Middle East Latest: Dozens Killed as Israeli Troops Pound Central and Northern Gaza

Global Conflicts

By Associated Press

Published 7 months ago on

October 9, 2024

Rescue workers search for victims on a hotel-turned-shelter for displaced people hit by an Israeli airstrike, in Wardaniyeh, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP/Mohammed Zaatari)

Israeli bombardment in Gaza has killed dozens, raising the yearlong war’s death toll to over 42,000, officials report.
Israeli airstrike kills Palestinian journalist in Jabaliya; the Committee to Protect Journalists reports 128 media workers killed since the conflict began.
President Biden to speak with Netanyahu about Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah and Iran’s recent missile attack.

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Israel’s bombardment of central and northern Gaza has killed dozens of people and trapped thousands in their homes, Palestinian officials said Wednesday, as the death toll in the yearlong war passed 42,000.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said it recovered 40 bodies from Jabaliya from Sunday until Tuesday, and another 14 from communities farther north. The toll is likely higher as there are bodies buried under the rubble and in areas that can’t be accessed, it said.

Among the dead Wednesday were nine people, including three children, whose bodies were brought to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the nearby town of Deir al-Balah. An Associated Press journalist saw the bodies at the morgue.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the military spokesperson, said that Israeli forces were operating in Jabaliya to prevent Hamas from regrouping and had killed around 100 militants, without providing evidence. Israel says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas because it fights in residential areas.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Israel has killed the successor to the head of Hezbollah, while the militant group’s acting leader promised more fighting in southern Lebanon.

A year ago, Hamas-led militants blew holes in Israel’s security fence and stormed into army bases and farming communities, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250. They are still holding about 100 captives inside Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Israel is now at war with Hamas in Gaza and its ally Hezbollah in Lebanon, which began firing rockets at Israel on Oct. 8, 2023.

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Here is the latest:

Palestinian Journalist Killed and Another Wounded in a Gaza Airstrike

JERUSALEM — A Palestinian journalist was killed and at least one other injured in an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza on Wednesday, Palestinian health authorities said.

Mohammed Tanani, a cameraman working with the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV station, was killed in a blast at Abu Shrekh roundabout in the Jabaliya area, the Palestinian Red Crescent and Hamas-affiliated outlet said.

Another Palestinian reporter from the TV station was wounded, the network said.

The Committee to Protect Journalists, a media freedom organization, say 128 journalists have been killed since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last October. They include 123 Palestinian, two Israeli and three Lebanese media workers.

Biden Will Speak With Netanyahu on Wednesday

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is set to speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday as Israel expands its ground incursion into Lebanon and considers how to respond to Iran’s recent ballistic missile attack.

The leaders’ call, previewed by three people familiar with the matter, including an official in Netanyahu’s office, will be the first conversation between Biden and Netanyahu since Aug. 21.

The three people were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Israel has been discussing how to respond to the Iranian missile barrage from Oct. 1, which the United States helped to fend off. Biden last week said he would not support a retaliatory Israeli strike on sites related to Tehran’s nuclear program.

Since the leaders’ last call seven weeks ago, Israel has carried out a brazen sabotage and assassination campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, where the militant group has continued to fire missiles, rockets and drones at Israel.

Israel is now undertaking what it has described as limited ground operations across its northern border with Lebanon to dig out Hezbollah. Airstrikes killed the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and decimated its leadership.

2 Killed in a Rocket Attack on Northern Israel

TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli first responders say a man and a woman were killed by a rocket fired from Lebanon.

The Magen David Adom rescue service said the two were killed Wednesday when a rocket struck the northern town of Kiryat Shmona.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group has fired hundreds of rockets into Israel in recent days as Israel has ramped up its airstrikes in Lebanon and pushed ahead with a ground incursion.

Most of the rockets have been intercepted or landed in open areas, but the barrages have grown more intense and have reached deeper into Israel, disrupting daily life.

Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and drones into Israel after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack from Gaza into Israel ignited the war. Hezbollah and Hamas are both allied with Iran, and Hezbollah said the attacks were in support of the Palestinians.

Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict escalated into a full-blown war last month.

At Least 4 Killed in an Israeli Strike in Southern Lebanon

BEIRUT — The Lebanese Health Ministry said at least four people were killed in an Israeli strike on a hotel-turned-shelter for displaced people in southern Lebanon.

Ten others were wounded in the strike that hit the building in Wardaniyeh in Lebanon’s Chouf province.

An Associated Press reporter in a nearby town heard two sonic booms and an explosion from Israeli jets before the strike, followed by plumes of black and white smoke rising from the building.

At Least 6 People Stabbed and Wounded in an Attack in Northern Israel

TEL AVIV, Israel — At least six people were stabbed and wounded in northern Israel in what police say was a militant attack.

Police said the assailant stabbed people in multiple locations in the northern city of Hadera on Wednesday before fleeing on a motorbike. Police said they later shot and “neutralized” him, indicating he was killed. They did not provide the name or nationality of the assailant.

Five of the people who were attacked were in critical or severe condition, while the sixth was moderately wounded, according to the nearby Hillel Yaffe Medical Center.

Palestinians have carried out scores of stabbing, shooting and car-ramming attacks against Israelis in recent years, and tensions have spiked over the war in Gaza.

Philippine President Orders Preparations for Evacuation From Lebanon

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered government agencies Wednesday to prepare to evacuate Filipinos “by whatever means” from Lebanon.

Marcos held a virtual meeting with key Cabinet members while attending a summit of Southeast Asia leaders in Laos, underscoring the urgency as Israel intensified attacks against the militant group Hezbollah.

“We are now going to evacuate our people by whatever means — by air, or by sea,” Marcos said, adding that any ship to be used has to be positioned near Beirut so Filipinos could immediately leave.

About 11,000 Filipinos live and work in Lebanon, including many house helpers, but Philippine Foreign Affairs officials say many are hesitant to leave their jobs. Only about 171 Filipinos in Lebanon were ready for immediate repatriation, they said.