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SvennoJ 2 days ago
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Main points on October 29th

Deadly strike in Gaza and anger over UN agency ban. What to know from the Middle East today

An Israeli airstrike on a multi-story building in northern Gaza has killed more than 90 people, with 25 children among the dead, according to Palestinian authorities.

The incident took place in Beit Lahiya early on Tuesday morning. The Israeli military has said it was targeting a “suspected terrorist” seen in the area and is investigating the circumstances of the strike.

It came a day after Israel’s parliament voted on bills banning UNRWA from operating in the country.

Here’s some of the latest developments today:

  • International condemnation: The US has called the strike in Beit Lahiya “horrifying,” while the UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence it was “one of the deadliest single attacks in Gaza in nearly three months.” The Israeli military says it is “trying to understand” why so many people were in the area at the time. During a briefing last week, Brig. Gen. Elad Goren, head of the IDF’s civil-humanitarian efforts in Gaza, had said that “as we understand, there is no population” in Beit Lahiya.
  • Voices from Gaza: Palestinians in the enclave have shared their anger and concern following the Israeli parliament’s ban on UNRWA, the nearly eight-decade-old UN agency that provides essential services for Palestinian refugees. Several people displaced from northern and elsewhere in central Gaza to Deir al-Balah told CNN the agency had been a lifeline.
  • Deadly strikes in eastern Lebanon:  Successive Israeli strikes targeting multiple cities and towns in the Baalbek-Hermel and Bekaa governorates on Monday night killed at least 60 people and injured dozens more, according to Lebanese authorities. More than 2,100 people have been killed and more than 10,500 injured in Lebanon since mid-September when Israel stepped up its campaign against Hezbollah, according to a CNN tally of daily statements from the health ministry.
  • Hezbollah names new leader: Hezbollah has named Shiite cleric Naim Qassem as leader, over a month after his predecessor Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike. Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian praised Qassem as a “bright figure” who will “strengthen” resistance against the country’s foes, according to state media outlet IRNA.
  • UN peacekeepers injured: Eight Austrian members of the UN peacekeeping force (UNIFIL) stationed in southern Lebanon have sustained minor injuries after being hit by a rocket likely fired by Hezbollah, UNIFIL said Tuesday. “This afternoon a rocket hit UNIFIL’s headquarters in Naqoura, setting a vehicle workshop on fire. Peacekeepers were not in bunkers at the time,” the UN force said in a series of posts on its official X account.