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WHO Calls for Humanitarian Corridor Into Gaza as Israel Pounds Besieged Enclave

Palestinians inspect the rubble of the Sousi Mosque destroyed after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike at Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, early Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. (AP)
Palestinians inspect the rubble of the Sousi Mosque destroyed after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike at Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, early Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. (AP)
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WHO Calls for Humanitarian Corridor Into Gaza as Israel Pounds Besieged Enclave

Palestinians inspect the rubble of the Sousi Mosque destroyed after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike at Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, early Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. (AP)
Palestinians inspect the rubble of the Sousi Mosque destroyed after it was hit by an Israeli airstrike at Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, early Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. (AP)

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday called for a humanitarian corridor into the Gaza Strip as Israel imposes a siege on the blockaded Palestinian enclave.

A WHO spokesperson said it had reported 13 attacks on health facilities in Gaza since the weekend.

Nearly 200,000 people, or nearly a tenth of the population, have fled their homes in the Gaza Strip since the start of hostilities, said the UN's human rights office, warning that the enclave is poised for water and electricity shortages due to an Israeli blockade.

"Displacement has escalated dramatically across the Gaza Strip, reaching more than 187,500 people since Saturday. Most are taking shelter in schools," Jens Laerke, OCHA spokesperson, told a Geneva briefing, saying further displacement was expected.
Israeli air operations have struck residential buildings, including large tower blocks, as well as schools and UN buildings across Gaza, resulting in civilian casualties, the United Nations Human Rights chief said on Tuesday, citing information gathered by his office.  

"International humanitarian law is clear: the obligation to take constant care to spare the civilian population and civilian objects remains applicable throughout the attacks," Volker Turk said in a statement.  

In response to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant's announcement of a tightened blockade for the Gaza strip, Turk said that "sieges" that endanger the lives of civilians are prohibited under international law. 

The United Nations humanitarian office said that nearly 200,000 people or nearly a tenth of the population, have fled their homes in Gaza since the start of hostilities and is poised for shortages of water and electricity due to a blockade. 

"Displacement has escalated dramatically across the Gaza strip, reaching more than 187,500 people since Saturday. Most are taking shelter in schools," Jens Laerke, OCHA spokesperson, told a Geneva briefing, saying further displacement was expected as clashes continue. 

A World Health Organization spokesperson said it had reported 13 attacks on health facilities in Gaza since the weekend and said that its medical supplies stored there had already been used up. 

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Arab World

Hezbollah Leader Nasrallah Was Killed Last Year inside the War Operations Room, Aide Says

People look through the rubble of buildings which were leveled on September 27 by Israeli strikes that targeted and killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, in the Haret Hreik neighborhood of Beirut's southern suburbs, on September 29, 2024. (AFP)
People look through the rubble of buildings which were leveled on September 27 by Israeli strikes that targeted and killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, in the Haret Hreik neighborhood of Beirut's southern suburbs, on September 29, 2024. (AFP)
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Hezbollah Leader Nasrallah Was Killed Last Year inside the War Operations Room, Aide Says

People look through the rubble of buildings which were leveled on September 27 by Israeli strikes that targeted and killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, in the Haret Hreik neighborhood of Beirut's southern suburbs, on September 29, 2024. (AFP)
People look through the rubble of buildings which were leveled on September 27 by Israeli strikes that targeted and killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, in the Haret Hreik neighborhood of Beirut's southern suburbs, on September 29, 2024. (AFP)

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike last year while inside the group's war operations room, according to new details Sunday disclosed by a senior Hezbollah official.

A series of Israeli airstrikes flattened several buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sept. 27, 2023, killing Nasrallah. The Lebanese Health Ministry said six people died. According to news reports, Nasrallah and other senior officials were meeting underground.

The assassination of Nasrallah, who had led Hezbollah for 32 years, turned months of low-level strikes between Israel and the fighters into all-out war that battered much of southern and eastern Lebanon for two months until a US-brokered ceasefire took effect Nov. 27.

Nasrallah “used to lead the battle and war from this location,” top Hezbollah security official Wafiq Safa told a news conference Sunday near the site where Nasrallah was killed. He said Nasrallah died in the war operations room. He did not offer other details.

Lebanese media had reported that Safa was a target of Israeli airstrikes in central Beirut before the ceasefire but appeared unscathed.

During the first phase of the ceasefire, Hezbollah is supposed to move its fighters, weapons and infrastructure away from southern Lebanon north of the Litani River, while Israeli troops that invaded southern Lebanon need to withdraw all within 60 days. Lebanese army soldiers are to deploy in large numbers and alongside United Nations peacekeepers be the sole armed presence in southern Lebanon.

Lebanon and Hezbollah have been critical of ongoing Israeli strikes and overflights across the country and for only withdrawing from two of dozens of Lebanese villages it controls. Israel says that the Lebanese military has not done its share in dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure.

Hezbollah’s current leader Naim Qassem in a televised address Saturday warned that its fighters could strike Israel if its troops don’t leave the south by the end of the month.

Safa said that Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who negotiated the ceasefire deal with Washington, told Hezbollah that the government will meet with US envoy Amos Hochstein soon. “And in light of what happens, then there will be a position,” said Safa.

Hochstein had led the shuttle diplomacy efforts to reach the fragile truce.