An Israeli strike hit northern Gaza killing at least 30 people in Beit Lahiya on Sunday after another strike killed around 12 people in Central Gaza. Lebanon suffered a rare airstrike from Israel that rocked central Beirut and killed Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif.
The excerpts of a book that is yet to be released, reveals that Pope Francis has called for an investigation to determine if Israel's attacks in Gaza constitute genocide.
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Israeli Strike Kills 30 In Northern Gaza & 12 In Central Gaza
The director of a hospital in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza told The Associated Press that the Israeli strike killed at least 30 people.
Hosam Abu Safiya with Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya also said there were dozens of wounded, and others likely were still under the rubble.
Fleeing residents told the news agency AP that residential houses were hit.
Meanwhile, Israeli strikes killed six people in Nuseirat and four in Bureij, two built-up refugee camps in central Gaza dating back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation.
Two people were killed in a strike on Gaza's main north-south highway, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah, which received all 12 bodies.
An Israeli military statement earlier Sunday said it conducted several strikes on “terrorist targets” in Beit Lahiya. It said efforts to evacuate the civilian population from the “active war zone” there continued.
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Israeli Strike Kills Hezbollah Spokesman In Central Beirut
An official of Hezbollah told the media that an Israeli airstrike on central Beirut killed Hezbollah's chief spokesman on Sunday.
Mohammed Afif, the head of media relations for Hezbollah, was inside the Arab socialist Baath party's office in central Beirut when the airstrike killed him.
Afif had been especially visible after all-out war erupted between Israel and Hezbollah in September and the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli airstrike.
There was no Israeli evacuation warning before the strike near a busy intersection in central Beirut, reported AP.
Pope Francis calls for investigation to determine if Israel's attacks in Gaza constitute 'genocide'
Pope Francis has called for an investigation to determine if Israel's attacks in Gaza constitute genocide, according to excerpts released on Sunday from an upcoming new book ahead of the pontiff's jubilee year.
Reportedly, the book excerpts published Sunday by the Italian daily La Stampa quoted Pope Francis saying, “According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide."
“We should investigate carefully to determine whether it fits into the technical definition formulated by jurists and international bodies,” he added.
This is the first time that Francis has openly urged for an investigation of genocide allegations over Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip. In September, he said Israel's attacks in Gaza and Lebanon have been “immoral” and disproportionate, and that its military has gone beyond the rules of war.
Last year, Francis met separately with relatives of Israeli hostages in Gaza and Palestinians living through the war and set off a firestorm by using words that Vatican diplomats usually avoid: “terrorism” and, according to the Palestinians, “genocide”.
3 Arrested For Attacks On Israeli PM Netanyahu's House
Israeli police arrested three suspects after two flares were fired overnight at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's private residence in the coastal city of Caesarea.
Netanyahu and his family were not there, authorities said. A drone launched by Hezbollah struck the residence last month, also when Netanyahu and his family were away.
The police did not provide details about the suspects, but officials pointed to domestic political critics of Netanyahu. Israel's largely ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, warned against “an escalation of the violence in the public sphere.”
