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Death Toll of Palestinians In Türkiye-Syria Earthquake Climbs to 73

Palestinian urgent intervention and response team headed Thursday to Syria and Türkiye to help in ongoing rescue efforts (WAFA)
Palestinian urgent intervention and response team headed Thursday to Syria and Türkiye to help in ongoing rescue efforts (WAFA)
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Death Toll of Palestinians In Türkiye-Syria Earthquake Climbs to 73

Palestinian urgent intervention and response team headed Thursday to Syria and Türkiye to help in ongoing rescue efforts (WAFA)
Palestinian urgent intervention and response team headed Thursday to Syria and Türkiye to help in ongoing rescue efforts (WAFA)

The death toll of Palestinians from the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake which hit Türkiye and Syria at dawn last Monday has reached 73 after the bodies of one Palestinian and his wife were recovered from under the rubble in Türkiye on Thursday.

According to the official Palestinian News Agency, WAFA, 22 Palestinians were killed in the deadly earthquake in Türkiye and 51 others in Syria.

Meanwhile, Palestine's Rapid Response and Rescue team, supervised by the Palestinian Agency for International Cooperation (PICA), headed Thursday to both countries to take part in ongoing quake relief efforts.

Local officials said the team of 73 members departed through the Jordanian crossing border. It includes rescuers, doctors, and first-aid providers from the Palestine Red Crescent Society.

“Palestine stands ready to use all its available means to help the brothers in Türkiye and Syria in this calamity,” Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said in a ceremony before the team’s departure.

He said the team will split into two groups, with one heading to Türkiye and the other to Syria.

“Upon their arrival in the areas affected by the earthquake, the Palestinian urgent response team will be working with other international teams working in field hospitals, and will also participate in rescue and evacuation operations in coordination with the relevant authorities in the two countries,” the Minister affirmed.

Also, Palestinian Minister of Awqaf and Religious Affairs Sheikh Hatem Al-Bakri announced that a relief campaign will kick off next Friday for the victims of the earthquake under the slogan “Rescue Them.”

In a press release, he said the campaign will collect donations in mosques after Friday prayers.

“The Ministry of Awqaf will donate $100,000 to the campaign,” he affirmed, adding that the ministry has also formed a committee to arrange the delivery of donations through the Palestinian embassies in Syria and Türkiye, according to the legal procedures.

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Lebanon Security Source Says Hezbollah Official Targeted in Beirut Strike

Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
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Lebanon Security Source Says Hezbollah Official Targeted in Beirut Strike

Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

A Lebanese security source said the target of a deadly Israeli airstrike on central Beirut early Saturday was a senior Hezbollah official, adding it was unclear whether he was killed.

"The Israeli strike on Basta targeted a leading Hezbollah figure," the security official told AFP without naming the figure, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

The early morning airstrike has killed at least 15 people and injured 63, according to authorities, and had brought down an eight-storey building nearby, in the second such attack on the working-class neighbourhood of Basta in as many months.

"The strike was so strong it felt like the building was about to fall on our heads," said Samir, 60, who lives with his family in a building facing the one that was hit.

"It felt like they had targeted my house," he said, asking to be identified by only his first name because of security concerns.

There had been no evacuation warning issued by the Israeli military for the Basta area.

After the strike, Samir fled his home in the middle of the night with his wife and two children, aged 14 and just three.

On Saturday morning, dumbstruck residents watched as an excavator cleared the wreckage of the razed building and rescue efforts continued, with nearby buildings also damaged in the attack, AFP journalists reported.

The densely packed district has welcomed people displaced from traditional Hezbollah bastions in Lebanon's east, south and southern Beirut, after Israel intensified its air campaign on September 23, later sending in ground troops.

"We saw two dead people on the ground... The children started crying and their mother cried even more," Samir told AFP, reporting minor damage to his home.

Since last Sunday, four deadly Israeli strikes have hit central Beirut, including one that killed Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif.

Residents across the city and its outskirts awoke at 0400 (0200 GMT) on Saturday to loud explosions and the smell of gunpowder in the air.

"It was the first time I've woken up screaming in terror," said Salah, a 35-year-old father of two who lives in the same street as the building that was targeted.

"Words can't express the fear that gripped me," he said.

Saturday's strikes were the second time the Basta district had been targeted since war broke out, after deadly twin strikes early in October hit the area and the Nweiri neighbourhood.

Last month's attacks killed 22 people and had targeted Hezbollah security chief Wafiq Safa, who made it out alive, a source close to the group told AFP.

Salah said his wife and children had been in the northern city of Tripoli, about 70 kilometres away (45 miles), but that he had to stay in the capital because of work.

His family had been due to return this weekend because their school reopens on Monday, but now he has decided against it following the attack.

"I miss them. Every day they ask me: 'Dad, when are we coming home?'" he said.

Lebanon's health ministry says that more than 3,650 people have been killed since October 2023, after Hezbollah initiated exchanges of fire with Israel in solidarity with its Iran-backed ally Hamas over the Gaza war.

However, most of the deaths in Lebanon have been since September this year.

Despite the trauma caused by Saturday's strike, Samir said he and his family had no choice but to return home.

"Where else would I go?" he asked.

"All my relatives and siblings have been displaced from Beirut's southern suburbs and from the south."