Israeli airstrikes kill at least 28 in Gaza and Lebanon

Analysis from The New York Times of satellite imagery shows that the Israeli military demolished an entire village - at least 79 buildings in Mhaibib in southern Lebanon last week.

A new analysis of satellite imagery (here overlaid on Google Earth) shows that the Israeli military demolished at least 79 buildings in Mhaibib in southern Lebanon last week — basically the entire village. Half of the ancient shrine dedicated to Benjamin is gone, too. https://t.co/9x9WGLwRG1 pic.twitter.com/YI4RpFZAtM

— Christiaan Triebert (@trbrtc) October 21, 2024

Lebanese state media reported Israeli strikes near the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on Tuesday after Israel's military issued an evacuation call.

AFPTV footage captured smoke billowing after the Israeli military on X warned residents of Al-Hawsh, just south of Tyre, to evacuate, while Lebanon's official National News Agency reported that "enemy aircraft launched a series of strikes" that targeted the area.

The Gaza Health Ministry said on Tuesday that at least 42,718 people have been killed since 7 October.

The toll includes 115 deaths in the previous 48 hours, according to the ministry, which said 100,282 people have been wounded.

Israeli jets hit a Hezbollah target close to the Rafik Hariri University Hospital in Beirut late on Monday but did not target the hospital, which was not affected by the strike, the Israeli military said on Tuesday.

(Reuters)

Lebanon's health ministry on Tuesday said 13 people, including a child, were killed in an Israeli strike near a south Beirut hospital the previous night, revising upwards its initial toll of four.

Another 57 people were wounded in the strike near Lebanon's biggest public hospital, located a few kilometres from the city centre, the health ministry said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Tuesday for meetings with Israeli leaders, the first stop of a wider Middle East tour to launch another push for an elusive ceasefire.

The top US diplomat's latest trip - his 11th to the region since 7 October - comes as the Israeli military has intensified its campaign in the Palestinian enclave as well as in Lebanon.

Blinken will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, and other officials during the day during a week-long Middle East visit, including Jordan and Qatar.

(Reuters)

Hezbollah said it targeted Israeli positions in the Tel Aviv suburbs on Tuesday, including an intelligence base, and launched rockets at a naval base in north Israel's Haifa.

Hezbollah launched a "salvo of rockets" targeting the "Glilot base of the 8200 military intelligence unit", the group said in a statement, after claiming similar attacks on the base in the Tel Aviv suburbs the night before.

The group also said it fired rockets at another position in Tel Aviv's suburbs and launched a "salvo of rockets" targeting the "Stella Maris naval base northwest of Haifa", a coastal city in northern Israel.

The Israeli military said in a statement that following sirens, "in central Israel, approximately five projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon. The majority...were intercepted".

It also said that following sirens "in the Upper Galilee area and northern Golan Heights, approximately 15 projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon", with some intercepted and the rest falling in open areas.

Lebanon's Hezbollah said on Tuesday that it bombed the Nirit area in the Tel Aviv suburbs with missiles.

Sirens sounded in central Israel as a projectile was identified crossing from Lebanon and falling into open ground, the army said on Tuesday.

Alerts sounded in the Samaria area, and in Modi'in Illit, the Israeli military added a statement.

(Reuters)