China Hopes Palestinian Factions Can Create Independent State Soon 

The sun sets over central Gaza, amid the conflict between Israel and Hamas, as seen from Israel, July 30, 2024. (Reuters)
The sun sets over central Gaza, amid the conflict between Israel and Hamas, as seen from Israel, July 30, 2024. (Reuters)
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China Hopes Palestinian Factions Can Create Independent State Soon 

The sun sets over central Gaza, amid the conflict between Israel and Hamas, as seen from Israel, July 30, 2024. (Reuters)
The sun sets over central Gaza, amid the conflict between Israel and Hamas, as seen from Israel, July 30, 2024. (Reuters)

China hopes Palestinian factions can create an independent state as soon as possible, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday while addressing a query on the killing of the Hamas chief in Iran.

"China earnestly looks forward to all Palestinian factions, on the basis of internal reconciliation, create an independent Palestinian state as soon as possible," Lin Jian said during a regular press briefing.



Three Lebanese Civil Defense Members Killed by Israeli Strike, Hezbollah Retaliates

Smoke rises and a flare is deployed in the southern Lebanese Marjayoun plain after being hit by Israeli shelling on September 7, 2024. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
Smoke rises and a flare is deployed in the southern Lebanese Marjayoun plain after being hit by Israeli shelling on September 7, 2024. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
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Three Lebanese Civil Defense Members Killed by Israeli Strike, Hezbollah Retaliates

Smoke rises and a flare is deployed in the southern Lebanese Marjayoun plain after being hit by Israeli shelling on September 7, 2024. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)
Smoke rises and a flare is deployed in the southern Lebanese Marjayoun plain after being hit by Israeli shelling on September 7, 2024. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP)

Three Lebanese paramedics were killed and two others wounded, one critically, in an Israeli attack while they were extinguishing fires in the southern town of Faroun, Lebanon's health ministry said on Saturday.

"Israeli forces targeted a team from the Lebanese Civil Defense as they responded to fires sparked by recent Israeli airstrikes," a ministry statement said, specifying that the strike hit a fire truck.

The ministry condemned the attack as a "blatant strike" on an official Lebanese state apparatus, marking the second such attack on an emergency team in less than 12 hours.

Hezbollah issued a statement late on Saturday, saying they launched a "squadron of missiles" in response to the attack, targeting the headquarters of Israel's 91st Division, which is responsible for its northern border, "hitting offices and soldiers with precision."

Israel's military said some 45 rockets were fired at northern Israel in several barrages, many targeting the Mount Meron area but falling in open areas. Several rockets fell in Shlomi and around the city of Safed. There were no injuries. The military later said its jets struck Hezbollah military infrastructure and a rocket launcher in the area of Qabrikha in southern Lebanon.