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Five paramedics killed in southern Lebanon: Israeli air strikes target crews and their vehicles

Five paramedics killed in southern Lebanon: Israeli air strikes target crews and their vehicles
By Alastair McCready, Stephen Quillen, Urooba Jamal, Virginia Pietromarchi and Usaid Siddiqui
Published On 22 Nov 2024

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22 Nov 2024 - 23:59
 (23:59 GMT)

Thank you for joining us

For more on pro-Palestinian organisations taking the Dutch state to court, urging a halt to arms exports to Israel, check out our story here.

You can read an opinion piece on the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and ex-Defence Minister Yoav Gallant here.

And to read our explainer on whether countries will halt sales in the wake of the ICC warrants, go here.

22 Nov 2024 - 23:55
 (23:55 GMT)

Here’s what happened today

We will be closing this live page soon. Here is a recap of today’s developments:

  • Medical sources told Al Jazeera at least 38 people were killed across the Gaza Strip since dawn.
  • Health officials in Gaza warned all hospitals will have to stop or reduce services “within 48 hours” because of a lack of fuel, accusing Israel of blocking its entry.
  • An Israeli attack killed seven people in Lebanon’s eastern Baalbek area including the director of Dar al-Amal University Hospital in the town of Douris.
  • An Israeli missile has levelled a multistorey building in Beirut’s southern suburb of Chiyah.
  • Two people were killed and several wounded in an Israeli assault on Nuseirat camp in central Gaza.
  • Four Italian soldiers were slightly injured after two rockets hit a UNIFIL base in southern Lebanon’s Chamaa area.
22 Nov 2024 - 23:45
 (23:45 GMT)

WATCH: What do the ICC arrest warrants mean for Israel and its allies?

Israel and its biggest ally, the US, furiously attacked the International Criminal Court’s decision to issue arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant.

Most European nations say they’ll execute the warrants if either man steps on their soil. So what might happen next?

22 Nov 2024 - 23:30
 (23:30 GMT)

Israel bombards Beirut suburbs as fighting rages in southern Lebanon

Israeli forces bombarded southern Lebanon and the suburbs of Beirut, killing at least seven medics and crumpling a multistorey building, as ground troops clashed with Hezbollah fighters in the south.

A missile struck the middle of an 11-storey building housing shops, a gym and apartments located on a usually busy street in the heavily populated area. The impact sparked a fireball and caused the structure to collapse on top of itself, littering the road with debris.

Read the full story here.

Smoke rises after an Israeli strike on a building in the Chiyah district of Beirut’s southern suburbs [Mohamed Azakir/Reuters]
22 Nov 2024 - 23:15
 (23:15 GMT)

Arms to Israel: Will countries halt sales in wake of ICC arrest warrants?

By Sarah Shamim

Western nations that sell arms to Israel may be forced to re-evaluate their trade agreements after arrest warrants were issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for “war crimes” in Gaza, analysts say.

All 124 countries that are signatories to the Rome Statute of the ICC are now legally obliged to arrest Netanyahu and Gallant if they set foot on their territory.

The question of whether countries supplying arms to a country whose leaders are accused of crimes against humanity could be considered complicit is unclear. But experts say some suppliers will have to consider carefully if they wish to continue to support Israel in its war on Gaza.

Read more here.

Pro-Palestinian activists hold a protest in Washington, DC [File: Celal Gunes/Anadolu]
22 Nov 2024 - 23:00
 (23:00 GMT)

‘A brutal enemy’: Lebanese denounce Israel after latest attacks

Beirut residents described the latest attacks by Israel’s air force with dozens killed in the past day.

Mohammed Alaa el-Din, a resident of Aamachki who lost family members in an Israeli strike on his house, described the attack.

“Five minutes after leaving my house to visit my sister, I looked back and saw the missile targeting my home. I rushed to see what had happened, but I found no trace of my house. There was a large crater where it used to be, and I began collecting body parts [of the victims] scattered hundreds of metres away,” said Alaa el-Din.

Abeer Darwich also survived an Israeli strike on her home.

“I’m living in this building that Israel attacked today. This is not a targeting, this is an aggression because [Israel] attacked peaceful people in their homes, people’s residences, and the commercial shops below,” she said.

“Israel suddenly decided this because it is an usurper, a brutal enemy. The whole world needs to know, those who are defending Israel, that it is an usurper, a brutal enemy that’s killing civilians in their homes.”

22 Nov 2024 - 22:45
 (22:45 GMT)

Hezbollah clashes with Israeli forces in southern Lebanon town

The Lebanese armed group says it is engaging in small arms and rocket fire with Israeli forces in the town of al-Jebbayn.

Hezbollah claimed several attacks on Israeli forces during the day, including attacking Israeli soldiers on the outskirts of the city of Khiam.

Israeli air strikes killed a hospital director at his home in northeastern Lebanon and six others, while at least five paramedics were killed by Israeli strikes in the country’s south, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said.

22 Nov 2024 - 22:40
 (22:40 GMT)
Houthi

Israel launches new air strikes on southern Beirut

At least three new night-time strikes hit the southern outskirts of the Lebanese capital Beirut late Friday into early Saturday, images from state media show.

“Enemy military planes have targetted the southern suburb of Beirut by carrying out a strike near Ghobeiry,” said national news agency Ani.

22 Nov 2024 - 22:30
 (22:30 GMT)

Palestine slams Israeli decision to suspend administrative arrest for settlers

In a statement, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said the move will “encourage supremacist settlers to commit acts of terrorism against Palestinians and their properties, escalate crimes against them, and further foster their impunity”.

The statement noted only a few Israelis from illegal settlements were detained in “token arrests” as part of “a revolving door policy”.

The ministry demanded “international effective action to rein in settlers’ militias, end their impunity”, and protect Palestinians from Israeli occupation violations.

Israeli police speak to residents of the occupied West Bank village of Khirbet Zanuta after activists called to report Israeli setters in the village [File: Maya Alleruzzo/AP Photo]
22 Nov 2024 - 22:15
 (22:15 GMT)

WATCH: Long queues as bakeries run out of flour in central Gaza

Most bakeries in Gaza were shut for several days because of a shortage of flour. Desperate Palestinians crowded the few bakeries that are barely operating in Deir el-Balah.

Watch our video report below:

22 Nov 2024 - 22:00
 (22:00 GMT)

Power runs out at northern Gaza hospital

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting electricity was cut off at Kamal Adwan Hospital after Israeli forces bombed the generators.

Earlier, health officials in Gaza warned all hospitals will have to stop or reduce services “within 48 hours” because of a lack of fuel, accusing Israel of blocking its entry.

An Israeli strike hit the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, one of three medical facilities barely operational in besieged northern Gaza, injuring six medical staff, some critically, the Health Ministry said in a statement.

22 Nov 2024 - 21:45
 (21:45 GMT)

‘Israel will not be held accountable’

Palestinians in Gaza view the International Criminal Court’s historic decision to seek the arrest of Israeli leaders for suspected war crimes as international recognition of the enclave’s plight. But those queueing for bread at a bakery in the southern city of Khan Younis were doubtful it would have any impact.

“The decision will not be implemented because America protects Israel, and it can veto anything. Israel will not be held accountable,” said Saber Abu Ghali as he waited in the crowd.

Saeed Abu Youssef, 75, said even if justice were to arrive, it would be decades late. “We have been hearing decisions for more than 76 years that have not been implemented and haven’t done anything for us.”

More than 44,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, about 70 percent children and women, much of which has been laid to waste.

A Palestinian woman bakes bread in a makeshift oven in Khan Younis [File: Eyad Baba/AFP]
22 Nov 2024 - 21:30
 (21:30 GMT)

Hezbollah claims several more attacks on Israeli forces

The Lebanese armed group says it attacked Israeli soldiers on the outskirts of Khiam city in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah also targeted the Israeli army at the Deir Mimas triangle with artillery shells and at Armis Hill, west of the town of Shama.

22 Nov 2024 - 21:15
 (21:15 GMT)

LISTEN: How will European nations respond to ICC arrest warrants?

Israel and its biggest ally, the United States, have furiously attacked the International Criminal Court’s decision to issue arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant.

Most European nations say they’ll execute the warrants if either man steps on their soil. So what might happen next?

22 Nov 2024 - 21:00
 (21:00 GMT)

Germany considers what to do if Netanyahu visits after ICC ruling

By Dominic Kane

Reporting from Berlin, Germany

Almost 24 hours after the arrest warrant ruling from the International Criminal Court, the German government issued a statement in which it recognised the ruling and referred to its recognition of the ICC and its importance.

But it also recognized its unique relationship and history vis-a-vis the state of Israel, saying it would have to examine domestic measures if Prime Minister Netanyahu were to visit Germany.

The other point to make here is the reference to the amount of aid, military aid, given by the German government to Israel.

Germany has approved more than $100m in arms sales to Israel after Israel filed its objections to the ICC case in August. That’s the perspective to view what has happened, remembering that Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the last few weeks said, “We are arming Israel. We will arm Israel.”

22 Nov 2024 - 20:45
 (20:45 GMT)

UN warns some who fled to Syria risking lives to return to Lebanon

The UN has expressed concern that conditions are so dire in Syria that some people who fled Lebanon seeking refuge from the Israel-Hezbollah war are opting to return.

There are “Lebanese families who are beginning to take the very difficult and potentially life-threatening decision to return to Lebanon”, said Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, the UN refugee agency’s representative in Syria.

“These are very, very small numbers, but for us, even small numbers are worrying signals,” he told reporters in Geneva via video link from the Syrian-Lebanese border.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner of Refugees estimated 560,000 people have fled into Syria from neighbouring Lebanon since late September when months of cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah escalated into all-out war.

Lebanese authorities put the number even higher at more than 610,000.

People living in Lebanon cross into Syria with their belongings [File: Houssam Shbar/Anadolu]
22 Nov 2024 - 20:30
 (20:30 GMT)

WATCH: Israeli strike hits Beirut as Lebanon’s death toll surpasses 3,500

Footage shows the moment an Israeli air strike hit and destroyed a residential building in Beirut’s Chiyah area.

The city’s southern suburbs have been hit repeatedly in recent weeks, but this is the first time this neighbourhood near a busy highway was attacked.

Watch the video below:

22 Nov 2024 - 20:15
 (20:15 GMT)

Death toll in eastern Lebanon attack rises to 7

Earlier we reported on the killing of five people in the Baalbek area, including the director of Dar al-Amal University Hospital in the town of Douris.

The death toll has now risen to seven, the Health Ministry announced.

“This martyrdom comes amidst the ongoing attacks launched by the Israeli enemy army on health workers and facilities, which constitutes a series of war crimes,” it said in a post on X.

22 Nov 2024 - 20:00
 (20:00 GMT)

Six Israeli soldiers die by suicide; thousands get mental health treatment: Report

At least six Israeli soldiers have taken their own lives in recent months, the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reports, citing severe psychological distress caused by prolonged wars in Gaza and Lebanon as the primary cause.

The actual number of suicides may be far higher because the Israeli military has yet to release official figures despite a promise to do so by the end of the year.

The report highlights a broader mental health crisis within the Israeli army. Thousands of soldiers have sought help from military mental health clinics or psychologists with about one-third of those affected showing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

The number of soldiers suffering psychological trauma may exceed those with physical injuries from the war, it said.

Israeli soldiers move in an area in southern Lebanon near the border [Handout via Israeli military]
22 Nov 2024 - 19:45
 (19:45 GMT)

Israeli strike in eastern Lebanon kills hospital director

The governor of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon says the director general of Dar al-Amal University Hospital, Ali Allam, has been killed in an Israeli attack.

“Mr Allam is one of the best sons of Baalbek, and his services through the hospital, which is considered the most important in the region, are countless,” Bachir Khodr said.

Lebanon’s National News Agency said the attack killed four other people.

Translation: Initial information about the martyrdom of the Director of Dar al-Amal University Hospital in Douris, Ali Allam, and a number of citizens who were with him. Mr Allam is one of the best sons of Baalbek, and his services through the hospital, which is considered the most important in the region, are countless. Oh, the loss of people.