Lebanese civilians argue with soldiers as they attempt to evict internally displaced people from an old hotel premise, Hamra Street in Beirut, Lebanon, 21 October 2024. (Photo: EPA-EFE / STR) 
Israeli strikes across Gaza killed 42 people on Wednesday as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) intensified a siege of northern parts of the Palestinian enclave, surrounding hospitals and refugee shelters, and ordering residents to head south, medics and residents said.
China’s President Xi Jinping said at the BRICS summit that an early ceasefire and an end to the war in Gaza were key to easing regional tensions, Chinese state media Xinhua reported on Wednesday.
Hezbollah says it has killed 70 Israeli soldiers
Hezbollah’s operations room said on Wednesday its fighters had killed more than 70 Israeli troops in its clashes with Israeli forces, updating a statement last week saying 55 were killed.
It did not say in what time frame they were killed. Israel has said it has lost around 20 soldiers inside Lebanon since its ground operations began, and around 30 more in Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel.
Israeli strikes kill 42 in Gaza as tanks tighten siege of north
Israeli strikes across Gaza killed 42 people on Wednesday as Israeli forces intensified a siege of northern parts of the Palestinian enclave, surrounding hospitals and refugee shelters, and ordering residents to head south, medics and residents said.
The Gaza health ministry and the World Health Organization said they would be unable to start a polio vaccination campaign in northern Gaza as planned because of the intense bombardments, mass displacements and lack of access.
Israeli forces began the operation in the north about three weeks ago with the declared aim of preventing Hamas fighters from regrouping. The operation has intensified since the killing of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar a week ago.
Israel’s allies, including the US, have said they hoped Sinwar’s death could provide a fresh impetus for peace by allowing Israel to declare that it had achieved some of its major objectives in Gaza.
But so far, Israeli forces seem to have only intensified their assault, especially in the northern areas, where Israel said Hamas fighters were regrouping in ruins of areas that were among the first targeted by Israel’s campaign last year.
The Israeli military announced last Friday it had sent another army unit to Jabalia on the northern edge of Gaza. Residents say the troops have besieged shelters, forcing displaced people to leave while rounding up many of the men. The health ministry said at least 650 people had been killed since the new offensive began.
Of at least 42 people reported killed by Israeli military strikes across the enclave on Wednesday, 37 deaths were in northern Gaza.
Later on Wednesday, the Gaza Civil Emergency Service said three of its rescuers were wounded in northern Gaza in what it said was a “targeted strike”, that aimed to force them out of Jabalia, hours after the Israeli army ordered some of their staff to leave the camp.
The United Nations Palestinian refugee agency Unrwa said on Wednesday one of its staff members was killed when an Unrwa vehicle was hit in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. Medics said the man’s brother was also killed. The municipality of Gaza City said two city workers were killed and three others wounded in a strike there.
Health and civil emergency officials said dozens of bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire in and around Jabalia were scattered on roadsides and under the rubble where medical teams could not reach them.
Hospitals in the north had either stopped providing medical services or were hardly operating because of the offensive. Hospitals where medics have refused Israeli evacuation orders said they were running out of blood for transfusions, as well as coffins and shrouds for the dead.
“We call on the world, which has failed to provide protection and shelter for our people and has been unable to deliver food and medicine, to make an effort to send shrouds for our fallen,” said the Gaza health ministry.
The polio vaccination campaign, launched after a baby was paralysed by the disease in Gaza for the first time in 25 years, had to be halted.
“We have not been able to launch the campaign to vaccinate 120,000 children in Gaza City and northern Gaza today because of the siege and the Israeli aggression,” said health ministry official Majdi Dhair.
Israel’s military humanitarian unit, Cogat, which oversees aid and commercial shipments to Gaza, said the vaccination campaign in northern Gaza would begin in the coming days, “after a joint assessment and at the request” of the World Health Organization and the UN International Children’s Emergency Fund Unicef.
The overall death toll in Gaza was approaching 43,000, according to the latest health ministry figures, and nearly all of the 2.3 million Gazans have been displaced, many multiple times.
The Israeli offensive was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and around 250 taken as hostages back into Gaza.
Blinken calls for peace as Israel bombs historic Lebanese city
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pushed on Wednesday for a halt to fighting in Gaza and a diplomatic solution to the conflict in Lebanon, but Israeli strikes on a historic Lebanese port city proved there was no respite yet.
Huge clouds of smoke billowed above residential buildings in Tyre, a Unesco-listed port city in south Lebanon, which Israel began bombing hours after issuing an order online telling residents to flee central areas.
Tens of thousands of people had already fled Tyre as Israel stepped up its campaign to destroy Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, both close allies of its Middle East archenemy Iran.
The port is typically bustling — with fishermen, tourists and even UN peacekeepers on a break from deployments. Israel’s evacuation orders this week for the first time encompassed swathes of Tyre, right up to its ancient castle.
“We are better off dying with dignity than living on the street,” said Batoum Zalghout (25), who fled the latest evacuation zone for another part of the city. She said she had been already displaced with her two children five times.
Strikes hit central parts of Tyre for around an hour at midday. The Israeli military said it had targeted Hezbollah command and control centres there, including its southern front headquarters.
There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah. Tyre Mayor Hassan Dabouq said the city’s historic sites were not hit.
In northern Israel, rockets fired across the frontier set off air raid sirens and sent people running for shelters. Smoke trails hung over the city of Haifa, which appeared to be from the interception of Hezbollah rockets. One person was badly hurt, according to Israel’s ambulance service.
Blinken, who has travelled to the Middle East regularly during the war, was making his first trip since Israel killed Sinwar, whose death Washington hopes can provide an impetus for peace.
The trip is also the last major US peace push before the 5 November presidential election that could alter US policy.
Washington aims to head off a widening of the conflict in anticipation of Israeli retaliation for an Iranian missile attack on 1 October. Blinken said Israel’s retaliation should not lead to greater escalation.
After Blinken left Israel, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant visited a military base and told troops that once Israel attacked Iran everyone would understand their strength.
Blinken met with Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, then travelled to Saudi Arabia and met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The State Department said they discussed efforts to end fighting in Gaza and Lebanon.
In Lebanon, Israel’s military said it had killed three Hezbollah commanders and some 70 fighters in the south in the past 48 hours. A day earlier it confirmed it had killed Hashem Safieddine, the militant group’s heir apparent leader after Hassan Nasrallah’s death in a 27 September Israeli airstrike.
Lebanon’s government said later on Wednesday that at least 28 people had been killed by Israeli strikes in the previous 24 hours, raising the total toll since October 2023 to 2,574.
Arriving in Lebanon for talks on how to end hostilities, Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said providing arms to Israel posed a dilemma: “On the one hand, Israel is attacked every day and not supporting it would mean that people are not [being] protected ... On the other, it is also Germany’s responsibility to stand up for international humanitarian law.”
Blinken said it was now time for Israel to turn its military victories into “an enduring strategic success”, to bring home hostages and to end the conflict with a clear postwar plan.
Xi says early ceasefire in Gaza key to easing regional tensions
China’s President Xi Jinping said at the BRICS summit that an early ceasefire and an end to the war in Gaza were key to easing regional tensions, Chinese state media Xinhua reported on Wednesday.
Xi made the remarks when meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian at the BRICS Summit in Russia, according to the report.
Xi also said China would unswervingly develop friendly cooperation with Iran despite international and regional situation changes, reported Xinhua.
Iran was a country with important regional and international influence and a good friend and partner of China, said Xi.
Israel issues travel warning for parts of Sri Lanka
Israel’s national security council called on Israelis on Wednesday to immediately leave some tourist areas in southern Sri Lanka over the threat of a possible terrorist attack.
The agency said the warning pertained to the area of Arugam Bay and beaches in the south and west of Sri Lanka and stemmed from “current information about a terrorist threat focused on tourist areas and beaches”.
The security council did not specify the exact nature of the threat and called on Israelis in the rest of Sri Lanka to be cautious and refrain from holding large gatherings in public areas.
The US embassy in Sri Lanka also released a security alert stating it had received “credible information warning of an attack targeting popular tourist locations in the Arugam Bay area”.
“US citizens are strongly urged to avoid the Arugam Bay area until further notice,” it added but did not give details.
Germany’s Foreign Ministry also urged travellers to avoid the area or to leave it as soon as possible, citing “indications of possible attacks on tourist destinations”.
Police security had been beefed up in the area and officials were on high alert, said police spokesperson Nihal Thalduwa in a video statement released in Colombo.
“This area is a popular spot for surfing and this has attracted a large number of Israeli tourists. We are working to ensure they remain safe,” said Thalduwa.
Israel names Al Jazeera reporters as Gaza militants
The Israeli military named on Wednesday six Al Jazeera reporters in Gaza who it said were members of the Hamas or Islamic Jihad militant groups, an allegation which the Qatari network rejected as an attempt to silence journalists.
“Al Jazeera condemns Israeli accusations against its journalists in Gaza and warns against [this] being a justification for targeting them,” said the network.
The Israeli military published documents that it said it had found in Gaza that proved the men had a military affiliation to the groups. Reuters was not able to immediately verify the authenticity of the documents.
The Israeli military said the papers included Hamas and Islamic Jihad lists of personnel details, salaries and militant training courses, phone directories and injury reports.
“These documents serve as proof of the integration of Hamas terrorists within the Qatari Al Jazeera media network,” said the military.
Al Jazeera said: “The network views these fabricated accusations as a blatant attempt to silence the few remaining journalists in the region, thereby obscuring the harsh realities of the war from audiences worldwide.”
Israel has long accused Al Jazeera of being a Hamas mouthpiece and over the past year its authorities have ordered it to shut down its operations for security reasons, raided its offices and confiscated equipment.
Al Jazeera has said the Israeli actions against it were criminal, draconian and irresponsible and that the latest allegations were “part of a wider pattern of hostility” towards it.
The network says it has no affiliation with militant groups and has accused Israeli forces of deliberately killing several of its journalists in the Gaza war, including Samer Abu Daqqa and Hamza AlDahdooh. Israel says it does not target journalists.
France targets €500m for Lebanon at Paris meeting
France was hoping that a meeting on Thursday of some 70 delegations to support Lebanon would raise about €500-million in humanitarian aid, according to a foreign ministry framework document for the conference.
“This conference aims to lead to concrete initiatives for the country, notably on the humanitarian side for which France has set an ambitious objective for international support at around €500-million for Lebanon,” said the document.
It said the aid would primarily help displaced people in sectors ranging from health, food, water, hygiene and education.
Lebanon says it needs $250-million a month to deal with the crisis that has displaced between 500,000 and one million people from southern Lebanon since Israel launched a large-scale onslaught on Iran-backed Hezbollah in September.
The conference will also call for a diplomatic solution to the crisis based on United Nations Security Council resolution 1701 — which ended the last round of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006 — and additional support for Lebanese security forces, deemed the guarantors of unity and stability in the country, according to the document.
Israeli strike on Beirut destroys office used by broadcaster
An Israeli strike on Wednesday night destroyed an office used by the pro-Iran Al-Mayadeen broadcaster, a Lebanese security source told Reuters.
Two other security sources confirmed the office had been hit in an Israeli strike on a multistorey building. DM
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