Israeli Troops Fire on Peacekeepers in Lebanon.
Two Peacekeepers Wounded by an IDF Tank
Dave DeCamp / Antiwar.com
(October 10, 2024) — The UN’s peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, UNIFIL, said Thursday that Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers fired on its positions multiple times, and two peacekeepers were wounded by an Israeli tank.
UNIFIL said its headquarters in the town of Naqoura and several nearby positions came under repeated Israeli attacks.
“This morning, two peacekeepers were injured after an IDF Merkava tank fired its weapon toward an observation tower at UNIFIL’s headquarters in Naqoura, directly hitting it and causing them to fall,” UNIFIL said in a statement.
UNIFIL said the injuries were not serious, but the two wounded peacekeepers remain in the hospital. The statement said the IDF also fired on a UN position in the town of Labbouneh, “hitting the entrance to the bunker where peacekeepers were sheltering and damaging vehicles and a communications system.”
A day earlier, UNIFIL said Israeli troops “deliberately fired at and disabled the position’s perimeter-monitoring cameras.”
The Israeli attacks on UN peacekeepers came after the Israeli military told UNIFIL to abandon its positions in southern Lebanon. UNIFIL and Ireland, which has a number of peacekeepers deployed in the area, both rejected the Israeli call. The Irish Times reported that no Irish peacekeepers were wounded by the Israeli attack.
It’s estimated about 15,000 Israeli troops have invaded southern Lebanon, where they are engaging in battles with Hezbollah fighters. Israeli airstrikes also continue to pound Lebanon, with dozens of people being killed every day.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israeli forces killed 55 Palestinians in a 24-hour period.
Israeli Strikes Kill 28 Palestinians
Sheltering at School in Gaza
Dave DeCamp / Antiwar.com
(October 10, 2024) — On Thursday, Israeli strikes targeted a school-turned-shelter for displaced Palestinians in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, killing at least 28 and wounding 54.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said the number of dead and wounded was based on bodies and injured people who were brought to hospitals and morgues, meaning the toll could rise.
The breakdown of the casualties is unclear, but footage and photos of the aftermath of the attack show many women and children were killed and wounded. “Children and women were torn to pieces by the intensity of the strike,” said Al Jazeera reporter Tareq Abu Azzoum.
“I saw with my own eyes lots of bodies that were torn to pieces, making it quite hard to identify them unless family members managed to find out who they were from some signs in their clothing in the hospital morgue,” Azzoum added.
njured Palestinians receive medical attention at al Aqsa Martyrs hospital after an Israeli strike hit a school housing displaced people in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, on October 10, 2024 (IMAGO/APAimages via Reuters Connect)
Nahed al-Zaneen, a Palestinian who teaches displaced children at tents outside of the Rafadi school, told Middle East Eye that he was just meters away from the blast. “I get out, and all I see is shreds of bodies all over the floor. Heads blown up, innocent children scattered across the floor,” he said.
As usual, the Israeli military claimed it targeted a Hamas “command and control center” but offered no evidence for the claim. Schools sheltering displaced Palestinians have become frequent targets of the Israeli military.
Strikes continued across other parts of Gaza on Thursday, including in north Gaza, where Israeli forces are trying to cleanse the entire area of Palestinians.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said at least 55 Palestinians were killed and 166 were wounded in the previous 24-hour period, bringing its death toll since last October to 42,065 and the number of wounded to 97,886.
The ministry’s figures do not include the estimated 10,000 Palestinians who are missing and presumed dead under the rubble.
A group of American healthcare workers who volunteered in Gaza have said they believe over 118,000 Palestinians have been killed, a number that accounts for starvation deaths and other indirect causes.
