Lebanese Warehouse Hit in Israeli Strike Burns for the Second Day Ghazieh

Firefighters extinguish a fire at a destroyed warehouse that was targeted on Monday by Israeli airstrikes, at an industrial district in the southern coastal town of Ghazieh, Lebanon, Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024. (AP)
Firefighters extinguish a fire at a destroyed warehouse that was targeted on Monday by Israeli airstrikes, at an industrial district in the southern coastal town of Ghazieh, Lebanon, Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024. (AP)
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Lebanese Warehouse Hit in Israeli Strike Burns for the Second Day Ghazieh

Firefighters extinguish a fire at a destroyed warehouse that was targeted on Monday by Israeli airstrikes, at an industrial district in the southern coastal town of Ghazieh, Lebanon, Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024. (AP)
Firefighters extinguish a fire at a destroyed warehouse that was targeted on Monday by Israeli airstrikes, at an industrial district in the southern coastal town of Ghazieh, Lebanon, Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024. (AP)

Firefighters in southern Lebanon were battling a diesel fuel fire in a warehouse that was struck by Israeli jets for a second day Tuesday.

The Israeli military’s Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee said the attack Monday targeted a weapons warehouse that belonged to the militant group Hezbollah.

The strike that wounded 14 people was one of the largest near a major Lebanese city since clashes between the Israeli military and Hezbollah along the Lebanese-Israeli border erupted after the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7.

Mohamad Khalifa, the owner of the warehouse, denied allegations that the facility belonged to Hezbollah.

“This is a company registered for 11 years that works with electricity generators, open from morning until night, receiving customers all day,” he told The Associated Press. “There is nothing hidden here. The claim that this has weapons is a lie.”

The airstrike reduced the warehouse to scraps, with fuel fires slowly burning.



Italian MPs Protest at Egypt's Gaza Border Against War

 Italian and European parliament members hold placards during a protest in front of the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing, calling for an end to the war and for aid to be allowed into the Gaza Strip, on May 18, 2025. (AFP)
Italian and European parliament members hold placards during a protest in front of the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing, calling for an end to the war and for aid to be allowed into the Gaza Strip, on May 18, 2025. (AFP)
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Italian MPs Protest at Egypt's Gaza Border Against War

 Italian and European parliament members hold placards during a protest in front of the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing, calling for an end to the war and for aid to be allowed into the Gaza Strip, on May 18, 2025. (AFP)
Italian and European parliament members hold placards during a protest in front of the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing, calling for an end to the war and for aid to be allowed into the Gaza Strip, on May 18, 2025. (AFP)

Italian parliamentarians protested on Sunday in front of Egypt's Rafah border crossing with Gaza, calling for aid access and an end to the war in the devastated Palestinian territory.

"Europe is not doing enough, nothing to stop the massacre," Cecilia Strada, an Italian member of the European parliament, told AFP.

The group, including 11 members of the Italian parliament, three MEPs and representatives of NGOs, held signs reading "Stop genocide now", "End illegal occupation" and "Stop arming Israel".

"There should be a complete embargo on weapons to and from Israel and a stop to trade with illegal settlements," Strada said.

The protesters laid toys on the ground in solidarity with Gaza's children, who the UN warns face "a growing risk of starvation, illness and death" more than two months into a total Israeli aid blockade.

At least 15,000 children have been killed in Gaza since the Israel-Hamas war began in October 2023, according to the United Nations.

Israel has faced mounting pressure to lift its aid blockade, as UN agencies warn of critical shortages of food, clean water, fuel and medicines.

It resumed its offensive on March 18, ending a two-month truce in its war against Hamas triggered by the Palestinian group's October 2023 attack on Israel.

On Saturday Israel announced an expanded military campaign, killing dozens of people in new strikes.

"We hear the bombs right now," Walter Massa, president of Italian non-profit organization Associazione Ricreativa Culturale Italiana, told AFP near the crossing.

"The Israeli army continues to do what it believes is right in the face of an international community that does not intervene, and in Gaza, beyond the Rafah crossing border, people continue to die," he said.

UN chief Antonio Guterres said Saturday said he was "alarmed" at the escalation and called for "a permanent ceasefire, now".

Italy's government on Saturday reiterated its calls to Israel to stop attacking Gaza, with Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani saying: "Enough with the attacks."

"We no longer want to see the Palestinian people suffer," Tajani said.

Gaza's health ministry said Sunday 3,193 people have been killed since Israel resumed its strikes on March 18, taking the war's overall toll to 53,339.