KEY POINTS
- 12 people killed in Lebanon as Israeli raids hit Hezbollah targets and a camp for displaced persons.
- Israeli warplanes hit Suwayda in Syria, targeting government forces.
- Qatar condemned Israeli strikes in Syria, calling them dangerous and provocative.
- 30 Palestinians killed in Gaza; UN says 875 Palestinians have died while seeking food since May.
- Israeli settlers raided a West Bank village, torching homes and vehicles, injuring several.
DAMASCUS: Israeli air and ground strikes across Gaza, Lebanon and Syria have killed dozens of people and triggered widespread condemnation amid rising regional tensions. Meanwhile, Israeli settlers raided a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank.
Air Raids in Lebanon
The Israeli military on Tuesday confirmed it had struck multiple Hezbollah targets in the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon.
The targets included training camps used by the Lebanese group’s elite Radwan Force, which Israel claims is responsible for planning attacks on its territory.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that the strikes killed 12 people, including seven Syrians, after an air raid hit a camp for displaced persons in the Wadi Fara area. Eight others were reported injured.
Hezbollah and Israel have repeatedly accused each other of breaching a ceasefire signed last November that halted more than a year of fighting.
According to the deal, both Israel and Hezbollah should have pulled out their forces from southern Lebanon.
In breach of the agreement, Israel still maintains soldiers in at least five outposts in southern Lebanon, continues to carry out attacks on occasion, including ground operations, Al Jazeera reported.
Strikes in Syria
In Syria, Israeli warplanes also carried out strikes near the city of Suwayda in the country’s southwest.
According to Syrian state media and Reuters reporters on the ground, tanks and convoys belonging to Syrian government forces were targeted, with at least four air strikes reported in and around the predominantly Druze city.
Gunfire and looting were also observed, and several bodies were seen on the streets, Reuters reported.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz confirmed the strikes in a joint statement, saying regime forces and weaponry had been targeted to protect the Druze minority in Syria.
“We are acting to prevent the Syrian regime from harming them and to ensure the demilitarisation of the area adjacent to our border with Syria,” the statement said.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, at a news conference in Doha, condemned Israel’s latest strikes on Suwayda in Syria.
“Qatar condemns Israel’s irresponsible actions in the region,” the foreign ministry spokesperson Majid al-Ansari said. “Israel is not responsible for the security of Syrian citizens.
“They are pointless actions and have proven to be gravely dangerous. We and the international community cannot accept the impunity that Israeli behaviour enjoys.”
“The international community must take steps towards Israeli provocative actions in addition to what’s happening in Gaza.”
30 Palestinians killed in Gaza
In Gaza, at least 30 Palestinians were killed in Israeli air strikes on Tuesday, according to medical sources cited by Al Jazeera.
Twenty-five of the victims were reported in Gaza City, including four who died when a house in the Zeitoun neighbourhood was struck.
The renewed bombardment comes a day after Israeli attacks left at least 78 Palestinians dead, as the death toll in the besieged territory continues to rise.
Al Jazeera also shared footage showing Israeli troops opening fire on Palestinians queuing for food in Gaza. Bullets were seen striking near people lying on the ground, the report said.
According to the United Nations, nearly 900 Palestinians have been killed while attempting to access food since May.
“As of 13 July, we have recorded 875 people killed in Gaza while trying to get food; 674 of them were killed in the vicinity of GHF sites,” said UN human rights office spokesperson Thameen al-Kheetan.
The GHF is a US- and Israel-backed initiative intended to bypass UN-led humanitarian operations.
UNRWA spokesperson Juliette Touma said survivors included starving children who were shot at while attempting to collect small quantities of food.
“Our teams on the ground have spoken to survivors of these killings,” she said.
Israel-EU aid deal
The European Union’s aid chief Hadja Lahbib said Israel has not yet fully implemented a recent agreement with the bloc to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza.
“We have seen some positive developments. It’s true that we have trucks that are able to enter, but… the agreement is not fully implemented,” Lahbib told reporters ahead of an EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels.
The agreement was designed to increase aid deliveries and improve access through border crossings.
Israeli settler raids in West Bank
Meanwhile, violence also flared in the occupied West Bank. Palestinian officials reported that Israeli settlers, backed by soldiers, raided a village near Nablus, torching homes and vehicles.
Several injuries were reported during confrontations with local residents.
The raid follows weeks of increasing settler attacks in the territory, which Palestinian authorities say are conducted with impunity and contribute to a growing humanitarian crisis.
