Al Jazeera :
After targeting UN peacekeepers, Israel is now threatening to attack ambulances in southern Lebanon.
Israeli attacks and injury of UNIFIL peacekeepers in southern Lebanon over the past two days have been condemned as “unjustifiable” by France, Italy, Spain and other countries.
At least 22 people killed in an Israeli strike on the Jabalia refugee camp in north Gaza that a witness described as being like a “strong earthquake”.
In Gaza, at least 42,175 people have been killed and 98,336 wounded in Israeli attacks since October 2023. In Israel, at least 1,139 people were killed on October 7, 2023, and more than 200 people were taken captive.
The Israeli army has threatened to hit ambulances in southern Lebanon, claiming they are being misused by Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, and also ordered more villages to evacuate.
The warning came after Israeli forces hit positions of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), injuring peacekeepers.
Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee on Saturday alleged that “Hezbollah elements are using ambulances to transport fighters and arms.” He did not provide any proof of his accusation.
“We call on medical teams to avoid contact with Hezbollah members and not to cooperate with them,” he said. The Israeli military “affirms that the necessary actions will be taken against any vehicle transporting armed individuals, regardless of its type”.
Adraee also warned residents of southern Lebanon not to go back to their homes as Israeli troops continued fighting Hezbollah fighters in the area.
“For your own protection, do not return to your homes until further notice. Do not go south, anyone who goes south may put his life at risk,” he said.
The Israeli military also ordered residents of 22 southern Lebanese villages to evacuate to areas north of the Awali River, according to a statement released on Saturday.
Israeli air attacks continue to intensify across Lebanon, while Hezbollah has responded by launching rockets at Israel.
Since September 23, when Israel expanded its conflict against Hezbollah by bombarding southern Beirut and other strongholds of the group with deadly air strikes, more than 1,200 people have been killed in Lebanon.
An Israeli air raid on Baysarieh, a village in Sidon province, killed three people, including a 2-year-old and a 16-year-old, and injured three others, Lebanon’s Ministry of Health said.
In Baalbeck-Hermel province, located in the Bekaa Valley, five more people were killed and five wounded in additional air attacks.
“It has been an intense night of bombing at many locations in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon as was the case yesterday,” said Al Jazeera’s Assed Baig, reporting from Chtoura. “What we have been witnessing is Israeli attacks on residential buildings.”
Hezbollah said it used “qualitative missiles” to hit an Israeli military base making weapons south of Haifa, in its seventh attack on Israeli positions on Saturday.