Two killed in UN vehicle in Lebanon, strike action in Israel

Since the start of the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in October, Lebanese Hezbollah has been exchanging daily cross-border fire with Israel, claiming to support its Palestinian ally.

According to the Hamas government’s health ministry, whose figures are unverifiable, the offensive in the Gaza Strip has left at least 40,786 dead in the Palestinian territory since the start of the war with Israel. At least forty-eight people have been killed in the last twenty-four hours, the ministry said in a statement. This war has resulted in the deaths of 1,199 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to a count by Agence France-Presse (AFP) based on official data.

Two dead in UN vehicle in Lebanon

Two people were killed on Monday, September 2, in an Israeli strike targeting their vehicle in Naqoura, in southern Lebanon, according to the Ministry of Health, which did not specify whether they were civilians. The National News Agency (ANI) reported a drone strike on the Naqoura road, without giving further details.

“The car targeted belonged to a cleaning company under contract with the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon [Finul] »deployed on the border with Israel, said a security source, speaking on condition of anonymity. The two victims are “an employee of this company and a cousin, both from Naqoura. His cousin, residing in an African country, had arrived in Lebanon two days ago”the source added. Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV channel reported that the two dead in Naqoura were civilians. A photographer working with AFP said he saw the burnt-out car.

According to the UN, more than 110,000 people have been displaced in southern Lebanon by cross-border firefights, which have left 609 dead, mostly Hezbollah fighters but also 132 civilians, according to an AFP tally. On the Israeli side, 24 soldiers and 26 civilians have been killed, according to the army.

In Israel, strike movement for the release of hostages

A strike movement in Israel called by the powerful Histadrut trade union to increase pressure on the government to obtain the release of hostages held in Gaza was receiving uneven support at midday on Monday. The trade union had called for a “general strike”following massive demonstrations to protest the news of the deaths of six hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and killed “point blank”according to the Israeli Health Ministry.

Several major cities, including Tel Aviv and Haifa, followed the strike call, announcing the closure of municipal services on Monday. Disruptions were also recorded at Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, where departures partially resumed at 9 a.m. after a two-hour total shutdown. But the movement was unevenly followed on Monday, with several municipalities, including Jerusalem, not following the call.

Polio vaccination in Gaza

The “humanitarian pause” A localized and time-limited campaign to facilitate the UN-led campaign was held in central Gaza on Sunday, allowing 87,000 children to be vaccinated, according to World Health Organization (WHO) figures released by UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. The goal is to vaccinate more than 640,000 children under the age of 10, following the first confirmed case of the disease in the Palestinian territory in 25 years.

Israeli bombardments and fighting have not abated elsewhere in the territory. On Monday, airstrikes killed at least seven people in Gaza City and six others in the Al-Boureij and Nusseirat refugee camps, health officials said. The armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad reported fighting throughout the Gaza Strip.

The war has caused a humanitarian and health disaster, and the displacement of almost the entire 2.4 million inhabitants. According to the UN, the majority of the dead are women and minors.