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Italian tourist killed and seven injured in car ramming attack in Tel Aviv

Two british women were also killed in a separate attack in the west bank, article bookmarked.

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An Italian tourist has been killed and seven other people injured in a car-ramming attack near a beach in Tel Aviv.

Police said a 30-year-old Italian man was among a group of Italian and British citizens who were hit by a car late on Friday.

A 74-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl are among seven people who were injured in the attack. Of those wounded, three suffered moderate injuries and four sustained only light injuries, officials said.

Police said they shot and killed the driver of the car, who was identified as a 45-year-old Palestinian citizen of Israel from the Israel-Arab village of Kafr Qassem.

A video circulating on social media showed the car hurtling along a sidewalk for several hundred metres before crashing out of control.

Italian premier Giorgia Meloni’s office expressed “closeness to the family of the victim” and “solidarity with Israel for the vile attack”. She identified the man killed as Alessandro Parini from Rome. Mr Parini worked as a lawyer in Rome, Italian media reported.

In a separate incident, two British-Israeli sisters were shot to death near a settlement in the occupied West Bank.

The two women, both in their 20s, were killed while their mother, 45, was seriously wounded, Israeli and British officials said.

They lived in the Efrat settlement, near the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, said Oded Revivi, the settlement’s mayor.

Their father was driving in a car behind his daughters and witnessed the attack, the mayor added.

Medics said they dragged the unconscious women from the smashed car, which appeared to have been pushed off the road.

No groups claimed responsibility for either attack, but the Hamas militant group that rules Gaza praised both incidents as retaliation for Israeli raids earlier this week on the Al-Aqsa mosque – the third-holiest site in Islam.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the scene with defence minister Yoav Gallant late on Friday.

“It’s just a matter of time, and not much time, until we settle the score,” Mr Netanyahu said.

The attack follows days of violence and unrest in Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site, the compound of the Al-Aqsa mosque in the Old City.

Mr Netanyahu said he was calling up all reserve forces in Israel’s border police “to confront the terror attacks”.

The Hamas militant group that rules Gaza praised the attack in Tel Aviv as a response to Israel’s “crimes against Al-Aqsa Mosque and worshippers”.

A UK Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement: “We are saddened to hear about the deaths of two British-Israeli citizens and the serious injuries sustained by a third individual. The UK calls for all parties across the region to de-escalate tensions.”

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Saturday condemned the escalating violence between Israel and the Palestinians, urging all parties to exercise restraint and promote calm for the ongoing religious holidays.

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Israel calls up army, police reservists after deadly attacks in Tel Aviv and West Bank

Israel began calling up police and army reservists Saturday after separate attacks killed three people, including an Italian tourist, in Tel Aviv and the occupied West Bank.

Issued on: 07/04/2023 - 22:23 Modified: 07/04/2023 - 22:25

Despite appeals for restraint, violence has surged since Israeli police clashed with Palestinians inside Jerusalem 's flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque on Wednesday, with Israel bombarding both Gaza and Lebanon in response to rocket fire by Palestinian militants.

The Italian was killed and seven other tourists wounded when an Israeli Arab ploughed a car into pedestrians on the Tel Aviv seafront on Friday evening and flipped over before being shot dead, police and emergency services said.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni named the dead man as Alessandro Parini, 36.

Police identified the driver as a 45-year-old from the Arab town of Kfar Kassem in central Israel.

"The terrorist was neutralised," a spokesman told AFP.

Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas , which rules Gaza, said the attack was a "natural and legitimate response" to Israel's "aggression" in the Al-Aqsa mosque.

Earlier Friday, two British-Israeli sisters aged 16 and 20 were killed, and their mother seriously wounded when their car was fired on in the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank. 

The army said it had launched a manhunt for the perpetrators.

Following the Tel Aviv attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the police to "mobilise all reserve border police units" and directed the army to "mobilise additional forces", his office said.

Police said four reserve battalions of border police would be deployed in city centres from Sunday, in addition to units already deployed in the Jerusalem region and in the central city of Lod, which has a mixed population of Jews and Arabs.

In the West Bank, Israeli troops came under fire in a drive-by shooting in the northern town of Yabad overnight, the army said on Saturday.

One hit was identified among the assailants, an army statement said.

Cross-border strikes 

Friday's attacks came after Israel launched air strikes and an artillery bombardment before dawn in response to rocket fire from the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

It was the heaviest rocket fire from Lebanon since Israel fought a 34-day war with Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in 2006 and the first time Israel has confirmed an attack on Lebanese territory since April 2022. 

Israel "struck targets, including terror infrastructures, belonging to the Hamas terrorist organisation in southern Lebanon", the army said. 

The Lebanese army said it had found and dismantled a multiple rocket launcher in an olive grove in the Marjayoun area near the border, still loaded with six primed rockets.

In Gaza, the Israeli army said it had hit two tunnels and "two weapon manufacturing sites" in response to the "security violations of Hamas".

It said air defences had intercepted 25 rockets from Lebanon on Thursday, while five had hit Israeli territory.

Israel "will not allow the Hamas terrorist organisation to operate from within Lebanon", it said.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which patrols the area along the border, urged restraint, noting: "Both sides have said they do not want a war."

On Friday evening, the army said it had shot down a drone that had entered Israel's airspace from Lebanon. 

Mosque raid 

On Wednesday, Israeli riot police stormed the prayer hall of Al-Aqsa mosque in a pre-dawn raid, aiming to dislodge "law-breaking youths and masked agitators" they said had barricaded themselves inside.

Ramadan coincided with the Jewish Passover holiday this year raising tensions with the tens of thousands of Palestinians who pray at the Al-Aqsa mosque during the Muslim fasting month.

The Palestinians fear Netanyahu’s hard-right government may change longstanding rules that allow Jews to visit but not pray in the mosque compound, despite his repeated denials.

The upsurge of violence drew condemnation from the European Union and the United States . 

"The targeting of innocent civilians of any nationality is unconscionable," said State Department spokesman Vedant Patel.

"The European Union expresses its total condemnation of these acts of violence," said its foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

A Qatari official said Doha was mediating between Israel and the Palestinians.

Qatar -- which has acted as a broker in previous understandings between Israel and Hamas -- "is working to deescalate the situation on all sides," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

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Three people dead in attacks across Israel and the West Bank as violence intensifies

An Italian tourist was killed in a car ramming attack in Tel Aviv while two British-Israeli sisters died after their car was shot up in the West Bank.

Saturday 8 April 2023 05:17, UK

Three people have died across Israel and the West Bank in terrorist attacks as violence in the region continues.

An Italian tourist, 30, was killed and five others were wounded in a Tel Aviv car ramming attack on Friday, Israeli and Italian officials said.

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It was the second deadly attack on Friday, after two British-Israeli sisters were killed when their car was shot up in the occupied West Bank .

Update: British-Israeli sisters killed in West Bank attack named

An Israeli security source identified the assailant in the Tel Aviv attack as an Israeli Arab from the town of Kafr Qassem.

Police said an officer who was nearby arrived at the scene to find several people wounded and an overturned car near a popular promenade.

The officer "neutralised" the driver when he tried to pull a gun, they said. The car had veered off the street near a bike and walking path along the beach.

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Video from shortly after the incident showed an overturned white car.

Giorgia Meloni, Italy's prime minister, said: "Deep sorrow and condolences for the death of one of our compatriots, Alessandro Parini, in the terrorist attack that took place in the evening in Tel Aviv.

"Closeness to the victim's family, to the wounded and solidarity with the State of Israel for the cowardly attack that hit him."

Israel's rescue service said a 74-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl were receiving medical treatment for mild to moderate injuries.

British-Israeli sisters killed and mother seriously injured

It followed the deadly attack in the West Bank earlier on Friday.

According to local media, one of the British-Israeli sisters who died was 15 and the other was in her 20s.

Their mother was also seriously injured in the attack near the Hamra settlement - about 30 miles north of Jerusalem - and had to be airlifted to hospital.

Sky News Middle East correspondent Alistair Bunkall said it is believed the British victims of the West Bank attack moved to Israel in around 2005.

Read more: Why is there tension over Jerusalem holy site?

A UK Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement: "We are saddened to hear about the deaths of two British-Israeli citizens and the serious injuries sustained by a third individual.

"The UK calls for all parties across the region to de-escalate tensions."

A State Department spokesperson said on Friday that the US "strongly condemns" the attacks.

"The three horrific attacks, in which three were killed and at least eight others wounded, affected citizens of Israel, Italy, and the United Kingdom," the spokesperson said. "The targeting of innocent civilians of any nationality is unconscionable."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed police "to mobilise all reserve border police units and has directed the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) to mobilise additional forces to confront the terror attacks", his office said.

Israel's Magen David Adom ambulance service said all the victims in the Tel Aviv attack were tourists.

The police said four reserve companies of border police would be called up in the coming days.

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Italian tourist killed, others hurt in suspected car ramming attack in Tel Aviv

The 30-year-old Italian man was among a group of Italian and British citizens who were hit by a car late on Friday.

An Italian tourist was killed and seven other people wounded in a suspected car ramming attack near a beach in Tel Aviv, Israeli authorities say.

Israel’s rescue service said a 74-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl were receiving medical treatment for mild to moderate injuries.

Police said they shot and killed the driver of the car and identified him as a 45-year-old Palestinian citizen of Israel from the village of Kafr Qassem.

A video circulating on social media showed the car hurtling along a sidewalk for several hundred metres before crashing out of control.

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni’s office expressed “closeness to the family of the victim” and “solidarity with the Israel for the vile attack”. She identified the man killed as Alessandro Parini from Rome.

In a separate incident, two British-Israeli women were shot to death near a settlement in the occupied West Bank.

The two women in their 20s, who were sisters, were killed while their 45-year-old was seriously wounded, Israeli and British officials said.

The family lived in the Efrat settlement, near the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, said Oded Revivi, the settlement’s mayor.

The girls’ father was driving in a car behind his wife and daughters and witnessed the attack, the mayor added.

Medics said they dragged the unconscious women from the smashed car, which appeared to have been pushed off the road.

No groups claimed responsibility for either attack. But the Hamas militant group that rules Gaza praised both incidents as retaliation for Israeli raids earlier this week on the Al-Aqsa mosque — the third-holiest site in Islam.

On Tuesday, police arrested and beat hundreds of Palestinians there, who responded by hurling rocks and firecrackers at officers.

The attack came against the backdrop of heightened tensions after Israeli air strikes on Palestinian militant targets in both Lebanon and Gaza, as well as a shooting attack in the occupied West Bank that killed two people.

That followed days of violence and unrest in Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site, the compound of the Al-Aqsa mosque in the Old City.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was calling up all reserve forces in Israel’s border police “to confront the terror attacks”.

The Hamas militant group that rules Gaza praised the attack in Tel Aviv as a response to Israel’s “crimes against Al-Aqsa Mosque and worshippers”.

Even as quiet returned to Israel’s northern and southern borders, the early morning Israeli strikes on Lebanon — which analysts described as the most serious border violence since Israel’s 2006 war with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militants — threatened to push the confrontation into a new phase.

Israeli strikes came in retaliation for a major barrage of rockets from Lebanon the day before, after Israeli police raids at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem spiralled into unrest and sparked outrage across the Arab world.

Although the Israeli military was quick to emphasise that its warplanes struck sites belonging to only Palestinian militant groups, the barrage risks drawing in Israel’s bitter foe Hezbollah, which holds sway over much of southern Lebanon and has in the past portrayed itself as a defender of the Palestinians and the contested city of Jerusalem.

Israeli missiles had earlier struck an open field in the southern Lebanese town of Qalili, near the Palestinian refugee camp of Rashidiyeh, according to an Associated Press photographer and residents, killing several sheep and inflicting minor injuries on residents, including Syrian refugees.

Other strikes hit a small bridge and power transformer in the nearby town of Maaliya and damaged an irrigation system providing water to orchards in the area.

The Israeli military said it was boosting infantry and artillery forces in a defensive move “to prepare for all possible scenarios”.

A Palestinian official said Egyptian security officials were working with Hamas and Israel to de-escalate the situation.

Later on Friday, there were signs that both sides were trying to keep the hostilities in check. Fighting on Israel’s northern and southern borders subsided after dawn, and midday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque passed peacefully after an early flashpoint.

Chaos had earlier erupted at one of the entrances to the esplanade before dawn prayers as Israeli police wielding batons descended on crowds of Palestinian worshippers, who chanted slogans praising Hamas as they tried to squeeze into the site.

An hour later, according to videos, people leaving the prayers staged a vast protest on the limestone courtyard, with Palestinians raising their fists and shouting in support of Hamas rocket fire, and Israeli police forced their way into the compound.

Police did not comment on the earlier beatings, but said security forces entered the compound after prayers in response to “masked suspects” who threw rocks towards officers at one of the gates.

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Violence in Tel Aviv leaves one dead and five injured

Italian tourist dies and Britons among injured after driver rams people near beach, Israeli officials report

An Italian man has died and five other British and Italian tourists have been injured in an attack in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv, the latest episode of violence after several days of rising tensions sparked fears of a broader conflagration in the region.

The 30-year-old Italian died from a gunshot wound, Israel’s rescue service said on Friday night, the Jewish holy day. At the same time, Israeli police said a car had been driven into people near the beach, and that the driver had been shot and killed.

It was not immediately clear if there had been one incident or two separate ones.

Israeli media reported that the assailant was an Arab citizen of Israel, from the northern town of Kafr Qasem.

The Italian man was named as Alessandro Parini from Rome by the country’s premier, Giorgia Meloni, who expressed “solidarity with Israel for the vile attack”. Israel’s rescue service said five other British and Italian tourists — including a 74-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl — were receiving medical treatment for mild to moderate injuries.

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, ordered the mobilisation of police and army reserves after the incident, his office said in a statement.

Video of the incident shared on social media showed that the car had veered off the street and on to a path before flipping over over on to the beach.

The attack comes against a backdrop of fears of escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict drawing in the powerful Lebanese militant group Hezbollah after Israel bombed sites in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon early on Friday in response to rocket fire blamed on Palestinian militants from the two territories.

Israel and Lebanon are technically still at war, and Thursday’s barrage of about 34 rockets aimed at northern Israel was the biggest flare-up between the two countries since a short war with the Iran-backed militant group in 2006.

The situation along the borders appeared to have calmed by dawn, and the lack of casualties in the frontier standoffs also suggested that no side wanted to risk further hostilities.

More than 130,000 worshippers attended Friday prayers at Jerusalem’s holiest site, which passed without significant incident despite the tensions and an influx of pilgrims celebrating the rare overlapping festivals of Easter, Passover and Ramadan.

But a shooting attack in the West Bank which killed two British-Israeli sisters and critically injured their mother a few hours later, the shooting down of a drone that entered Israeli territory from Lebanon, and the attack in Tel Aviv suggested that wider escalation is still a substantial threat.

A US state department spokesperson on Friday “strongly condemned” the attacks, and said the “targeting of innocent civilians of any nationality is unconscionable.”

A UK Foreign Office spokesperson called for “all parties across the region to de-escalate tensions.”

The current round of fighting began on Wednesday, after Israeli police twice raided occupied East Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque compound , which is sacred to Muslims and Jews, who call it the Temple Mount. Video of police beating Palestinian worshippers with batons and the butts of rifles was met with widespread anger across the Muslim world, and led on Thursday to rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Hezbollah, the Shia group that helps Israel’s arch enemy Iran project its power across the region, has faced extensive attacks by Israel in Syrian territory over the past week, striking at what Israel believes to be drone manufacturing sites. At least two members of the organisation have been killed.

The militant group has vowed to strike back, but, like Hamas, is wary of an escalation. The violence at al-Aqsa may have offered a pretext for retaliation. Although Israel said Hamas was behind the attack from Lebanon, it is widely believed that Hezbollah must have greenlighted the move.

This week’s violence comes after the deadliest start to the year in Israel and the occupied West Bank since the second intifada, or Palestinian uprising, in the 2000s. About 90 Palestinians, roughly half of them combatants, have been killed by Israeli fire so far this year, according to tallies by human rights groups. Palestinian “lone wolf” attacks have killed 16 Israelis, all but one of them civilians, three Ukrainians and the Italian national shot on Friday.

Israel has also been roiled by political turmoil since the most rightwing government in the country’s history took office at the end of last year. Huge protests against the coalition’s proposed judicial overhaul have included large numbers of military reservists, raising concerns about operational readiness.

Netanyahu publicly fired his defence minister two weeks ago for voicing opposition to the judicial overhaul, but he appears to have remained in post.

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One tourist dead and seven injured in car-ramming attack in Tel Aviv

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An Italian man died and seven others were injured in a car-ramming attack in Tel Aviv, Israel , in what police claimed was a ‘terrorist attack’.

The coastal city’s police said a man barreled down the beachside walk in a white Kia car and collided with several pedestrians, including British and Italian tourists.

Footage on social media showed the car veering off the street and onto the promenade before flipping over onto the beach.

Police killed the driver after he allegedly pulled out a gun.

The Israeli authorities identified the victim of the ‘cowardly attack’ as Alessandro Parini, 30, from Rome, the Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said.

‘I express my firm condemnation of terrorism and condolences to families,’ he tweeted yesterday evening.

MDA Spokesperson Summary of terror attack in Tel Aviv: MDA EMTs and Paramedics have pronounced a 30 year old male deceased, and are evacuating 5 victims struck by a car, including 3 in moderate condition, and 2 in mild condition. All tourists. pic.twitter.com/EqRb3JSL1D — Magen David Adom (@Mdais) April 7, 2023

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed ‘deep sorrow’ and ‘solidarity to the victim’s family, to the injured, and solidarity with the State of Israel for the cowardly attack that hit him’, her office added.

Five British and Italian tourists were injured. A teenager, 17, suffered moderate wounds and two had light injuries, Magen David Adom, Israel’s national emergency service, said.

Among those injured also included a 74-year-old man.

Lord Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon said today: ‘I condemn yesterday’s attacks in the West Bank, killing two British-Israeli nationals and injuring one other, and in Tel Aviv where an Italian national was killed and British nationals were injured. My thoughts and prayers are with all those impacted.’

A police spokesman said ‘the terrorist was neutralised, it was a terror attack against civilians, a car ramming attack’.

The assailant was an Arab citizen of Israel, 45, from the northern town of Kafr Qasem, local media claimed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scrambled police and army reserves following the incident, his office said.

British Ambassador to Israel Neil Wigan said: ‘My thoughts are with those affected by another horrific terror attack last night in Tel Aviv, including one Italian tourist killed.

‘British people are amongst the injured. We are in touch with the hospital and will offer our support.’

It comes after two Israeli sisters – both holding British passports – were shot dead in the easternmost part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Friday.

Gunmen fired at the victims, in their 20s, before another vehicle rammed into them as they drove through the Jordan Valley.

Their mother, 48, was also seriously injured. The father, driving in a car behind them was unharmed during the incident.

Israeli forces claimed the shooting came from a Palestinian vehicle.

The family moved from London to Efrat, near the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, in 2005, the settlement’s mayor Oded Revivi said.

Both incidents capped off a tense week of violence across Israel and the West Bank, exasperated by an outbreak of fighting along the Israel-Lebanon border.

It was ignited when Israeli police attacked hundreds of worshipers at the Al-Aqṣā Mosque , the third-holiest site in Islam, in occupied east Jerusalem on Wednesday.

Some witnesses alleged the force used rubber-tipped bullets, stun grenades and tear gas. Footage showed police pushing Palestinian worshippers out of the compound to prevent them from praying.

Bakr Owais, 24, told Al Jazeera : ‘The army broke the upper windows of the mosque and began throwing stun grenades at us.

‘They made us lay on the ground and they hand cuffed us one by one and took us all out. They kept swearing at us during this time. It was very barbaric.’

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At least 400 Palestinians were arrested, a dozen sustained wounds and three were taken to hospital, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.

The raids, which continued into the morning, outraged Palestinians across the Middle East trying to mark the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The Arab League condemned the attack, with Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit saying per Al Jazeera : ‘The extremist approaches that control the policy of the Israeli government will lead to widespread confrontations with the Palestinians if they are not put to an end.’

Netanyahu said he is trying to calm the situation at the compound.

‘Israel is committed to maintaining freedom of worship, freedom of access to all religions and the status quo and will not allow violent extremists to change that,’ he said.

Israel carried out air raids in southern Lebanon in the early hours of Friday at what officials alleged were positions of the Palestinian group, Hamas.

This was in response to the 34 rockets fired from southern Lebanon the previous day, the Israeli Defence Forces tweeted.

Emergency services in Israel said three people were injured by the four rockets which landed across Israel’s northern border, including a 19-year-old man and a 60-year-old man.

Though, responsibility for the rockets has not been made, with Israeli military officials pointing fingers at branches of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. 

Hamas, a Palestinian militia in Gaza, however, denied any involvement while condemning the violent raids.

Analysts said the episode was the most serious escalation along the Israel-Lebanon border since the 2006 war.

Jerusalem has been a major flash point of violence, being revered by Jews, Muslims and Christians alike.

Israeli police have immense control over security in the city, giving the force power over who can enter the Al-Aqṣā Mosque compound.

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Italian tourist killed in Israel car-ramming attack

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Tourist killed in Israel car-ramming attack as tensions sour in

By Nathan Morley

Authorities in Israel say an Italian tourist has been killed and seven other people injured in a car-ramming attack in Tel Aviv.

The man killed was identified as Italian citizen Alessandro Parini. Israeli television said the wounded included three British nationals and one other Italian.

The attack came after two British-Israeli sisters were killed and their mother injured in a shooting in the West Bank.

A week of violence

It has been a week marred by violence in the region. On Friday, Israel’s armed forces struck targets linked to Palestinian militant group Hamas inside Lebanon and across the Gaza Strip. Israel blamed Hamas for launching the biggest single barrage from Israel’s northern neighbour in 17 years, which saw 34 rockets intercepted. In their response attack, the Israel Defense Forces said Hamas infrastructure was hit in southern Lebanon. Over the last week, the Al-Aqsa Mosque has witnessed violent clashes between Palestinian worshipers and the Israeli police. Earlier this week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan strongly condemned Israel’s raid on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

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‘Heinous massacre’: Israel’s attack on Rafah tent camp widely condemned

Qatar calls attack that killed at least 40 Palestinians a ‘grave violation of international laws’ and UN special rapporteur urges sanctions on Israel.

Several countries and global organisations have condemned the Israeli air attack on tents housing displaced people in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah that killed at least 40 Palestinians, including many children.

The Palestinian presidency on Monday accused Israel of deliberately targeting civilians, joining a chorus of worldwide condemnation following the attack.

“The perpetration of this heinous massacre by the Israeli occupation forces is a challenge to all international legitimacy resolutions,” the Palestinian presidency said in a statement, accusing Israeli forces of “deliberately targeting” the tents of displaced people.

In a statement on X, the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) said the images from Rafah are yet another testament that Gaza is “hell on earth”.

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Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri called the attack a “massacre”, holding the United States responsible for aiding Israel with weapons and money.

Israel’s top military prosecutor described the attack as “very grave” and said an investigation will be conducted. “The details of the incident are still under an investigation, which we are committed to conducting to the fullest extent,” Major-General Yifat Tomer Yerushalmi told a news conference, adding that the Israeli army “regrets any harm to non-combatants during the war”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that a “tragic mistake” had been made.

“Despite our utmost efforts not to harm innocent civilians, last night, there was a tragic mistake,” Netanyahu said in an address to Israel’s parliament. “We are investigating the incident and will obtain a conclusion because this is our policy.”

Palestinian witnesses and Al Jazeera’s fact-checking agency Sanad said the camp sheltering civilians in Rafah’s Tal as-Sultan area was deliberately targeted.

The Wafa news agency, citing the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), said the dead included women and children, with many “ burned alive ” inside their tents.

One of the residents who arrived at the Kuwaiti Hospital in Rafah said the “tents were melting and the people’s bodies are also melting” after the attack.

Here are some reactions from governments and other officials from around the world:

‘Deliberate bombardment’

• Qatar condemned the Rafah attack as a grave violation of international laws that will aggravate the humanitarian crisis in the besieged Gaza Strip. It said the attack could hinder mediation efforts to reach a ceasefire and hostage exchange deal, according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Qatar, alongside the US and Egypt, has been engaged in months of talks aimed at securing a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
• Egypt condemned the “deliberate bombardment”. In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on Israel to “implement the measures ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) concerning an immediate cessation of military operations” in Rafah.
• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country would do “everything possible” to hold “barbaric” Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to account over the deadly strikes. “We will do everything possible to hold these barbarians and murderers accountable who have nothing to do with humanity,” he said.
• Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said the bombing of Rafah was “one more day with innocent Palestinian civilians being killed”. He said the gravity of the attack “is even larger” because it comes after the ICJ order directing Israel to halt its operation in Rafah and the rest of Gaza.
• Ireland’s Foreign Minister Micheal Martin described the attack as “barbaric”. “One cannot bomb an area like that without shocking consequences in terms of innocent children and civilians. We would urge Israel to stop, to stop now, in terms of the military operation in Rafah.”
• The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Israel must abide by the ICJ ruling to stop its offensive in Rafah as EU foreign ministers met their Arab counterparts in Brussels hours after Israel’s deadly attack on Rafah.

Before the EU ministers’ meeting on Monday, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said, “International humanitarian law applies for all, also for Israel’s conduct of the war.”

• Jeremy Corbyn, the former leader of the United Kingdom’s Labour Party, labelled Israel’s bombing of the Rafah camp a “monstrous failure of humanity”. In a post on X, he said, “Palestinian children should wake up feeling excited to go to school and play with their friends. Instead, for those murdered in Rafah, their last moments on this earth were filled with unimaginable fear as bombs rained down on their tents.”

‘Children dismembered, burnt alive’

• In one of the strongest criticisms Italy has made so far, Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said the Israeli attacks were no longer justifiable. “There is an increasingly difficult situation, in which the Palestinian people are being squeezed without regard for the rights of innocent men, women and children who have nothing to do with Hamas and this can no longer be justified,” he said. “We are watching the situation with despair.”
• Jagmeet Singh, a Canadian legislator and leader of the New Democratic Party, posted on X: “The world is failing the people of Gaza. Canada is failing the people of Gaza.”
• US House Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat, urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “immediately halt” the assault on Rafah. “The horrific loss of innocent lives today with the bombing of a refugee camp underscores the moral urgency of stopping the Rafah campaign,” he said.
• Aida Touma-Sliman, a Palestinian citizen of Israel and member of the Israeli Knesset, denounced the Netanyahu government for its “madness and vindictiveness”.  Writing on X, Touma-Sliman said, “This bloody government refuses to obey all orders of the tribunal, and is taking the madness and vindictiveness to a new criminal level.”

• Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territory, described Israel’s attack on the tent camp in Rafah as “unacceptable”. In a post on X, she wrote, “The #GazaGenocide‌ will not easily end without external pressure: Israel must face sanctions, justice, suspension of agreements, trade, partnership and investments, as well as participation in int’l forums.”

‘Monstrous atrocity’

• Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the UN special rapporteur on the right to housing, called for action against Israel in the wake of its latest attack. Writing on X, he said, “Attacking women and children while they cower in their shelters in Rafah is a monstrous atrocity. We need concerted global action to stop Israel’s actions now.”
• Chris Gunness, former spokesperson for UNRWA, said the three judges at the pre-trial chamber at the International Criminal Court (ICC) “are as horrified as the rest of the world” about the Israeli attack on Rafah. “There is no exception to the Genocide Convention. There are no excuses. This is the crime of crimes,” he said.
• In a statement on X, charity Doctors Without Borders (known by its French initials MSF) said it was “horrified” by the attack, which “shows once again that nowhere is safe.” It added: “We continue to call for an immediate and sustained ceasefire in Gaza.”
• ActionAid humanitarian group says it was “outraged and heartbroken” by the “inhumane, barbaric” attack on the Rafah camp. “The images coming from our partners of burned bodies are a scar on the face of humanity and the global community, which so far has failed to protect the people of Gaza,” it says, adding that one of its colleagues narrowly escaped, having left the shelter just a day before the attack.
• Triestino Mariniello, a  lawyer with the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCGR), said the attack on a designated safe zone shows that Israel is still ignoring the ICJ. “These horrible images that arrive from Rafah show that the Israeli authorities are completely disregarding the binding, provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice.”
• In her post on X, Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of the US-based think tank DAWN, asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken: “Does burning people in refugee tents count as a ‘serious offensive that fails to protect civilians’ in Rafah?”
• The African Union Commission under Moussa Mahamat Faki, said the ICJ order must be “urgently enforced if global order is to prevail”. He wrote in X: “With horrific overnight airstrikes killing mostly Palestinian women & children trapped in a displacement camp in Rafah, the State of Israel continues to violate international law with impunity and in contempt of an ICJ ruling two days ago ordering an end to its military action in Rafah.”

French President Emmanuel Macron said he was “outraged”. “These operations must stop. There are no safe areas in Rafah for Palestinian civilians,” he said on X.

• Saudi Arabia said it “condemns in the strongest terms the continued massacres” carried out by Israeli forces in Gaza. It “affirmed its categorical rejection of the continued flagrant violations by the Israeli occupation forces of all international and humanitarian resolutions, laws, and norms”.
• The United Arab Emirates also “denounced the ongoing Israeli violations in the Gaza Strip”, and called for an immediate ceasefire.

The United States urged Israel to take every precaution to protect civilians after “devastating images” from Rafah. A National Security Council spokesperson said the US is “actively engaging the IDF and partners on the ground to assess what happened, and understand that the IDF is conducting an investigation”.

Women and children of Gaza are killed less frequently as war’s toll rises, AP data analysis finds

An Associated Press analysis of Gaza Health Ministry data finds the proportion of Palestinian women and children being killed in the Israel-Hamas war appears to have declined sharply

JERUSALEM -- The proportion of Palestinian women and children being killed in the Israel-Hamas war appears to have declined sharply, an Associated Press analysis of Gaza Health Ministry data has found, a trend that both coincides with Israel’s changing battlefield tactics and contradicts the ministry’s own public statements.

The trend is significant because the death rate for women and children is the best available proxy for civilian casualties in one of the 21st century’s most destructive conflicts . In October, when the war began, it was above 60%. For the month of April, it was below 40%. Yet the shift went unnoticed for months by the U.N. and much of the media, and the Hamas-linked Health Ministry has made no effort to set the record straight.

Israel faces heavy international criticism over unprecedented levels of civilian casualties in Gaza and questions about whether it has done enough to prevent them in an 8-month-old war that shows no sign of ending. Two recent airstrikes in Gaza killed dozens of civilians.

The AP analysis highlights facts that have been overlooked and could help inform the public debate, said Gabriel Epstein, a research assistant at the Washington Institute for Near East policy who has also studied the Health Ministry data.

The declining impact on women and children -- as well as a drop in the overall death rate -- are “definitely due to a change in the way the IDF is acting right now,” Epstein said, using an acronym for the Israeli army. “That’s an easy conclusion, but I don’t think it’s been made enough.”

Omar Shakir, the Israel and Palestine director for Human Rights Watch, said his group has always found the Health Ministry’s numbers to be “generally reliable” because it has direct access to hospitals and morgues.

Whatever the reason for fewer women and child being killed, Shakir said, in the grand scheme, the trend pales when compared with the war’s overall devastation. “The death toll may be an undercount,” he added, because many bodies are still under rubble and the war has made it difficult for the Health Ministry to comprehensively gather data.

When Israel first responded to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack , which killed some 1,200 people, it launched an intense aerial bombardment on the densely populated Gaza Strip. Israel said its goal was to destroy Hamas positions, and the barrage cleared the way for tens of thousands of ground troops, backed by tanks and artillery.

The Gaza death toll rose quickly and by the end of October women and people 17 and younger accounted for 64% of the 6,745 killed who were fully identified by the Health Ministry.

After marching across most of Gaza and saying it had achieved many key objectives, Israel then began withdrawing most of its ground forces. It reduced the frequency of aerial bombings and has focused in recent months on smaller drone strikes and limited ground operations.

As the intensity of fighting has scaled back, the death toll has continued to rise, but at a slower rate – and with seemingly fewer civilians caught in the crossfire. In April, women and children made up 38% of the newly and fully identified deaths, the Health Ministry’s most recent data shows.

“Historically, airstrikes (kill) a higher ratio of women and children compared to ground operations,” said Larry Lewis, an expert on the civilian impacts of war at CNA, a nonprofit research group in Washington. The findings of the AP analysis “make sense,” he said.

Another sign that Israel softened its bombing campaign: Beginning in January, there was a sharp slowdown in “new damage” to buildings in Gaza, according to Corey Scher, a satellite mapping expert at City University of New York who has monitored buildings damaged or destroyed since the war began.

The Health Ministry announces a new death toll for the war nearly every day. It also has periodically released the underlying data behind this figure, including detailed lists of the dead.

The AP’s analysis looked at these lists, which were shared on social media in late October, early January, late March, and the end of April. Each list includes the names of people whose deaths were attributable to the war, along with other identifying details.

The daily death tolls, however, are provided without supporting data. In February, ministry officials said 75% of the dead were women and children – a level that was never confirmed in the detailed reports. And as recently as March, the ministry’s daily reports claimed that 72% of the dead were women and children, even as underlying data clearly showed the percentage was well below that.

Israeli leaders have pointed to such inconsistencies as evidence that the ministry, which is led by medical professionals but reports to Gaza’s Hamas government, is inflating the figures for political gain.

Experts say the reality is more complicated, given the scale of devastation that has overwhelmed and badly damaged Gaza’s hospital system.

Lewis said while the “beleaguered” Health Ministry has come under heavy scrutiny, Israel has yet to provide credible alternative data. He called on Israel to “put out your numbers.”

The true toll in Gaza could have serious repercussions. Two international courts in the Hague are examining accusations that Israel has committed war crimes and genocide against Palestinians – allegations it adamantly denies.

Israel has opened a potentially devastating new phase of the war in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where an estimated 100,000 civilians remain even after mass evacuations. How Israel mitigates civilian deaths there will be closely watched.

Israeli airstrikes in Rafah last month set off a fire that killed dozens of people, and on Thursday an airstrike on a school-turned-shelter in central Gaza killed at least 33 people, including 12 women and children, local health officials said.

Israel says it has tried to avoid civilian casualties throughout the war, including by issuing mass evacuation orders ahead of intense military operations that have displaced some 80% of Gaza’s population. It also accuses Hamas of intentionally putting civilians in harm’s way as human shields.

The U.N. secretary-general plans to list Israel and Hamas as violating the rights and protection of children in armed conflict in an upcoming annual report to the Security Council.

The fate of women and children is an important indicator of civilian casualties because the Health Ministry does not break out combatant deaths. But it’s not a perfect indicator: Many civilian men have died, and some older teenagers may be involved in the fighting.

The ministry said publicly on April 30 that 34,622 had died in the war. The AP analysis was based on the 22,961 individuals fully identified at the time by the Health Ministry with names, genders, ages, and Israeli-issued identification numbers.

The ministry says 9,940 of the dead – 29% of its April 30 total – were not listed in the data because they remain “unidentified.” These include bodies not claimed by families, decomposed beyond recognition or whose records were lost in Israeli raids on hospitals.

An additional 1,699 records in the ministry’s April data were incomplete and 22 were duplicates; they were excluded from AP’s analysis.

Among those fully identified, the records show a steady decline in the overall proportion of women and children who have been killed: from 64% in late October, to 62% as of early January, to 57% by the end of March, to 54% by the end of April.

Yet throughout the war, the ministry has claimed that roughly two-thirds of the dead were women and children. This figure has been repeated by international organizations and many in the foreign media, including the AP.

The Health Ministry says it has gone to great lengths to accurately compile information but that its ability to count and identify the dead has been greatly hampered by the war. The fighting has crippled the Gaza health system, knocking out two-thirds of the territory’s 36 hospitals, closing morgues and hampering the work of facilities still functioning.

Dr. Moatasem Salah, director of the ministry’s emergency center, rejected Israeli assertions that his ministry has intentionally inflated or manipulated the death toll.

“This shows disrespect to the humanity for any person who exists here,” he said. “We are not numbers … These are all human souls.”

He insisted that 70% of those killed have been women and children and said the overall death toll is much higher than what has been reported because thousands of people remain missing, are believed to be buried in rubble, or their deaths were not reported by their families.

To be sure, this war’s death toll is the highest of any previous Israel-Palestinian conflict. But Israeli leaders say the international media and United Nations have cited Palestinian figures without a critical eye.

Israel last month angrily criticized the U.N.’s use of data from Hamas’ media office – a propaganda arm of the militant group – that reported a larger number of women and children killed. The U.N. later lowered its number in line with Health Ministry figures.

Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, lashed out on the social platform X: “Anyone who relies on fake data from a terrorist organization in order to promote blood libels against Israel is antisemitic and supports terrorism.”

AP’s examination of the reports found flaws in the Palestinian record keeping. As Gaza’s hospital system collapsed in December and January, the ministry began relying on hard-to-verify “media reports” to register new deaths. Its March report included 531 individuals who were counted twice, and many deaths were self-reported by families, instead of health officials.

Epstein, the Washington Institute researcher, said using different data-collection methodologies and then combining all the numbers gives an inaccurate picture.

“That’s probably the biggest problem,” he said, adding that he was surprised there hadn’t been more scrutiny.

The number of Hamas militants killed in the fighting is also unclear. Hamas has closely guarded this information, though Khalil al-Hayya, a top Hamas official, told the AP in late April that the group had lost no more than 20% of its fighters. That would amount to roughly 6,000 fighters based on Israeli pre-war estimates.

The Israeli military has not challenged the overall death toll released by the Palestinian ministry. But it says the number of dead militants is much higher at roughly 15,000 – or over 40% of all the dead. It has provided no evidence to support the claim, and declined to comment for this story.

Shlomo Mofaz, director of Israel’s Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, said such estimates are typically based on body counts, battlefield intelligence and the interrogations of captured Hamas commanders.

Mofaz, a former Israeli intelligence officer, said his researchers are skeptical of the Palestinian data.

In previous conflicts, he said his researchers found numerous “inconsistencies,” such as including natural deaths from disease or car accidents among the war casualties. He expects that to be the case this time as well. The large number of unidentified dead raises further questions, he said.

Michael Spagat, a London-based economics professor who chairs the board of Every Casualty Counts, a nonprofit that tracks armed conflicts, said he continues to trust the Health Ministry and believes it is doing its best in difficult circumstances.

“I think (the data) becomes increasingly flawed,” he said. But, he added, “the flaws don’t necessarily change the overall picture.”

Fenn contributed from New York. AP correspondents Julia Frankel in Jerusalem, Najib Jobain in Cairo and Lujain Jo in Beirut, Lebanon, also contributed to this report.

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UN will list Israel and Hamas as violators of the rights and protection of children in armed conflict

The Associated Press

June 7, 2024, 2:33 PM

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UNITED NATIONS (AP) — UN will list Israel and Hamas as violators of the rights and protection of children in armed conflict.

Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

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Italian tourist killed, others hurt in suspected car ramming attack in Tel Aviv

The 30-year-old Italian man was among a group of Italian and British citizens who were hit by a car late on Friday.

An Italian tourist was killed and seven other people wounded in a suspected car ramming attack near a beach in Tel Aviv, Israeli authorities say.

Israel’s rescue service said a 74-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl were receiving medical treatment for mild to moderate injuries.

Police said they shot and killed the driver of the car and identified him as a 45-year-old Palestinian citizen of Israel from the village of Kafr Qassem.

A video circulating on social media showed the car hurtling along a sidewalk for several hundred metres before crashing out of control.

In a separate incident, two British-Israeli women were shot to death near a settlement in the occupied West Bank.

The two women in their 20s, who were sisters, were killed while their 45-year-old was seriously wounded, Israeli and British officials said.

The family lived in the Efrat settlement, near the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, said Oded Revivi, the settlement’s mayor.

Medics said they dragged the unconscious women from the smashed car, which appeared to have been pushed off the road.

No groups claimed responsibility for either attack. But the Hamas militant group that rules Gaza praised both incidents as retaliation for Israeli raids earlier this week on the Al-Aqsa mosque — the third-holiest site in Islam.

On Tuesday, police arrested and beat hundreds of Palestinians there, who responded by hurling rocks and firecrackers at officers.

That followed days of violence and unrest in Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site, the compound of the Al-Aqsa mosque in the Old City.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was calling up all reserve forces in Israel’s border police “to confront the terror attacks”.

The Hamas militant group that rules Gaza praised the attack in Tel Aviv as a response to Israel’s “crimes against Al-Aqsa Mosque and worshippers”.

Israeli strikes came in retaliation for a major barrage of rockets from Lebanon the day before, after Israeli police raids at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem spiralled into unrest and sparked outrage across the Arab world.

Although the Israeli military was quick to emphasise that its warplanes struck sites belonging to only Palestinian militant groups, the barrage risks drawing in Israel’s bitter foe Hezbollah, which holds sway over much of southern Lebanon and has in the past portrayed itself as a defender of the Palestinians and the contested city of Jerusalem.

Other strikes hit a small bridge and power transformer in the nearby town of Maaliya and damaged an irrigation system providing water to orchards in the area.

The Israeli military said it was boosting infantry and artillery forces in a defensive move “to prepare for all possible scenarios”.

A Palestinian official said Egyptian security officials were working with Hamas and Israel to de-escalate the situation.

Later on Friday, there were signs that both sides were trying to keep the hostilities in check. Fighting on Israel’s northern and southern borders subsided after dawn, and midday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque passed peacefully after an early flashpoint.

An hour later, according to videos, people leaving the prayers staged a vast protest on the limestone courtyard, with Palestinians raising their fists and shouting in support of Hamas rocket fire, and Israeli police forced their way into the compound.

Police did not comment on the earlier beatings, but said security forces entered the compound after prayers in response to “masked suspects” who threw rocks towards officers at one of the gates.

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Families of oct. 7 hostages at nyc gathering tell israeli government: bring them home first — then destroy hamas.

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More than 50 family members of Israeli hostages who gathered in New York on Tuesday had one message for the Israeli government: sign the cease-fire deal and free the remaining captives in Gaza — then destroy Hamas.

“The deal must be signed today right now,” said Alon Nimrodi, 53, whose son 19-year-old Tamir was abducted at the Eretz crossing base unarmed and without his glasses.

The families, who were attending a dinner sponsored by New York-based Israeli power couple Natalie Hister Ostad and Edward Ostad at Park East Synagogue on the Upper East Side, believe “time is running out” to bring their loved ones home alive.

The IDF has confirmed the deaths of 41 of the 124 remaining hostages in Gaza, with only 83 believed to still be alive.

The deal — which was made public by President Biden last week — would see Hamas return all hostages in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, followed by a permanent cease-fire.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Hamas must be destroyed before Israel can agree to end the war.

Hard-right members of Netanyahu’s governing coalition are also threatening to withdraw their support if he signs on

However, Nimrodi doesn’t believe that the goal of returning the hostages is mutually exclusive with Israel’s other war aim of destroying Hamas — because he believes even if Israel agrees to a cease-fire, the terrorist group will inevitably violate it.

“We know who we’re dealing with, they’re liars,” Nimrodi said. ” I can’t say animals because it’s a shame for the animals.”

“Sign the deal, bring them home now, tomorrow we will blow [Hamas] away.”

Moshe Or, 31, whose brother Avinatan Or who was kidnapped along with his girlfriend Noa Argamani at the Nova music festival on October 7, says he is “cynical” that a deal can be reached.

“Hamas doesn’t have a reason to agree to a deal, they don’t care about the misery of their people they’d rather fight the Jews.

“They know that the international community will force Israel to stop the war in a matter of weeks, so they can just hold their breath and wait,” Or said.

“I used to be a very optimistic person, but these last few months have taught me a very bad lesson about life.”

Or said the last time he saw his brother was the Tuesday before the Oct. 7 “black Shabbat” when he was taken captive, where they got together to celebrate his daughter’s third birthday.

“Every day that passes is risky,” Or said. “I want my brother back home.”

Razi Sharabi, 52, said that a permanent cease-fire can be reached but first the terrorist group needs to release the women and wounded captives.

Sharabi’s niece, Daniela Gilboa, was seen in a grisly abduction video from Nahal Oz base that was released on May 22.

“Israel has nothing to look for in Gaza except the hostages. If they’re released we will go,” Sharabi said.

“I’m not talking about destroying Hamas.”

Sharabi believes his niece is somewhere in Gaza’s elaborate network of tunnels. He recalled watching the blood-chilling video of her capture.

“When the Hamas terrorist told her how beautiful she is and how he can’t wait to make her his slave, that is when I punched the screen,” he said.

Sharon Sharabi, 49, whose brothers Eli and Yossi were kidnapped October 7, worries that “time is running out” after the Israeli military announced Monday that Hamas killed four more hostages in Gaza.

Yossi was killed in Gaza, possibly by an IDF strike , but Eli is believed to be alive. Eli’s entire family was killed on October 7.

“My brother doesn’t know yet but there’s no one left to hug.”

Agreeing to a cease-fire without destroying Hamas is “a very big price,” Sharabi says, but he’s adamant that Israel take “all opportunities” to bring the hostages home.

“It’s the way of Torah.”

Gilad Korngold, 63, who had seven family members abducted on Oct. 7 including his 3-year-old granddaughter, said Biden should “take a baseball bat and hit everyone in the head and finish this” in reference to the negotiations between Israel and Hamas.

“[Netanyahu] can’t destroy Hamas for years,” Korngold told the Post.

“The price doesn’t matter, all hostages need to come home as quickly as possible and then we can deal with the consequences,” said Shaaban El Said, an Arab Israeli whose mentally ill son has been held captive by Hamas since 2015 after he wandered into Gaza during a psychotic episode.

Supporters of the long-suffering families echoed their calls for their loved ones to return home.

“What do you say to a parent whose child has been held in Gaza for 8 months?” asked Cantor Benny Rosnitzky of Park East Synagogue.

Hister Ostad said it was her “duty” to host these families.

“It was very important to me that these families will see how big is the support of the Jewish community in New York.”

“We look forward to celebrating with them when all the hostages are home in their arms.”

The event came to an emotional conclusion as the hostage families gathered around a piano for an impromptu group rendition of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody in which Freddie Mercury’s lyrics appeared to take on a somber new meaning.

“Mama, didn’t mean to make you cry,” they belted out, “If I’m not back again this time tomorrow carry on, carry on.”

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Rights group report says Israel has hit residential buildings in Lebanon with white phosphorous

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A global human rights group accused Israel of using white phosphorus incendiary shells on residential buildings in at least five towns and villages in conflict-hit southern Lebanon , possibly harming civilians and violating international law, in a report published Wednesday.

Human Rights Watch said in its report that there was no evidence of burn injuries due to white phosphorus in Lebanon, but that researchers had “heard accounts indicating possible respiratory damage.”

Human rights advocates say it’s a crime under international law to fire the controversial munitions into populated areas.

The white-hot chemical substance can set buildings on fire and burn human flesh down to the bone. Survivors are at risk of infections and organ or respiratory failure, even if their burns are small.

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7 Lebanese and an Israeli killed in an exchange of fire along the Lebanon-Israel border

An Israeli airstrike on a paramedics center linked to a Lebanese Sunni Muslim group in south Lebanon has killed seven of its members.

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The Israeli military told the Associated Press that it upholds international law regarding munitions and the use of white phosphorus, using the chemical only as a smokescreen, not to target civilians. “IDF [Israel Defense Forces] procedures require that such shells are not used in densely populated areas, subject to certain exceptions,” the statement added.

The Human Rights Watch report includes interviews with eight residents in conflict-stricken southern Lebanon, and the group says it has verified and geolocated images from almost 47 photos and videos that show white phosphorus shells landing on residential buildings in five Lebanese border towns and villages.

The Lebanese Health Ministry says at least 173 people have required medical care after exposure to white phosphorus.

The researchers found that the incendiaries were used in residential areas in Kfar Kila, Mays al-Jabal, Boustan, Markaba and Aita al-Shaab, towns that are among the hardest-hit in eight months of fighting.

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The New York-based rights group alongside Amnesty International also accused Israel of using white phosphorus in residential areas in October 2023, less than a month after clashes began between the Israeli military and the powerful Hezbollah group along the southern Lebanon-Israel border, a day after the Israel-Hamas war broke out on Oct. 7.

In its report, Human Rights Watch called on the Lebanese government to allow the International Criminal Court to investigate and prosecute “grave international crimes” within Lebanon since October 2023.

“Israel’s recent use of white phosphorus in Lebanon should motivate other countries to take immediate action toward this goal,” said the group’s Lebanon researcher, Ramzi Kaiss.

More 400 people have been killed in Lebanon, most of them fighters, but more than 70 have been civilians or other noncombatants.

In Israel, 15 soldiers and 10 civilians have been killed since October. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced on both sides of the border.

Chehayeb writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv contributed to this report.

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