Israeli attacks killed 51 in Lebanon on Saturday

At least 51 people were killed and 174 were wounded in Israeli attacks across Lebanon on Saturday, the country’s Health Ministry said.

More than 2,306 people have been killed and more than 10,598 wounded since last October when Hezbollah and Israel started trading fire along the border.

The vast majority of casualties took place since mid-September when the Israeli army expanded its military focus from fighting in Gaza to its northern border with Lebanon, intensifying its bombing campaign across the country, including the capital Beirut.

Israel ‘pursuing an occupation policy towards Lebanon’

Turkey says Israel’s repeated attacks on the UN peacekeepers in Lebanon show that the Israeli government intends to extend its occupation to Lebanon.

“The Israeli Government’s repeated attacks on UNIFIL are a clear indication of its policy of occupying Lebanon and its willingness to use military power without hesitation,” Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that UNIFIL’s mission to maintain regional security is of critical importance.

“It is incumbent on each member of the UN Security Council to prevent attacks by Israel against the UN forces that they themselves have mandated,” the ministry said. It called on all states to take a common position against Israel and the countries that arm it.

Mapping cross-border attacks between Israel and Lebanon (updated to Oct 4th)

The exchange of strikes between Israel and Hezbollah has been going on since October 8, 2023, when Hezbollah first launched attacks on Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as Israel waged war on the enclave.

Four Israeli soldiers killed in Hezbollah drone attack

Four soldiers were killed and seven severely injured in the Hezbollah drone attack that targeted an army based in Benyamina, the Israeli army has confirmed. As we reported earlier, Israel’s national emergency medical service said a total of 61 people were injured in the attack.

Israel’s national emergency medical service has released a statement following the Hezbollah drone attack on Benyamina, in northern Israel.

Here are some highlights:

_{Emergency services personnel attend to the scene of a drone strike in Binyamina, Israel, on October 13}


Hezbollah explains how it penetrated Israel’s air defence systems

Hezbollah has released a statement detailing how it carried out the drone attack on the army base that killed at last four Israeli soldiers.

“In a qualitative and complex operation, the missile force…launched dozens of missiles towards various targets… with the aim of occupying the Israeli air defence systems,” the statement said.

“At the same time, the air force of the Islamic Resistance launched squadrons of various drones towards various areas in Acre and Haifa. The qualitative drones were able to penetrate the Israeli air defence radars without being detected and reached their target in a training camp for the elite Golani Brigade in the Binyamina area.

“They exploded in the rooms where dozens of Israeli enemy officers and soldiers were present who were preparing to participate in the attack on Lebanon, including senior officers, resulting in the killing and wounding of dozens.”

Hezbollah also said that the deadly drone attack took place after the group had warned that continued assaults on Lebanon would turn Haifa and other areas in northern Israel into targets.

The group said Israel undermined Hezbollah’s capabilities while continuing to bombard Lebanon and killing its members, including its former chief Hassan Nasrallah. What Israel “witnessed today in southern Haifa is a small fraction of what awaits it if it decides to continue its aggression against our noble and dear people”, the statement added.

At least 13 Palestinians killed in Israeli attack on Gaza shelter

We’re getting reports that at least 13 Palestinians have been killed and several wounded in an Israeli tank shelling of a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Nuseirat, central Gaza.

Death toll goes up in Israeli attack on Gaza shelter

Gaza’s Government Media Office is now reporting that the death toll in Israeli attacks on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians has gone up to 22.

Another 80 people were wounded in the attack, it added.

Palestinian students leave Cairo for Pakistan to study medicine

A batch of 27 Palestinian students left Cairo for Pakistan where they will continue their medical and dental studies, Pakistan’s Embassy in the Egyptian capital announced.

The statement on X added that “this batch of students is part of 192 Palestinian medical students from Gaza who will continue their medical studies in Pakistani medical universities on fully funded programmes”.

In July, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry announced it would provide scholarships to more than 100 Palestinian students to continue their medical studies in Pakistan.

Yeah I know what you're thinking, another attack on 'gamers', video games bad etc.

How Video Games Sold the American “War on Terror”



But he makes some good points and I have to admit, I've also been desensitized to all the scenes of destruction. Even thinking, this looks like the setting for the next Fallout game, Killzone, etc.


Life imitating art

Tbf, there is a counterpoint to CoD's 'messaging' on Steam

"Fursan al-Aqsa The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque"
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1714420/Fursan_alAqsa_The_Knights_of_the_AlAqsa_Mosque/

DISCLAIMER

THIS GAME DOES NOT PROMOTE "TERRORISM", ANTISEMITISM, HATE AGAINST JEWS OR ANY OTHER GROUP, THIS IS A MESSAGE OF PROTEST AGAINST THE ISRAELI MILITARY OCCUPATION OF THE PALESTINIAN LANDS. FURSAN AL-AQSA IS A VIDEO GAME ABOUT WAR LIKE MANY OTHER GAMES HERE ON STEAM (SIX DAYS IN FALLUJAH, CALL OF DUTY AND OTHERS).

Fursan al-Aqsa: The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque is a Third Person Action Game on which you play as Ahmad al-Falastini, a young Palestinian Student who was unjustly tortured and jailed by Israeli Soldiers for 5 years, had all his family killed by an Israeli Airstrike and now, after getting out from the prison, seeks revenge against those who wronged him, killed his family and stolen his homeland, by joining a new Palestinian Resistance Movement called Fursan al-Aqsa: The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

This game is greatly inspired by Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid, Call of Duty Modern Warfare, Insurgency Sandstorm, Max Payne and Goldeneye 007.

Also released April 2022, well before the current mess.


Anyway I have no interest in playing it or any other FPS. I'll stick to jumping on things for 'kills'.

Israel bombs displacement tents in Gaza hospital

Rescue crews are scrambling to put out fires at the scene of a deadly Israeli strike on tents housing displaced Palestinians in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza. Earlier, we reported that Israeli fighter jets had bombed the tents located inside the grounds of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

Medical sources at the scene said fires have broken out, with the attack causing an as yet unknown number of deaths and injuries.


_{People attempt to extinguish a fire at the site of an Israeli strike on tents sheltering displaced people in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, on October 14}

At least three people have been killed and at least 40 injured following an Israeli military attack on displacement tents in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, our Al Jazeera Arabic colleagues report, citing local media.

Israeli military claims it struck Hamas command centre in Gaza hospital

The Israeli military has claimed, without providing evidence, that it struck “terrorists who were working in a command and control complex that was established in an area previously known as the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital”, following its latest attack on displaced Palestinians.

The Israeli military has claimed, as it routinely does after attacks against civilian infrastructure in Gaza, that Hamas operatives were using the hospital to “plan and carry out terrorist operations” against Israeli forces and territory.

‘Twenty to 30 tents’ completely destroyed as fire rages in Gaza hospital

It is an extreme fire that keeps spreading. Civil defence members had to be called and dispatched from other areas in central Gaza after working all day long in the Bureij refugee camp, so for an hour, there were no rescue crews at the hospital.

Someone inside the hospital described loud explosions and the fire spread right away because of what looks like incendiary bombs being used. The fact that these tents are made of plastic, nylon and pieces of wood makes the fire spread quickly as well.

We’re talking about 20 to 30 tents that have been completely destroyed, completely burned down. There were many people inside the tents as the fire spread who were not saved.

The report that I’m receiving right now is that the fire is still spreading and the situation is quite chaotic. We’re looking at the large number [of fatalities] as these tents are close to each other, back-to-back and set up in a small space inside the hospital court yard.

At least 4 confirmed killed, 70 injured, in Israeli hospital attack

At least four people are confirmed dead and at least 70 people are injured, many critically, following an Israeli military attack on displacement tents inside the grounds of the Al-Aqsa Martyr’s Hospital in central Gaza.

Footage from the scene shows a raging fire tearing through tents, with the bodies of other victims being engulfed by the flames.

Footage shows explosion, blazing fire at scene of Israeli hospital attack

Rescue teams are scrambling to help survivors from a fire at a displacement camp on the grounds of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah after an Israeli attack.

Footage reportedly showing the immediate aftermath of the attack shows a large explosion and huge flames rising from the area.

Four people have been confirmed dead so far, but the death toll is expected to rise.

Scenes show the initial moments of the deadly Israeli massacre against displaced Palestinians after targeting their tent in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza. pic.twitter.com/oIoTpuRsXu

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) October 13, 2024

The aftermath of deadly strike on tent camp in Deir el-Balah

Four people have been confirmed dead and some 70 injured after Israeli jets bombed a tented camp housing displaced Palestinians in the grounds of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

The attack led to a huge fire that spread quickly through the tents. Rescue teams are scrambling to find survivors.

‘It looks like incendiary bombs were dropped on these tent sites’

I got off the phone with someone inside the hospital who described it as a loud explosion. It looks like incendiary bombs were dropped on these tent sites. And the fact that these tent sites are structures made using plastic nylon pieces of wood, is what makes the fire spread so quickly as well.

We’re talking about 20 to 30 tents that have been completely destroyed by the fire. They’re all completely burned down. There were many people who were inside the tents as the fire spread but were not able to be removed from the bomb sites.

‘So many charred bodies all over the place’

Palestinians in Gaza are waking up to the aftermath of the Israeli attack on Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah, which killed at least four people and injured dozens as fire swept through tents where displaced people were sheltering.

“What happened was that we woke up to smoke, flames, fire and burning pieces falling on the tents from every direction. The explosions terrified us in our tents and outside where we live behind Al-Aqsa Hospital,” Om Ahmad Radi, a survivor at the scene, told Al Jazeera.

“The fire trucks couldn’t get here. There were so many burned and charred bodies all over the place. The amount of fire and explosions was enormous. We witnessed one of the most horrible and brutal nights.”

_{People attempt to extinguish a fire at the scene of an Israeli attack on tents sheltering displaced people in central Gaza}

Gaza ministry slams Israel’s attack on Al-Aqsa Hospital

Gaza’s Health Ministry condemned the “direct targeting” of the hospital in Deir el-Balah in an attack that killed four people and injured dozens.

The Israeli attack “caused a large fire in the tents of the displaced and the hospital facilities”, a statement said. There are serious cases among the wounded, most of whom are displaced children and women, it added.

“We reiterate our appeal to the international and UN institutions as well as the concerned parties to intervene urgently to protect hospitals and health workers from the brutality and crimes of the [Israeli] occupation.”

Scenes from Israel’s attack on al-Aqsa Hospital

Al Jazeera’s fact-checking agency Sanad has verified footage from the accounts of Palestinian journalists and activists depicting Israel’s overnight attack on Al-Aqsa Hospital in Gaza’s city of Deir el-Balah.

Dozens of burn victims are now receiving treatment at the overwhelmed hospital with at least four people killed. The Israeli attack was on a displacement camp where people were sheltering and the tents quickly went up in flames.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DBFO0Pbt0iw
Translation: People were on fire.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBFNc0ZopKq
Translation: Save Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, God is sufficient for us, and He is the best disposer of affairs.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBFM5qLoRvX
Translation: Fire broke out after the [Israeli] occupation bombed the tents of the displaced in Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central Gaza Strip.

‘It’s a horror show’: Doctor describes aftermath of Gaza hospital attack

Dr Mohammed Tahir, a volunteer surgeon, is dealing with the carnage after Israel’s attack on Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza.

Tahir said he and his overwhelmed team were already dealing with another mass casualty incident – the Israeli shelling of a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Nuseirat – when victims from the hospital attack came streaming in.

“We were inundated. We had women, men, children as young as one year of age dying in front of our eyes,” Tahir told Al Jazeera from outside the hospital.

“I have spoken to countless individuals who witnessed some of the horrors. People are traumatised. I think it’s fair to say that people have really got to the point now where they feel there is no hope – no one is coming to help them, no one is coming to save them.”

Tahir said they are dealing with patients with burns on 60 to 80 percent of their bodies – many who won’t survive.

“Patients with significant high percentage burns, unfortunately, their fate is sealed. They won’t even make it to the ICU. They will die.”

“It’s a horror show here. Honestly, sometimes I feel like this is not real life – that this can go on and this degree of suffering is allowed to happen in this world.”

_{A Palestinian carries the body of her grandson at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza}

Austin expresses condolences to Gallant over Israeli soldier deaths

The US defence secretary offered his “condolences” to his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, over the killing of four Israeli soldiers, following a Hezbollah drone attack on a military base in northern Israel on Sunday night.

Lloyd Austin also reiterated “the importance of ensuring the safety and security of UNIFIL forces and Lebanese Armed Forces”, after the latest alleged violation of the UN peacekeeping force’s neutrality, when Israeli tanks entered a UNIFIL base in southern Lebanon.

Austin “stressed” that steps must be taken to address the “dire humanitarian situation in Gaza”, but reaffirmed once again the US’s “unwavering, enduring, and ironclad commitment to Israel’s security”.

Hezbollah strike on Israeli military unit was a ‘symbolic choice of target'

Four Israeli soldiers have been killed and seven others are in critical condition, along with a few dozen who are injured, following a surprise Hezbollah drone attack that evaded detection or interception by the Israeli army.

The attack happened on a military base in Binyamina, south of Haifa, and it comes after several warnings from Hezbollah that attacks would escalate. Shortly after the attack, we saw sirens going off with more rockets fired. The Israeli army said five rockets were intercepted over the skies of Haifa.

It’s a very symbolic choice of target by Hezbollah. The Golani Brigade is the elite unit of the Israeli military. This is a brigade that has participated in all of Israel’s wars and military operations, so it would have been part of the assault on Lebanon in the past – whether the 2006 war, the 1978 invasion or the 1982 invasion.

There is symbolism in targeting an elite unit that is supposed to be training in preparation for a ground offensive on Lebanon itself.

Hezbollah’s deadly drone attack is ‘painful’, Israeli army chief says

Herzi Halevi says the Hezbollah attack on a training base that killed at least four soldiers and injured 58 was “difficult and painful”.

“We are at war and an attack on a training base on the home front is difficult and the results are painful,” he told soldiers during a visit to the Golani Brigade base that was hit.

It is located in the Binyamina area, south of the port city of Haifa, on the Mediterranean coast. Hezbollah said a “swarm of drones” was used to target the facility, in response to Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon.

_{An ambulance arrives at the scene of the deadly drone attack}

Kamala Harris calls on Israel to facilitate flow of food into Gaza

The US vice president and Democratic presidential nominee has responded to UN reports that no food has entered northern Gaza in nearly 2 weeks.

“Israel must urgently do more to facilitate the flow of aid to those in need. Civilians must be protected and must have access to food, water, and medicine. International humanitarian law must be respected,” she wrote on X, in a carefully worded statement.

Humanitarian groups have sounded the alarm over a man-made famine in Gaza for months, saying shortages have been caused by the Israeli military severely limiting aid flows into the besieged enclave, attacking civilian infrastructure and repeatedly displacing the local population.

The UN reports that no food has entered northern Gaza in nearly 2 weeks. Israel must urgently do more to facilitate the flow of aid to those in need. Civilians must be protected and must have access to food, water, and medicine. International humanitarian law must be respected.

— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) October 13, 2024

Shin Bet head met Egypt intelligence chief in Cairo: Report

Shin Bet director, Ronen Bar, secretly met the head of Egyptian intelligence, Abbas Kamel, in the Egyptian capital Cairo on Sunday, according to Axios reporter Barak Ravid, citing “a source familiar with the visit”.

The pair discussed stalled ceasefire negotiations and ways to reengage with Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, according to Ravid. They also talked about the Philadelphi Corridor and the Rafah Border Crossing, which separates the Palestinian enclave from Egypt and has been shut since May when the Israeli military launched its offensive into southern Gaza.

Bar’s visit is the first by a senior Israeli official to Cairo since August 22, according to Ravid.

Israeli and Egyptian authorities have not commented on the report.