Israel tightens restrictions on Haifa area
Israel’s Home Front Command has tightened restrictions on civilians in the Haifa area in the wake of a barrage of rockets launched by Hezbollah from Lebanon.
“The activity scale will be changed from partial activity to limited activity, meaning educational activities are prohibited,” the military said, adding that the rest of the country’s guidelines remain unchanged.
Earlier in the day, Hezbollah launched what is being called its biggest rocket attack yet on the Haifa area with more than 85 projectiles launched, according to the Israeli army.
The attack coincided with the end of senior Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem’s speech today, in which he promised further attacks on Israel.
A resident of Kiryat Yam near Israel’s northern city of Haifa talks to Israeli soldiers near a building that was hit with a rocket launched from Lebanon on October 8
Countries starting aid amid Lebanon’s ‘deteriorating’ situation
The humanitarian situation has been deteriorating over the past few weeks, especially over the last 10 days, after Israel started its war on Beirut’s southern suburbs and its attacking of different cities and towns.
There are hundreds of thousands of refugees who are trying to find a safe place either in schools or in the open spaces.
And the government, of course, is in a situation where it doesn’t have the capabilities to provide to people. And that’s why there’s a kind of cooperation between the Lebanese government and United Nations agencies, international donors, NGOs.
We’re seeing several countries sending aid now to Lebanon.
We’re seeing more and more planes coming from outside, from different countries. Qatar sent some aid. Other countries, such as Russia, also Brazil, several countries are already sending aid to the Lebanese.
And the government is trying now to distribute this to people.
Many Lebanese have left the country towards Syria – around 100,000 Lebanese and 250,000 Syrians.
Medical aid provided by France is unloaded off of a French Air Force military transport aircraft on the tarmac at Beirut International Airport on Tuesday
Aid official says Gaza in limbo as focus shifts to Lebanon
Palestinians in Gaza continue to live in ramshackle shelters, struggle to find food and are gripped by uncertainty, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
In recent weeks, Israel has turned much of its attention to attacking Lebanon, but despite the shift in focus, life in Gaza for civilians remains grim and wracked by insecurity, according to ICRC spokeswoman Sarah Davies.
“They’re still living here in tents. They still can’t return to their homes. They still don’t know whether their homes are standing. They’re still struggling to feed their families every day, to find drinkable water, to find the energy to keep going,” Davies told AFP news agency from al-Mawasi in southern Gaza.
“People are very tense every time they hear new evacuation orders are issued,” said Davies. “I think for people on the ground, it’s a very uncertain situation. It’s very scary.”
