Israel-Lebanon live: Israel’s deadliest attack on central Beirut kills 22 people as UN denounces “eradication” of Gaza hospitals

More than 42,065 Palestinians have been killed and 97,886 injured in the Israeli bombardment and invasion of the Gaza Strip since Hamas carried out attacks in southern Israel on October 7, the Gaza Strip Health Ministry said Thursday.

On Thursday, 28 people were killed and 54 injured in a massive airstrike on a school in Gaza that Israel said targeted Hamas militants.

The commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force is reportedly under investigation for allegedly spying for Israel.

Esmail Qaani has not been seen in public since October 4, when Israeli forces bombed a bunker in Beirut where he was believed to be meeting Hezbollah members.

Qaani suffered a heart attack during his interrogation and was hospitalized, Middle East Eye reported, citing sources.

The US has called on Israel to urgently address the “catastrophic conditions” in Gaza and stop the “worsening of suffering” by restricting aid deliveries.

Speaking to the UN Security Council, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said: “These catastrophic conditions were predicted months ago, and yet they still have not been addressed.” That must change, and it must change now .”

Ms. Thomas-Greenfield added that there should be “no demographic or territorial changes” in the Gaza Strip. The Guardian reported.

Israeli tanks violently attacked northern Gaza this week, saying they were preventing Hamas from regrouping.

An Israeli attack on a school where displaced people were taking refuge in Gaza left 28 people dead, including women and children, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.

Dozens were injured in the strike at the Rufaida school in western Deir Al-Balah, where more than a million displaced people are seeking refuge after fleeing a year of war.

The Israeli military said it was targeting militants and claimed it had taken “numerous steps” to limit damage to civilians.

Hezbollah claimed on Monday that its fighters managed to push back Israeli troops near the border village of Labbouneh by firing multiple volleys of rockets.

Further east, the Lebanese militant group said it attacked Israeli soldiers in the village of Maroun el-Ras and fired rocket fire at Israeli forces advancing toward the two border villages of Mays al-Jabal and Mouhaybib.

Video footage posted on social media and geolocated by Reuters showed three Israeli soldiers raising their country’s flag in Maroun el-Ras. This was the first time in decades that they had done so on Lebanese territory, which was occupied by Israel from 1982 to 2000.

The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, said in a statement that its headquarters and positions had been “repeatedly attacked by Israeli forces.”

It said an Israeli tank fired “directly” at a lookout tower at the force’s headquarters in the Lebanese town of Naqoura and that soldiers attacked a bunker near a peacekeepers’ hideout. Vehicles and a communications system were damaged in the attack, it said.

The two UNIFIL troops wounded and hospitalized in the attacks were Indonesian.

The Israeli military yesterday admitted opening fire on a UN base in southern Lebanon and said it had ordered peacekeepers to “remain in protected spaces”.

The U.N. peacekeeping chief said 300 frontline peacekeepers on Lebanon’s southern border had been temporarily moved to larger bases and plans to move another 200 would depend on security conditions if the conflict escalated.

According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, 22 people were killed and dozens injured in Israeli airstrikes on central Beirut.

The airstrike on central Beirut – the deadliest in more than a year of war – apparently targeted two residential buildings in different neighborhoods at the same time.

The bombing destroyed one eight-story building and destroyed the lower floors of the other.

Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV reported that an attempt to kill Wafiq Safa, a senior security official in the group, had failed. It was said that Safa was not in any of the buildings attacked.

Over 100 Israeli soldiers have threatened to stop fighting if Netanyahu’s government does not reach an agreement to release hostages.

In a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, 130 soldiers said: “If the government does not immediately change course and work towards an agreement to repatriate the hostages, we will not be able to continue our service.”

“For some of us, the red line has already been crossed, and for others it is fast approaching: the day when we will stop reporting to worship with broken hearts.”

The group includes both reserve and regular soldiers, some of whom have served in the Gaza Strip and on Israel’s northern border since the Hamas attacks on October 7 last year.

Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu spoke Wednesday about a possible Israeli response to Iran’s missile attack last week.

Biden and Netanyahu discussed Israel’s plans in a 30-minute phone call, the White House said.

The discussion was “direct and very productive,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters, while acknowledging that the two leaders had differences of opinion and would address them openly.

Relations between Biden and Netanyahu have been strained over the Israeli leader’s handling of Gaza and Lebanon. The US has tried to prevent an escalation of hostilities and has unsuccessfully tried to negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza.

Israel has promised that arch-enemy Iran will pay for its rocket attack that caused little damage, while Tehran has said any retaliatory strike would cause widespread destruction, raising fears of a larger war in the oil-producing region that has engulfed the country The United States could suffer.

Last week, Biden made comments discouraging Israel from attacking Iranian oil fields and said he would not support Israel attacking Iranian nuclear facilities.

Some analysts believe Israel will most likely respond to Iran’s Oct. 1 attack with attacks on Iranian military installations, particularly those that produce ballistic missiles like those used in the attack. It could also attempt to destroy Iranian air defense systems and missile launch sites.

Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said Thursday that shootings at U.N. bases were “totally unacceptable.”

He added in a statement that Israel’s actions clearly violated international law. Reuters reported.

Two UN peacekeepers were injured after Israeli forces fired on a UN watchtower.

UNIFL accuses Israel of “deliberately” firing on other UN peacekeeping positions. They said that “any deliberate attack on peacekeepers constitutes a serious violation of international humanitarian law.”