BEIRUT: The UN children’s agency condemned this week’s sharp escalation of violence between Israel and Hezbollah, saying that the bombardment of Lebanon was killing children “at a frightening rate.”
Hezbollah and Israel have been locked in a deadly exchange of cross-border fire since the Iran-backed group’s Palestinian ally, Hamas, attacked Israel on October 7.
Israel shifted its focus this week from Gaza to its northern front with Lebanon, while Hezbollah has launched barrages of rockets into northern Israel.
Since Monday, Israeli warplanes have bombarded what the military says are Hezbollah targets around Lebanon, leaving around 700 people dead, according to the Lebanese health ministry, which says the majority were civilians.
On Monday and Tuesday, 50 of those killed were children, UNICEF said, citing ministry data.
“The attacks on Lebanon are killing and injuring children at a frightening rate,” UNICEF’s Lebanon representative Edouard Beigbeder said, according to the statement.
The situation “has moved from crisis to catastrophe. The suffering of children must stop,” Beigbeder said, calling for a halt in the fighting.
Israel has hit back against accusations of large numbers of civilian casualties, accusing Hezbollah of using civilians as human shields.
UN says strikes on Lebanon killing children ‘at a frightening rate’
https://arab.news/9qev5
UN says strikes on Lebanon killing children ‘at a frightening rate’
- “The attacks on Lebanon are killing and injuring children at a frightening rate,” UNICEF’s Lebanon representative Edouard Beigbeder said
- “The suffering of children must stop“
Palestinian man dies after being shot by Israeli forces
- Baraa Bilal Issa Qablan, 21, was traveling in vehicle near city of Qalqilya
LONDON: A Palestinian man died on Monday after being shot by Israeli forces during an incident on Sunday close to the occupied West Bank city of Qalqilya.
Baraa Bilal Issa Qablan, 21, was injured when Israeli forces at the northern entrance to the town of Azzun opened fire on a vehicle traveling along the Qalqilya-Nablus road.
Momen Nidal Abu Riyash, 19, a resident of Qalqilya, was killed in the incident and a third man, identified as Muhammad Saeed Taha Hussein, was taken into custody.
Qablan was injured and detained by Israeli forces, the Wafa news agency reported. The Palestinian Authority’s General Authority for Civil Affairs said on Monday that he later succumbed to his injuries.
More than 1,000 Palestinians, including militants, have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces or settlers since the start of the Gaza war in late 2023, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
During the same period, 43 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks in the West Bank, according to official Israeli figures.
