DEIR EL-BALAH – Israeli attacks killed dozens of people on Sunday in Lebanon and the northern Gaza Strip, where the army fought a major offensive for more than a month, which aid groups say has further exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in the besieged enclave.

An Israeli airstrike killed at least 23 people in the village of Aalmat, north of Beirut and far from areas in southern and eastern Lebanon where the militant group Hezbollah has a major presence. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said six other people were injured. There was no immediate Israeli comment.

In northern Gaza, an Israeli strike on a house housing displaced people in the urban Jabaliya refugee camp killed at least 17 people, according to the director of a nearby hospital that received the bodies.

Dr. Fadel Naim, director of Al-Ahly Hospital in Gaza City, said nine women were among the dead and that the toll could rise as rescue efforts continued.

The Israeli military said it targeted a site where the militants were operating in Jabaliya, without providing evidence. He said the details of the strike were being reviewed.

A separate strike hit a house in Gaza City on Sunday, killing Wael al-Khour, a minister in the Hamas government, as well as his wife and three children, according to Civil Defense, a government-run first responder.

Offensive in northern Gaza raises fears of famine

Israeli forces have largely surrounded and cordoned off Jabaliya and the nearby towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun over the past month, allowing entry. just a drop of humanitarian aid. Hundreds of people have been killed since the offensive began on October 6, and tens of thousands have fled to nearby Gaza City.

Experts from a group that monitors food security said on Friday famine is imminent in the north or maybe it’s already happening. Growing desperation comes as the deadline is approaching for an ultimatum the Biden administration gave Israel to raise the level of humanitarian assistance allowed in Gaza or risks possible restrictions on US military funding.

The northern third of Gaza, including Gaza City, was the first target of Israel’s ground invasion and suffered the heaviest destruction in the 13-month war, which was sparked by Hamas’s offensive in southern Israel. As in other areas of Gaza, Israel sent the forces back after repeated operationssaying that Hamas has regrouped.

The military says it is only targeting militants, whom it accuses of hiding among civilians in homes and shelters. Israeli strikes often kill women and children.

On Sunday, the Israeli military released what it said was video footage of Hamas abusing detainees. The audio-free footage, dated from 2018 to 2020, appears to show inmates with hoods over their heads, chained in positions of stress. In some of the clips, the men beat or push them with sticks.

It was not possible to independently verify the videos, which the army said it recovered during operations in Gaza.

Rights groups they accused for a long time the Hamas-led government in Gaza and the Western-backed Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank abuse prisoners and violently crack down on dissent. Israel has been accused of similar abusesespecially since the beginning of the war. Israeli prison authorities say they comply with relevant laws and investigate any allegations of wrongdoing.

Israel strikes deeper and deeper into Lebanon

Hezbollah began firing rockets, drones and rockets into Israel after the Gaza war broke out in solidarity with the Palestinians and its Iran-backed militant group Hamas.

Israel retaliated and a series of escalations over several months led to an all-out war in September, when Israel carried out a wave of heavy strikes and killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallahas well as most of his top commanders.

Since then, Israel has struck deeper and deeper into Lebanon, while Hezbollah has extended its rocket fire from the north into central Israel. The fighting has killed more than 3,000 people in Lebanon, according to the Health Ministry, and more than 70 people in Israel.

In videos purporting to show the aftermath of Sunday’s strike in Aalmat, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Beirut, people were seen pulling the body of a little girl from the rubble. The house had been flattened and several nearby cars were also damaged.

The Gaza war began when Hamas-led militants punched holes in the border fence and stormed into southern Israel on October 7, 2023. They killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped about 250. About 100 hostages are still in Gazaabout a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Israel’s offensive has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not distinguish between civilians and militants in their numbers, but say more than half of the deaths were women and children.

Israeli bombing and ground invasions they left vast areas of Gaza in ruins and displaced about 90% of the population of 2.3 million people, often several times. Hundreds of thousands of people live in overcrowded tent camps with little or no public services and no idea of when they could return to their homes or rebuild.

Ceasefire talks brokered by the United States, Qatar and Egypt have repeatedly stalled since the start of the year, as have parallel efforts by the US and others to halt fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Qatar, which has served as a key mediator with Hamas, said over the weekend that he had suspended his efforts and would resume them only when “the parties demonstrate their desire and seriousness to end the brutal war and the continued suffering of civilians.”

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Magdy reported from Cairo and Chehayeb from Beirut. Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel contributed.

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