The Israeli Air Force carried out dozens of air strikes on southern Lebanon early Monday, state media and the Israeli military reported.
Separately, according to Palestinian health authorities, eight Palestinians, including five children, were killed in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip on Monday morning.
Residents of several villages in southern Lebanon posted photos on social media that they said showed their towns being attacked. The state news agency also reported air strikes in various areas.
The Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesman said the Israeli air force was attacking targets linked to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The spokesman said further details would be announced later.
The wave of air raids came after a tense day Hezbollah fired over 100 rockets into northern Israel, some of which landed near the city of Haifa. Israel also carried out hundreds of air strikes.
Hezbollah’s rocket attack followed an Israeli airstrike on a suburb of Beirut on Friday killed a Hezbollah’s top military commander and more than a dozen Hezbollah members, as well as dozens of civilians, including women and children.
Last week, thousands of Communication devicesmainly used by Hezbollah members, exploded in various parts of Lebanon, killing 39 people and wounding nearly 3,000. Lebanon blamed Israel for the attacks, but Israel did not confirm or deny its responsibility.
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Here is the latest information:
Israeli air strikes on Gaza Strip kill 8 Palestinians, including 5 children
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip – Palestinian health officials say eight Palestinians, including five children, have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.
A girl and her parents were killed in an attack on a school housing displaced people in central Gaza on Monday morning. The girl’s two siblings were injured.
Israel has attacked several such schools that had been converted into emergency shelters because militants were allegedly hiding there.
Another attack hit a house near Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah, killing a mother and her four children aged four to eight.
The victims of both attacks were described in hospital records, and an Associated Press reporter saw the bodies.
Israel says it tries to avoid harm to civilians, but rarely comments on individual attacks.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began. It does not say how many of them were fighters. It says just over half were women and children.
The war began when Hamas-led militants entered southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting about 250. About 100 of the prisoners are still being held in Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Australia announces more aid for Gaza
CANBERRA, Australia — Australia has announced it will provide an additional 10 million Australian dollars ($6.8 million) in aid to Gaza, bringing the total to 82.5 million Australian dollars ($56.2 million) since the war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7 last year.
A government statement on Monday said the new money would focus on women and children and would be channeled through the United Nations Population Fund, a sexual and reproductive health agency and the UN agency responsible for children’s affairs, UNICEF.
“Australia continues to urge safe, rapid and unhindered humanitarian assistance to those in need and the protection of all aid workers,” the statement said.
A new crisis for displaced Palestinians: floods
MUWASI, Gaza Strip – As the first rains of the cold season begin to fall in the Gaza Strip, displaced Palestinians living in the sprawling Muwasi tent camp are battling floods that are deepening the humanitarian crisis.
Some children find it entertaining to walk barefoot in ankle-deep water, but their parents are less enthusiastic. The adults try to salvage what they can from their family’s tents. A mother tries to dry her makeshift home with a mop.
“When we woke up in the morning, we found rainwater pouring over our tents and water coming in from the streets,” said Rana Goza’t, a displaced person from Gaza City. “This is the beginning of winter. What will happen in the next few days?”
Suhail Al-Barawi, an internally displaced person from Beit Lahiya, helped build sand barriers to prevent further flooding in the camp.
“People want rain,” he said, “and we say, ‘Oh God, don’t give us rain.'”
According to the United Nations, the nearly year-long war between Israel and Hamas has forced 90 percent of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to flee.
Israeli Defense Minister praises air strikes in Beirut
Israel’s Defense Minister said recent attacks on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon were a step to facilitate the return of displaced Israelis to their homes in the north of the country.
In a speech on Sunday evening after his visit to the headquarters of the military’s Northern Command, Yoav Gallant described the recent air strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut as “significant, important and powerful”.
He says Israel will take all necessary measures to ensure “the safe return of communities in northern Israel to their homes.”
Dozens of people have been killed in Lebanon in Israeli attacks since Friday, including a long-time Hezbollah commander. Hezbollah responded early Sunday with more than 100 rocket attacks in northern Israel, forcing hundreds of thousands of Israelis into bomb shelters.
Gallant says: “The last week was the most difficult in Hezbollah’s history – especially the last day.”
