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Israel Says it has Confirmed 212 People Held Hostage in Gaza

Destroyed buildings in Al Remal neighborhood after Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, 22 October 2023. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
Destroyed buildings in Al Remal neighborhood after Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, 22 October 2023. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
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Israel Says it has Confirmed 212 People Held Hostage in Gaza

Destroyed buildings in Al Remal neighborhood after Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, 22 October 2023. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
Destroyed buildings in Al Remal neighborhood after Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, 22 October 2023. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER

Israel has confirmed that 212 people are being held hostage in Gaza, the military spokesperson said on Sunday, adding that Israeli strikes overnight killed dozens of Palestinian fighters, including the deputy chief of Hamas rocket forces.

Israel began unrelenting airstrikes on Gaza to its southwest after Hamas gunmen breached the border on Oct. 7 and carried out a shock rampage through nearby communities, killing 1,400 people, mainly civilians, and taking the hostages back to Gaza.

Concerns about the risk of wider Middle East conflict triggered by the Israel-Hamas war rose on Sunday with the US dispatching more military assets to the region as Israel pummeled targets in Gaza and Hamas supporters in Lebanon and Syria.

On the northern front, Israel has been attacking fighters trying to fire missiles across the Lebanese border and struck a site in Lebanon from where a missile was fired at an Israeli aircraft, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a briefing.

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Heavy Israeli Strikes Shake Beirut’s Southern Suburbs

Flames rise after an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Flames rise after an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
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Heavy Israeli Strikes Shake Beirut’s Southern Suburbs

Flames rise after an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Flames rise after an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Strong explosions in Beirut's southern suburbs began near midnight and continued into Sunday after Israel's military urged residents to evacuate areas in Dahiyeh.

Photos and video showed the blasts illuminating the southern suburbs, and sparking flashes of red and white visible from several kilometers away. They followed a day of sporadic strikes and the nearly continuous buzz of reconnaissance drones.

Israel's military confirmed it was striking targets near Beirut and said about 30 projectiles had crossed

from Lebanon into Israeli territory, with some intercepted.

The strikes reportedly targeted a building near a road leading to Rafik Hariri International Airport, and another building formerly used by the Hezbollah-run broadcaster Al-Manar. Social media reports claimed that one of the strikes hit an oxygen tank storage facility, but this was later denied by the owner of the company Khaled Kaddouha.

Shortly thereafter, Hezbollah claimed in a statement that it successfully targeted a group of Israeli soldiers near the Manara settlement in northern Israel “with a large rocket salvo, hitting them accurately.”

Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said on Saturday that Israel had killed 440 Hezbollah fighters in its ground operations in southern Lebanon and destroyed 2,000 Hezbollah targets. Hezbollah has not released death tolls.

Israel says it stepped up its assault on Hezbollah to enable the safe return of tens of thousands of citizens to homes in northern Israel, bombarded by the group since last Oct. 8.

Israeli authorities said on Saturday that nine Israeli soldiers had been killed in southern Lebanon so far.