BEIRUT: Israeli forces pounded southern Lebanon and the outskirts of Beirut on Friday, crumpling an 11-storey building and killing at least five medics as ground troops attempted to advance in the south.

Also, medics in the Palestinian territory said an overnight Israeli raid on Beit Lahia and nearby Jabalia resulted in dozens killed or missing.

Israel has pushed on with its intense military action in Gaza and southern Lebanon, a day after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netan­yahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant in response to accusations of crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Five medics from a rescue force were killed in Israeli strikes on two villages in southern Lebanon on Friday, according to the Lebanese health ministry said. More than 3,580 people have been killed in Lebanon, most of them since late September, the ministry added. Among them, were over 200 medics.

Death toll in Gaza rises to 44,056 despite ICC warrant against Netanyahu, Gallant

Earlier, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories said: “The delivery of critical aid across Gaza, including food, water, fuel and medical supplies, is grinding to a halt.”

At least 44,056 people have been killed in Gaza during more than 13 months of war, most of them civilians, according to figures from Gaza’s health ministry which the United Nations considers reliable.

Also, four Italian soldiers were injured after two rockets exploded at a UNIFIL peacekeeping force base in southern Lebanon, a spokesperson for UNIFIL said on Friday.

The state-run National News Agency (NNA) said Israeli warplanes carried out successive rounds of strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs from early morning until evening, including on two buildings closer to the city centre.

TV footage showed plumes of smoke over the southern suburbs. NNA said Israeli strikes also hit multiple areas around Tyre.

An AFP photographer captured the moment a missile struck an 11-storey building housing shops, a gym and apartments on a usually busy street in south Beirut’s Shiyah district. The impact sparked a fireball and caused the structure to collapse in on itself, littering the street with debris.

In south Lebanon, NNA said Israeli troops entered the village of Deir Mimas, some 2.5km from the border. “Enemy reconnaissance aircraft” were flying over the village, warning people “not to leave their homes”, it said. Most of the village’s population had already fled.

Abeer Darwich, a resident of the building that was hit in Beirut southern suburbs who had left her apartment before the attack, stood watching while an Israeli strike pounded the high-rise building into dust.

Meanwhile, at least six Israeli soldiers have taken their own lives in recent months, the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reports, citing severe psychological distress caused by prolonged wars in Gaza and Lebanon as the primary cause, according to an Al Jazeera report.

The actual number of suicides may be far higher because the Israeli military has yet to release official figures despite a promise to do so by the end of the year.

Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2024