GAZA / BEIRUT: An Israeli air strike on a single residential block in Beit Lahiya killed nearly 100 people on Tuesday, leaving rescuers scrambling through rubble for survivors, with medics saying that at least 20 children were among the dead.

Meanwhile, at least 60 people, including children, were killed and 58 others wounded in Israeli attacks on Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley.

Separately, eight Austrian soldiers belonging to the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) sustained injuries in a rocket strike on the force’s headquarters in Naqoura.

Palestinian rescuers and desperate family members gathered round the demolished five-storey block in Beit Lahiya in the north of Gaza.

A charred body with long hair hung out of an upper-storey window and corpses wrapped in blankets were lined up in the street below, as stunned relatives sought to identify the dead.

Nearly 100 killed in Beit Lahiya airstrike; 60 dead in attacks on Bekaa Valley; US envoy presses Israel on Gaza humanitarian crisis

“The number of martyrs in the massacre of the Abu Nasr family home in Beit Lahiya has risen to 93 martyrs, and about 40 are still missing under the rubble,” Gaza civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

“The explosion happened at night and I first thought it was shelling, but when I went out after sunrise I saw people pulling bodies, limbs and the wounded from under the rubble,” said Rabie al-Shandagly, 30, who had taken refuge in a nearby school in Beit Lahiya.

“Most of the victims are women and children, and people are trying to save the injured, but there are no hospitals or proper medical care,” he told AFP.

Lebanon attacks

In the town of Boudai, videos on social media appeared to show residents pleading for heavy equipment to be sent to help rescue people believed to be trapped. Video posted on social media showed damage to buildings and forests ablaze, as rescuers searched for the injured.

The regional head of Baalbek’s Civil Defence crews told the BBC that the air strikes were like a “ring of fire”.

“It was a very violent night,” Bilal Raad said.

“It was like a ring of fire has suddenly surrounded the area.”

He added the attacks had targeted “residential quarters where civilians live or near them”, and said a lack of equipment had hampered search and rescue efforts.

The town of Al-Allaq was hardest hit with 16 people killed, all from the same family, he said.

UNFIL troops

A statement from Austrian Defence Ministry on Tuesday said that UNIFIL soldiers sustained injuries in a rocket strike on Camp Naqoura near the Israeli border.

“We condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms and demand that it be investigated immediately,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that it was not clear where the attack came from and none of the soldiers needed urgent medical care.

US admonishes Tel Aviv At the UN, the US envoy said Israel was not addressing the “catastrophic humanitarian crisis” in Gaza. The statement came as a deadline imposed by Washington for Israel to improve the situation or face potential restrictions on US military aid loomed.

“Israel’s words must be matched by action on the ground. Right now, that is not happening. This must change —immediately,” US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the Security Council.

The United States told its ally Israel in a letter on Oct 13 that it must take steps within 30 days.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2024