Israeli strikes kill at least 30 in south and east Lebanon

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Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, director of the Kamal Adwan hospital, has spoken out after sustaining an injury after an Israeli strike targeted the facility.

Speaking from a hospital bed, Dr Safiya said: "We will continue to provide care no matter the cost…it is an honor for me to serve the people that are left, we will continue to provide humanitarian care no matter what"

BREAKING: Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, Director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, speaks after being injured in an Israeli drone strike targeting the hospital:

“We will continue to provide care no matter the cost…it is an honor for me to serve the people that are left, we… https://t.co/HOYyz0n7EQ pic.twitter.com/kOb93M4VPQ

— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) November 23, 2024

Israeli airstrikes targeting multiple towns in the Baalbek district of eastern Lebanon killed at least 23 people and injured 42 others. 

Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) reported airstrikes struck a home in Chmistar, killing 13 and also injuring 13. 

Five were killed in Bodai, two were in critical condition, and three were injured. 

In Flawiye, four more were killed, one was killed in Brital and 18 were injured, and three were in critical condition in Ras al-Ain, while three were wounded in Haour Taala.

In the Baalbek-Hermel region, one person was killed and three were injured after an Israeli airstrike targeted the town of Haret El Fikani in the central Beqaa Valley.

Israeli airstrikes near the al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis killed at least three Palestinians, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society. 

The organisation also said 16 were injured. 

🚨Urgent: The Palestine Red Crescent teams retrieved the bodies of three martyrs in the initial toll after occupation forces targeted a gathering of citizens near #AlAmalHospital in #KhanYunis.

— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) November 23, 2024

An Israeli airstrike targeted the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, injuring its director, Hussam Abu Safia. 

Two people have been killed, according to Al Jazeera. The hospital has suffered repeated attacks since the Israeli army launched a ground invasion six weeks ago. 

Quds News Network reports the forces bombed the oxygen station at the hospital.

Israel is investigating the disappearance of an Israeli-Moldovan citizen in the United Arab Emirates as a "terrorist incident", the prime minister's office said Saturday.

Zvi Kogan, an emissary for the ultra-Orthodox Chabad Hasidic movement in the UAE, has been missing since Thursday afternoon.

The Mossad spy agency is leading the investigation, the office said in a statement, adding that there was "information indicating that this is a terrorist incident.

"Israeli security and intelligence organisations, concerned for Zvi Kogan's safety and wellbeing, have been working tirelessly on this case," it added.

The office did not give further information.

Lebanon said Israeli airstrikes on Saturday killed over 55 people, many of them in central Beirut, as Israel's defence minister vowed decisive action against Hezbollah, in a call with his US counterpart.

On Israel's second front, the over 13-month war on Gaza, rescuers said pre-dawn Israeli airstrikes and tank fire killed 19 people and wounded over 40.

The Lebanese Health Ministry reports that 20 have been killed and 66 have been injured after Israeli airstrikes targeted the Al-Basta neighbourhood in Beirut. 

Thousands of anti-Netanyahu protesters rallied in Tel Aviv to call for an immediate captive exchange deal.

The Parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin spoke at the rally, calling for the captives to be released.

Thousands of anti-Netanyahu protesters rally in Tel Aviv calling for an immediate prisoner exchange deal with the Palestinian resistance. pic.twitter.com/hLKPObfpVk

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) November 23, 2024

Israeli attacks have killed at least 3,670 people and injured 15,413 in Lebanon since October 2023, Lebanon's health ministry said on Saturday. 

(Reuters)

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stressed that the United States was dedicated to a diplomatic resolution in Lebanon and urged Israel to improve "dire" conditions in Gaza, in a call Saturday with his Israeli counterpart.

Austin "reiterated US commitment to a diplomatic resolution in Lebanon that allows Israeli and Lebanese civilians to return safely to their homes on both sides of the border" in his call with Israel Katz, a Pentagon spokesperson said.

A spokesman for Katz said the defence minister underscored that Israel would "continue to act decisively in response to Hezbollah's attacks on civilian populations in Israel".

During the call, "Katz commended US efforts to facilitate de-escalation in Lebanon, emphasized Israel's commitment to restoring security that would enable northern residents to return to their homes safely", his spokesman said.

Israel launched a strike on a Syrian-Lebanese border crossing in the region of Homs, the Syrian state news agency said on Saturday.

(Reuters)

Hamas's armed wing said on Saturday an Israeli woman taken captive during the October 2023 attack had been killed in northern Gaza, but Israel's military said it could not "confirm or refute" the claim.

Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Obeida said contact had been restored with the woman's captors after a break of several weeks, and it was established that the hostage had been killed in an area of north Gaza where the Israeli army has been operating.

Abu Obeida's statement did not further identify the hostage or say how or when she was killed.

The Israeli army said in a statement it was examining the information after Hamas "released footage allegedly showing a hostage who had been killed".

It added: "At this stage, we cannot confirm or refute it. (Army) representatives are in contact with her family and are keeping them updated with all available information."

Abu Obeida said the woman had been held with a second female hostage whose life was in danger.

Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz told his US counterpart on Saturday that the country would "continue to act decisively" against Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, after two months of full-blown war, a spokesman said.

In a phone call with Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin, "Katz commended US efforts to facilitate de-escalation in Lebanon, emphasised Israel's commitment to restoring security that would enable northern residents to return to their homes safely", and "underscored that Israel will continue to act decisively in response to Hezbollah's attacks on civilian populations in Israel", a spokesman for Katz said

Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli air strikes on the east and south of the country killed at least 30 people on Saturday.

At least 16 were killed in the east, where Hezbollah holds sway, among them eight in Shmestar, the ministry said. And in the south, another Hezbollah bastion, at least 14 were killed, including five in the coastal city of Tyre, it added.

Israeli forces on Saturday intensified their all-day raid in Kafr Abbush village, south of the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarem, according to local sources.

Israeli forces reportedly deployed additional troops and military vehicles to the village. Soldiers stormed dozens of houses, ransacking them, interrogating the residents and turning many houses into military outposts.

They detained two villagers, including a 16-year-old teen after breaking into and searching their houses.

The death toll in central Beirut has risen to 15, security sources said.

A Lebanese security source told AFP that the strike had "targeted a leading Hezbollah figure", but a Hezbollah lawmaker denied any official of the Iran-backed group was present.

An Israeli-Moldovan dual citizen living in the United Arab Emirates has been missing since Thursday, the Israeli prime minister's office said on Saturday.

In a statement, it also said an investigation was opened based on information that the disappearance of the person, identified as Zvi Kogan, was related to a "terrorist incident".

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has invited Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu to visit his country, Netanyahu's office confirmed on Saturday.

Orban said on Friday he had invited Netanyahu to visit Hungary though several other European nations said the Israeli premier would be detained if he set foot on their soil, following the issuing of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for him over Israel's war in Gaza. 

A spokesperson for Hamas' armed wing said on Saturday that a female Israeli hostage had been killed in an area of northern Gaza that had been struck by Israeli forces.

Lebanon said eight people were killed in an Israeli strike on Saturday in the east, with state media reporting the attack on a house killed a mother and her children.

"The Israeli enemy strike on Shmostar killed eight people, including four children, and nine others were injured, including four in critical condition," a ministry statement said, giving a preliminary toll. The official National News Agency earlier said the attack "killed a family including a mother and her four children".

At least 120 Palestinians over the last 48 hours and hit a hospital on the northern edge of the enclave, wounding medical staff and damaging equipment, Palestinian medics said on Saturday.

UNRWA, the Palestinian refugee agency, says 80 percent of Gaza's casualties have occurred after Israeli strikes hot residential buildings.

In #Gaza, strikes by the Israeli Forces continue with civilian casualties and destruction of residential buildings.

Around 80% of verified fatalities were people killed in residential buildings, according to @UNHumanRights reports. pic.twitter.com/9hl2DUKh6d

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) November 23, 2024

Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin stressed that the United States was dedicated to a diplomatic resolution in Lebanon and urged Israel to improve 'dire' conditions in Gaza, in a call Saturday with his Israeli counterpart.

Austin "reiterated US commitment to a diplomatic resolution in Lebanon" in his call with Israel Katz, while also pushing Israel "to continue to take steps to improve the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza," according to a Pentagon spokesperson.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Israeli defense minister, Israel Katz, on Saturday, the Department of Defense said.

"Secretary Austin emphasized the importance of ensuring the safety and security of the Lebanese Armed Forces and UNIFIL forces in Lebanon," a Pentagon readout of the call said. 

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday praised the "courageous decision" of the International Criminal Court to seek the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant.

"We support the arrest warrant. We consider it important that this courageous decision be carried out by all country members of the accord to renew the trust of humanity in the international system," Erdogan said in a speech in Istanbul. The ICC issued the warrants against the Israeli leaders and Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif on Thursday on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Gaza conflict.

At least five people have been killed in an Israeli attack on the village of Roummane in the Nabatieh governorate, south Lebanon, said the National News Agency (NNA).

The Israeli army has issued evacuation orders for the Hadath and Burj al-Barajneh neighbourhoods in Beirut, as further strikes on the Lebanese capital are expected.

Avichay Adreaa, the army's Arabic-language spokesperson, said on X: "You are located near Hezbollah facilities and interests, against which the IDF will operate in the near future."

"For your safety and the safety of your family members, you must evacuate these buildings and those adjacent to them immediately and stay away from them for a distance of no less than 500 meters," he added.

The health ministry in Gaza said on Saturday that at least 44,176 people have been killed in more than 13 months of war between Israel and Palestinian militants.

The toll includes 120 deaths in the previous 48 hours, according to the ministry, which said 104,473 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began on October 7, 2023.

Israeli forces detained at least 15 Palestinians across the West Bank in overnight raids, according to the Palestinian Prisoners' Society and the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs.

The Palestinians were detained across the governorates of Hebron, Tulkarem, Jenin, Qalqilya, Bethlehem, and Nablus.

Two fishermen were killed on Saturday in an Israeli drone attack in Tyre, south Lebanon, according to the Lebanese National News Agency (NNA).

NNA said that the attack directly targeted a group of fishermen on the beach of Tyre district, killing at least two.

A Palestinian man was shot and wounded by Israeli forces on Saturday following a raid which was carried out by settlers in the town of Beit Furik, east of Nablus.

The Palestinian official news agency Wafa, citing the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, said that its crews dealt with a 32-year-old man who was injured by live bullets in the thigh, before being later transferred to the hospital for medical treatment.

The mayor of Beit Furik, Hussein Hajj Muhammad, said that a group of Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian homes on the outskirts of the al-Dubbat neighbourhood in the town, before confrontations broke out.

The death toll in the Israeli strike in central Beirut's Basta neighbourhood earlier this morning has risen to 11, alongside 63 wounded, the Lebanese civil defence said.

The target of the early Saturday Israeli airstrike in central Beirut has been claimed as top Hezbollah commander Mohammed Haidar, the Saudi al-Arabiya and Israeli channel Kan reports.

Talal Hamiyeh, a senior Hezbollah figure presented as the head of the party's clandestine operations unit, Unit 910, was also the intended target of the strike, the same outlets said.

Haidar's fate remains unknown.

Gaza's civil defence agency said that 19 people, including children, were killed in Israeli air strikes and tank fire on Saturday.

Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that "19 people were killed and more than 40 others wounded in three massacres caused by Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip between midnight and this morning", as well as by tank fire in Rafah in the territory's south.

Lebanese official media reported an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs on Saturday morning, about an hour after Israel's military issued evacuation warnings for two districts.

"The enemy carried out a violent strike on (Beirut's) southern suburbs in the Hadath area, around the Lebanese University," the official National News Agency said.

At least four people were killed and 23 wounded in an Israeli strike on central Beirut overnight, Lebanon's health ministry said on Saturday.