Journal De Bruxelles - Gaza rescuers say 770 people killed in Israel assault on north

With Israel under pressure to end its wars with Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, the United States said negotiators will meet in the coming days on reaching a truce in the Palestinian territory.

After nearly a year of war in Gaza sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack, Israel expanded its focus to Lebanon last month, vowing to secure its northern border from Hezbollah attacks.

It has meanwhile kept up the pressure on Hamas, launching an operation earlier this month in the north of Gaza where tens of thousands of civilians are trapped.

"Since the start of the military operation in northern Gaza more than 770 people have been killed," said Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the territory's civil defence agency, adding that the toll could rise as there were people buried under the rubble.

He also said a strike on a school-turned-shelter in central Gaza killed 17 people, while the Israeli military said it was targeting Hamas militants when it hit the site.

The civil defence agency also said on Thursday it can no longer provide first responder services in the north, accusing Israeli forces of threatening to "bomb and kill" its crews.

The Israeli military says the goal of its assault is to destroy the operational capabilities Hamas is trying to rebuild in the north.

It has repeatedly told people to evacuate, and to do so they must pass through army-manned checkpoints.

Images posted online and verified by AFP show crowds of Palestinians waiting to cross such checkpoints, while several Palestinians reported mistreatment or detention during the process.

- Blinken in Qatar -

The Gaza war began with Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed 42,847 people in Gaza, the majority civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry which the United Nations considers reliable.

The war in Lebanon erupted last month, nearly a year after Hezbollah began low-intensity cross-border fire into Israel in support of its ally Hamas.

At least 1,580 people have been killed in Lebanon since September 23, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures, though the real number is likely to be higher.

The high civilian tolls from the fighting have sparked repeated calls for a halt to the wars, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken returning to the region this week for the 11th time since the start of the Gaza war.

Visiting key mediator Qatar on Thursday, Blinken said he expected negotiators would meet in the coming days on a Gaza truce as he again called on US ally Israel and Hamas to reach a deal.

"We talked about options to capitalise on this moment and next steps to move the process forward, and I anticipate that our negotiators will be getting together in the coming days," Blinken told reporters.

Qatar and the US were seeking a plan "so that Israel can withdraw, so that Hamas cannot reconstitute, and so that the Palestinian people can rebuild their lives and rebuild their futures," he said.

Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani said American and Israeli teams would fly to Qatar, without giving any timetable.

Blinken's visit comes ahead of the US election on November 5, and days after Israel killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who was seen as a key obstacle to a deal allowing for the release of 97 hostages still held by militants in Gaza, 34 of whom are dead.

Prior to the Qatar stop, Blinken had been in Israel and Saudi Arabia, where he was seeking to make headway on a normalisation deal between the two countries.

Blinken said Israel had "achieved most of its strategic objectives" in Gaza and should now aim for lasting success.

Addressing Israel's pledge to retaliate for Iran's October 1 missile attack, he said: "It's also very important that Israel respond in ways that do not create greater escalation."

Blinken acknowledged "progress" on aid for Gaza but said more needed to be done, as he pledged another $135 million in assistance to the Palestinians.

In Gaza, winter is approaching and the displaced fear the cold.

Ahmad al-Razz said he sewed sacks together to make his tent on the beach near Deir el-Balah.

"We are freezing every night because we are right by the sea, and we have no blankets or coverings to keep us warm," the 42-year-old said.

- Lebanon strikes -

In Lebanon, Israel conducted at least 17 raids overnight that levelled six buildings, according to Lebanon's official National News Agency, sending a huge ball of fire enveloped in a tower of smoke soaring into the night sky.

The Israeli military said Thursday it hit Hezbollah weapons production facilities in the group's south Beirut bastion.

In south Lebanon, also a stronghold of Hezbollah, the group said its militants were clashing at close range with Israeli troops in a border village.

Hezbollah earlier said it launched a "large rocket salvo" at the northern Israeli town of Safed, after vowing to keep firing into Israel until a ceasefire is reached not only in Lebanon but also in Gaza.

Hezbollah is Lebanon's only group that did not disarm following the 1975-1990 civil war.

"Lebanese authorities must deploy over (all) Lebanese territory and weapons should be carried only by the state and the Lebanese army," he said.

R.Vandevelde--JdB