A day of intense fighting on the two fronts of the war in the Middle East: in Gaza, where Israeli bombs killed at least 73 people in a single attack, and in Lebanon, where in addition to Beirut, cross-attacks on the border areas continue. In Northern Gaza, according to the United Nations, what civilians are experiencing is a “nightmare” that is getting worse and worse. A mission by the Foreign Minister is scheduled for tomorrow Antonio Tajani in Israel and Palestine and meetings with their respective leaders.
The attacks on the south of the Lebanese capital were the response to the attempt to assassinate the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after his residence was hit by a drone yesterday while the leader was away. Lebanon’s official national news agency (NNA) said that Israel’s attacks on the capital hit a residential building in the Haret Hreik area of south Beirut, near a mosque and a hospital: the Israeli army has claimed to have hit the “Hezbollah intelligence headquarters command center” and an underground weapons facility; but also killed three Hezbollah militants in other attacks. About 70 rockets were fired from Lebanon today, crossing the border within a few minutes. Israel’s response was not long in coming, and within 15 minutes 14 Israeli attacks hit a single village near Lebanon’s southern border, Khiam. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told troops on that front that the army was intensifying attacks in Lebanon, “destroying them in places that Hezbollah had planned to use as launch pads for attacks against Israel.”
The Lebanese army, which is not fighting, said three of its soldiers were killed in an Israeli attack on their vehicle in southern Lebanon. In Gaza, the civil defense agency said an Israeli airstrike on a residential area killed at least 73 Palestinians in Beit Lahia, in the north of the territory. At Kamal Adwan Hospital, which was flooded with injured people as a result of the attack, many patients had to be treated on the floor while nearby the dead were wrapped in white shrouds. According to the Israeli army, a “Hamas terrorist target” was hit in Beit Lahia; according to the IDF, the budget provided by the Gaza authorities “does not correspond” to the information in its possession. The Jeddah-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation “condemned the attack in the strongest terms” and called Israel’s actions in Gaza a “stain on the conscience of humanity.” The United Nations coordinator for the peace process in the Middle East, Tor Wennesland, defined what was experienced in the northern Gaza Strip as a “nightmare”, after two weeks of intense Israeli attacks. «Terrifying scenes are taking place in the north of the Strip in the midst of conflict, with incessant Israeli attacks and a worsening of the humanitarian crisis». Meanwhile, in the United States there is concern news leak about an Israeli attack plan in response to Iranian rockets on October 1st. Tomorrow, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani will be in Israel and Palestine where he intends to relaunch negotiations for the peace process towards the objective, which Italy has always supported, “Two peoples – two States”. “Italy’s commitment to peace is unstoppable,” Tajani indicated. “I will reiterate to the Israeli and Palestinian authorities the need to reach a ceasefire and the release of all hostages,” he added.
