Gaza’s First Evacuation in the Light of the First Day of Israeli War II. Thousands of Syrian Refugees and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Israel reiterated its call, from the opening weeks of the war, for the complete evacuation of northern Gaza. Up to 300,000 people are estimated to have remained in the heavily destroyed north after earlier Israeli warnings that sent around a million fleeing to the south.
Health officials in Gaza and Lebanon claim that scores of people were killed by Israeli strikes this weekend, as the Israeli government continues to ponder a response to Iranian missiles.
The local health authorities in Gaza claim that at least 56 people died this weekend, which led to a series of funerals after a strike on a mosque Sunday. The building was so close to a nearby hospital morgue that no ambulances were required, with bodies of the at least 19 dead simply carried by hand from one compound to the next.
Last week, Israel launched what it said was a limited ground operation into southern Lebanon after a series of attacks killed longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and most of his top commanders. Hezbollah and Israel fought a war in 2006 and it has been the worst since. Nine Israeli soldiers have been killed in ground clashes that Israel says have killed 440 Hezbollah fighters.
Other displaced families now shelter alongside Beirut’s famous seaside Corniche, their wind-flapped tents just steps from luxury homes. According to Om Ali Mcheik, they don’t care if they die, but they don’t want to die at the hands of Netanyahu.
“We were on the road for two days,” said Issa Hilal, one of many Syrian refugees in Lebanon who are now heading back. It was very hard to navigate the crowded roads. We almost didn’t make it. Some children whimpered or cried.
Associated Press journalists saw hundreds continuing to cross the Masnaa Border Crossing on foot, crunching over the rubble after Israeli airstrikes left huge craters in the road leading to it on Thursday. Iran is believed to be the supplier of Hezbollah’s weaponry.
Israel’s military earlier Saturday said about 90 projectiles were fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory. The police said three people were lightly injured in the northern Arab town of Deir al-Asad, where most of the fell.
On Saturday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “Israel has the duty and the right to defend itself and respond to these attacks, and it will do so.” On Lebanon, he said ”we are not done yet.”
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, told reporters in Damascus that they are attempting to broker a cease-fire in Gaza and Lebanon. The minister said the unnamed countries putting forward initiatives include regional states and some outside the Middle East.
Israel says its recent operations inside Lebanon are part of an attempt to prevent Hezbollah rockets that have landed in northern Israel for the past year, forcing tens of thousands of Israeli civilians to evacuate towns and cities in the region.
On Saturday, Israel’s attack on the northern Beddawi camp killed an official with Hamas’ military wing along with his wife and two young daughters, the Palestinian militant group said. Hamas later said another military wing member was killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley. The aftermath had buildings smashed, bricks strewn and stairways to nowhere.
The targets included a gas station on the main highway leading to the Beirut airport and a warehouse for medical supplies, the agency said. A series of detonations might have been caused by the strikes that may have hit the stores.
Israel’s military urged residents to leave Dahiyeh, a collection of suburbs on the southern edge of Lebanon, after the strong explosions began at midnight. AP video showed the blasts illuminating the densely populated southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a strong presence. The day was marked by sporadic strikes and the buzz of drones.
The United Nations says about 1 million Lebanese have fled their homes amid the Israeli airstrikes. About 63,000 people from the Israeli side of the border with Lebanon remain displaced by Hezbollah rocket fire.
An Israeli suicide attack on a safe zone in Jabaliya, a Gaza refugee camp in the first few months of the 1948 Israeli-Israel War
At least one person is dead and 10 other people are wounded in a knife and gun attack in the southern city of Beer Sheba, according to Israeli emergency services.
The attack came at a time when Israel is on heightened alert in anticipation of memorial events marking the Oct. 7 attack.
There is a mosque near the hospital in Deir al-Balah that was hit by an Israeli strike. Four people were killed when the school turned into a shelter. The Israeli military did not provide evidence to back up their claims that the strikes targeted militants.
An Associated Press journalist counted the bodies at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital morgue. Hospital records showed that the dead from the strike on the mosque were all men.
The Israeli military announced a new air and ground offensive in Jabaliya, in northern Gaza, home to a densely populated refugee camp dating back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation. It circulated photos and video footage showing a column of tanks heading toward the area.
People mourned on social media when they heard about the airstrikes. Imad Alarabid said in his post that an airstrike on his home killed 12 family members, including his parents. A medic at the Health Ministry, Saeed Abu Elaish said he was wounded and bleeding.
A TV journalist who had broadcasted his work on networks including Al Jazeera was killed in shelling of his home. Anas al-Sharif is an Al Jazeera reporter and he confirmed his death.
The safe zone designation was made during the first few months of the war by the Israeli military to allow residents of Rafah to shelter and get aid. Israel continued to carry out airstrikes on Rafah despite the fact that it wanted to free Israeli hostages, according to the military. Some of those strikes killed and injured people, while others destroyed food distribution sites. More than half of Gaza’s prewar population of 2.2 million was believed to be sheltering in Rafah. In May, Israel launched an offensive that sealed the border with Egypt and ordered people to leave the city, which was a main entry point for humanitarian aid.
The fate of the remaining captives in Gaza has remained an open wound for many Israelis. Netanyahu’s office believes that of the 101 hostages still unaccounted for in Gaza, about a third are likely dead.
The Israeli attack on Gaza: “You’re going to die,” says Hakima Al Jamal, a Gazan refugee who fled from Hamas
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said the area was hit by more than 30 strikes overnight, the heaviest bombardment since Sept. 23 when Israel escalated its air campaign.
Hezbollah said it successfully targeted a group of Israeli soldiers in northern Israel “with a large rocket salvo, hitting them accurately.” It was difficult to confirm the claim.
The U.S. tried to balance its long-term support for Israel with its desire to contain the war in Gaza, which has dragged Iran and Israel into direct conflict.
In northern Gaza, the Israeli military dropped leaflets warning of a “new phase of war,” as commanders issued fresh evacuation orders for the several hundred thousand residents that remain in the northern part of the strip.
“Enough, world, enough, tomorrow will be a complete year,” said Hakima Al Jamal, as she watched her dying father be carried out of the mosque. “We are tired. We are so tired by God.
More Israeli troops are being moved to the border with Gaza to protect one-year commemoration ceremonies in communities affected by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks last year that killed some 1,200 people and saw more than 200 hostages taken into Gaza.
Riqad said Saturday that there is no safe place. “The Israelis are bombing everywhere.” Two young children in his family asked a relative if the bombs would get to them at the hotel that was given shelter to them and other displaced families.
Riqad, the man who only gave his first name because he was concerned for his safety, arrived with his family from southern suburbs of Lebanon four days ago after fleeing Israeli attacks on their home in the south of the country.
The impact has been very fast. One pre-med student, who gave only her first name Yasmin, had started college only a month earlier.
I expected it to be the best year of my life. She said that she has worked a lot to get to the university. “Now, I only miss university days because of the coffee there and my friends in the library.” That’s everything I want right now.
Up First Newsletter: Gaza a year of Israel-Hamas war disrupted lives. Key factors for Michigan voters: Anas Baba’s story
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He often meets a young girl named Habiba at the hospital in central Gaza. She was born with colorblindness since birth. One day, she told Anas she saw a man drowning with water coming out of his nose. It wasn’t water, it was blood.
Our colleague Anas Baba in Gaza has been reporting for NPR in Gaza all year. Again and again, he has videotaped bodies brought into the morgue after Israeli airstrikes. He always trains his camera on young children, sheltering near the morgue, standing alone and watching silently as bodies are laid out.
Source: How a year of Israel-Hamas war disrupted lives. And, key factors for Michigan voters
On the tragedy of Oct 7, 2023: Israeli Ground Attacks on Hamas Observed by a Palestinian Refugee in Gaza
I thought about it a lot. She said that she wanted to live. She is trying to face her fears by learing how to kayak in the sea. “I do everything to give some meaning to life now that they’re gone.”
I think about Batya Ofir when I think of Kibbutz Be’eri, the village in Israel where more than 100 people were killed. Her brother was killed along with his family. She asked herself if she wanted to keep living, as she felt survivor’s guilt.
The deadliest day in Israel’s history took place on Oct 7, 2023, which caused an attack on Palestinians. This resulted in a humanitarian catastrophe for Gaza. The narrow strip of Palestinian territory located close to Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea was bombarded by Israeli warplanes after the Hamas attack. By the end of the month, Israeli forces had launched a full-scale ground invasion of Gaza.
The State of the Blue Wall: The Role of War and the Middle East in Running the State of Michigan and What It Means for the American Dream
Michigan, a “blue wall” state, is part of Vice President Harris’ clearest path to the White House. But the victory won’t be easy. Harris and former President Donald Trump remain in a close battle. Here are key factors that could decide which way Michigan swings:
The war in the Middle East is personal in the swing state of Michigan. The state has a large Muslim and ArabAmerican population, with both Republicans and Democrats focused on those voting blocs. Many in the state have families living in the areas of Lebanon that are being bombed right now.
The report found that the national debt would increase as a result of Harris and Trump’s plans. Trump’s plan would add $7.5 trillion to the nation’s debt over the next decade, while Harris’ proposal would cost the government $3.5 trillion, according to the Committee for Responsible Federal Budget. The committee has cautioned that there could be a future fiscal crisis if politicians do not take more decisive action on the national debt. Let’s take a closer look at the details of both economic plans.
This year will likely decide the election, as NPR is visiting six key swing states. This week, Morning Edition is in Michigan to listen to voters about what matters to them and how that will affect their vote.
Gaza’s Stronghold in the Afterglow of the December 11, 2001, Israel’s War with Iran: “Bring them home now!”
Thousands of people crossed a border fence. Others arrived in speedboats. Some came by paraglider in thedawn attack by Hamas that left 1,200 people dead and another 250 as hostages a year ago. It also set in motion events that now threaten to turn Israel’s long-running conflict with Iran’s proxies into a direct and dangerous war with Tehran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was under a lot of pressure to halt the fighting in Gaza and secured the release of the hostages when he heard about the surprise attack.
In the aftermath of the Hamas attack, as Israelis mourned those killed, they also feared for the safety of the hostages. Hostages Square, a central plaza in Tel Aviv, was turned into a gathering place for the captives’ families, friends and supporters. Posters showing the faces and names of the hostages became ubiquitous, as a potent rallying cry “Bring them home now!” emerged. Many Israelis started wearing special bracelets and necklaces to show their support for the captives. Daily vigils in Hostages Square drew large crowds.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has called the humanitarian situation in Gaza a “moral stain on us all,” and the aid group Refugees International has said that Israel’s military response “has wrought disproportionate death and suffering among civilians in Gaza, generating famine-like conditions while obstructing and undermining the humanitarian response.”
Khan Younis, Gaza’s second-largest city, which Israeli authorities considered to be a Hamas stronghold, experienced some of the most intense bombardment of the conflict.
Food, drinking water and materials for temporary shelters are in short supply and are being carried in by trucks. People in Gaza are down to one meal every other day, and an estimated 50,000 children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years are in urgent need of treatment for malnutrition.
U.S. efforts to speed aid to Gaza have also floundered. High winds and rough seas in the eastern Mediterranean caused the Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore system (JLOTS) to be useless for a long time as it only operated intermittently.
Besides the brief cease-fire to facilitate a hostages-for-prisoners swap, repeated rounds of peace talks — some mediated by Qatar — have failed to make much progress. The Palestinian leadership is fragmented and has played a part in preventing a long-term peace deal.
Meanwhile, public opinion in the U.S. has been split largely along partisan lines, with conservatives showing support for Israel, but some people, younger and more liberal, turning out for pro-Palestinian rallies on college campuses.
According to a Pearson Institute/ AP-NORC poll published last week, about 4 in 10 Republicans do not agree with the opinion that Israel bears a lot of responsibility for the war in Gaza.
That political dichotomy could influence the outcome of a likely tight U.S. presidential race, with some Democrats suggesting that Netanyahu is ignoring the Biden administration’s peace entreaties in an effort to tip the election toward former President Donald Trump. A recent survey by the New York based Institute for Global Affairs shows that key battleground states give Trump higher marks than Vice President Harris on foreign policy matters.
The explosion of the electronic pagers in Lebanon and the death of the leader of Hezbollah, an official of the Islamic group, for 30 years
The last month was fast- forward to. The electronic pagers belonging to Hezbollah exploded across Lebanon and killed more than a dozen people, including two children, in an operation attributed to Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency.
Multiple residential buildings were destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon. Israel said that the leader of Hezbollah, who led the group for more than thirty years, was killed in one of the strikes. His death was confirmed by Hezbollah.