The United States indicates that it “contacted the government of Israel to ask what happened” after an Israeli strike in Beit Lahia (Gaza) on Tuesday, causing the death of nearly 100 people.
The essentials
- The United States expressed its concern this Tuesday after the death of nearly 100 Palestinians (93 according to Gaza Civil Defense), including women and children in an Israeli strike in Beit Lahia, in the Gaza Strip. “We are deeply concerned about the loss of civilian lives” in this “horrific strike with horrific results.” “We have contacted the government of Israel to ask what happened,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said. The “tragic cost for civilians” of this bombing “reminds us once again why we must end this war,” says Washington.
- UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday asking him to maintain the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), now banned by a law of the Hebrew State.
- On Wednesday October 30, Israeli strikes continued in Lebanon. One person was killed and six others were injured in the Israeli strike on Sinai, near the village of Ansar in southern Lebanon, according to a report from The Orient-The Day. Six new Israeli raids also targeted Khiam.
Latest updates
10:00 – In southern Lebanon, an Israeli strike leaves 1 dead and 6 injured
According to the latest information from L’Orient-Le Jour, the Israeli strike on Sinai, near the village of Ansar, left one dead and six injured. “The victims were in the garden of their house,” specifies the media. Six new Israeli raids targeted Khiam and the al-Rissala scouts, affiliated with the Amal movement, announced the death of the child Ranim Ibrahim Saklaoui. In addition, this Wednesday morning, a car was hit on the road to Araya, on the highway linking Beirut to Bekaa, about ten kilometers from the Lebanese capital.
09:42 – Washington denounces Israel’s choice over UNRWA
This Wednesday, the spokesperson for the American State Department, Matthew Miller, expressed his great concern about the distribution of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip, particularly after Israel’s decision to ban the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) on its soil.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken “made it clear that we are opposed to the adoption of this law and that its implementation could have legal and political implications”, on the United States’ support for Israel, warns the spokesperson. Several countries and world organizations have also denounced Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision by calling for the maintenance of UNRWA.
10/29/24 – 5:15 p.m. – Iran wants to increase its military budget by 200%
This Tuesday, the Iranian government is proposing a 200% increase in its military budget over one year, starting March 21, 2025. An announcement which comes as the country contributes financially to the assaults of Hezbollah, participating in the war in the Strip. Gaza between Israel and Hamas, which has recently been protected as far as Lebanon, an area in which Hezbollah is widely established with several strongholds.
10/29/24 – 4:30 p.m. – Israeli tanks enter southern Lebanon
Several Israeli tanks entered southern Lebanon, as far as the town of Khiam, less than 6km from the border, the most significant incursion in this area specifies the official Lebanese press agency, ANI. “A large number of tanks of the Israeli occupation army” were stationed on a hill east of Khiam, the agency said.
10/29/24 – 3:20 p.m. – 43,061 dead in the Gaza Strip
New assessment in the Gaza Strip. 43,061 people have died in the Palestinian enclave since the start of the war with Israel, according to estimates by the Hamas government’s health ministry. Over the last 24 hours, 41 people have lost their lives, the press release said.
29/10/24 – 2:40 p.m. – Israel: one person killed by rockets fired from Lebanon
One person was killed on Tuesday by rockets fired from Lebanon towards Maalot, in northern Israel. “We saw an unconscious man, without a pulse and without breathing (…) His injury was critical and we had to declare him dead,” Magen David Adom said in a statement. In total, around fifty projectiles were fired from Lebanon towards Israel on Tuesday.
43,061. This is the number of deaths in the Gaza Strip since the Hamas terrorist offensive on October 7, 2023 in Israel. A figure communicated by the Ministry of Health of the Hamas government on Monday October 14, 2024 and which reveals the intensity of the fighting which has lasted for more than a year now. Over the months, tensions intensified, and as of October 27, 2023, Israel extended its ground operation to Gaza. The objective for Netanyahu and the IDF is clear: to “annihilate” Hamas. A one-week ceasefire nevertheless took place in November 2023. After a significant leap forward, on April 13, 2024, Iran launched its first massive attack on Israel. Hamas ally, Iran then fired nearly 350 explosive drones and missiles at the Jewish state. An attack in response to missiles fired at the embassy in Damascus, Syria on April 1, in which 11 people lost their lives, including seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Tuesday September 17, 2024, a new kind of attack broke into the war. Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies explode. Twelve deaths and nearly 3,000 injured have been recorded in Lebanon. Since its coordinated explosions, Israel has continued to strike Lebanon with air or ground raids. More than 1,000 people are killed in IDF strikes and thousands of Lebanese are forced to be displaced. On October 1, 2024, Iran responded by sending nearly 200 ballistic missiles directly to Israel. Since then, the two countries have been waging a merciless war. On October 8, 2024, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, threatened Lebanon with “destruction and suffering like those we see in Gaza” if the population of the country does not ” “liberated” not from Hezbollah. Comments described as “provocation” by the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot.
Monday October 14, 2024, Lebanese Hezbollah threatened Israel with new attacks in a press release. As a reminder, Hezbollah had struck Haifa two days earlier, killing four Israeli soldiers and injuring no fewer than 60. At the start of the week, the terrorist organization indicated that “the resistance (…) promises the enemy”. The raid carried out “south of Haifa is only a foretaste of what awaits him if he decides to continue his attacks against our people”, she threatens. According to Palestinian doctors cited by Associated Press, the courtyard of a hospital in the Gaza Strip was then bombed by the Israeli army, killing at least four people and causing a fire in a camp for displaced people.