An IDF strike targeted the southern suburbs of Beirut on Wednesday November 13, 2024, after an evacuation order given by the Israeli army to the population, noted theAFPTV whose images showed fire and smoke in this area.
The evacuation order was posted on X by Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adrae, telling the affected populations that they were near buildings “linked to Hezbollah” that the Israeli army decided to strike “with force very soon”.
29 dead in Lebanon
At least 29 people were killed in strikes across Lebanon on Tuesday, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Hezbollah, for its part, announced that it had launched missiles at an air base south of Tel Aviv, in central Israel, as well as explosive drones at a military base near the town of Nahariya, in the north of the country. .
Two residents of Nahariya, aged around 50, were killed in a rocket attack from Lebanon, municipal authorities announced.
In total, 45 civilians and 30 soldiers have died in Israel since the start of hostilities with Hezbollah. In Lebanon, more than 3,300 people have been killed, according to Lebanese authorities.
The head of UN peacekeeping operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, met the Lebanese Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, on Tuesday evening.
His visit aims to “amplifying calls from the United Nations and the international community for de-escalation and a ceasefire” in Lebanon, according to Stéphane Dujarric.
The UN denounces the situation in Gaza
A senior UN official denounced Tuesday the “daily cruelty” suffered by the population of the Gaza Strip besieged and bombarded by Israel, describing “acts reminiscent of the most serious international crimes”.
“We condemned the death, destruction and dehumanization of civilians in Gaza who were driven from their homes, deprived of their sense of belonging and dignity, forced to watch as their family members were killed, burned and buried. alive »Joyce Msuya, acting head of the United Nations Office of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha), told the UN Security Council.
“The words 'injured child, no surviving family' were written on the arms of injured children. Most of Gaza is now a field of ruins”she added, also highlighting the progression of hunger.
“We are witnessing acts reminiscent of the most serious international crimes”she estimated.
“Israel's latest offensive that began last month in northern Gaza represents an intensified, extreme and accelerated version of the horrors of the past year”since the start of Israeli retaliation to the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, the UN official further denounced.
“The daily cruelty we see in Gaza seems to have no limit” and living conditions in the Palestinian territory “are not suitable for human survival”she insisted.
Insufficient humanitarian aid
Israel announced the opening on Tuesday of a new crossing point for humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip, just before a deadline set by the United States for increasing this aid which NGOs still consider insufficient.
Washington, for its part, affirmed that Israel was not violating American law regarding humanitarian aid entering the territory but called for additional progress.
Statements denounced by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas which accused the United States of being complicit in a “genocidal war”.
The World Food Program “announced to us today that he had delivered the first aid convoy” by Kissoufim, said the spokesperson for the UN chief, Stéphane Dujarric, reporting 15 trucks transporting food packages and flour.
The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) and eight international NGOs estimated on Tuesday that aid entering Gaza was still insufficient.
“Israel has failed to meet the demands of its (American) ally, at enormous human cost to civilians”estimate the eight NGOs, including Oxfam and Save the Children.
“The humanitarian situation in Gaza today is at its lowest point since the start of the war […] We call on the US government to immediately conclude that Israel is in violation of its commitments.”they write.
American Ambassador to Israel
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, a former Baptist pastor who defended Israeli colonization of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, was appointed by Donald Trump to the post of ambassador to Israel.
This choice could signal Washington's future political direction with regard to conflicts in the Middle East.
Mike Huckabee, 69, an evangelical Christian, has expressed pro-Israel positions throughout his political career. “There is no occupation”he said in 2017 during an interview with the channel CNN in reference to the West Bank, which he called by its biblical name – Judea and Samaria.
Donald Trump said in a statement that Mike Huckabee “loves Israel and the people of Israel, and, reciprocally, the people of Israel love him”.
Mike Huckabee also hosted a weekly show on the television channel for six years, from 2009 to 2015. Fox News.
