Israeli airstrikes hit multiple towns in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley on Wednesday, killing and injuring dozens, as the new head of Hezbollah warned that his forces will battle Israel until it is forced to appeal for peace.
“We will make the enemy seek to demand an end to the aggression,” Naim Kassem said in a prerecorded speech from an undisclosed location.
He said there could be a road to indirect negotiations if Israel stopped its attacks.
“When the enemy decides to stop the aggression, there is a path for negotiations that we have clearly defined — indirect negotiations through the Lebanese state and speaker [of parliament Nabih] Berri,” Kassem said.
In the eastern Baalbek-Hermel governorate, Governor Bachir Khodr said on the social media platform X that at least 40 Israeli raids had killed 38 people and wounded 54. He said the work to remove rubble is ongoing at multiple locations.
Hezbollah’s stronghold in Beirut’s southern suburbs was also targeted with at least four strikes on Wednesday, following Israeli military orders to residents to evacuate the area. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The death toll in Lebanon surpassed 3,000 on Monday, in the 13-month-long conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, with the vast majority killed since hostilities dramatically escalated in mid-September and Israeli forces entered south Lebanon on October 1. More than 1 million people have been displaced.
In northern and central Israel, sirens sounded, including in the Tel Aviv area, as Hezbollah launched 10 rockets toward Israel. No casualties were reported.
In Gaza
Meanwhile, in the northern Gaza Strip, where Israeli forces have intensified their incursions targeting Hamas fighters in the past month, the United Nations estimated that 100,000 people recently have been displaced.
“Between 75,000 and 95,000 people were estimated to remain in north Gaza. The death toll there over the past month is thought to be in the hundreds,” U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters.
On a positive note, a massive polio vaccination campaign wrapped up on Tuesday. Dujarric said in central Gaza there was 103% coverage achieved — meaning more children under age 10 were vaccinated than initially expected. In southern Gaza, 91% of children received the necessary double dose of the oral vaccine, but in northern Gaza, because of a lack of access from the fighting, 88% coverage was reached.
The effort was led by the World Health Organization, the U.N. children’s fund known as UNICEF and the U.N. relief and works agency for Palestine refugees known as UNRWA.
UNRWA under fire
At the United Nations on Wednesday, UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini appealed for international support following the adoption of two new laws in Israel on October 28 that seek to ban the agency. They are set to take effect early next year.
“For the past year, UNRWA has been a lifeline for the people of Gaza,” Lazzarini told a meeting of the General Assembly. “It is the only pillar of their lives left standing.”
He said if Israel succeeds in dismantling UNRWA, it will result in the collapse of the U.N. humanitarian response to the Palestinians, which relies heavily on UNRWA’s long-established infrastructure.
“Without intervention by member states, UNRWA will collapse, plunging millions of Palestinians into chaos,” he warned.
Israel officials have criticized UNRWA for years, alleging that Hamas uses its schools for terrorist activities and promotes an anti-Israel curriculum. After the October 7 Hamas terror attacks in Israel, the rhetoric intensified, and in January, Israel alleged that 12 UNRWA staffers were involved in the attacks. The staffers were immediately fired, and an internal investigation was launched.
Israel has since made further public allegations against several UNRWA staffers, but the agency says it has not received any evidence or information to act upon.
Ambassador Danny Danon said Wednesday that it is “time to move on” from UNRWA.
“I’ve often spoken about Gaza’s future without Hamas, the same applies to UNRWA,” he told the assembly. “Without UNRWA, cooperation could flourish. Without UNRWA, aid workers could be trusted. Without UNRWA, Gaza’s children might learn peace, not hate.”
Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour said, “This attack against the U.N. is not only a smear campaign, it has real-life consequences.”
He noted the killing of 238 UNRWA staff in Gaza, the detention of several staffers by Israel and strikes on UNRWA facilities, including shelters housing the displaced.
UNRWA was established by a resolution of the U.N. General Assembly in 1949 to assist Palestinian refugees.
“I must voice my deep alarm at the decision taken by the Israeli parliament,” General Assembly President Philemon Yang said at the meeting. “It constitutes an intolerable affront to the authority of this assembly, an affront to international law and, most importantly, an affront to the human dignity of innocent Palestinian civilians.”
States expressed concern at the Israeli parliament’s move, and many pointed to the government’s campaign against UNRWA.
“The eviction of a U.N. agency by the decision of one single U.N. member state would set an alarming precedent globally and would constitute a grave violation of the U.N. Charter,” Belgian Ambassador Philippe Kridelka said on behalf of a group of 16 states that support the organization.
He echoed many other states, saying UNRWA’s role is indispensable and irreplaceable to the humanitarian effort, especially as Gazans face the potential of famine.
“In the face of the unprecedented threats and attacks targeting UNRWA and its staff, the General Assembly must show unprecedented resolve,” Ambassador Kridelka said.
VOA United Nations Correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. Some material came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
