocities that have been committed for a whole year of genocide,” Mahmoud said. “Right now, we are seeing more of these deliberate actions against civilians and journalists who are documenting these human rights violations.”
According to Gaza’s government media office, at least 176 journalists and media representatives have been killed by Israeli forces since the assault on the besieged enclave began more than a year ago.
