Israeli forces killed 5 Palestinians, injured 37 in Gaza & carried out 20 airstrikes in Lebanon
By Abdul Adil
(AA, Al Jazeera, Wafa, NNA, The Muslim News):
GAZA
Five more Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip on Sunday despite an ongoing ceasefire deal, pushing the overall death toll from Israel’s genocidal war since October 2023 to 48,458, the Health Ministry said on Sunday.
A ministry statement said that 37 more people were injured, taking the number of the injured to 111,897 in the Israeli onslaught.
“Many victims are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” the ministry said.
The Government Media Office updated its death toll to at least 61,709, saying thousands of Palestinians missing under the rubble are presumed dead.
A ceasefire agreement has been in place in Gaza since Jan. 19, halting the Israeli war that has caused widespread destruction and left the Palestinian enclave in ruins.
Six bakeries in Gaza’s Khan Younis suspend operations because of fuel shortages as Israel keeps up its blockade on all humanitarian relief entering the Strip.
WEST BANK
The Israeli army rounded up at least 16 more Palestinians in fresh military raids in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, according to Palestinian media.
In Ramallah, six Palestinians were arrested during the raids that targeted the towns of Silwad and Deir Qaddis, the official news agency Wafa reported.
Israeli army forces also raided several homes in Ramallah city and its surrounding towns, arresting at least seven people, Wafa said.
Three more people were arrested in a military raid in the Al-Far’a refugee camp in Tubas.
Tension has been running high across the West Bank, where at least 930 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 7,000 injured in attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers since
the start of the onslaught on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
In addition, Israeli tanks entered areas in and around the village of Wadi Burqin in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli tanks fired smoke bombs at vehicles and civilians, sources said.
Footage published on local media outlets and verified by Al Jazeera shows an Israeli military convoy moving along a road near Jenin as smoke billows from the roadside.
Several Palestinian residents suffocated from tear gas on Sunday evening during an Israeli military raid on the town of Qusra, south of Nablus, according to local sources
Sources reported that Israeli forces stormed Qusra from the northern side while firing a heavy barrage of tear gas canisters and sound bombs, leading to the suffocation of several citizens.
The town is subjected to daily, repeated raids by Israeli forces, during which live ammunition, tear gas canisters, and sound bombs are continuously fired.
Israeli settlers Sunday chased shepherds in the Ein Al-Auja community, north of Jericho.
Hassan Malihat, the general supervisor of the Al-Baidar Organization for the Defense of Bedouin Rights, told WAFA that a number of settlers chased the shepherds within the vicinity of the community, to prevent them from grazing in the areas surrounding them.
They roamed between the homes of the residents, causing panic among the citizens, especially children and the elderly, which led to the dispersion of the sheep and inflicting losses on the livestock.
He noted that the settlers used horses and vehicles in the pursuit, in a new attack targeting the Bedouins in the area.
A Palestinian young man was injured today after being struck in the head by a tear gas canister during an Israeli military raid on the town of Al-Ram, located north of occupied Jerusalem.
Local sources reported to WAFA that Israeli forces stormed the town while firing stun grenades and toxic tear gas canisters into residential areas. The young man was hit directly in the head by a gas canister while he was present at a car exhibition in the area. He was immediately transferred to a hospital for medical treatment.
Al Aqsa Mosque raids by Israelis
Illegal Israeli settlers stormed the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Mosque while Israeli troops disabled loudspeakers in the Marwani prayer hall.
There have been daily incursions by hundreds of Israeli settlers into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound – Islam’s third-holiest site – during the holy month of Ramadan.
Israeli authorities have also placed severe restrictions on Palestinians travelling to the compound from the occupied West Bank.
Settlers are Israeli citizens who live illegally on private Palestinian land in the West Bank.
LEBANON
Israeli warplanes carried out more than 20 airstrikes Saturday evening on areas in southern Lebanon despite Tel Aviv having agreed to a ceasefire.
“Israeli warplanes launched a wide-scale aerial assault on valleys and the outskirts of towns with more than 20 airstrikes,” according to Lebanon’s National News Agency.
The agency has yet to report any casualties or property damage.
The agency reported that warplanes carried out two strikes on the Maris’a area, located between the towns of Al-Babliyah and Zrariyeh, as well as two more strikes on Wadi Al-Zaghareen.
It added that strikes also targeted the Berghoz area, causing a crater on the road leading to Western Bekaa, as well as Tebna Bissariyeh and Tefahta road, which was cut off due to the bombing.
The National News Agency said strikes also hit the outskirts of Beit Yahoun, Wadi Maryameen, Aita Al-Shaab forest, and Al-Hamdaniyah.
Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jews forced their way into Lebanese territory under army protection to pray at a gravesite they claim belongs to a Jewish scholar, Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Sunday.
The newspaper said the incursion took place early Friday, in the first such incident since the outbreak of fighting between the Israeli army and Lebanese group Hezbollah in October 2023.
Haaretz said ultra-Orthodox Jews, or Haredi, believe that the tomb belongs to Rabbi Ashi.
On Friday, the Lebanese army denounced Israel’s breach of the country’s sovereignty by escorting Jewish settlers into a site in southern Lebanon, calling it a “violation of international resolutions and the recent ceasefire agreement.”
Haredi Jews make up about 13% of Israel’s population of approximately 10 million and do not serve in the military, instead dedicating their lives to studying the Torah.
A fragile ceasefire has been in place in Lebanon since Nov. 27, ending months of cross-border warfare between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah group that escalated into a full-scale conflict last September.
Lebanese authorities have reported nearly 1,100 Israeli violations of the ceasefire, including the deaths of at least 84 people and injuries to more than 280 others.
Under the ceasefire deal, Israel was supposed to fully withdraw from southern Lebanon by Jan. 26, but the deadline was extended to Feb. 18 after Israel refused to comply. It still maintains a military presence at five border outposts.
[Photo: Members and supporters of Hezbollah attend the funeral ceremony organized for 25 Hezbollah members who were killed by Israel before the ceasefire, in Kfar Kila, Lebanon on March 9, 2025. Photojournalist: Houssam Shbaro/AA]
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