Israel strikes Gaza and Lebanon as violence continues

WASHINGTON − Israeli airstrikes killed more than 60 people in Gaza within 24 hours and pummeled a UNESCO world heritage site in Lebanon as Hezbollah rockets killed seven people in northern Israel.

Israel continued a crushing rain of missiles on central Gaza overnight into Friday, killing 60 and wounding dozens of others near the city of Deir al-Balah, including in the nearby Nuseirat refugee camp, where 10 people died in a school, according to local medics. Among the casualties, another 10 died in a separate strike on a car in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza near the border with Egypt.

In Lebanon, Israel levelled airstrikes at eastern Baalbek, a UNESCO World Heritage site known for ruins dating to the Roman Empire. The strikes killed 11 and injured 14, according to Lebanese state media. Israel also resumed strikes on southern Beirut for the first time in a week.

Israel launched more airstrikes on Lebanon, killing dozens, on Thursday as Hezbollah rockets killed seven in Israel.
Israel launched more airstrikes on Lebanon, killing dozens, on Thursday as Hezbollah rockets killed seven in Israel.

Meanwhile, four Thais were killed and one was injured when rockets struck the town of nrothern Israeli town of Metula.

Maris Sangiampongsa, Thailand's minister of foreign affairs, said he was "deeply saddened" by the news in a post to X on Thursday.

"Thailand continues to strongly urge all parties to return to the path of peace, in the name of the innocent civilians gravely impacted by this prolonged and deepening conflict," he wrote.

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Rockets killed three other people in rural areas of Israel, Magen David Adom, Israel's emergency medical service, said on X. Three people also suffered mild shrapnel wounds.

Hezbollah has fired a constant barrage of rockets at northern Israel since after last Oct. 7, when Hamas, its close ally, launched its surprise attack on Israel's border communities, killing 1,200 and taking more than 250 hostages.

More than 42,000 Palestinians have died in Israel's year-long campaign to destroy Hamas in Gaza. Israel escalated airstrikes on Lebanon in late September, days after it orchestrated the detonation of thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies across the country in an attack on Hezbollah.

As the bitter conflict continues between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's most powerful militant group, the U.S. reportedly asked the Lebanese government to declare a unilateral cease-fire with Israel so that stalled talks between Israel and Hezbollah could restart.

U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein urged Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati to get more involved in the negotiations, a senior Lebanese political source and a diplomatic source told Reuters.

But Mikati denied the reports, blaming Israel for the lack of an agreement.

"Israeli statements and diplomatic signals received by Lebanon confirm the Israeli stubbornness in rejecting the proposed solutions and insisting on the approach of killing and destruction," he said on Friday.

Contributing: Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Israel strikes in Gaza kill 60 as Hezbollah rockets kill 7 in Israel