Live blog: Israel bombs Gaza school-shelter, kills at least 21 Palestinians

Saturday, September 21, 2024

0947 GMT —At least 21 Palestinians, including 13 children, 6 women and an unborn child, were killed and several others injured in an Israeli air strike on a school sheltering displaced people in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City, according to medical sources and local media.

A medical source at the al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City told Anadolu that the victims were brought to the hospital following the strike on the school, which was housing hundreds of displaced families.

Witnesses reported that the Israeli air strike hit the Asqoula area in the Zeitoun neighbourhood, causing casualties among those seeking refuge in the school.

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1124 GMT — Fresh Israeli strikes in Lebanon

Israeli air strikes target southern Lebanon, western Bekaa region as a barrage of rockets launched from Lebanon towards northern Israel.

1059 GMT — Iran calls on international community to take ‘decisive action’ to stop Israeli attacks

Iran has condemned Israel's air strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs that left 31 people dead and called on the international community to take "decisive action" to stop Israeli attacks.

In a statement, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said that such attacks represent a violation of international law and Lebanon’s sovereignty.

"There is no doubt that the Zionist regime is attempting to escalate tensions in the region and expand the scope of war and conflict, contrary to the overwhelming majority of governments and nations calling for an immediate cease-fire," he said.

1055 GMT — Israel kills at least five Health ministry employees

Five employees of the Health Ministry in Gaza were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the ministry’s storage facilities in the Musbah area of Rafah, southern Gaza, the ministry has said.

In a statement, the ministry said that ambulances have been unable to reach the site to recover the bodies or assist the injured and called on international organizations to intervene to protect and rescue those trapped.

0948 GMT — Death toll from Israel's war on Gaza climbs to 41,391

Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed at least 41,391 Palestinians and wounded 95,760 since Oct. 7, the Palestinian enclave's health ministry said on Saturday.

0844 GMT — Israeli air strike on displaced persons’ tent kills two Palestinians

Two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike targeting a tent that shelters displaced people in the Sheikh Nasser area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, according to a medical source.

The source at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis told Anadolu that two bodies were brought to the hospital following the Israeli drone strike on the tent.

0839 GMT — Death toll from Israel's Beirut strike climbs to 31

The death toll from Israel's air strike on a Beirut suburb rises to 31, Lebanon's health minister has said.

Three children were among the killed in Israel's Beirut strike.

The strike marks the third attack by Israel on the southern suburb since an ongoing wave of hostilities began nearly a year ago.

0551 GMT — Protests in Morocco in support of Palestinians

More than 100 Demonstrations were organized across Morocco to condemn Israeli attacks on Gaza and show support for the Palestinians.

The Support for Ummah Issues Foundation, a Moroccan civil society group, said 106 protests were held in 50 cities.

Protesters chanted slogans in support of Palestinian resistance and against Israel’s violence in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, and all of Palestine, as well as US and Western backing of Israel and the Arab world's "silence."

0530 GMT — Hezbollah confirms death of another commander in Israeli strike

Lebanon's Hezbollah group has said that Ahmed Wahbi, a top commander who oversaw the military operations of the Radwan special forces during the Gaza war until early 2024, was killed in an Israel strike on Beirut suburbs on Friday.

An Israeli strike on Beirut left at least 13 dead and nearly 70 wounded. Rescuers were still digging the site for more bodies.

2109 GMT — Hezbollah confirms top military commander Ibrahim Aqil killed

Lebanon's Hezbollah group has confirmed in the early hours of Saturday that its top military commander Ibrahim Aqil was killed, calling him "one of its top leaders", without providing further details on his killing.

The Israeli military and a security source in Lebanon said Aqil was killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut earlier on Friday that also left 13 other Lebanese dead and nearly 70 wounded. Rescuers were stilling digging the site for more bodies.

2032 GMT — Lebanon slams Israel at UNSC, displays image of fingerless hand

Lebanon's Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib has told the UN Security Council that "no one in this world is safe anymore" after Israel's pager and walkie-talkie blasts in his country killed dozens and wounded thousands.

Bou Habib accused Israel of "terrorism", saying Lebanon is not seeking revenge but justice. He showed the council a large picture of a bloody hand with missing fingers.

"We came to the council to protect our common humanity and to ask you to condemn the terrorist Israeli attacks clearly and unequivocally, to hold Israel accountable for planning and implementing these attacks and for violating the sovereignty of Lebanon and its territorial integrity," he said.

2028 GMT — Israel pushing region into war: Macron to Netanyahu

French President Emmanuel Macron has told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that his country is pushing the region into a war, according to Israeli media.

According to the Israeli Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, Macron talked to Netanyahu over the phone following an Israeli air strike on southern Lebanon that killed 14 people and wounded 66 others.

The newspaper quoted Macron as telling Netanyahu that "Israel is pushing the region into war."

Netanyahu told Macron that "instead of putting pressure on Israel, it's time for France to increase the pressure on Hezbollah," according to Yedioth Ahronoth.

The newspaper also quoted a French official, without mentioning his name, who said France believes that the recent developments in Lebanon have further increased the chances of a war.

2022 GMT — Israel kills 44 Palestinians in Gaza in 24 hours

At least 44 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded in Israeli air strikes and raids across the war-torn Gaza in last 24 hours.

Civil Defence spokesman Mahmoud Basal said two Palestinians were killed in a pair of strikes on a home and a car in northern Gaza.

Gaza City witnessed the highest fatalities, as 18 Palestinians, including three children and two women, were killed in six Israeli air strikes on homes and gatherings of people across the city.

Basal said 10 people were killed in the central Gaza area in two Israeli strikes on a home and a building that shelters displaced people.

Fourteen Palestinians were killed in Rafah, the southernmost of the enclave, in two Israeli strikes on a home that left 13 dead, including children and women, and on a motorcycle that left one Palestinian dead.

For our live updates from Friday, September 20, 2024, click here.