Israel’s military carries out strikes in Lebanon and Gaza, killing dozens of people

By HUSSEIN MALLA BASSEM MROUE and WAFAA SHURAFA Associated Press SIDON Lebanon AP The Israeli military carried out multiple barrages of airstrikes in southern Lebanon Wednesday on what it reported were Hezbollah weapons storage facilities after a drone strike earlier in the day killed one person and wounded several others including students on a bus The new wave of strikes came as tensions between Israel and fighters are escalating An airstrike Tuesday night killed people in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh the deadliest of Israeli attacks since a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war a year ago Meanwhile hospitals in Gaza mentioned Israeli strikes killed at least Palestinians Palestinian rescue workers collect body remains at the scene where an Israeli strike on Tuesday night hit the Ein el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in the southern port city of Sidon Lebanon Wednesday Nov AP Photo Mohammed Zaatari A Palestinian rescue worker checks cars that were damaged in an Israeli strike on Tuesday night at the Ein el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in the southern port city of Sidon Lebanon Wednesday Nov AP Photo Mohammed Zaatari Palestinian rescue workers collect body remains at the scene where an Israeli strike on Tuesday night hit the Ein el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in the southern port city of Sidon Lebanon Wednesday Nov AP Photo Mohammed Zaatari Show Caption of Palestinian rescue workers collect body remains at the scene where an Israeli strike on Tuesday night hit the Ein el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in the southern port city of Sidon Lebanon Wednesday Nov AP Photo Mohammed Zaatari Expand Israel alleges Hezbollah is regrouping The Israeli military warned Wednesday afternoon it would strike targets in several villages in southern Lebanon describing them as Hezbollah infrastructure and called on people to move away from the locations More than an hour later the strikes began in the villages of Shehour and Deir Kifa There was no immediate word on casualties Israel s military announced Hezbollah was working to reestablish itself and rebuild its limit in southern Lebanon without providing evidence It explained the weapons facilities targeted were embedded among civilians and violated understandings between Israel and Lebanon Israel agreed to a ceasefire and withdraw from southern Lebanon last year and Lebanon agreed to quell Hezbollah activity in the area Earlier Wednesday an Israeli airstrike on a car in the southern Lebanese village of Tiri killed one person and wounded including students aboard a nearby bus the Lebanese Vitality Ministry and state media announced State-run National News Agency stated the school bus happened to be passing near the car that was hit The bus driver and several students were wounded the analysis disclosed The Israeli military later disclosed it killed a Hezbollah operative in the drone strike Related Articles With an eye on Russia EU wants to make it easier to deploy tanks and troops at short notice Indonesia raises alert for Mount Semeru volcano to the highest level after a series of eruptions In the modern day in History November Edsel era ends at Ford families push back at Saudi prince over bin Laden blame Venice s newest marvel is a wild acrobatic dolphin His refusal to leave puts him in danger In Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp just outside the port city of Sidon life appeared normal Wednesday but Lebanese personnel prevented journalists from entering At the scene of the strike paramedics searched for human remains around a wall that was stained with blood Several cars were burnt and broken glass and debris littered the ground The Israeli military declared it struck a Hamas training compound that was being used to prepare an attack against Israel and its army It added that the Israeli army would continue to act against Hamas wherever it operates Hamas condemned the attack and denied in a comment that the sports playground that was hit was its training compound Palestinian factions in Lebanon s refugee camps earlier this year began handing over their weapons to the Lebanese state The leadership has mentioned that it will also work on disarming Hezbollah but Hezbollah has rejected it as long as Israel continues to occupy several hills along the dividing line and carries out almost daily strikes The U S has in recent weeks increased pressure on Lebanon to work harder on disarming Hezbollah and canceled a planned trip to Washington this week by Lebanese army commander Gen Rudolph Haikal A senior Lebanese army officer explained The Associated Press that U S authorities were angered by an army announcement on Sunday that blamed Israel for destabilizing Lebanon and blocking the Lebanese military deployment in south Lebanon The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn t authorized to speak publicly The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began Oct a day after Hamas attacked southern Israel after Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel in solidarity with Hamas Israel launched a widespread bombardment of Lebanon two months ago that severely weakened Hezbollah followed by a ground invasion That war the the majority current of several conflicts involving Hezbollah over the past four decades killed more than people in Lebanon including hundreds of civilians and caused an estimated billion worth of destruction according to the World Bank In Israel people died including soldiers Israeli strikes kill in Gaza Hospitals in Gaza noted at least Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes Wednesday on both sides of the yellow line established in last month s ceasefire The boundary splits the enclave in two leaving the frontier zone under Israeli military control while the area beyond it is meant to serve as a safe zone Functionaries at al-Ahli Shifa Nasser and Kuwaiti hospitals communicated they received the bodies of those killed from Gaza City Khan Younis and the Muwasi area the southern Gaza displacement camp An Israeli strike also killed one person in Shijaiyah a Gaza City neighborhood outside the safe zone where Israeli forces remain deployed The Israeli military mentioned its strikes responded to fighters who had opened fire on Israeli forces in Khan Younis earlier in the day It explained no soldiers were killed Israeli strikes have decreased since the ceasefire agreement took effect on Oct according to Gaza s Fitness Ministry though they have not stopped entirely The ministry which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants has communicated deaths since the truce began an average of more than seven per day Each side has accused the other of violating its terms which include increasing the flow of aid into Gaza and returning hostages dead or alive to Israel The deaths are among the more than Palestinians killed since Israel launched its sweeping offensive more than two years ago in response to Hamas-led fighters abducting people and killing around people mostly civilians in the Oct attack that triggered the war Gaza s Medical Ministry part of the Hamas-run governing body and staffed by curative professionals maintains detailed records seen as a reliable estimate by the U N and several independent experts Mroue released from Beirut Shurafa released from Deir al-Balah Gaza Strip Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv Israel contributed to this analysis