Israeli airstrikes have killed dozen of people in Lebanon and Syria including women and children as the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) targets Hezbollah strongholds.
Seven people were killed following an Israeli strike on an apartment south of Damascus, which belonged to the Lebanese Hezbollah group, while dozen more died after attacks on Lebanon and northern Gaza.
Women and children were among the seven dead and 14 wounded in the Sayyida Zeinab area on Sunday.
Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, confirmed ‘the Israeli attack targeted (Hezbollah) figures in the building where Lebanese families and members of the movement live’.
Syria’s official SANA news agency reported an ‘Israeli aggression targeting a residential building in the Sayyida Zeinab’ area, home to a Shiite shrine, which killed and injured an unknown number of people.
On Saturday, four pro-Iran fighters were among the five people killed in Israeli strikes in north and northwest Syria.
Rescuers and civilians gather next to an excavator as they search the rubble for survivors and victims at a site targeted by an Israeli airstrike, in Almat, Jbeil District
A member of the Lebanese Red Cross stands nearby as rescuers and civilians inspect a site targeted by an Israeli airstrike
Lebanese soldiers stand guard as a crane removes the wreckage of a vehicle at the site of an Israeli drone attack in Aaraiya on November 7
Since civil war broke out in Syria in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on the country, mainly targeting army positions and fighters.
The strikes have increased since Israel entered into war with Hazbollah in Lebanonon September 23.
A separate Israeli airstrike in Lebanon killed at least 23 people, including seven children in Aalmat village, just north of Beirut, far from areas where Hezbollah militants have a major presence.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said another six people were wounded.
Legislator Raed Berro denied that any Hezbollah personnel or assets were in the building which was hit, adding: ‘The important people are on the front line resisting. It is impossible for them to be among people in civilian life’.
But the neighbour of the building which was hit said displaced people had been in the property.
‘I had seen them and got to know them the other day’, Hassan Ghaddaf said. ‘They were peaceful.
‘On the contrary, they had someone from the Lebanese Internal Security Forces that works for the state, and we saw their garb and clothes in the rubble’.
Civil defence members of the Islamic Health Authority work at a damaged site, in the aftermath of an Israeli strike in Mashghara
Rescuers and civilians carry a body recovered from the rubble at a site targeted by an Israeli airstrike, in Almat
The aftermath of an Israeli strike in Sohmor, in the western part of Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, carried out on November 10
Some homes were completed destroyed during the strike, while others stayed standing but were damaged
Boys sit amidst the rubble, at a site of an Israeli strike, in the town of Almat in Jbeil district
Smoke rises after Israeli airstrike in Dahieh region of Beirut on November 9
In northern Gaza, an Israeli strike on a home sheltering displaced people in the refugee camp of Jabaliya killed at least 17 people, according to Dr. Fadel Naim, Director of Al-Ahly Hospital in Gaza City.
Israel’s military said it targeted a site where militants were operating, and confirmed the details of the strike are under review.
A separate strike hit a house in Gaza City, killing Wael al-Khour, a minister in the Hamas-run government, as well as his wife and three children, according to the Civil Defence, first responders who operate under the government.
Hezbollah began firing rockets, drones and missiles into Israel after war broke out in Gaza on October 7 last year in solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas. Israel has retaliated, leading to all-out war.
Israel has struck deeper inside Lebanon since September, when it killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, as well as most of his top commanders.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah has expanded its rocket fire from northern to central Israel. The fighting has killed over 3,000 people in Lebanon, according to the Health Ministry, and more than 70 people in Israel.
The war began last October when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and abducting around 250. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, with around a third thought to be dead.
Smoke rises from a heavily damaged building hit by an Israeli strike, during a media tour organised by the Hezbollah press office to the sites of overnight bombardment that targeted Beirut’s southern suburbs
People work at a site of an Israeli strike, in the town of Almat in Jbeil district
A forensic expert photographs the wreckage of a vehicle at the site of an Israeli drone attack in Aaraiya, east of Beirut, on November 7
People carrying belongings walk at Masnaa border crossing, which was damaged by an Israeli strike, in Al Masnaa on October 27
Vast swathes of Gaza have been left in ruins and around 90 per cent of the population of 2.3 million people has been displaced
Israel’s offensive has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who say over the half of the dead were women and children.
Israel’s military released what it claimed to be video footage of Hamas abusing detainees on Sunday. The footage, dated from 2018 to 2020, appears to show hooded detainees chained in stress positions.
The military claims the footage was recovered during operations in Gaza, but it has not been possible to independently verify it.
Meanwhile, vast swathes of Gaza have been left in ruins and around 90 per cent of the population of 2.3 million people has been displaced.
Israeli forces have encircle Jabaliya and the nearby northern Gaza towns of Beit Lehiya and Beit Hanoun for the past month allowing very small amounts of humanitarian aid.
People carry their belongings while crossing from Lebanon into Syria on foot at the Masnaa border crossing
A crater caused by an Israeli strike on the road leading to Syria’s Jousieh border crossing with Lebanon
Rescuers use an excavator to search for survivors at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the village of Almat north of Beirut on November 10
Rescuers with the Amal-linked Risala Scouts association evacuate the body of one of their colleagues, a day after an Israeli strike hit the organisation’s headquarters in the southern Lebanese village of Deir Qanoun
A fire burns in Beirut’s southern suburbs, after an Israeli strike on November 8
Experts say famine is imminent, or may already be happening, in the area.
It comes as the world waits and watches for signs of how the outcome of the US election may impact the war.
Donald Trump swept to victory in the election earlier this week, securing a second term as President of the United States.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has spoken three times with the president elect since Tuesday’s election and that the pair see ‘eye-to-eye regarding the Iranian threat and all of its components’.
Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, is scheduled to meet with current US President Joe Biden on Tuesday.
Cease-fire talks mediated by the US, Qatar and Egypt have repeatedly stalled, as have efforts by America and others to stop the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
Qatar said on Saturday that it had suspended its efforts and would resume talks when ‘the parties show their willingness and seriousness to end the brutal war’.