Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the Israeli Military “Aggression” and urged an urgent complaint against Israel to the U.N. Security Council
Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, on Thursday condemned the Israeli military “aggression” and requested that an urgent complaint against Israel be brought before the U.N. Security Council, according to a statement from his office.
On Thursday, Lebanon’s state media reported that 10 civilians had been killed in the Israeli strikes, including seven members of one family in the city of Nabatieh. Hezbollah said that three of their fighters had been killed.
The diplomatic efforts to calm cross-border tensions were in danger of being derailed because of the strikes.
Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, said earlier on Thursday that he had spoken to the U.S. defense secretary, Lloyd J. Austin III, about the “ongoing threats and attacks” from Hezbollah. Mr. Gallant said that Israel would ensure its security along the border with Lebanon by diplomatic or military means.
The Israeli military has said that it is ready for war in the north.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire along the border. Hezbollah has not claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s rocket attack.
At least 28,576 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. The war has wounded over 68,000 people.
Netanyahu has rejected those demands, calling them “delusional,” and says Israel will soon expand its offensive into Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, on the Egyptian border. Gaza’s 2.3 million inhabitants fled fighting in the coastal enclave and have since sought shelter in the southern city of Rafah.
Around 130 captives remain in Gaza, a fourth of whom are believed to be dead. Netanyahu has come under intense pressure from families of the hostages and the wider public to make a deal to secure their freedom, but his far-right coalition partners could bring down his government if he is seen as being too soft on Hamas.
“Stay at Nasser Hospital against the Israeli military’s orders and become a potential target, or exit the compound into an apocalyptic landscape where bombings and evacuation orders are a part of daily life.”
The Israeli military said Wednesday that it had opened a secure corridor for displaced people to leave the hospital but would allow doctors and patients to remain there. Videos circulating online showed scores of people walking out of the facility on foot carrying their belongings on their shoulders.
Dr. Khaled Alserr, one of the remaining surgeons at Nasser Hospital, told the AP that the seven patients hit early Thursday were already being treated for past wounds. On Wednesday, a doctor was lightly wounded when a drone opened fire on the upper stories of the hospital, he said.
Medics scrambled to wheel patients on stretchers through a smoke or dust filled corridor in the aftermath of the strike. A medic used a cellphone flashlight to illuminate a darkened room where a wounded man screamed out in pain as gunfire echoed outside. The Associated Press could not authenticate the videos but they were consistent with its reporting.
Nasser Hospital, in the southern city of Khan Younis, has been the latest focus of operations that have gutted Gaza’s health sector as it struggles to treat scores of patients wounded in daily bombardments.
There are indications that the talks about a cease-fire in Gaza have reached a stalemate, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatening to keep attacking until Hamas is destroyed and hostages are returned.
Many of the people who had sheltered there were wounded in the invasion by Israel, according to the Health Ministry. Medics were ordered to move patients into a building that didn’t have the correct equipment for their treatment.
The military said that it had “credible intelligence” that Hamas had taken hostages at the hospital and that the remains may still be inside. Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the chief military spokesperson, said forces were conducting a “precise and limited” operation there and would not forcibly evacuate medics or patients. Hospitals and other civilian structures were accused of being used to shield Hamas fighters.
The army wanted to evacuate the displaced people from the hospital in Khan Younis, so they launched a raid. The southern city has been a focus for the offensive against Hamas.