Is the war between Hamas and Israel likely to spread? The Israeli army announced on Sunday October 15 that it had struck Lebanon “in response” to shots aimed at its ground. The IDF reported fire coming from this neighboring country towards the town of Shtula, on the border, and from a military position. The army claimed that a civilian was killed and “several people” were injured by these shots coming from Lebanon. “Uarea of four kilometers from the northern border with Lebanon” was also closed to civilians. Since the attack by the Palestinian Islamist group in Israel, tensions have increased on the border with Lebanon. Follow our live stream.
Additional time for residents to evacuate northern Gaza. Pending its ground offensive, the Israeli army on Friday called on the 1.1 million civilians in the north of the territory to reach the south of the Palestinian enclave. An army spokesperson, however, assured Saturday evening that the ground offensive would not start on Sunday, for humanitarian reasons.
The World Health Organization “condemns” the evacuation order for residents of northern Gaza. The evacuation of “22 hospitals treating more than 2,000 patients in northern Gaza”towards the overwhelmed establishments in the south of the territory could be “the equivalent of a death sentence”warned the institution on Saturday evening.
The toll continues to rise. The Palestinian authorities now report 2,329 deaths in the Gaza Strip since the start of the Israeli response, according to a new report released Sunday morning. In total, more than 1,300 buildings were destroyed in this 362 km2 territory, the UN announced. On the Israeli side, at least 1,300 people, mainly civilians, died in Hamas attacks, according to the Israeli army.
Three new special flights on Sunday to repatriate French nationals from Tel Aviv. “Vulnerable people, unaccompanied minors and pregnant women in particular, with disabilities or in medical situations presenting a particular emergency, will have priority on special organized flights”, specifies the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since Thursday, four flights have taken place to repatriate nearly 1,200 passengers.
FIsraeli rap against an airport in Syria. An Israeli airstrike targeted the airport of Aleppo, a city in northern Syria, wounding five people, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Saturday evening, a few days after similar strikes on airports in Aleppo and Damascus. The Syrian Defense Ministry also confirmed the strikes, adding that they caused “material damage at the airport”.