Australia Announces More Aid for Gaza 

Internally displaced Palestinians wait to fill water near destroyed buildings in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, 19 September 2024. (EPA)
Internally displaced Palestinians wait to fill water near destroyed buildings in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, 19 September 2024. (EPA)
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Australia Announces More Aid for Gaza 

Internally displaced Palestinians wait to fill water near destroyed buildings in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, 19 September 2024. (EPA)
Internally displaced Palestinians wait to fill water near destroyed buildings in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, 19 September 2024. (EPA)

Australia has announced it will provide an additional 10 million Australian dollars ($6.8 million) in aid to Gaza, bringing the total since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7 last year to AU$82.5 million ($56.2 million).

A government statement said on Monday the new money would focus on women and children. It would be provided through the United Nations Population Fund, a sexual and reproductive health agency, and the UN agency responsible for aiding children, UNICEF.

“Australia continues to push for safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian assistance to people in desperate need, and for all aid workers to be protected,” the statement said.



Two Killed in Israeli Strike North of Lebanon’s Capital

An ambulance takes wounded to a hospital in Beirut. (AFP)
An ambulance takes wounded to a hospital in Beirut. (AFP)
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Two Killed in Israeli Strike North of Lebanon’s Capital

An ambulance takes wounded to a hospital in Beirut. (AFP)
An ambulance takes wounded to a hospital in Beirut. (AFP)

At least two people were killed in an Israeli strike near the Christian-majority town of Jounieh, north of Beirut, Lebanon's health ministry said on Saturday, in the first attack on the area by Israeli forces.

The Israeli military was looking into the report of the strike in Jounieh, a spokesperson said. There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah, the Lebanese armed group that is fighting Israeli troops on Lebanon's southern border and whose top leadership has suffered blows from targeted Israeli strikes.

The health ministry said the Israeli strike targeted a car.

Two witnesses told Reuters they heard a small blast and saw a Honda sports utility vehicle travelling on the main highway south in the direction of Beirut begin to lose control.

The car stopped about 100 meters down the highway and a man and a woman ran out of the vehicle and into a grassy area on the side of the highway before another blast, the witnesses said.

One witness saw the charred remains of a person in the grassy area.