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Israeli airstrikes killed dozens of Palestinians in northern Gaza on Saturday, as Israel continued its offensive against Hamas days after the killing of the militant group’s leader Yahya Sinwar.
At least 73 people, mostly women and children, were killed in an attack on an apartment complex in the northern town of Beit Lahiya on Saturday night, health authorities in the besieged region said, with many more still trapped under rubble. He added that it has become. The death toll brings the number of Palestinians killed in northern Gaza over the weekend to more than 100.
The Israeli military said the numbers released by Gaza authorities were exaggerated according to initial assessments, adding that it had struck Hamas targets.
Israel’s attack in northern Gaza prompted Western and Arab countries to use the death of Mr. Sinwar, who masterminded the October 7 attack on Israel last year that triggered the war, to call for a cease-fire and detain the Gaza Strip. The move comes amid efforts to revive efforts to secure the release of hostages held in prison. strip.
But Israel continues to fight on multiple fronts, including in Lebanon, where it launched an offensive on the southern outskirts of Beirut on Sunday, and is pressing ahead with a ground offensive against Hezbollah in the south.
Israeli forces have continued military operations in northern Gaza in recent days, resulting in numerous deaths. Palestinian health authorities said early Saturday that Israeli air strikes had killed at least 33 people in Jabalia refugee camp.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that Israel is “determined to achieve all war goals and change the security reality in the region for generations to come.”
He said Hezbollah was trying to “assassinate” Netanyahu after the Israeli military said a drone launched by an Iranian-backed group had hit a building in the northern seaside town of Caesarea, where he lives. denounced. The prime minister’s office confirmed that their home was targeted, but that no one was injured as Netanyahu and his wife were not there.
Israeli authorities said Hezbollah rockets struck the northern towns of Kiryat Ata, Shlomi and Acre on Saturday, killing one person and wounding 10 others.
Hezbollah said Friday that a “new escalation phase of the conflict” with Israel is on the horizon as it seeks to reunite after a series of devastating blows in recent weeks, including the assassination of leader Hassan Nasrallah last month. I swore it was coming.
Meanwhile, Israel continues to carry out airstrikes across Lebanon, bombing Beirut’s southern suburbs for the first time in days on Saturday and launching drone strikes on Christian areas of the country.
On Thursday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US would “redouble” its efforts to end the war in Gaza after Israeli forces killed Israel’s most wanted man, Shinwar, in southern Gaza. He said this was also seen as critical to efforts to stop the escalating war in Gaza. conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
However, after Shinwar’s death, Hamas continued to insist that it would agree to a deal to release the hostages and stop fighting only if a permanent ceasefire was achieved and Israeli forces withdrew from the area, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that if the group achieved a ceasefire. They claimed that the war would end only when they put down their weapons and freed the prisoners. It is estimated that 101 hostages remain in Gaza, many of whom are believed to be dead.
Palestinian health authorities say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to accept a permanent ceasefire or agree to withdraw Israeli troops from the area, where Israeli attacks have killed more than 42,000 people.
Israeli forces have been carrying out weeks of offensives in devastated northern Gaza, with most of their attacks concentrated around Jabalia. Jabalia is one of the few places where Gazan residents remain in the northern Gaza Strip after the majority of Gazans were forced to flee to the south of the enclave.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations Palestinian Refugee Agency, said on Saturday that another 20,000 people had been forced to evacuate Jabalia, adding that the last remaining hospitals were reporting severe shortages of fuel and medical supplies. .
The United Nations said two of the three remaining hospitals in northern Gaza had been hit, and warned that the attacks were “exacerbating an already alarming humanitarian crisis.”
