Israel bombed Gaza with airstrikes early Monday and its planes hit southern Lebanon overnight, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a meeting of his top generals and his war cabinet to assess the escalating conflict.
Israeli attacks are concentrated in the middle of the Gaza Strip and the north, Palestinian media reported.
An attack on a house near the Jabalia refugee camp, in northern Gaza, killed several Palestinians and injured others, according to media reports.
In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, two Palestinians were killed in the Jalazone refugee camp near Ramallah, the Palestinian health ministry said on Monday.
Residents told Reuters that Israeli forces stormed the camp and carried out widespread arrests, as they clashed with gunmen and some youths who threw stones. The Israeli army has not issued a statement on the incident.
Health authorities in Gaza said at least 4,600 people had been killed in a two-week Israeli bombardment that began after an Oct. 7 Hamas attack on a southern Israeli community in which 1,400 people were killed and 212 taken to Gaza as hostages.
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli attack on a house in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, on Oct. 23. 2023. Reuters
Palestinian Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian discussed in a call late Sunday how to stop Israel’s “brutal crimes” in Gaza, Hamas said in a statement.
Israel has massed tanks and troops near the fenced border around Gaza for a planned ground invasion aimed at destroying Hamas.
Concerns that the Israel-Hamas war could escalate into a wider Middle East conflict rose over the weekend with Washington warning of major risks to US interests in the region and announcing new deployments of advanced air defenses.
Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli attack on a house in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, on Oct. 23. 2023. Reuters
The Pentagon has already sent a large number of naval forces to the Middle East, including two aircraft carriers, support ships and about 2,000 Marines, to help deter attacks by forces allied with Iran.
“What we see … is the prospect of a significant increase in attacks on our military and our people throughout the region,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told ABC’s “This Week” program on Sunday.
China’s Middle East special envoy Zhai Jun, who visited the region, warned that the risk of large-scale land conflicts is increasing and conflict spillovers in the region are “alarming”, Chinese state media said on Monday.
Israeli attacks are concentrated in the middle of the Gaza Strip and the north, Palestinian media reported. Reuters
Iranian security officials told Reuters Iran’s strategy was for Middle Eastern proxies such as Hezbollah to continue limited attacks on Israeli and US targets but to avoid major escalations that would appeal in Tehran, a high-wire move for the Islamic Republic.
In neighboring Syria, where Hamas’ main regional backer Iran has a military presence, Israeli missiles hit Damascus and Aleppo’s international airport early Sunday, disabling both and killing two workers, Syrian state media said.
Along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, the Iran-backed Hezbollah group has been fighting Israeli forces in support of Hamas in the worst escalation of border violence since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.
A person carries a child as Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli attack on a house in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, on Oct. 23. 2023. Reuters
Earlier Monday, Israeli planes struck two Hezbollah cells in Lebanon that were planning to launch anti-tank missiles and rockets at Israel, its military said. The Israeli army also said it attacked other Hezbollah targets, including compounds and observation posts.
Hezbollah said on Monday that one of its fighters was killed, without giving details. The Israeli military says 7 soldiers have been killed on the Lebanese border since the latest conflict began.
With violence around its heavily guarded border on the rise, Israel on Sunday added 14 communities near Lebanon and Syria to its evacuation contingency plan in the country’s north.
Palestinians look at a damaged vehicle near the site of an Israeli attack on a house in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Oct 23, 2023. REUTERS
MORE AID ARRIVES IN GAZA
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh called on the international community to create “one front” to stop Israel’s offensive in Gaza and allow much-needed aid to flow in.
A second convoy of 14 aid trucks entered the Rafah crossing into the besieged Gaza Strip on Sunday night, and US President Joe Biden and Netanyahu confirmed in a call “there will now be a continued flow of this critical aid to Gaza”, the White House said. .
The UN humanitarian office said the amount of aid coming in so far was only 4% of the daily average before hostilities and a fraction of what was needed with food, water, medicine and fuel stocks running out.
Biden also stepped up his diplomacy, holding calls on Sunday with Netanyahu and Pope Francis and speaking with the leaders of Canada, France, Britain, Germany, Italy and Britain about getting aid to Gaza and preventing the conflict from spreading.
In a joint statement, the leaders voiced support for Israel’s right to self-defense. They also called for compliance with international humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians.
Netanyahu also held phone calls with the leaders of France, Spain and the Netherlands late Sunday, the Israeli leader’s office said.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte will visit Israel on Monday and French President Emmanuel Macron will visit on Tuesday.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
