Israeli airstrikes killed 38 in Gaza, and 3 journalists in southern Lebanon
Israeli strikes killed 36 people in Gaza and three journalists in Lebanon on Friday as concerns grew about Gaza’s lack of supplies and international pressure to end the violence.
The death reported by Gaza health officials was the latest in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis, where people in recent days have been queuing for bread outside the city’s only functioning bakery.
Also on Friday, Israeli airstrikes on guest houses where journalists were staying in southeast Lebanon killed three media workers. Apart from the collapsed buildings used by different media, cars marked “PRESS” were full of dust and debris after the strike, according to Associated Press photos.
The Israeli army did not issue a warning before the strike. Representatives of news networks and Lebanese politicians have accused Israel of war crimes and deliberately targeting journalists.
“These were journalists who were bedridden after days of reporting on the conflict,” said Imran Khan, senior correspondent for Al Jazeera English who was among the journalists in the compound. Writing on social media, he said he and his team were not injured.
Journalists are ID
Beirut-based pan-Arab Al-Mayadeen TV said two of its staff – cameraman Ghassan Najar and broadcast specialist Mohammed Rida – were among the journalists killed early Friday. Al-Manar TV of the Lebanese group Hezbollah said its cameraman Wissam Qassim was also killed in an airstrike in the Hasbaya region.
Al-Mayadeen director Ghassan bin Jiddo alleged that Israel’s strike on house-based journalists was not intentional and was aimed at those who included elements of its military offensive. He vowed that the station based in Beirut will continue its work.
The Minister of Information in Lebanon, Ziad Makary, said that these journalists were killed while broadcasting what he called Israeli crimes, noting that they were among a number of members of the media.
“This is a murder, after monitoring and follow-up, with advance planning and planning, as there were 18 journalists in the area representing seven media centers,” he wrote on the X website.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strike.
Lt.-Col Jordan Hertzberg of the Israel Defense Forces said in an interview with CBC’s Briar Stewart that Israeli forces have found Hezbollah strongholds, missiles and shells ‘under the noses’ of UN troops stationed near the Lebanon-Israel border whose mission they are supporting . the Lebanese army in the defense of the border region.
Ali Shoeib, a well-known spokesman for Al-Manar in southern Lebanon, was seen in a cell phone video claiming to have been killed by a cameraman he had worked with for months. Shoeib said that the Israeli army knew that the area that was attacked was occupied by journalists from different media organizations.
“We were reporting these stories and showing the suffering of the victims and now we are the news and the victims of Israeli crimes,” Shoeib said in a video broadcast on Al-Manar TV.
Hasbaya district has not experienced border violence and many journalists living there have moved from the nearby town of Marjayoun, which has been hit by sporadic strikes in recent weeks. Earlier in the week, a strike hit the office of Al-Mayadeen on the southern outskirts of Beirut, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Health.
The Minister of Health in Lebanon said on Friday that 11 journalists were killed and eight were injured since the exchange of fire on the Lebanon-Israel border began in early October 2023.
On Thursday, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said it had initially counted 128 journalists killed in Gaza since the war began. Israel has accused journalists working for Al Jazeera of being members of terrorist groups, citing documents it allegedly received from Gaza. The network denied the allegations as “obvious attempts to silence the few remaining journalists in the region.”
CPJ dismissed them, too, and said that “Israel has repeatedly made similar unsubstantiated claims without producing any concrete evidence.”
Palestinian civilians fleeing Israeli strikes against Hamas targets in northern Gaza are running out of food and shelter as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken tries to restart ceasefire talks on his 12th trip to the Middle East since the war began.
Several children were killed in the Gaza strike
In Gaza, Israeli airstrikes and rockets hit houses in the eastern suburbs of the southern city of Khan Younis late Thursday and early Friday, Palestinian health officials said. Hospital records show that 14 of the 36 dead were children, almost all from the same family. Pictures from the European Hospital mortuary showed nine young children in body bags on the floor.
Hamas-led forces invaded southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, including several Canadian citizens, and abducting another 250. a third are believed to be dead.
Israel’s offensive has killed more than 42,847 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which would not say how many were soldiers but said women and children made up more than half of the dead. The Israeli army claims to have killed more than 17,000 soldiers, without providing evidence.
Israel’s campaign has extended to Lebanon, where Israel launched an offensive on October 1, after trading fire with the Hezbollah terrorist group for much of the past year. Israel has killed the leader of this group, which is considered a terrorist organization in several Western countries including Canada, as well as potential successors.
Source link
