LAST UPDATE | 4 Oct
THE UNITED NATIONS has condemned what it called an “unlawful air strike” by Israel on a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank that the Palestinian health ministry said killed 18 people yesterday.
Meanwhile, the Lebanese health ministry has had to close three hospitals amid the ongoing Israeli bombardment as fighting near the southern Lebanese border rages on. More than 40 paramedics and firefighters have been killed by Israeli fire in three days, Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said.
Also today, strikes by the United States and Britain targeted four provinces in Yemen, including the capital Sanaa and the port city of Hodeida, according to the Houthi-run Al Masirah television network.
Al Masirah reported four strikes on Sanaa and seven on Hodeida, with AFP correspondents hearing loud explosions in both cities.
At least one strike hit Dhamar, south of the capital, and Mukayras, southeast of Sanaa, Al Masirah said.
The US militay later confirmed it had launched 15 strikes against targets in Yemen.
The US and UK have been bombing Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen in retaliation for attacks on shipping vessels the rebel group has been launching in the Red Sea in solidarity with the people of Palestine.
A statement issued by the UN human rights office about the West Bank strike described “widespread harm” to Palestinians in the built up refugee camp of Tulkarem.
“The strike is part of a highly concerning pattern of unlawful use of force by ISF (Israeli security forces) during military-like operations in the West Bank that have caused widespread harm to Palestinians and significant damage to buildings and infrastructure,” the statement said.
“This incident is another clear example of ISF’s systematic resort to lethal force in the West Bank that is frequently unnecessary, disproportionate, and therefore unlawful,” the office said, as it called for an independent probe into the incident.
“The levelling of an entire building filled with people via aerial bombing shows flagrant disregard for Israel’s obligations.”
Footage posted online from the site of the strike showed a body hanging over a street from part of a destroyed building and people rushing casualties to hospital.
Israel has ramped up raids in the West Bank in recent months, invading homes and bulldozing roads.
The Israeli army confirmed the strike on the refugee camp of Tulkarem in the northern West Bank, describing it as a joint operation carried out by the Shin Bet internal security service and the air force.
Another unlawful airstrike in Tulkarem, West Bank, has killed 18 Palestinians, including 3 children. The UN Human Rights Office calls for an independent investigation and accountability for these violations.
— UN Human Rights Palestine (@OHCHR_Palestine) October 4, 2024
Read the full statement 👇 #Tulkarem https://t.co/vqE5bQOjmD
It said the strike had killed a Hamas leader in Tulkarem – Zahi Yaser Abd al-Razeq Oufi.
A source within the Palestinian security services told the AFP news agency that the air raid was the deadliest in the West Bank since 2000.
The Journal recently spoke to Palestinians in the area who described Israeli soldiers breaking into their homes, destroying infrastructure and killing civilians.
Earlier today, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei defended this week’s missile attack on Israel, which has raised yet more fears of an all-out war between the two Middle Eastern powers.
He was speaking as part of a rare sermon in front of tens of thousands at a mosque in the capital Tehran.
In his first public sermon in nearly five years, Khamenei said armed groups in the Middle East “will not back down” even after a spate of Israeli killings of militant leaders.
The Israeli army said its forces had hit more than 2,000 “military targets” during its four-day incursion.
Hezbollah accused the IDF of targeting rescuers in one of the overnight strikes.
The Islamic Health Committee emergency service, which is affiliated with Hezbollah, said 11 of its rescue personnel were killed in Israeli strikes in south Lebanon today.
In a statement, it said seven emergency personnel died in “direct Zionist aggression on emergency teams” at the Marjayoun governmental hospital, with four others killed in two attacks elsewhere in south Lebanon.
With an Israeli response to this week’s Iranian attack expected in the days to come, the United States has said that Israel hitting Iranian oil facilities is on the table.
Iran said the attack was its response to the killing of Hassan Nasrallah, chief of its ally Hezbollah, and other top figures.
Israel’s bombing in Lebanon has killed more than 1,000 people, according to the Lebanese health ministry, and forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes in a nation already mired in economic and political crisis.
Another strike late last night targeted a warehouse adjacent to the capital’s airport, a source close to Hezbollah said.
It’s understood that one strike has cut off the main international road to Syria, where people have been fleeing to. Hundreds of thousands of people have crossed the border in recent weeks.
Israel, at war in Gaza since Hamas’s 7 October attack, has expanded its military campaign in Lebanon.
A target of one of its recent Beirut strikes was Hashem Safieddine, a potential successor as Hezbollah head to Nasrallah, US news site Axios reported, citing three unidentified Israeli officials.
The Israeli military did not confirm the report when questioned by AFP.
Israel announced this week that its troops had started “ground raids” into parts of southern Lebanon after days of heavy bombardment of areas across the country where the group holds sway.
Israel told Lebanese people to “immediately” evacuate more than 20 villages and the city of Nabatiyeh.
Hezbollah said it fought off Israeli troops on the border and set off two explosive devices against advancing soldiers.
The group also said it kept up its rocket fire, with sirens warning of incoming fire blaring in northern Israel earlier today.
The Lebanese military said one of its soldiers was killed when “the Israeli enemy targeted an army post in the Bint Jbeil area”, prompting retaliatory fire.
Lebanon’s health ministry said earlier today that 37 people were killed and 151 wounded by Israeli strikes over the previous 24 hours.
The Israeli military said nine of its soldiers have been killed in combat in Lebanon.
The Israeli army said a drone launched “from the east” killed two soldiers today, with a public broadcaster reporting the strike originated from Iraq and hit a base in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights in Syria.
When asked by AFP for details, the Israeli military said the soldiers were killed in a drone strike launched from the east, without specifying from where.
Israeli army radio said the strike was launched from Iraq overnight Thursday.
Two UAVs were launched from Iraq and crossed into Israeli territory in the Golan Heights area, the radio said.
“One UAV was intercepted by the air force, while the second exploded at a military camp north of the Golan Heights,” it said.
“As a result of the explosion two soldiers were killed,” it said, adding 24 others were wounded.
Public broadcaster Kan also reported the strike originated from Iraq and hit the Golan Heights.
The impact of the war was also felt in Syria, with the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor saying yesterdy that an Israeli strike in Damascus killed four people, including Hassan Jaafar al-Qasir, Nasrallah’s son-in-law.
With reporting from AFP
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