Dozens killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon and northern Gaza
A home sheltered displaced people in the refugee camp of Jabaliya was targeted on Sunday.
Israeli strikes have killed dozens of people including children in Lebanon and isolated northern Gaza, as the world watched for signs of how the US election might affect the war against Iranian-backed militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has spoken three times with US President-elect Donald Trump since Tuesday’s election and they “see eye-to-eye regarding the Iranian threat and all of its components”.
Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, is scheduled to meet US President Joe Biden on Tuesday.
The Israeli air strike 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 militants have a major presence.
Lebanon’s health ministry said a further six people were injured. There was no immediate Israeli comment.
In northern Gaza, an Israeli strike on a home sheltering displaced people in the urban refugee camp of Jabaliya killed at least 17 people, according to the director of a nearby hospital that received the bodies.
Dr Fadel Naim, of the Al-Ahly Hospital in Gaza City, said nine women were among the dead and the death toll is likely to rise as rescue efforts continue.
The Israeli military said it targeted a site where militants were operating in Jabaliya, without providing evidence. It said the details of the strike are under review.
A separate strike on Sunday 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 local officials.
Israeli forces have encircled and largely isolated Jabaliya and the nearby towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun for the past month, allowing in only a trickle of humanitarian aid.
Hundreds of people have been killed since the offensive began on October 6, and tens of thousands of people have fled to nearby Gaza City.
On Friday, experts from a panel that monitors food security in Gaza said famine is imminent in the north of the territory or may already be happening.
The northern third of Gaza, including Gaza City, was the first target of Israel’s ground invasion and has suffered the heaviest destruction of the 13-month war, which was triggered by Hamas’s attack into southern Israel. As in other areas of Gaza, Israel has sent forces back in after repeated operations, saying Hamas has regrouped.
The military says it only targets militants, whom it accuses of hiding among civilians in homes and shelters. Israeli strikes often kill women and children.
Israel’s offensive has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities who do not distinguish between civilians and militants in their count but say over half the fatalities were women and children.
Ceasefire talks mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt have repeatedly stalled since the start of the year.
Qatar, which has served as a key mediator with Hamas, said over the weekend that it had suspended its efforts and would only resume them when “the parties show their willingness and seriousness to end the brutal war and the ongoing suffering of civilians”.
