https://link.foreignpolicy.com/view/644279f41a7f1f1e29de6831m246e.ncy/7d299ec2
High Death Toll
Rescue workers and members of the media work at the site of an Israeli strike on an apartment block in Beirut on Oct. 11.Carl Court/Getty Images
Rescue workers searched for survivors on Friday after Israeli strikes on central Beirut the day before killed at least 22 people and injured around 117 others. The operation marked the deadliest attack on the Lebanese capital since Oct. 8, 2023, when Hezbollah joined Hamas in its fight against Israel.
Thursday’s strikes reportedly targeted Wafiq Safa, the head of Hezbollah’s liaison and coordination unit, which is responsible for working with Lebanese government officials. Neither Israel nor Hezbollah have commented on Safa’s status, although reports suggest that he was severely wounded but survived.
“We continue to operate against the enemy and will not stop until we ensure that we can safely return” Israeli residents displaced by Hezbollah attacks to their homes along the northern border, said Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi on Friday after conducting a security assessment of the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) ground incursion in southern Lebanon. According to the Israeli military, Hezbollah fired around 190 projectiles into Israel on Thursday and another 65 by mid-afternoon on Friday, mere hours before Israeli Jews celebrated Kol Nidre, the eve of one of Judaism’s holiest days.
Israel’s offensive in southern Lebanon has drawn renewed international condemnation after an Israeli attack injured two United Nations peacekeepers, one seriously. The operation targeted an observation tower at the U.N. mission’s headquarters in Naqoura, where the Israeli military said there was an “immediate threat.” “The IDF takes every precaution to minimize harm to civilians and peacekeepers alike,” IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said, adding that Hezbollah operates close to the U.N. mission’s positions.
This was the second time in two days that an Israeli attack has injured U.N. peacekeepers. “Any deliberate attack on peacekeepers is a grave violation of international humanitarian law,” the U.N. mission in Lebanon warned. On Friday, Lebanon also accused Israel of killing two of its soldiers in the area, and Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati appealed for a U.N. resolution that orders an “immediate” cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah.
A separate U.N. commission accused Israel on Thursday of “relentless and deliberate attacks” on health care facilities, medical workers, and wounded civilians in Gaza. In a 24-page report by a commission focused on Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, investigators said Israel has engaged in actions that amount to war crimes and extermination, which is considered a crime against humanity. These include preventing hospitals from receiving food, fuel, water, and medical supplies; limiting the number of patients allowed to leave Gaza for treatment; and arbitrarily detaining and abusing Palestinian prisoners, allegedly including with rape and sexual violence.
Israel is engaged in “collective punishment” of Palestinians for Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack, the report argues. Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, condemned the findings, saying the report “is detached from reality and includes baseless claims about Israel” and that it ignores how Hamas and other militant groups use medical facilities to conceal their operations and conduct attacks. Israel did not cooperate with the commission, and investigators have accused its government of obstructing their inquiry.
Israel “must immediately stop its unprecedented wanton destruction” in Gaza, the head of the commission, Navi Pillay, said. The report’s findings are not enforceable by law.
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