International
Fresh Israeli strikes on Gaza schools kill 15 amid evacuation orders
Fresh Israeli strikes on Gaza schools kill 15 amid evacuation orders
Israeli strikes on two schools in Gaza have killed at least 15 Palestinians and injured another 30, as renewed evacuation orders are given to residents in several districts in eastern Khan Younis city.
Many Palestinians remained trapped underneath the rubble of the schools – Abdel Fattah Hamoud and al-Zahraa – sheltering Palestinian families in the Tuffah district of Gaza City, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary reported on Thursday.
Reporting from the destroyed al-Zahraa School, Palestinian journalist Ibrahim al-Khalili told Al Jazeera that two missiles directly hit the school. He said civil defence crews have so far been unable to rescue the survivors trapped underneath due to a lack of tools.
“The situation is catastrophic,” he said.
The Israeli military said the schools in Gaza City housed Hamas command centres.
“The school compounds were used by Hamas terrorists and commanders … from which they planned and carried out attacks,” the military said in a statement.
Reporting from al-Mawasi in Khan Younis, Khoudary said in the past two weeks, Israeli forces have targeted at least eight schools across the Gaza Strip.
“Palestinians were sheltering in there and were seeking refuge … [Israeli forces] have been targeting those schools without any prior notice, without any warning, and that’s why dozens of Palestinians were killed in those air strikes,” she said.
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At least 39,699 Palestinians have been killed and 91,722 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza, which has displaced nearly the entire 2.3 million population of the besieged enclave amid widespread hunger and spreading diseases.
An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks on October 7 and more than 200 taken captive.
‘A state of panic’
Meanwhile, the Israeli military on Thursday also renewed evacuation orders to Palestinian residents in several districts in eastern Khan Younis, saying it would act forcefully against fighters who had unleashed rockets from those areas.
The army posted the evacuation order on X, and residents said they had received text and audio messages.
It marks the second time in one month that thousands of Palestinians have been forced to flee Khan Younis under Israeli bombardment.
Residents said families had begun to leave their homes and head west towards al-Mawasi, a humanitarian-designated area but one that is overcrowded by displaced families from around the enclave.
“People want a place where there’s access to water, where there’s no garbage. Here where we are, there’s a huge pile of garbage just beside us, and that’s why not a lot of people are setting up their tents over here,” Khoudary said.
She added that there is “a state of panic among Palestinians” who have been ordered to evacuate as they “do not have any place to go to, everywhere is packed”.
“These people went back to their houses a couple of days ago when there was another warning for them to evacuate during the past couple of weeks. The same exact area is being called for evacuation,” Khoudary said.
“Those same exact families – children, parents with all their belongings – were scattered on the streets for weeks because they did not have any place to evacuate to when the Israeli forces warned them.”
Fresh Israeli strikes on Gaza schools kill 15 amid evacuation orders
Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies
International
Relief as Israel agrees to ceasefire with Lebanon
Relief as Israel agrees to ceasefire with Lebanon
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will bring a US-brokered proposal for a ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon to his government for approval as soon as Tuesday evening.
He said in a televised address that he would put “a ceasefire outline” to ministers “this evening”.
He however did not say how long the truce would last, noting “the length of the ceasefire depends on what happens in Lebanon”.
But it later learnt that the ceasefire would is for 60 days.
During the period, Hezbollah fighters are expected to retreat 40 kilometres from Israel’s border, with Israeli ground forces withdrawing from Lebanese territory.
“If Hezbollah violates the agreement and attempts to rearm, we will strike,” Netanyahu warned.
Key Israel backer the United States has led ceasefire efforts for Lebanon alongside France.
US President Joe Biden is optimistic the deal will lead to a “permanent cessation of hostilities”.
Biden added that the US would lead another push for a ceasefire in Gaza.
“In full coordination with the United States, we are maintaining full military freedom of action,” Netanyahu said, outlining the seven-front war Israel says it faces in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Iran.
Even as Netanyahu spoke about the ceasefire, the Israeli military carried out multiple strikes on heart of Beirut while the army said some 15 projectiles had entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon.
Demonstrators raise placards and Israeli flags during a protest in front of the Israeli Defence Ministry in the coastal city Tel Aviv on November 26, 2024, against a possible ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon. – Israel’s security cabinet has started discussing a proposed ceasefire deal in its war with Hezbollah in Lebanon, an Israeli official confirmed to AFP on November 26. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP)
The war in Lebanon escalated after nearly a year of limited cross-border exchanges of fire begun by Hezbollah, which said it was acting in support of Hamas after its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza.
The war has killed at least 3,823 people in Lebanon since October 2023, according to the health ministry, most of them since September.
On the Israeli side, the hostilities have killed at least 82 soldiers and 47 civilians, authorities say.
Netanyahu said the ceasefire would allow Israel to focus on “the Iranian threat” and ramp up its fight against Hamas in Gaza.
“With Hezbollah out of the picture, Hamas is left on its own,” he said.
“We will increase our pressure on Hamas and that will help us in our sacred mission of releasing our hostages.”
During last year’s Hamas attack, militants took 251 hostages, of whom 97 are still held in Gaza, including 34 the army has declared dead.
International
Israeli strikes pound central Beirut, suburbs
Israeli strikes pound central Beirut, suburbs
BEIRUT: Israeli strikes pounded a densely-populated part of the Lebanese capital and its southern suburbs on Tuesday, hours ahead of an anticipated announcement of a ceasefire ending hostilities between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
A strike on Beirut hit the Noueiri district with no evacuation warning and killed at least one person, Lebanon’s health ministry said in a preliminary toll.
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Minutes later, at least 10 Israeli strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs. They began approximately 30 minutes after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders for 20 locations in the area, the largest such warning yet.
As the strikes were under way, Israel’s military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said the air force was conducting a “widespread attack” on Hezbollah targets across the city.
Israeli strikes pound central Beirut, suburbs
ARAB NEWS
International
Over $100m wasted, Trump mocks Democrats for targeting him
Over $100m wasted, Trump mocks Democrats for targeting him
Former U.S. President Donald Trump has fiercely criticised the legal cases brought against him, calling them “empty and lawless”.
He accused Democrats of weaponising the judicial system to target him as a political opponent.
In a strongly worded statement, Trump alleged that over $100 million in taxpayer money had been wasted in what he described as a politically driven effort to undermine his influence.
“Nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before,” he said, pointing to high-profile prosecutors, including Georgia’s Fani Willis and New York Attorney General Letitia James, as key figures in what he called a “political hijacking.”
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Trump also accused Willis of colluding with Nathan Wade, whom he described as “her lover” and lacking the experience to handle such cases.
He claimed Wade was paid “millions,” allegedly enabling lavish trips and cruises.
Letitia James, who is pursuing a civil fraud case against Trump, was also criticised.
He claimed she had campaigned on a promise to “get Trump” in her bid for office, an action he labelled “unethical” and “probably illegal.”
Trump also mentioned Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, alleging that Bragg initially resisted prosecuting him but was pressured into action by the Justice Department and the Democratic Party.
Describing the series of legal actions as a “low point in the history of our Country,” Trump maintained his resolve, declaring: “I persevered, against all odds, and WON.”
Over $100m wasted, Trump mocks Democrats for targeting him
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