Israeli airstrikes kill 31 in Lebanon, Gaza

At least 16 people were killed on Wednesday in Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon, reported Xinhua, quoting the official National News Agency (NNA).

According to the NNA, Israeli airstrikes killed five people in the towns of Maarakeh and Qlaileh in the city of Tyre, killed one person, and injured another in the town of Ibl al-Saqi in Marjeyoun district.

In addition, Israeli raids led to three deaths in the village of Zefta, three deaths in the town of Ain Qana, and four deaths in the village of Habbouch, the NNA said.

Lebanese military sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua that Israeli warplanes launched 21 airstrikes on 18 towns and villages in southern Lebanon, while Israeli artillery shelled 12 border towns and villages with about 50 shells.

According to the Lebanese Health Ministry, the death toll from Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon since the beginning of the war on Oct. 8, 2023, reached 3,558, while injuries went up to 15,123.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah announced in separate statements on Wednesday that its members targeted with rockets and drones several Israeli sites in northern Israel, including the Shraga base, a logistics base for the 146th Division, and the cities of Acre and Safed, without mentioning the casualties.

Hezbollah also claimed that until Tuesday, it has killed 110 Israeli soldiers, wounded 1,050 others, and destroyed 48 Merkava tanks and nine bulldozers, among other military equipment and vehicles.

The Israeli army has not commented on this.

Since Sept. 23, the Israeli army has intensified its air attack on Lebanon in an escalation of conflict with Hezbollah. Israel further initiated a ground operation across its northern border into Lebanon in early October.

15 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza

At least 15 Palestinians were killed on Wednesday in two Israeli airstrikes in the southern and central Gaza Strip, and Israeli shelling continued in northern Gaza, reported Xinhua, quoting sources.

Israeli aircraft targeted a tent housing displaced people in the al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, local sources and eyewitnesses told Xinhua.

In a press statement, the Civil Defense in Gaza reported that its workers, along with medical teams, recovered the bodies of seven victims, including children, and several injuries, all of whom were transferred to hospitals.

Meanwhile, al-Awda Hospital in al-Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza, said in a brief statement that eight people were killed and 15 others injured to varying degrees in an Israeli strike on the Khaled bin Al-Walid school, which shelters displaced people in the camp.

The airstrike caused fires and extensive destruction in the targeted area of the school, which belongs to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, according to local sources and eyewitnesses.

The Israeli army and the UN agency have not commented on the attack on the school.

Also on Wednesday, eyewitnesses told Xinhua that Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip has been under artillery shelling since morning, causing significant damage, and this came alongside days of house demolitions in the area.

Witnesses reported thick smoke rising from western Beit Lahia as residential buildings were burned, adding that Israeli vehicles had withdrawn from the area and other parts of the town.

Israel has been conducting a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct. 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and about 250 taken hostage.

The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip has risen to 43,985, the Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Wednesday.