Israel launches blitz on Beirut

Special Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs, after an Israeli strike, as seen from Baabda, Lebanon, November 26, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs, after an Israeli strike, as seen from Baabda, Lebanon, November 26, 2024. (Reuters)
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Updated 26 November 2024
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Israel launches blitz on Beirut

Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs, after an Israeli strike, as seen from Baabda, Lebanon, November 26, 2024. Reuters
  • Attacks escalate shortly before Israeli authorities were due to discuss approval of ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah that would take effect at 6 a.m. Wednesday
  • Fears among population that Israel intends to take out its anger on Lebanon with constant attacks throughout final day before peace deal is agreed

BEIRUT: Israeli attacks on Lebanon escalated unexpectedly on Tuesday, about two hours before a scheduled meeting of Israel’s security cabinet to discuss and possibly approve a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah that, if ratified, would take effect at 6 a.m. on Wednesday.

Heavy missiles, some containing concussion bombs, rained down from low-flying warplanes in Beirut and its southern suburbs after residents were warned to evacuate. Towns in southern Lebanon and parts of the Bekaa were also targeted at the same time.

An Israeli alert warning people in Naqoura to leave the area immediately and move north of the Awali River raised fears that the intention was to destroy neighborhoods in the border town that had escaped damage during previous airstrikes.

In Beirut, without any advance warning, an airstrike hit a building in the Nowayri area housing displaced persons. It was close to a medical center affiliated with Khatam Al-Anbiya Mosque. As rescue teams worked to rescue survivors trapped in the rubble, initial figures from the Ministry of Health suggested that at least three people were killed and 26 injured in the targeted building, which partially collapsed, and neighboring properties.

Minutes after this attack, Israeli authorities issued 24 warnings to residents of the city’s southern suburbs. Within 10 minutes of these alerts, warplanes simultaneously attacked neighborhoods in Haret Hreik, Burj Al-Barajneh, Bir Al-Abed, Chiyah, Ghobeiry, Hay Madi, Jamous, Sfeir, Tayouneh, Old Saida Road, and Ouzai. Maps that accompanied the warnings indicated that most of the targeted locations contained residential buildings, cafes, restaurants and schools.

A security source said the raids destroyed or damaged more than 100 residential buildings, the greatest destruction in a single series of attacks since conflict between Israel and Hezbollah escalated 64 days ago.

The Israeli army said it hit “seven Hezbollah funds management and storage targets, in addition to Hezbollah command centers and Qard Al-Hassan (financial instituation) branches.”

Other attacks targeted Baalbek-Hermel governorate, where warplanes carried out strikes on Bouday, Yamouneh, Al-Ansar and Taraya. One raid targeted the area around a Lebanese army outpost in Douris, close to Dar Al-Amal University Hospital, which was hit last week. The head of the hospital and a number of doctors were reportedly among the dead.

Lebanese people posted messages on social media expressing their fears that Israeli authorities intended to take out their anger on Lebanon with constant attacks throughout the final day before a ceasefire agreement comes into effect.

Amid the unprecedented escalation, however, it remained unclear whether a peace deal would be reached or the negotiations would collapse, potentially resulting in further escalation.

Israel’s Army Channel reported that “Minister of Defense Israel Katz and the Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces Herzi Halevi approved plans to continue attack operations on the northern front.”

Following a meeting with the UN’s special coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, Katz issued a series of strongly worded statements in which he said Israel “will act against any threat, at any time and anywhere” and “we will call on the UNIFIL (UN Interim Force in Lebanon) to effectively implement the (ceasefire) agreement.”

He added: “Any rebuilt house in southern Lebanon that contains a terrorist base will be destroyed, any armament will be attacked, any attempt to smuggle weapons will be foiled, and any threat to our power and Israel’s citizens will be destroyed immediately.”

Israeli media reports stated that any agreement approved on Tuesday “will not be the end of the war but a ceasefire that will be evaluated on a daily basis.”

The head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, Mohammed Raad, said that “the Israeli enemy might act disingenuously to impose amendments to the ceasefire agreement … in order to end the resistance’s effectiveness.”

He added: “Any modification, whether it involves adding to or removing from the text of Resolution 1701 is something that no rational person would accept.”

Resolution 1701 was adopted by the UN Security Council in 2006 with the aim of resolving the conflict that year between Israel and Hezbollah. It calls for an end to hostilities, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon, the withdrawal of Hezbollah and other forces from parts of the country south of the Litani River, and the disarmament of Hezbollah and other armed groups.

The Israel Broadcasting Authority reported: “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to a ceasefire agreement following US assurances to provide Israel with prohibited weapons.”

It said that “the call for residents of northern towns to return to their homes will occur two months after the implementation of the agreement” and “any indirect threat not addressed by UNIFIL forces will be dealt with by Israel itself, which will thwart any attempts to smuggle weapons to Hezbollah.”

In a report citing information provided by an unnamed official, Israel’s Channel 12 news said: “The agreement has now entered the phase of refining the wording and clarifying details without altering the essential terms, pending official approval."

Other media reports said the agreement stipulates “a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the areas they have entered in southern Lebanon within 60 days” to allow the deployment of the Lebanese army, while a five-member committee, with representatives of the US, France, Lebanon, Israel and UNIFIL, will oversee the implementation of the ceasefire.

Meanwhile, Israeli army radio reported that “forces from the Golani Brigade have reached the Litani River area, which is located 10 kilometers deep into southern Lebanon.” The military also said it had killed “Ahmad Sobhi Hazima, the operations commander in Hezbollah’s coastal sector.”

The Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon on Tuesday reportedly resulted in significant numbers of casualties, including women, children and the elderly. They included a 91-year-old shepherd called Qadduh, from Nabatieh, who was killed after he chose to remain in his home rather than leave.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, said its forces attacked “the settlements of Kiryat Shmona, Avivim and Al-Manara.”

The group also targeted “the Habushit site on the summit of Mount Hermon in the occupied Syrian Golan, and attacked the Ma’ale Golani Barracks with suicide drones.”


Morocco foils 78,685 migrant attempts to reach Europe in 2024

Morocco foils 78,685 migrant attempts to reach Europe in 2024
Updated 06 February 2025
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Morocco foils 78,685 migrant attempts to reach Europe in 2024

Morocco foils 78,685 migrant attempts to reach Europe in 2024

RABAT: Morocco stopped 78,685 migrants from illegally crossing into EU territory in 2024, up 4.6 percent from a year earlier, the Interior Ministry said on Thursday.

The figures highlight “growing migratory pressure in an unstable regional environment,” the ministry said in response to questions.

Among the migrants, 58 percent were from West Africa, 12 percent from North Africa where Morocco is located, and 9 percent from East and Central Africa, it said.

Years of armed conflict across Africa’s Sahel region, unemployment, and the impact of climate change on farming communities are among the reasons driving migrants toward Europe.

Morocco and neighboring EU member Spain have strengthened cooperation against undocumented migration since they patched a separate diplomatic feud in 2022.

The North African country has for long been a major launch pad for African migrants aiming to reach Europe through the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, or by jumping the fence surrounding the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla in northern Morocco.

Last year, there were 14 group attempts to cross into Ceuta and Melilla, compared with six in 2023, the ministry said.

Moroccan authorities rescued 18,645 would-be migrants from unseaworthy boats in 2024, up 10.8 percent from 2023, it said.

Last month as many as 50 migrants may have drowned in the latest deadly wreck involving people trying to make the Atlantic crossing from West Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands, a migrant rights group said.


West Bank healthcare ‘in a state of perpetual emergency’: MSF

West Bank healthcare ‘in a state of perpetual emergency’: MSF
Updated 06 February 2025
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West Bank healthcare ‘in a state of perpetual emergency’: MSF

West Bank healthcare ‘in a state of perpetual emergency’: MSF
  • Most clinics and hospitals are running at significantly reduced levels, medical charity says

GENEVA: The healthcare system in the occupied West Bank has been in “a state of perpetual emergency” since October 2023, the Doctors Without Borders, or MSF, group said in a new report published on Thursday.

“A dramatic escalation in violence, marked by prolonged Israeli military incursions and stricter movement restrictions ... have severely hindered access to essential services, particularly health care, exacerbating already dire living conditions for many Palestinians,” it said.

Violence in the region soared after the attack on Israel in October 2023, which triggered a massive retaliation by Israel that has leveled much of Gaza.

“Since Oct. 7, 2023, the West Bank has seen a dramatic escalation in violence, marked by prolonged Israeli military incursions and stricter movement restrictions,” it said.

The report examined “the attacks and the obstructions of healthcare in a context of what has been described by the ICJ (International Criminal Court) as segregation and apartheid.”

It revealed “a pattern of systematic interference by Israeli forces and settlers in emergency health care delivery.”

The Palestinian Health Ministry says Israeli troops and settlers have killed at least 884 Palestinians, including many militants, in the West Bank since the Gaza war began on Oct. 7, 2023.

Over the same period, at least 32 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military raids in the territory, official Israeli figures show.

Preventing Palestinians from accessing healtcare was “part of a wider system of collective punishment imposed by Israel, under the guise of its crackdown on armed Palestinian men,” MSF said.

“The already-strained Palestinian healthcare system in the West Bank has been further weakened since October 2023 and is facing significant budget constraints,” it said.

Nearly half the essential medications are out of stock, and health workers have not been paid in a year, the report said, adding that “most clinics and hospitals are running at significantly reduced levels.”

“Access to health care is severely impeded by a sprawling system of checkpoints and roadblocks that obstruct ambulance movements, compounded by the escalation of violent military raids involving the use of disproportionate tactics.”

This is compounded by “frequent attacks on medical personnel and facilities ... Hospitals and healthcare structures are often encircled by military forces, with troops sometimes occupying the buildings themselves, compounding the risks to both patients and staff.”

Violence from settlers often exacerbates these dire conditions, it said.

MSF called on Israel to stop its “disproportionate use of force” in the West Bank, including on medical facilities and against medical personnel.

It called for independent probes into past such attacks, for Israel to facilitate medical access to those in need, and to allow the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA to be allowed to continue its work.

Israeli military offensives in two West Bank refugee camps have displaced nearly 5,500 Palestinian families since December, local and UN officials said this week, amid escalating violence in the occupied territory.

Jonathan Fowler, spokesman for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, said an estimated 2,450 to 3,000 families have been displaced from the Tulkarem refugee camp.

Faisal Salama, head of the camp’s popular committee, estimated that 80 percent of its 15,000 residents had been displaced.

Both Salama and Fowler said that obtaining precise figures was challenging because of the security situation within the camp and its fluctuating population.

“The displaced people from the camp are scattered in the suburbs and in the city of Tulkarem itself,” Salama said.

He said that six people had been killed and dozens wounded since the offensive began on Jan. 25.

“The bombing of residential homes in the camp continues, along with destruction and bulldozing of everything.”

Salama also reported that the violence has severely restricted the movement of goods into the camp.


Over 10,000 aid trucks have entered Gaza since ceasefire: UN

Over 10,000 aid trucks have entered Gaza since ceasefire: UN
Updated 06 February 2025
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Over 10,000 aid trucks have entered Gaza since ceasefire: UN

Over 10,000 aid trucks have entered Gaza since ceasefire: UN

GENEVA: More than 10,000 aid trucks have crossed into Gaza since a fragile ceasefire took hold on Jan. 19, the UN humanitarian chief said on Thursday.

“We’ve moved over 10,000 trucks in the two weeks since the ceasefire, a massive surge,” Tom Fletcher said on X.

The UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator added that he himself was “about to cross into northern Gaza with a convoy of aid.”

“Thank you to the many people making it possible to get these trucks of vital, lifesaving food, medicine, and tents through,” he said.

His comments come as Israel and Hamas prepare to negotiate the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, which has paused 15 months of relentless fighting and bombing unleashed after the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack.

With just a trickle of aid coming into the territory before the ceasefire deal, international aid organizations repeatedly reported crisis levels of hunger in the Israeli-besieged Gaza Strip and warned of looming famine.

The truce has led to a surge of food, fuel, medical, and other aid being allowed into Gaza and enabled people displaced by the war to return to the north of the Palestinian territory.

Under the Gaza truce’s ongoing 42-day first phase, 18 hostages have meanwhile been freed so far in exchange for some 600 mostly Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.

The Health Ministry in Gaza said Thursday that the death toll from the war in the Palestinian territory had reached 47,583.

The number of dead, published by the ministry, continues to rise every day as bodies discovered under the rubble are identified or people die from earlier wounds.

During the past 24 hours, 31 further deaths were recorded by the ministry, which also registered 111,633 wounded from the war.


Rubio planning first trip to Middle East in mid-February, Axios reports

Rubio planning first trip to Middle East in mid-February, Axios reports
Updated 06 February 2025
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Rubio planning first trip to Middle East in mid-February, Axios reports

Rubio planning first trip to Middle East in mid-February, Axios reports
  • Rubio is planning to travel to the region after the Munich security conference

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is planning to visit the Middle East in mid-February, Axios reported on Thursday, citing two Israeli officials and two other unidentified sources.
Rubio is planning to travel to the region after the Munich security conference, which begins on Feb. 14, and visit Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and possibly more countries, according to Axios.


UN’s World Food Programme needs 'all donors' support for Gaza's aid mission

UN’s World Food Programme needs 'all donors' support for Gaza's aid mission
Updated 06 February 2025
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UN’s World Food Programme needs 'all donors' support for Gaza's aid mission

UN’s World Food Programme needs 'all donors' support for Gaza's aid mission
  • The UN agency provided more than 15,000 tons of food since January 19

ROME: The United Nations World Food Programme urged the international community and “all donors” Thursday to help feed millions of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and rebuild the war-ravaged area.
The UN agency said it had provided more than 15,000 tons of food since a fragile January 19 ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, feeding more than 525,000 people, but that much more needed to be done.
“We call on the international community and all donors to continue supporting WFP’s life-saving assistance at this pivotal moment,” said Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau following a visit.
“The scale of the needs is enormous and progress must be maintained. The ceasefire must hold,” he said in a statement.
“In critical sectors beyond food — water, sanitation, shelter, even getting children back into school — we need to work together,” he said, insisting that “this requires funding.”
Helping Gazans become self-sufficient could be through re-establishing commercial markets and local food systems, such as farming and fishing, the agency said.
Skau’s visit to Gaza came as Israel and Hamas resumed negotiations on the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, which has paused 15 months of relentless fighting and bombing following Hamas’s deadly October 7, 2023 attack.