
The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced on Thursday that five Palestinian journalists were killed in an Israeli raid on the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army said it targeted a group of militants allied with Hamas, which sparked the war with its attack on October 7, 2023, in southern Israel.
The strike hit a car outside Al Awda Hospital in Nuseirat refugee camp. An Associated Press video showed the burning shell of a truck bearing press marks. The journalists worked for the local Al-Quds Al-Youm news channel, a television channel affiliated with the Islamic Jihad movement.
More than 130 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the beginning of the war, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Israel did not allow foreign journalists to enter Gaza except within a military presence.
The Israeli bombing and ground invasion in Gaza led to the deaths of more than 45,000 Palestinians, more than half of whom were women and children, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its statistics.
A Hamas attack on southern Israel in October 2023 killed about 1,200 people, while Palestinian militants took 250 others hostage. around 100 hostages are still being held in GazaAlthough only two-thirds of them are still alive.
Here’s the latest:
BEIRUT – The Lebanese army said Thursday that Israeli forces penetrated areas in southern Lebanon, violating the ceasefire agreement that ended the war between Israel and the Hezbollah group.
The US-brokered ceasefire that took effect a month ago called for Hezbollah fighters and Israeli forces to leave southern Lebanon within a 60-day period, with Lebanese army soldiers gradually deploying into the country south of the Litani River. The Israeli army did not immediately comment on the aforementioned incident.
Meanwhile, the National News Agency in Lebanon said that Israeli bulldozers are erecting dirt barriers that will close the road between Wadi Salki and Wadi Hujair.
The Lebanese army said that it sent reinforcements to the areas entered by Israeli forces. The National News Agency said that the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, sent a patrol unit to an area near the southern town of Qantara, where Israeli forces are present.
In a statement, UNIFIL expressed its “concern over the continued destruction by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) of residential areas, agricultural lands and road networks in southern Lebanon.”
Lebanese Army Commander General Joseph Aoun traveled earlier Thursday to Saudi Arabia as part of ongoing efforts by the cash-strapped army to find financial support to deploy in larger numbers.
The Lebanese army and government have complained about Israeli strikes and overflights in the country to a new monitoring committee chaired by the United States that also includes France.
Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip – An Israeli raid killed five Palestinian journalists outside a hospital In the Gaza Strip The Ministry of Health announced, on Thursday evening, that the Israeli army said it targeted a group of activists.
The strike hit a car outside Al Awda Hospital in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central part of the area. The journalists worked for the local Quds News Network.
The army said it targeted a group of fighters from Islamic Jihad, an armed group allied with Hamas, whose October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel sparked the war. Associated Press video showed the burned-out shell of a pickup truck, with press marks still visible on the back doors.
The Committee to Protect Journalists says that more than 130 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the beginning of the war. Israel did not allow foreign journalists to enter Gaza except within a military presence.
BEIJING – China has pledged to provide two more shipments of humanitarian aid to Gaza, a sign of its support for the Palestinian Authority, state media reported Thursday. The agreement was supervised in Cairo by the Chinese Ambassador to Egypt, Liao Liqiang, and the Palestinian Ambassador to Egypt, Diab Al-Louh.
Liao was quoted as saying: “In order to alleviate the humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip, the Chinese government has continued to provide assistance to Palestine.” The types and quantities of aid that will be delivered through Egypt have not been revealed, but China has previously shipped food and medicine to Gaza. China has long-standing relations with the Palestinian Authority, but has also sought to strengthen economic and political ties with Israel.
State media said that Al-Louh “expressed his appreciation for China’s continued and steadfast support for the just cause of the Palestinian people and raised this issue on international occasions.”
UNITED NATIONS – The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Monday at Israel’s request to discuss recent attacks by Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Israel’s mission to the United Nations said on Wednesday that the meeting would be held at 10 a.m. on Monday.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said he expected the council to condemn the Houthi attacks.
He urged the Council to “apply international law and hold Iran, the sponsor of the Houthis, accountable.”
Referring to the Israeli response to the attacks, Danon said: “It seems that the Houthis have not yet understood what happens to those who try to harm the State of Israel.”