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SvennoJ on 17 September 2024

Surgeon describes dire conditions in Gaza hospitals

Gaza’s healthcare system has nearly collapsed, with the Palestinian Health Ministry saying it has documented more than 270 attacks on medical facilities across the besieged enclave since the war began.

Dr Victoria Aveson is a surgeon volunteering with the charity group Humanity Auxilium in Gaza. She says healthcare facilities face several challenges as they try to treat injured Palestinians.



No room left for more patients at Gaza hospital

The conditions at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital are very dire … In fact, we can go as far as describing it as above emergency situations.

If you walk into the emergency department, you see patients on the floor of the hospital waiting for medical staff to check and assess their injuries. They are overwhelmed by the number of cases arriving at the hospital.

We continuously see ambulances being dispatched to newly bombed sites. There is almost no room left for more cases to be accommodated. On top of that, medical supplies are lacking. Bandages and pain medication are not available.

The hospital has turned into a stage for funerals. Since we arrived this morning, we have seen at least eight funerals at the hospital.


Aid groups say Israel blocking 83 percent of food aid from reaching Gaza

People in Gaza are only eating an average of one meal per day as the Israeli army is blocking 83 percent of the food aid needed from reaching the besieged enclave, a group of 15 aid organisations have said in a joint statement.

The amount of aid being blocked by Israel has increased substantially from 2023, when just 34 percent of food aid was being blocked, the organisations added in the statement.

Amjad Al Shawa, the director of the Palestinian NGOs Network (PNGO) said in the statement that 100 percent of Gaza’s population is now dependent on aid and the shortages mean people are starving.

“We are overwhelmed [with] these needs and [these] urgent requirements”, Al Shawa said.

The aid organisations that released the statement included Save the Children, ActionAid, Christian Aid and Islamic Relief.



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SvennoJ on 17 September 2024

Rising tides threaten tents of displaced Palestinians

“If the threat is not from the Israelis, it comes from the sea.”

These are the words of displaced Palestinians sheltering along Gaza’s coast, one of the few relatively safe areas in the besieged enclave. They are creating sand barriers to prevent rising tides from flooding their tents and destroying their homes once again.

 

Education Ministry says 11,000 students killed in Gaza and West Bank

The Palestinian Education Ministry has said 11,001 students were killed and 17,772 injured in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank since the start of Israel’s war on October 7.

According to the ministry’s latest estimates, 10,888 students were killed in the Strip and 17,224 injured, while in the West Bank, 113 students were killed and 548 injured in addition to 429 being arrested.


Most schools in Gaza’s Beit Hanoon destroyed, Al Jazeera’s verification unit finds

Al Jazeera’s verification unit Sanad has found that Beit Hanoon, in the northern Gaza Strip, has seen most of its UNRWA and government schools and educational facilities destroyed in Israeli bombardments.

Satellite images revealed nine schools run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees were completely destroyed in addition to the partial destruction of three other schools sheltering displaced Palestinians.

Sources on the ground told Sanad that about 600 displaced families are now sheltering in three remaining schools, two governmental and one UNRWA-affiliated, on the city’s outskirts.


Gaza engineer constructs system to combat energy and water crisis

Inas al-Ghoul, a Palestinian engineer, uses a solar cooker she built in response to energy shortages in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.



Al-Ghoul checks a solar water desalination system she built in response to Gaza’s water crisis.

Clean water is unavailable for most living in Gaza as Israeli air strikes destroyed water infrastructure and wells.



SvennoJ on 17 September 2024

Footage shows Hezbollah attack on Israeli military site

Footage verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad verification unit shows a Hezbollah drone attack on a military site in northern Israel.

We previously reported that the suicide drone targeted a “technical system” at the al-Malikiyah site, which is located near southern Lebanon, and destroyed it.



Translation: Hezbollah targets technical system at Al-Malikiyah site on the southern Lebanese border.


Hezbollah says it hit Israeli target near border

The Lebanese armed group says its fighters targeted the Israeli military site of Abbad twice this morning achieving direct hits.


Israeli forces hit southern Lebanon: Report

Israeli forces have shelled the outskirts of the towns of Alma ash-Shaab and Yarin with mortar shells, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency.


Smoke billowing above a Lebanese village after Israeli bombardment


Israeli forces hit another town in southern Lebanon: Report

Israeli jets have conducted an air raid on the town of Blida in Marjayoun district, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency.


Three killed in Israeli strike on Lebanon’s Blida

We reported earlier of an Israeli air raid on the town of Blida, in southern Lebanon’s Marjayoun district. Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health has now confirmed that three people were killed in the strike and two injured, the National News Agency reported.


Hezbollah claims hitting Israeli artillery positions

The Lebanese armed group says its forces have targeted Israeli artillery positions in the Zaura area with rockets, achieving a direct hit. Hezbollah said its fighters also hit a group of Israeli soldiers in Karantina Hill.


Israeli army says three Hezbollah operatives killed in Blida strike

The Israeli army has issued a statement saying it has struck a Hezbollah target in the area of Blida in southern Lebanon. It added that it had “eliminated” three operatives working at the site.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry earlier said three people were killed in the air raid. Hezbollah has not confirmed deaths of its members.



SvennoJ on 17 September 2024

Hezbollah members wounded in Lebanon when pagers explode: Report

Dozens of members of Hezbollah have been seriously wounded in southern Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut when the pagers they use to communicate exploded, the National News Agency (NNA) reports.

“Tens of injuries have been taken to hospital after pagers exploded through the use of high technology,” the NNA said.


Hezbollah pager explosions ‘a major security breach’

No doubt, this is a major development in the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah.

The communications device that is being used by the Lebanese armed group has been penetrated, hacked and a number of Hezbollah members have been wounded after these devices, which are known as pagers, exploded.

This is a major security breach. Hezbollah’s communications device has been compromised.

We have seen pictures from across Lebanon of men lying on the floor wounded, bleeding. We have seen reports of hospitals asking for blood.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah a few months ago called on his fighters, especially those who are on the front lines along Lebanon’s southern border with Israel, to stop using smartphones because Israel has the technology to infiltrate and penetrate those devices.

So now they’ve resorted to this different communications system using pagers, and it seems they have been penetrated. We are getting reports that there were near simultaneous explosions in southern Lebanon, in the east of the country and in Beirut’s southern suburbs.


Lebanese hospitals urge citizens to donate blood after pager explosions

According to the National News Agency, most hospitals in the south, the Dahieh suburb of Beirut and the Bekaa governorate are receiving people wounded when their pagers exploded. The hospitals are urging citizens to donate blood of any type, the agency said.


Israeli army says it intercepts several drones from Lebanon

Sirens have been activated in northern Israel as several drones crossed the border from Lebanon, the Israeli army says in a statement. Some unmanned vehicles were intercepted, and debris fell in the area of Ramot Naftali, it said.

No injuries were reported, the statement added.



SvennoJ on 17 September 2024

More injuries evacuated to hospitals in southern Lebanon

We have some more information about the reported explosions of the devices used for communications by Hezbollah members. Several people were wounded in the eastern parts of the district of Marjayoun and taken to the local governmental hospital, the NNA reports.

Others were injured in Hermel, and some of the wounded were taken to the Lebanese Italian Hospital in Tyre, the agency said.

Lebanese Red Cross ambulances evacuating wounded in south

The Lebanese Red Cross says more than 30 of its ambulances are taking part in the treatment and evacuation of the wounded as a result of multiple explosions in southern Lebanon, the Bekaa governorate and the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Fifty additional ambulances in Mount Lebanon and Beirut have been put on high alert to support rescue and evacuation operations, it added.


Hezbollah reliant on pagers for personal communication

Military analyst Elijah Magnier tells Al Jazeera that Hezbollah relies heavily on pagers to avoid Israel intercepting its members’ communications. He suggested these devices might have been tampered with before they were dispersed among Hezbollah members.

“This is not a new system. It has been used in the past,” he said. “So in this case, there has been involvement of a third party … to allow access … to remotely activate the explosion,” he said.


Lebanese Health Ministry asks hospitals to be on high alert

The Public Health Emergency Operation Center of the Ministry of Public Health has issued an urgent statement saying a “large number of people with various injuries are arriving at Lebanese hospitals, and it has been initially determined that the injuries are related to the explosion of wireless devices that were in the possession of the injured”.

The ministry is urging all hospitals in various Lebanese regions to be on maximum alert and raise their level of readiness to meet the urgent need for emergency health services.

It also asked hospitals to coordinate with the Ministry of Public Health to quickly distribute the injuries as needed and ensure the speedy start of their treatment.

“The ministry requests all citizens who own wireless communication devices to stay away from them until the truth of what is happening is revealed,” it said in a statement.


‘There are more than 400 men here’

We’ve begun to get accounts from witnesses of the explosions in various parts of Lebanon. “We don’t have room any more in the hospital,” a woman in Beirut said. “There are more than 400 men here. Their pagers exploded, the ones they use for communication.”


‘A blow to Hezbollah’

We are talking about hundreds of members of the group in hospitals. We are seeing videos online of injuries to their arms, to their legs, even to their faces.

The Lebanese Health Ministry is calling on doctors and nurses to head to hospitals to help with this mass casualty event. We have to remember that this is a country facing multiple crises.

The economy has all but collapsed. The state is nearly bankrupt. Hospitals really have been struggling. There are not enough doctors, not enough nurses, so this is a crisis in itself, and there is really a lot of concern.

Now was this Israel’s response to what the Israeli army said was Hezbollah’s attempt to kill a former high-ranking security official? Because just two hours ago, early this afternoon, the Israeli army said that they foiled an attack by Hezbollah using an explosive device to try to assassinate a high-ranking former security official.

Or is this a way, if you like, to prepare the ground for potential escalations? Because Israeli officials have been talking about the possibility of expanding the war.



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SvennoJ on 17 September 2024

Injured citizens to be treated at Health Ministry’s expense

The Ministry of Public Health has issued a statement addressing hospitals and emphasising “the necessity of receiving the injured and ensuring their rapid treatment at the ministry’s expense”.

The ministry also asked all health workers to urgently head to their workplaces “to help with providing emergency treatment to the large number of injured who are being transferred to hospitals”.

It also urged citizens on the roads to make way for ambulances so they can quickly transport the injured.


The beginning of a larger campaign?

Ramy Khoury, a distinguished fellow at the American University of Beirut, has called the pager explosions “the most dangerous event” faced by Hezbollah in years.

“This is highly unusual and really troubling for Hezbollah and all of its allies in the ‘axis of resistance’ because it means that Israelis have capabilities and intelligence, and attacks of this nature are far beyond what people had assumed,” he told Al Jazeera.

Khoury also said the incident could signal “the beginning of a larger campaign”, noting that Israel has talked about removing the threat of Hezbollah for many months now.

“It is a huge issue for them, much more serious than Hamas,” he continued.

“They are also at a higher level of confidence in the Americans and British and Western support that they are feeling they can do anything they want and the West will support them no matter how bad it is.”


‘Intelligence coup’ or act of ‘desperation’?

Jamal Ghosn, a political commentator and writer in Beirut, says the sound of sirens is echoing around the Lebanese capital.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, he called the explosions “a major intelligence coup” by Israel against Hezbollah but also argued that it could well be an act of “desperation”.

“If they [Israel] did have that access and have that technology to do that, to pull it off now, it’s kind of a desperate move,” he said, noting that such a “secret weapon” would have been “much more powerful had they actually used it at a later stage during fallout confrontations”.

Ghosn added: “So, on one hand, yes, it’s a major coup. On the other hand, it’s a bit of a desperation move.”


Iran’s ambassador doing well after minor injuries: Embassy

The Iranian embassy in Lebanon and state television have confirmed that Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani, who used one of the pagers, was lightly injured but is conscious and not in serious condition.

An Iranian state television reporter in Beirut said communication devices exploded across Lebanon, including in the south near Israel’s border and Bekaa to the east.

Civilians are also among the wounded.



SvennoJ on 17 September 2024

‘A very sophisticated attack’

We have some more comments from military analyst Elijah Magnier on the near simultaneous pager explosions in Lebanon.

  • This is a very sophisticated attack, and normally at this scale, it requires the collaboration of more than one entity.
  • If Israeli intelligence managed to compromise the pagers that have been supplied to Hezbollah, this [does not exclude] that they have managed to access the supply by Iran because Iran supplies Hezbollah with most of its equipment.
  • An operation of this scale needs the presence of high explosives, even in small quantities, and an awfully long time to sit at every single pager and manually insert 1 to 3 grammes [0.4 to 0.11oz] of highly explosive material and yet conserve the functionality of the pager, the screen and all the electronics without all of this being affected.
  • That requires the work of more than one intelligence service and a break in the channel of supply.
  • That can also indicate that there is an explosive because batteries don’t explode on their own in Beirut, in th Bekaa Valley, in the south of Lebanon and in Syria and everywhere there is a pager at the same instant.
  • This is not something related to the malfunction of the pager, but it is something that is implemented in it and exploded by a frequency, most likely a radio frequency.
  • In this case, we understand Israeli intelligence has placed this explosive with the support of a third country before they reached Hezbollah
  • This means that they have not only taken their time but they also sat on this supply for a long time before it reached its final destination and most probably the Iranians will now be examining all their products and equipment to make sure that nobody has tampered in what they have acquired.


Hezbollah says three people, including a girl, killed in pager explosions

We now have Hezbollah’s first statement about the explosions of communication devices in Lebanon.

“At approximately 3:30pm [12:30 GMT] on Tuesday 09-17-2024, a number of message-receiving devices known as ‘pagers’ exploded, which were owned by a number of workers in various Hezbollah units and institutions,” the group said.

“These explosions, the causes of which are still unknown, led to the martyrdom of a girl and two brothers and the injury of a large number of people with various injuries,” it added.

“Hezbollah’s competent agencies are currently conducting a wide-ranging security and scientific investigation to determine the causes that led to these simultaneous explosions. Likewise, medical and health agencies are treating the wounded and injured in a number of hospitals in various Lebanese regions,” Hezbollah continued.

“We affirm that the resistance, at all its levels and various units, is at the highest level of readiness to defend Lebanon and its steadfast people.”


No confirmation from Israeli side

Nothing from Israel just yet. There was one person who used to be, according to Israeli media, a spokesperson in the Israeli prime minister’s office who commented on this, alleging that Israel was behind this.

But the Israeli prime minister’s office released a statement distancing themselves from this individual, saying that he’s “not in the circle of consultations”.

According to one Israeli channel, the prime minister has given a directive to his government and ministers to not talk about what took place in Lebanon, to not conduct interviews or to enter into any sort of discussions about the matter.

Additionally, the heads of town, cities and settlements in Israel’s north have been notified by Home Front Command of a possibility of an escalation but that there are no changes in the directives of security measures at this time.

But it’s not really uncommon for Israel to not speak about something like this if, indeed, they are the ones behind it because Israel’s external security agency, the Mossad, has a lot of different capabilities and specialises in things like hacking and assassinations abroad.

So this falls within the realm of the expertise of the Mossad, but of course, there is no confirmation from the Israeli side.



SvennoJ on 17 September 2024

Eight killed, 2,750 wounded across Lebanon: health minister

Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad has just held a news conference, during which he announced that eight people have been killed and 2,750 wounded by exploding pagers across the country.

  • Eight people have been killed in the attacks. Among them is an eight-year-old girl from the Bekaa Valley.
  • At least 2,750 people have been wounded. More than 200 are in critical condition.
  • The majority of the injuries recorded so far are either to the face or arms and in some cases the abdomen.
  • About 100 hospitals across the country have received casualties.
  • Hospitals in the south have exceeded their capacity, and the ministry is working on transferring the injured to be treated in facilities elsewhere.

An ambulance on its way to hospital in Sidon, Lebanon


Pager explosions ‘a huge security breach for Hezbollah’

Navvar Saban, a security and conflict analyst at the Omran Center for Strategic Studies, has called the explosions a large-scale cyberattack that has affected not only Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon but also even members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Syria.

Speaking to Al Jazeera from Istanbul, Saban said: “People think that pagers are old, but there is an advanced model produced that Hezbollah received recently and started using in Syria and Lebanon, along with the Revolutionary Guard.

“So having them is an indication of a huge security breach for Hezbollah,” he added.

Remarking on the scale of the attacks, Saban said: “It’s thousands of assassination attempts at the same time that happened in different geographical areas. The psychological impact is huge. It’s going to affect Hezbollah.”

Saban said the main goal of this attack is to leave a psychological footprint. “It will terrify the area. It will terrify the region. And it will put more pressure on Hezbollah.”


‘This Israeli madness should be stopped at some point’

Tohid Asadi, a professor at Tehran University, says Israel’s targeting of Hezbollah leaders continues to “fuel the tension” with regional rival Iran, the armed group’s main backer.

“We have Tehran as a player that tries to avoid a direct confrontation as it sees it as the most unwelcome scenario on the table, given the fact it’s wrong to drag the entire West Asia into a full-fledged, all-out war which is not in the benefit of any player,” Asadi told Al Jazeera.

“Iran is practicing a strategy of patience. Iran tries to retaliate in a way that doesn’t result in an all-out war. But on the other hand, Iran certainly has got a limit. After the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, the supreme leader said Iran will retaliate and we have this psychological operation with the Israelis waiting.

“But there’s an understanding in Tehran that this Israeli madness should be stopped at some point.”


‘New brand’ of communication devices heated, then exploded: Report

It remains unclear at this time how the communication devices used in Lebanon were rigged to explode.

A Hezbollah official who spoke on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press the new brand of handheld pagers used by the group first heated up, then exploded.

A source close to the group who also requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters told the AFP news agency the blasts were an “Israeli breach” of its communication system. He didn’t elaborate. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.


Civil Defense first-responders carry a man who was wounded when his handheld pager exploded



SvennoJ on 17 September 2024

‘Treacherous enemy’: Hezbollah blames Israel for pager blasts

We now have Hezbollah’s second statement about the simultaneous explosions of thousands of communication devices in Lebanon.

“After examining all the facts, current data, and available information about the sinful attack that took place this afternoon, we hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression that targeted civilians too,” the group said.

Hezbollah said it will continue to support the “Palestinian resistance” and added the “treacherous and criminal enemy will certainly be punished for this aggressive act”.


Lebanese cabinet blames Israel for deadly pager explosions

The information minister says the cabinet condemns what he calls an “Israeli criminal aggression which is a dangerous violation to Lebanon’s sovereignty”.

Speaking from Beirut, Ziad Makary said: “Lebanon’s main priority is putting an end to the Israeli attacks targeting our citizens’ lives and livelihoods.

“These crimes are the responsibility of the international community,” he said, adding that the cabinet has reached out to several states to pressure Israel to stop its “aggression” and abide by UN resolutions.


Death toll in Lebanon pager blasts rises to 9

Lebanon’s minister of health says nine people are now confirmed dead in a series of explosions of pagers across the country. Abiad said among those killed is an 8-year-old girl from the Bekaa Valley. At least 2,800 people have been wounded, and more than 200 are in critical condition.

The majority of the injuries recorded so far are to the face, hands, arms and abdomen, he said.


People gather outside the American University of Beirut Medical Center


Lebanon hospitals have had ‘disaster plans’ since war on Gaza began: Minister

Abiad has spoken to Al Jazeera about the pager explosions, which have killed at least nine people and wounded about 2,750 across the county.

Calling it an “ongoing incident”, Lebanon’s health minister said he expected to have “more accurate numbers and information with time” and reiterated that most of the injuries are “either in the face, especially in the eyes, or in the hands or in the abdomen”.

Abiad said Lebanon “reactivated” its public health emergency operating centre after Israel’s war on Gaza began more than 11 months ago.

“We have been doing drills and preparing disaster plans with the hospitals, with our partners in the health sectors,” he said.

“Unfortunately, the geographical distribution of the injuries was quite wide. We saw that there were cases in Beirut, in the southern suburbs. We also had cases in the south and cases in Bekaa,” Abiad said.

Despite this, hospitals were able to direct and triage patients so that none of the country’s hospitals would become “overwhelmed”, he said.



SvennoJ on 17 September 2024

UN voices concern about Lebanon developments

Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric calls the developments in Lebanon extremely concerning, especially given the “extremely volatile” context. Dujarric also said the UN deplores any civilian casualties.


UN special coordinator denounces Lebanon attacks

UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert says she deplores the attacks across Lebanon, warning they “marked an extremely concerning escalation”

 
Iran condemns ‘terrorist attack’ on Lebanon

Earlier, we reported that Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was slightly injured by the explosion of an electronic pager.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, in a phone call with his Lebanese counterpart, strongly condemned the “terrorist attack” and thanked Lebanon for providing immediate medical treatment to Amani, Iranian state media reported.


US says ‘not involved’ and ‘not aware’ of pager blasts

The United States says it wasn’t aware in advance and had no involvement in mass explosions of pagers that targeted the Lebanese militia Hezbollah.

“I can tell you that the US was not involved in it, the US was not aware of this incident in advance and, at this point, we’re gathering information,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

Iran must avoid actions that further raise tensions after mass explosions, he added. “We would urge Iran not to take advantage of any incident to try to add further instability and to further increase tensions in the region,” Miller said.

And what about Israel taking advantage, over and over and over again? Fuck off Miller. This is all on you and your fake ceasefire efforts.

Senior Israeli officials meet after mass attack on Hezbollah devices

The explosion of thousands of communication devices in Lebanon has caused substantial damage to Hezbollah’s operational capabilities, a former Israeli military commander says.

“This is an opportunity to alter the current dynamics of the conflict with Hezbollah,” Israel’s Channel 14 quoted Yiftah Ron-Tal, a major general reserve in the Israeli army, as saying.

According to the Haaretz newspaper, senior Israeli officials are meeting at the Defence Ministry in Tel Aviv for an “urgent” discussion on the possibility of Hezbollah launching a retaliatory attack.

“The officials were asked to present options for addressing the escalating security situation with Hezbollah in the north,” it said.


A police officer inspects a car in which a handheld pager exploded in Beirut