Israeli airstrikes hit several towns in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley on Wednesday, killing and injuring dozens of people, as Hezbollah’s new leader warned his forces would fight Israel until it be forced to call for peace.
“We will incite the enemy to demand an end to the aggression,” Naim Kassem said in a pre-recorded speech from an undisclosed location.
He said there could be a path to indirect negotiations if Israel stopped its attacks.
“When the enemy decides to end the aggression, there is a path of negotiation that we have clearly defined: indirect negotiations through the Lebanese state and Speaker (of parliament Nabih) Berri,” he said. Kassem said.
In the eastern Baalbek-Hermel governorate, Governor Bachir Khodr said on social media platform X that at least 40 Israeli raids had killed 38 people and injured 54 others. He said work to clear rubble was underway in several places.
Hezbollah’s stronghold in Beirut’s southern suburbs was also targeted by at least four strikes on Wednesday, following Israeli military orders for residents to evacuate the area. No casualties were immediately reported.
Lebanon’s death toll passed 3,000 on Monday in the 13-month conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, with the vast majority killed since the dramatic escalation of hostilities in mid-September and the entry of forces Israeli troops in southern Lebanon on October 1. people were displaced.
In northern and central Israel, sirens sounded, including in the Tel Aviv area, as Hezbollah launched 10 rockets toward Israel. No casualties have been reported.
In Gaza
Meanwhile, in the northern Gaza Strip, where Israeli forces have intensified their incursions against Hamas fighters over the past month, the United Nations estimated that 100,000 people have recently been displaced.
“Between 75,000 and 95,000 people are believed to have remained in northern Gaza. The death toll over the past month is believed to be in the hundreds,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.
On a positive note, a massive polio vaccination campaign was completed on Tuesday. Dujarric said that in central Gaza, vaccination coverage was 103%, meaning more children under 10 were vaccinated than initially expected. In southern Gaza, 91% of children received the necessary double dose of oral vaccine, but in northern Gaza, due to lack of access due to fighting, 88% coverage was achieved.
The effort was led by the World Health Organization, the United Nations children’s fund known as UNICEF, and the United Nations relief and works agency for Palestinian refugees known as name of UNRWA.
UNRWA under fire
At the United Nations on Wednesday, UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini called for international support following the adoption of two new laws in Israel on October 28 aimed at banning the agency. They are expected to come into force early next year.
“Over the past year, UNRWA has been a lifeline for the people of Gaza,” Lazzarini told a General Assembly meeting. “It’s the only pillar of their life that remains standing.”
He said that if Israel succeeded in dismantling UNRWA, it would lead to the collapse of the UN’s humanitarian response to the Palestinians, which relies heavily on UNRWA’s long-established infrastructure.
“Without the intervention of member states, UNRWA will collapse, plunging millions of Palestinians into chaos,” he warned.
Israeli officials have criticized UNRWA for years, alleging that Hamas uses its schools for terrorist activities and promotes an anti-Israel agenda. After the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel, the rhetoric intensified, and in January Israel claimed that 12 UNRWA personnel were involved in the attacks. The employees were immediately fired and an internal investigation was opened.
Israel has since made other public allegations against several UNRWA staff, but the agency says it has not received any evidence or information on which to act.
Ambassador Danny Danon said Wednesday it was “time to leave UNRWA.”
“I have often spoken about the future of Gaza without Hamas, the same applies to UNRWA,” he told the assembly. “Without UNRWA, cooperation could flourish. Without UNRWA, aid workers could be trusted. Without UNRWA, Gaza’s children could learn peace, not hatred. »
Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour said: “This attack on the UN is not just a smear campaign, it has real consequences. »
He highlighted the killing of 238 UNRWA personnel in Gaza, the detention of several personnel by Israel and strikes on UNRWA facilities, including shelters housing internally displaced persons.
UNRWA was established by a resolution of the United Nations General Assembly in 1949 to assist Palestinian refugees.
“I must express my deep concern over the decision taken by the Israeli parliament,” General Assembly President Philemon Yang said during the meeting. “This constitutes an intolerable affront to the authority of this assembly, an affront to international law and, most importantly, an affront to the human dignity of innocent Palestinian civilians. »
States expressed concern over the Israeli parliament’s decision and many highlighted the government’s campaign against UNRWA.
“The ousting of a UN agency by the decision of a single UN member state would set an alarming global precedent and constitute a grave violation of the UN Charter,” the statement said. Belgian Ambassador Philippe Kridelka on behalf of a group of 16 states that support the UN. organization.
He echoed many other states, saying UNRWA’s role is indispensable and irreplaceable in the humanitarian effort, especially as Gaza residents face the risk of famine.
“In the face of unprecedented threats and attacks against UNRWA and its personnel, the General Assembly must demonstrate unprecedented resolve,” said Ambassador Kridelka.
VOA United Nations correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. Some documents came from the Associated Press and Reuters.
