The Israeli military has launched a series of strikes on Gaza and Lebanon, leaving a trail of destruction and death in its wake. In Gaza, at least 27 people were killed, including a child and seven women, in an Israeli strike on a school that was being used as a shelter for displaced people. The school was targeted by Israeli forces, who claimed that they were bombing a militant command and control center, but witnesses said that the strike occurred while school managers were meeting with representatives of an aid group in a room normally used by Hamas-run police.
The strike came as the Israeli military continued to pound Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, where at least 18 people were killed and 92 wounded in Israeli air strikes on Thursday evening. The Palestinian branch of Terre des Hommes, a Swiss aid group, said that members of one of its children’s health teams were killed in the strike in Deir al-Balah.
The United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon said that an Israeli tank fired on its headquarters in the town of Naqoura, hitting an observation tower and wounding two peacekeepers. The attack drew widespread condemnation, with the European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, calling it an “inadmissible act” for which there is no justification.
Israeli Strikes on Gaza and Lebanon Leave Hundreds Dead and Displaced Amid Escalating Conflict (Image via Getty)
The Israeli military has accused Hezbollah of establishing militant infrastructure along the border in violation of the UN Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 war. It has warned people to evacuate from dozens of communities in southern Lebanon, many of which are outside the buffer zone.
The fighting has displaced more than a million people in Lebanon, and the UN has reported that over the last 24 hours, Israeli shellfire and air strikes have killed 28 people and wounded 113, bringing the total to 2,169 killed and 10,212 wounded in Lebanon since the war erupted last October.
In Gaza, the UN has reported that more than 90% of the population of 2.3 million people has been displaced, often multiple times, and that the war has destroyed large areas of the territory. The Israeli military has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not say how many were fighters but say women and children make up more than half of the fatalities.
As the conflict continues to escalate, the international community is calling for an end to the violence and a negotiated settlement. The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said that the EU reiterates its full support to the UN peacekeeping force, to its UNSC-mandated mission, and its troops. Jordan’s Foreign Ministry also denounced the Israeli strikes on the peacekeepers as a “dangerous escalation” and “flagrant violation of international law”.
