Latest news in the Middle East: Israeli army renews order for Palestinians to leave northern Gaza

The Israeli army on Saturday renewed its orders for Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip to leave their homes and shelters as troops continue a week-long offensive against militants.

Most of the fighting over the past week has been concentrated in and around Jabaliya, which has been pounded by Israeli warplanes and artillery. Residents said they were stuck in their homes and shelters.

In Lebanon, authorities announced Friday that 60 people were killed and 168 injured in the past 24 hours, bringing the total toll in the past year’s conflict between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah to 2,229 dead and 10,380 injured. .

Israel has intensified its campaign against Hezbollah with waves of heavy airstrikes across Lebanon and a ground invasion on the border, after a year of firefights. Israel is now at war with Hamas in Gaza and Hamas ally Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The Israeli offensive in Gaza has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not specify how many were fighters but say women and children account for more than half of the dead. The war has destroyed large areas of Gaza and displaced around 90% of its population of 2.3 million people, often repeatedly.

It’s been a year since Hamas-led militants blew holes in Israel’s security fence and stormed military bases and farming communities, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 250 others. They still hold around 100 prisoners inside Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.

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The US military said it carried out a series of airstrikes against several camps in Syria belonging to the Islamic State group.

US Central Command said Friday’s strikes would “disrupt ISIS’s ability to plan, organize and carry out attacks against the United States, its allies and partners, as well as civilians throughout the region and at home.” beyond”.

It said battle damage assessments were ongoing and did not include civilian casualties.

There are some 900 U.S. troops in Syria, as well as an undisclosed number of contractors, most of whom are trying to prevent any return of the extremist group ISIS, which swept across Iraq and Syria in 2014, taking over control of vast areas of territory.

BEIRUT — The speaker of Iran’s parliament visited the scene of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on Saturday that killed and injured dozens of people, vowing that Tehran would continue to support the Lebanese and Palestinians in the fight against Israel.

Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf visited the bombed area after speaking with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who said Lebanon’s priority now was to work towards a ceasefire.

His office said the Lebanese government still respects the 2006 UN Security Council resolution, approved at the end of a 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah, and is ready to strengthen the presence of the Lebanese army along the country’s border with Israel.

“We will stand by the Lebanese people in these difficult circumstances and also by the Palestinian people,” Qalibaf said during his tour, during which he was escorted by several Hezbollah officials.

Qalibaf added that Iran would help the Lebanese people and “we hope they will be victorious.”

This is the second recent visit by an Iranian official to Beirut following the foreign minister’s more frequent visit this month. Iran is one of the main supporters of Hezbollah which has suffered major setbacks in recent weeks, including the assassination of its leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Hezbollah began attacking Israeli army posts in October last year, in solidarity with the Hamas militant group in Gaza. Since September 23, Israel has intensified its airstrikes and forced the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Lebanese. Last week, Israel launched a ground invasion of Lebanon, leading to clashes along the border with Hezbollah fighters.

CAIRO — The United Nations food agency said Saturday that no food aid has entered northern Gaza since October 1.

The World Food Program said the main border crossing into the war-ravaged area had been closed for about two weeks, warning that Israel’s ongoing ground operations are having a disastrous impact on the food security of thousands of Palestinian families.

“The north is practically isolated and we are not able to operate there,” said Antoine Renard, WFP director for the Palestinian territories.

Concerns about a food crisis have increased in Gaza about a month after the UN’s independent right to food investigator accused Israel of waging a “starvation campaign” against Palestinians.

Israel denied the allegations and insisted it had allowed food and other aid into Gaza in significant quantities.