Israeli strikes on north Lebanon and Gaza kill dozens, officials say

Israeli strikes on northern Lebanon and Gaza have killed dozens of people, rescuers and officials say, including a number of children.

The Lebanese health ministry said at least 23 people including seven children were killed in Almat near Byblos, to the north of the capital Beirut.

In northern Gaza the official Palestinian news agency Wafa and Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defence agency said at least 30 people had been killed in an Israeli strike on a house in Jabalia. The civil defence said the dead included 13 children.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has not commented on the strike in Lebanon. It said it struck a site in Jabalia where “terrorists were operating”, steps had been taken to mitigate civilian harm and the details were under review.

The Lebanese health ministry said rescue workers were still searching the rubble after the strike in Almat.

Israel has escalated its campaign against Iran-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. Its main focus had been southern Lebanon, aiming to weaken the group’s capacity to launch rockets across the border. But in recent weeks, operations have targeted cities and towns throughout Lebanon.

In a separate incident to the south, three medical workers were killed when an Israeli strike hit an Islamic Health Authority building in Adloun, the health ministry said.

The IDF said it had intercepted Hezbollah rockets on Saturday after the militant group launched 70 projectiles, according to Israel’s military.

Since the escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah seven weeks ago, at least 3,002 people have been killed and more than 1.2 million displaced across Lebanon, according to Lebanese authorities.

In Gaza, aid groups say Jabalia and other parts of northern Gaza have been under siege since early October when Israel launched a new ground offensive against the Palestinian armed group Hamas.

Dr Fadel Naim, director of the Al-Ahly Hospital in Gaza City, told AP news agency that his facility had received 17 bodies from Jabalia so far, including those of nine women, and the death toll was likely to rise.

Eyewitnesses described the Israeli strike as an “earthquake”.

“We were just sitting peacefully. These are innocent citizens who don’t belong to any military organization or faction,” eyewitness and relative to the victims Hamza Alloush told Reuters.

The house “was bombed over the residents’ heads without warning, which led to the martyrdom of everyone inside. Those who were lucky enough to survive were thrown onto the trees, onto the neighbours, and the remains are still scattered under the rubble”, he said.

Videos and images showed multiple bodies wrapped in blankets in the back of cars and laid to the ground at a hospital.

Another strike in Gaza City killed a welfare ministry official and seven members of his family, including his wife and children, medics and relatives said.

Israel is facing a US deadline that expires within days to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza or face potential restrictions on military cooperation.

The UN previously said the “darkest moment” of the war in Gaza was unfolding in the northern part of the territory.

On Saturday, Israel rejected warnings of famine in northern Gaza from global food security experts, saying the group relied on “partial, biased data and superficial sources with vested interests”.

The independent Famine Review Committee (FRC) said there was a strong likelihood of imminent famine and that immediate action was required to ease a catastrophic situation.

Israel said it had increased aid efforts, including opening an additional crossing on Friday to get more aid into southern Gaza.

The IDF later said it had delivered 11 trucks of food, water and medical aid into Jabalia and Beit Hanoun on Thursday.

Meanwhile, efforts to reach a ceasefire have stalled, with Qatar suspending its work as a mediator until Hamas and Israel “show their willingness” to negotiate.

Israel launched its current military offensive in Gaza after Hamas’ attack on 7 October 2023 that killed about 1,200 people in Israel and took 251 hostages back to Gaza.

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures the UN sees as reliable, has reported a death toll of more than 43,600 people since the start of the war. Many more bodies are believed to remain under the rubble of bombarded buildings.

In Lebanon, Israel went on the offensive against Hezbollah after almost a year of cross-border fighting sparked by the war in Gaza.

Israeli air strikes have eliminated most of the group’s leadership and caused widespread destruction in parts of southern and eastern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs – areas where Hezbollah has a strong presence.

Israeli authorities say more than 70 people have been killed by Hezbollah attacks in Israel and the occupied Golan Heights over the past year.