Why the killing of a Lebanese party official has raised the specter of new sectarian strife

Pascal’s brother holding his bloodied clothes in front of his casket. (There are indications of torture on Pascal's body). (Photo: X)
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Updated 12 April 2024
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Why the killing of a Lebanese party official has raised the specter of new sectarian strife

  • Lebanese officials say Pascal Suleiman was killed in a carjacking by Syrian criminals, fueling anti-refugee sentiment
  • Lebanese Forces and other Christian parties have accused Hezbollah of having a hand in the party official’s death

BEIRUT: Almost five decades since the Lebanese civil war of 1975-1990 began, reactions to the kidnap and subsequent murder this week of Pascal Suleiman, an official of the Lebanese Forces, show the country’s fragile peace remains on a knife edge.

Suleiman, a political coordinator in the Byblos area, also known as Jbeil, north of Beirut, was killed in what the Lebanese army said was a carjacking by Syrian gang members, who then took his body to Syria.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitor of the country’s civil war, said that Suleiman’s body was dumped in a border area where Hezbollah holds sway, adding that he “was wrapped in a blanket and had been hit on the head and chest with a hard object.”

Even though a formal investigation into the circumstances of Suleiman’s death is still ongoing, the Lebanese Forces — a Christian political party and former militia opposed to the Syrian government and its ally Hezbollah — has already branded it a “political assassination.”

In a statement, the Lebanese Forces said that Hezbollah, Lebanon’s powerful Iran-backed Shiite militia and political movement, “has impeded the state’s role and its effectiveness, paving the way for weapons-bearing gangs.”

The Phalange Party and the Free Patriotic Movement issued statements in solidarity with the Lebanese Forces, currently the biggest party in parliament, blaming “uncontrolled weapons and uncontrolled security” for Suleiman’s death.

“The information leaked from the investigation continues to cause more speculation,” Mona Fayad, a Lebanese academic and a prominent Shiite opponent of Hezbollah, told Arab News.

“Suleiman’s murder was initially thought to be car theft, although it took place on a remote road where cars rarely pass.




Pascal Suleiman was killed in what the Lebanese army said was a carjacking by Syrian gang members, who then took his body to Syria. (Supplied)

“Suleiman’s political affiliations also come into play, and the fact that the killers took him to an area controlled by Hezbollah on the Lebanese-Syrian border. The perpetrators were able to sneak past all official security points without anyone suspecting them.”

Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s secretary-general, responded to the allegations of his group’s involvement by accusing the Lebanese Forces, the Phalange Party, “and those who orbit them,” of being “owners of chaos looking for a civil war.”

Sectarian tensions are rife in Lebanon. Suleiman was from Byblos, a Christian-majority town surrounded by Shiite-majority settlements, where disputes between the communities have previously spilled over into armed clashes.

In a country already fraught with political divisions, economic woes and the prospect of another potentially devastating war with Israel, many fear the killing could provoke an escalation reminiscent of the civil war.

“The security situation in Lebanon has deteriorated since the beginning of the economic crisis,” Mohanad Hage Ali, deputy director for research at the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center, told Arab News.

“It is likely to deteriorate further as a result of the widespread increase in crime and the weakness of the security forces as part of the military turned into part-timers to compensate for their income after declines in salaries.”

Indeed, even if Suleiman’s death was in fact the result of a carjacking, as the Lebanese army suspect, the incident reflects Lebanon’s institutional decline, growing insecurity, and the collapse of the rule of law.

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“Crimes have increased as a result of the economic crisis and the burden of Syrian refugees and the transformation of the Lebanese economy into cash money, which encourages the exploitation of people,” Hage Ali said.

Suspicions about the genuine cause of death remain, however. Suleiman’s case has parallels with the death of Elias Al-Hasrouni, another Lebanese Forces coordinator, who was killed in what was dubbed a “planned” accident in a Hezbollah-controlled area.

Although the investigation into Suleiman’s death is still ongoing, his killing has provoked widespread condemnation across the political and religious spectrum, with parties and faith leaders branding it “unacceptable, neither legally, nor morally, nor humanely.”

Najib Mikati, Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, called on all factions to “exercise self-control, exercise wisdom, and not be drawn into rumors and emotions” while the investigation is underway.

Another example of just how fragile Lebanon’s peace has become of late was the Tayouneh incident of Oct. 14, 2021, when Hezbollah and the Amal Movement came under attack by unidentified gunmen allegedly associated with the Lebanese Forces, sparking clashes.

The violence erupted outside the Justice Palace during a protest organized by Hezbollah and its allies against Tarek Bitar, the lead judge probing the August 2020 Beirut port blast, as they accuse him of being partisan. The potential for similar clashes remains.

“The problem in Lebanon is that there is a lack of political horizon and there is a feeling of loss of hope from the political class, which leads to accepting that this reality will be permanent and raises the level of tensions,” Hage Ali said.

“Since the beginning of the economic collapse, we have seen manifestations of self-security. The matter has become a lived reality, meaning that hybrid security is met with armed militia forces in the regions.




The scapegoating of Syrian refugees for Lebanon’s ills has become commonplace. (AFP)

“Any crime that occurs is followed by a state of shock, which is what happened today as a result of Suleiman’s murder, but I believe that after a year, for example, crime will become a part of daily life.

“Lebanon has become a mixture of the Argentinian situation in terms of economic collapse and the Colombian situation in terms of the extent of crime which will cause more trouble for Hezbollah.”

As Suleiman was allegedly killed by Syrian nationals, some of whom have reportedly been arrested by the Lebanese security services, the incident has raised the prospect of further hostility against Lebanon’s substantial Syrian refugee community.

Just hours after Suleiman’s death was announced, the Lebanese Forces called for restraint after several of its supporters began attacking Syrians and evicting them from their homes in Beirut and other regions.

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, says that more than 800,000 Syrian refugees are registered with the body in Lebanon, noting registrations have been suspended since 2015 following a government ruling.

In a press conference following Suleiman’s murder, Lebanon’s acting interior minister, Bassam Mawlawi, said that security forces had been instructed “to strictly enforce Lebanese laws on Syrian refugees.

“We will become stricter in granting residency permits and dealing with those (Syrians) residing in Lebanon illegally,” he said, calling for measures “limiting the presence of Syrians” in the country, without saying how.

The scapegoating of Syrian refugees for Lebanon’s ills has become commonplace, with policies designed to hamper their integration into Lebanese society and compel them to return to Syria, even if that means facing persecution at the hands of the Bashar Assad regime.

However, in this context of exclusion and economic crisis, a section of the Syrian refugee community has resorted to criminality. Indeed, according to Mawlawi, some 35 percent of the country’s prison population is made up of Syrians.

“Everyone in Lebanon avoided addressing the Syrian refugee crisis, but was content with reactions to every incident,” Hage Ali said.

“The Syrian asylum issue has turned into a taboo, so has the issue of illegal crossings. Populist talk is of no use. There is a marginalized group within the Syrian presence in Lebanon that will grow with time and will benefit, including organized crime.”

To make matters worse, Lebanon’s economic meltdown, which began in late 2019, and its continuing political deadlock have paralyzed the criminal justice system and institutional structures designed to keep the fragile peace.

Hage Ali believes Lebanon has “accumulated crimes during the last two decades without a minimum level of justice. Its amnesty system, to turn the page on the past, has turned into a system that perpetuates violence and injustice.

“Almost 50 years have passed since the outbreak of the civil war. Time was supposed to have taught the Lebanese that the approach to war should be different from the previous ones, but Lebanon is still within the ongoing cycle of violence.”

Once considered an oasis of calm in a region otherwise fraught with turmoil, Lebanon has again been brought to the brink of conflict. Many fear an incident such as the death of Suleiman could light the touchpaper of a new period of sectarian strife.




Pascal Suleiman with his family. (Supplied)

Melhem Khalaf, an independent member of parliament and former head of the Beirut Bar Association, told Arab News that Lebanese citizens will not stand by and allow their hard won peace and unity to be broken once again.

“We are just days away from the fateful anniversary of April 13 (the start of the Lebanese civil war), a memory that is full of fear and pain, and that is something we have worked so hard for years to avoid, to solidify peace and bring about reassurance and stability,” Khalaf said.

“There is trouble that is once again rearing its head from the Byblos region, which throughout the senseless and ill-fated war maintained its national cohesion with a clear and solid will.

“It is a real warning that requires all of us to take action, to take the initiative and eliminate any strife that might take our society back to bygone and painful days. The dangers surrounding us from all sides are enough. We don’t want it, neither for our youth, nor for our people, nor for our country.”

Khalaf believes what is happening now is “the decomposition of the state and a sign of its continuing weakness.

“What we require today, with absolute speed, is to rally around each other to restore the state of truth and the rule of law. To have a state that guarantees coexistence, as well as presidential elections which will be the gateway to order.”

Although sectarian and intercommunal tensions are high, and public anger at the entrenched political elite continues to simmer, the elephant in the room today is the war in Gaza and the potential for a repeat of Lebanon’s devastating 2006 war with Israel.

Since the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack, which triggered Israel’s military assault on the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian militant group’s Hezbollah ally has traded fire with Israeli forces along the Lebanese border, raising fears of an expanding regional war.

As a result, Lebanese academic Fayad believes a return to the civil strife of decades past will likely be tempered by Hezbollah’s need to concentrate on the far greater existential threat of war with Israel.

“There are different definitions of strife in Lebanon,” Fayad said. “There is a vertical political division and sectarian polarization, but so far it has not turned into an armed war because the strong party in it is Hezbollah, and it is not in its interest to frighten others.

“Rather it must convince them to stand by its side, especially in its war in southern Lebanon against Israel.”

 


At least 30 killed in Israeli strike on school, Gaza health officials say

Updated 6 min 1 sec ago
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At least 30 killed in Israeli strike on school, Gaza health officials say

  • Deir Al-Balah is one of the areas most populated with displaced families, and said over 100 others were wounded

GAZA: At least 30 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike on a school in Deir al Balah in central Gaza, Palestinian health officials said, and the Israeli military said it had struck a Hamas command centre.
The Gaza health ministry and the Hamas-run government media office gave the toll for those killed in the strike on the school in Deir Al-Balah, one of the areas most populated with displaced families, and said over 100 others were wounded.
The Israeli military said in a statement it had targeted a "Hamas command and control center inside the Khadija school compound in central Gaza".
The statement said the school was being used to launch attacks against troops and as a weapons cache and that it warned civilians before the strike.
At Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al-Balah, ambulances raced wounded Palestinians into the medical facility. Some of the wounded also arrived on foot, with their clothes stained with blood.
In previous such strikes that have hit civilian infrastructure, Israel's military has blamed the militant Islamist group Hamas for putting civilians in harm's way, accusing it of operating within densely populated neighbourhoods, schools and hospitals as cover. Hamas denies this.
Earlier on Saturday, Palestinian official media said that at least 14 Palestinians were killed by Israeli attacks since dawn in the southern city of Khan Younis and that their bodies were brought to Nasser Medical Complex.
The Israeli military told Palestinians to temporarily evacuate southern neighborhoods of Khan Younis so it could "forcefully operate" there, telling them to relocate to a humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi, a military statement said.
The military said its calls to evacuate were communicated to the population via several mediums in order to mitigate danger to civilians.
In Al-Bureij refugee camp, five Palestinians were killed earlier in an Israeli air strike on a house, while four others were killed in another strike on a house in Rafah, near the border with Egypt, medics said.
U.N. and humanitarian officials accuse Israel of using disproportionate force in the war and of failing to ensure civilians have safe places to go, which it denies.
On Friday the military said troops battled Palestinian fighters in Khan Younis, and destroyed tunnels and other infrastructure, as they sought to suppress small militant units that have continued to hit troops with mortar fire.
The fighting, more than nine months after the start of Israel's invasion of Gaza following the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack, underlined the difficulty the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) has in eliminating fighters of the group amid continued resistance.
On Friday the military said troops battled Palestinian fighters in Khan Younis, and destroyed tunnels and other infrastructure, as they sought to suppress small militant units that have continued to hit troops with mortar fire.
More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli strikes in the enclave, according to Gaza health authorities, who do not distinguish between fighters and non-combatants.
Israeli officials estimate that some 14,000 fighters from militant groups including Hamas and Islamic Jihad have been killed or taken prisoner, out of a force they estimated to number more than 25,000 at the start of the war.
Around 1,200 people were killed and 250 were taken hostage in the Oct. 7 raid on southern Israel, according to Israeli tallies.


Israel orders the evacuation of an area designated as a humanitarian zone in Gaza

Updated 27 July 2024
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Israel orders the evacuation of an area designated as a humanitarian zone in Gaza

  • The war in Gaza has killed more than 39,100 Palestinians, according to the territory’s Health Ministry

KHAN YOUNIS: Israel’s military ordered the evacuation Saturday of a crowded part of Gaza designated as a humanitarian zone, saying it is planning an operation against Hamas militants in Khan Younis, including parts of Muwasi, a makeshift tent camp where thousands are seeking refuge.
The order comes in response to rocket fire that Israel says originates from the area. It’s the second evacuation issued in a week in an area designated for Palestinians fleeing other parts of Gaza. Many Palestinians have been uprooted multiple times in search of safety during Israel’s punishing air and ground campaign.
On Monday, after the evacuation order, multiple Israeli airstrikes hit around Khan Younis, killing at least 70 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, citing figures from Nasser Hospital.
The area is part of a 60-square-kilometer (roughly 20-square-mile) “humanitarian zone” to which Israel has been telling Palestinians to flee to throughout the war. Much of the area is blanketed with tent camps that lack sanitation and medical facilities and have limited access to aid, United Nations and humanitarian groups say. About 1.8 million Palestinians are sheltering there, according to Israel’s estimates. That’s more than half Gaza’s pre-war population of 2.3 million.
The war in Gaza has killed more than 39,100 Palestinians, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. The UN estimated in February that some 17,000 children in the territory are now unaccompanied, and the number is likely to have grown since.
The war began with an assault by Hamas militants on southern Israel on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took about 250 hostages. About 115 are still in Gaza, about a third of them believed to be dead, according to Israeli authorities.


WHO sends over 1 mln polio vaccines to Gaza to protect children

Updated 27 July 2024
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WHO sends over 1 mln polio vaccines to Gaza to protect children

  • Israel’s military said it would start offering the vaccine to soldiers in the Gaza Strip after remnants of the virus were found in test samples
  • Besides polio, the UN has reported an increase in cases of Hepatitis A, dysentery and gastroenteritis as sanitary conditions deteriorate in Gaza

GENEVA: The World Health Organization is sending more than one million polio vaccines to Gaza to be administered over the coming weeks to prevent children being infected after the virus was detected in sewage samples, its chief said on Friday.
“While no cases of polio have been recorded yet, without immediate action, it is just a matter of time before it reaches the thousands of children who have been left unprotected,” Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in an opinion piece in Britain’s The Guardian newspaper.
He wrote that children under five were most at risk from the viral disease, and especially infants under two since normal vaccination campaigns have been disrupted by more than nine months of conflict.
Poliomyelitis, which is spread mainly through the fecal-oral route, is a highly infectious virus that can invade the nervous system and cause paralysis. Cases of polio have declined by 99 percent worldwide since 1988 thanks to mass vaccination campaigns and efforts continue to eradicate it completely.
Israel’s military said on Sunday it would start offering the polio vaccine to soldiers serving in the Gaza Strip after remnants of the virus were found in test samples in the enclave.
Besides polio, the UN reported last week a widespread increase in cases of Hepatitis A, dysentery and gastroenteritis as sanitary conditions deteriorate in Gaza, with sewage spilling into the streets near some camps for displaced people.


How climate change is exacerbating food insecurity, with dangerous consequences for import-reliant Middle East

Updated 27 July 2024
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How climate change is exacerbating food insecurity, with dangerous consequences for import-reliant Middle East

  • UN report show nations are falling well short of achieving the Sustainable Development Goal of eliminating hunger by 2030
  • FAO expert warns that climate shocks could lead to more conflict in the region over limited access to water and resources

RIYADH: Global food insecurity is far worse than previously thought. That is the conclusion of the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024 report published this week by a coalition of UN entities, which found that efforts to tackle undernourishment had suffered serious setbacks.

As countries across the world fall significantly short of achieving the second UN Sustainable Development Goal of “zero hunger” by 2030, the report notes that climate change is increasingly recognized as a pivotal factor exacerbating hunger and food insecurity.

As a major food importer, the Middle East and North Africa region is considered especially vulnerable to climate-induced crop failures in source nations and the resulting imposition of protectionist tariffs and fluctuations in commodity prices.

“Climate change is a driver of food insecurity for the Middle East, where both the global shock and the local shock matter,” David Laborde, director of the Agrifood Economics and Policy Division at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, told Arab News.

“Now, especially for the Middle East, I think that the global angle is important because the Middle East is importing a lot of food. Even if you don’t have a (climate) shock at home, if you don’t have a drought or flood at home — if it’s happened in Pakistan, if it’s happened in India, if it’s happened in Canada — the Middle East will feel it.”

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The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report has been compiled annually since 1999 by FAO, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the UN Children’s Fund, the World Food Programme, and the World Health Organization to monitor global progress toward ending hunger. 

During a recent event at the UN headquarters in New York, the report’s authors emphasized the urgent need for creative and fair solutions to address the financial shortfall for helping those nations experiencing severe hunger and malnutrition made worse by climate change. 

In addition to climate change, the report found that factors like conflict and economic downturns are becoming increasingly frequent and severe, impacting the affordability of a healthy diet, unhealthy food environments, and inequality.

In this photo taken on July 2, 2022, Iraqi farmer Bapir Kalkani inspects his wheat farm in the Rania district near the Dukan reservoir, northwest of Iraq's northeastern city of Sulaimaniyah, which has been experiencing bouts of drought due to a mix of factors including lower rainfall and diversion of inflowing rivers from Iran. (AFP)

Indeed, food insecurity and malnutrition are intensifying due to persistent food price inflation, which has undermined economic progress globally. 

“There is also an indirect effect that we should not neglect — how climate shock interacts with conflict,” said Laborde.

In North Africa, for example, negative climate shocks can lead to more conflict, “either because people start to compete for natural resources, access to water, or just because you may also have some people in your area that have nothing else to do,” he said.

“There are no jobs, they cannot work on their farm, and so they can join insurgencies or other elements.”

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Up to 757 million people endured hunger in 2023 — the equivalent of one in 11 worldwide and one in five in Africa.

Global prevalence of food insecurity has remained unchanged for three consecutive years, despite progress in Latin America.

There has been some improvement in the global prevalence of stunting and wasting among children under five.

In late 2021, G20 countries pledged to take $100 billion worth of unused Special Drawing Rights, held in the central banks of high-income countries and allocate them to middle- and low-income countries.

Since then, however, this pledged amount has fallen $13 billion short, with those countries with the worst economic conditions receiving less than 1 percent of this support. 

Protesters set out empty plates to protest hunger aimed at G20 finance ministers gathered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 25, 2024. (AP/Pool)

Saudi Arabia is one of the countries that has exceeded its 20 percent pledge, alongside Australia, Canada, China, France, and Japan, while others have failed to reach 10 percent or have ceased engagement altogether.

“Saudi Arabia is a very large state in the Middle East, so what they do is important, but also they have a financial capacity that many other countries don’t,” said Laborde.

“It can be through their SDRs. It can also be through their sovereign fund because where you invest matters and how you invest matters to make the world more sustainable. So, I will say yes, prioritizing investment in low- and middle-income countries on food and security and nutrition-related programs can be important.

Saudi Arabia does produce wheat but on a limited scale. (SPA/File photo)

Although the prevalence of undernourishment in Saudi Arabia has fallen in recent years, the report shows that the rate of stunting in children has actually increased by 1.4 percent in the past 10 years.

There has also been an increase in the rates of overweight children, obesity, and anemia in women as the population continues to grow. In this sense, it is not so much a lack of food but a dearth of healthy eating habits.

“Saudi Arabia is a good example where I would say traditional hunger and the lack of food … become less and less a problem, but other forms of malnutrition become actually what is important,” said Laborde. 

In 2023, some 2.33 billion people worldwide faced moderate or severe food insecurity, and one in 11 people faced hunger, made worse by various factors such as economic decline and climate change.

The affordability of healthy diets is also a critical issue, particularly in low-income countries where more than 71 percent of the population cannot afford adequate nutrition.

In countries like Saudi Arabia where overeating is a rising issue, Laborde suggests that proper investment in nutrition and health education as well as policy adaptation may be the way to go. 

While the Kingdom continues to extend support to countries in crisis, including Palestine, Sudan, and Yemen, through its humanitarian arm KSrelief, these states continue to grapple with dire conditions. Gaza in particular has suffered as a result of the war with Israel.

A shipment of food aid from Saudi Arabia is loaded on board a cargo vessel at the Jeddah Islamic Port to be delivered to Port Said in Egypt for Palestinians in Gaza. (KSrelief photo)

“Even before the beginning of the conflict, especially at the end of last year, the situation in Palestine was complicated, both in terms of agricultural system (and) density of population. There was already a problem of malnutrition,” said Laborde.

“Now, something that is true everywhere, in Sudan, in Yemen, in Palestine, when you start to add conflict and military operations, the population suffers a lot because you can actually destroy production. You destroy access to water. But people also cannot go to the grocery shop when the truck or the ship bringing food is disrupted.”

While Palestine and Sudan are the extreme cases, there are still approximately 733 million people worldwide facing hunger, marking a continuation of the high levels observed over the past three years. 

“On the ground, we work with the World Food Programme (and) with other organizations, aimed at bringing food to the people in need in Palestine,” Laborde said of FAO’s work. “Before the conflict and after, we will also be working on rebuilding things that need to be rebuilt. But without peace, there are limited things we can do.”

FAO helps food-insecure nations by bringing better seeds, animals, technologies, and irrigation solutions to develop production systems, while also working to protect livestock from pests and disease by providing veterinary services and creating incentives for countries to adopt better policies.

The report’s projections for 2030 suggest that around 582 million people will continue to suffer from chronic undernourishment, half of them in Africa. This mirrors levels observed in 2015 when the SDGs were adopted, indicating a plateau in progress.

Graphic showing progress on the United Nation's 17 sustainable development goals since the baseline of 2015. (AFP)

The report emphasizes the need to create better systems of financial distribution as per this year’s theme: “Financing to end hunger, food insecurity and all forms of malnutrition.”

“In 2022, there were a lot of headlines about global hunger, but today, this has more or less disappeared when the numbers and the people that are hungry have not disappeared,” said Laborde, referring to the detrimental impact of the war in Ukraine on world food prices.

“We have to say that we are not delivering on the promises that policymakers have made. The world today produces enough food, so it’s much more about how we distribute it, how we give access. It’s a man-made problem, and so it should be a man-made solution.”
 

 


Khan Yunis fighting displaces 180,000 Gazans in four days: UN

Updated 27 July 2024
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Khan Yunis fighting displaces 180,000 Gazans in four days: UN

  • Israel has killed at least 39,175 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry

KHAN YUNIS, Palestinian Territories: More than 180,000 Palestinians have fled fierce fighting around the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis in four days, the United Nations said Friday, after an Israeli operation to extract captives’ bodies from the area.
Recent “intensified hostilities” in the Khan Yunis area, more than nine months into the Israel-Hamas war, have fueled “new waves of internal displacement across Gaza,” said the UN humanitarian agency, OCHA.
It said “about 182,000 people” have been displaced from central and eastern Khan Yunis between Monday and Thursday, and hundreds are “stranded in eastern Khan Yunis.”
The Israeli military on Monday ordered the evacuation of parts of the southern city, announcing its forces would “forcefully operate” there, including in an area previously declared a safe humanitarian zone.
On Wednesday, Israel said five bodies of captives seized during Hamas’s October 7 attack that triggered the war had been recovered from the area.
Israel’s military said on Friday that its forces had “eliminated approximately 100 terrorists” in the city this week.
Israel’s military chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said the captives’ bodies were pulled from underground tunnels and walls in “a hidden place.”
Troops “were near those fallen bodies in the past, we did not know how to reach them” until this week, Halevi said in a statement.
Witnesses and rescuers said heavy battles continued around eastern Khan Yunis on Friday. The Nasser Hospital said 26 bodies were brought to the medical site.
The October 7 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Out of 251 people taken hostage that day, 111 are still held in the Gaza Strip, including 39 the military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive against Hamas has killed at least 39,175 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
According to UN figures, the vast majority of Gaza’s 2.4 million people have been displaced at least once by the fighting.