Israeli strikes have killed dozens of people including children in Lebanon and isolated northern Gaza, as the world watched for signs of how the US election might affect the war against Iranian-backed militant groups Hamas and Hizbullah.
Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu said he has spoken three times with US president-elect Donald Trump since Tuesday’s election and they “see eye to eye regarding the Iranian threat and all of its components”.
Israel’s president, Yitzhak Herzog, is scheduled to meet US president Joe Biden on Tuesday.
The Israeli air strike in Lebanon killed at least 23 people including seven children in Aalmat village, north of Beirut, far from the areas in the east and south where Hizbullah militants have a large presence.
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Lebanon’s health ministry said a further six people were injured.
In northern Gaza, an Israeli strike on a home sheltering displaced people in the urban refugee camp of Jabalia killed at least 17 people, according to the director of a nearby hospital that received the bodies. Dr Fadel Naim, of the Al-Ahly Hospital in Gaza City, said nine women were among the dead and the death toll is likely to rise as rescue efforts continue.
The Israeli military said it targeted a site where militants were operating in Jabalia, without providing evidence. It said the details of the strike are under review.
A separate strike on Sunday hit a house in Gaza City, killing Wael al-Khour, a minister in the Hamas-run government, as well as his wife and three children, according to local officials.
Israeli forces have encircled and largely isolated Jabalia and the nearby towns of Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun for the past month, allowing in only a trickle of humanitarian aid. Hundreds of people have been killed since the offensive began on October 6th, and tens of thousands of people have fled to nearby Gaza City.
On Friday, experts from a panel that monitors food security in Gaza said famine is imminent in the north of the territory or may already be happening.
[ Gaza: Nearly 70% of war dead are women and children, says UN rights officeOpens in new window ]
The northern third of Gaza, including Gaza City, was the first target of Israel’s ground invasion and has suffered the heaviest destruction of the 13-month war, which was triggered by Hamas’s attack into southern Israel. As in other areas of Gaza, Israel has sent forces back in after repeated operations, saying Hamas has regrouped.
The military says it only targets militants, whom it accuses of hiding among civilians in homes and shelters. Israeli strikes often kill women and children.
Israel’s offensive has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities who do not distinguish between civilians and militants in their count but say over half the fatalities were women and children.
Ceasefire talks mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt have repeatedly stalled since the start of the year. Qatar, which has served as a key mediator with Hamas, said over the weekend that it had suspended its efforts and would only resume them when “the parties show their willingness and seriousness to end the brutal war and the ongoing suffering of civilians”.
The move by Doha underscores the struggle mediators, including the US and Egypt, have faced during months of tortuous talks intended to halt the more than year-long conflict.
The Qatari foreign ministry said on Saturday that Doha had informed Israel and Hamas 10 days ago that it would “stall its efforts” if an agreement was not reached during the most recent round of failed talks, which were held last month. The foreign ministry statement was released a day after a US official said the Biden administration had told Qatar that Hamas’s presence in Doha was “no longer viable or acceptable”.
– AP/Financial Times
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