Written by: WAFAA SHURAFA and JULIA FRANKEL

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli army launches wave of deadly attacks Air strikes across Lebanon At least 24 people were killed in Gaza, northeastern Lebanon, on Friday, the country’s state-run National News Agency reported.

Meanwhile, hospital officials said that the bodies of 25 people killed in Israel’s attacks on the center of Gaza on Thursday were removed by Palestinians.

It was another day of bloodshed, both in Lebanon, where Israel this week stepped up airstrikes against Hezbollah in the northeast, and in Gaza, where Israel said it targeted Hamas infrastructure near the Nuseyrat refugee camp. Hamas is defined as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

Despite growing pressure from the United States and the international community for a ceasefire in the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon, Israeli attacks on the militant Hezbollah group are increasingly spreading beyond Lebanon’s periphery.

Initially targeting smaller border villages in southern Lebanon dominated by Iran-backed Hezbollah, Israeli attacks have expanded in recent weeks into larger urban centers where the group, which is also a major political party and social services provider, has many supporters. .

Strikes intensified in and around the region the northeastern city of Baalbek It has caused nearly 60,000 people to flee their homes this week, according to Hussein Haj Hassan, a Lebanese lawmaker who represents the area.

Lebanon’s state National News Agency reported four airstrikes on different villages in the northeast, which had largely escaped the worst Israeli bombardment until last month. The agency said rescue teams were still searching for survivors from the rubble of a targeted building believed to be holding 20 people in the town of Younine in the Bekaa Valley.

In other attacks in the northeastern Baalbek-Hermel region, eight people were killed in the village of Amhaz and two in the village of Taraya.

The Israeli army said that its operations in Lebanon targeted Hezbollah’s military infrastructure and that the group continued to launch rockets, unmanned aerial vehicles and missiles at Israel. Rockets fired from Lebanon on Thursday killed seven people, including four Thai workers, in northern Israel.

Israeli planes also hit Beirut’s southern suburb Dahiyeh overnight and early FridayDozens of buildings were destroyed in many neighborhoods, according to the country’s news agency. The Israeli army said the attacks targeted Hezbollah’s weapons production facilities and command centers.

There was no statement from Lebanese authorities regarding the number of deaths in the Dahiye attacks.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said more than 2,800 people have been killed and more than 13,000 injured since Oct. 8, 2023, when Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel almost daily in retaliation.

The latest violence comes against the backdrop of the Biden administration’s renewed diplomatic policy Days before the US elections Temporary ceasefire agreements between Israel, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.

In Gaza, officials at Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza said they were continuing to retrieve the bodies of 21 people, including an 18-month-old girl and her 10-year-old sister, killed in Israel’s air strike on the Nuseyrat camp.

Israeli strikes also hit a motorcycle in Zuwaida and a house in Deir al-Balah, killing four more people, bringing the total death toll in Gaza to 25 as of Friday, hospital officials said. The Gaza-based Ministry of Health reported that 55 people died and 196 people were injured in the devastated region in the last 24 hours.

The Israeli army did not comment on the attacks outside the Nuseyrat camp. He said he was aware of reports of civilian casualties and was investigating.

of israel More than 43,000 Palestinians killed in violent attack on Gaza Strip Health officials in Gaza say they have not distinguished between civilians and combatants since October 7, 2023. It is stated that more than half of the dead were women and children.

Israel began bombing Gaza following a Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 last year, in which the terrorists killed nearly 1,200 people and took some 250 hostages back to Gaza.

Frankel reported from Jerusalem. Bassem Mroue in Beirut, David Rising in Bangkok and Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this story.

First Publication Date: November 1, 2024 08:34 PDT