DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli strikes killed dozens of people including children on Sunday in Lebanon and isolated northern Gaza, as the world watched for signs of how the U.S. election might affect the war against Iranian-backed militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has spoken three times with Donald Trump since Tuesday’s election and they “see eye to eye regarding the Iranian threat and all of its components.” Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, is scheduled to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday.
The Israeli airstrike in Lebanon killed at least 23 people including seven children in Aalmat village north of Beirut, far from the areas in the east and south where Hezbollah militants have a major presence. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said another six people were wounded. There was no Israeli evacuation warning.
Hezbollah began firing rockets, drones and missiles into Israel after war broke out in Gaza, in solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas. Israel retaliated, and a series of escalations have led to all-out war.
In northern Gaza, an Israeli strike on a home sheltering displaced people in the urban refugee camp of Jabaliya killed at least 17 people, including nine women, according to Dr. Fadel Naim, director of Al-Ahly Hospital in Gaza City.
Israel’s military said it targeted a site where militants were operating, without providing evidence.
A separate strike hit a house in Gaza City, killing Wael al-Khour, a minister in the Hamas-run government, as well as his wife and three children, according to the Civil Defense, first responders who operate under the government.
Deeper into Lebanon
Israel has struck deeper inside Lebanon since September, when it killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and most of his top commanders. Hezbollah has expanded its rocket fire from northern to central Israel. The fighting has killed over 3,000 people in Lebanon, according to the Health Ministry, and more than 70 people in Israel.
After Israel’s strike in Aalmat, some 25 miles north of Beirut, legislator Raed Berro denied that any Hezbollah personnel or assets were in the building that was hit, adding: “The important people are on the front line resisting. … It is impossible for them to be among people in civilian life.”
Hassan Ghaddaf, who lived next door and was lightly wounded, said displaced people were in the house that was struck.
“I had seen them and got to know them the other day,” Ghaddaf said. “They were peaceful. On the contrary, they had someone from the Lebanese Internal Security Forces that works for the state, and we saw their garb and clothes in the rubble.”
In Syria, an Israeli airstrike hit a residential building in the Damascus suburb of Sayyida Zeinab and the Defense Ministry said seven civilians were killed, state news agency SANA reported.
Fears of famine in N. Gaza
The mid-month deadline is approaching for an ultimatum the Biden administration gave Israel to allow more aid into Gaza or risk possible restrictions on U.S. military funding.
Israeli forces have encircled and largely isolated Jabaliya and the nearby northern Gaza towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun for the past month, allowing only a trickle of humanitarian aid. Experts from a panel that monitors food security say famine is imminent or may already be happening.
The northern third of Gaza, including Gaza City, has suffered the heaviest destruction of the 13-month war that was triggered by Hamas’ attack into southern Israel. Israel has sent forces back in after repeated operations, saying Hamas has regrouped.
On Sunday, Israel’s military released what it said was video footage of Hamas abusing detainees from 2018 to 2020. The military said it recovered the footage during operations in Gaza.
