Intl desk, Dec 05: Israeli forces again bombed the so-called “safe zone” in Gaza’s al-Mawasi, killing at least 20 people and wounding dozens more. Our correspondents say women and children were “incinerated” in the attack.
Israeli forces continued air raids on southern Lebanon despite a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah, claiming an attack on what it called a launchpad in the Majdal Zoun area.
Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire ‘offers a vital break’, says UN official
Imran Riza, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator in Lebanon, is calling for “continuous international engagement and robust monitoring to establish stability” in the country following last week’s truce between Israel and Hezbollah.
“While the ceasefire offers a vital break, it remains delicate,” Riza said during a visit to the Nabatieh governorate, expressing concern over “violations in certain areas and ongoing tensions along the border”.
He said an estimated 600,000 displaced people are starting to return to their homes, with two-thirds of the figure heading to Nabatieh as well as South Lebanon governorate.
But the return process “is not without significant challenges”, Riza noted, as the two governorates have “experienced an overwhelming level of destruction, with tens of thousands of buildings either partially or completely destroyed”.
He went on to call for unhindered and swift humanitarian access, as well as sustained funding and donor support to help Lebanon recover.
More from Amnesty’s Callamard
We have been covering an Amnesty report that accuses Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
Agnes Callamard, the group’s secretary-general, spoke to Al Jazeera about the report’s findings.
“We looked at the statement made by officials at the highest level, those in the war cabinet. We looked at how soldiers interpreted those statements, those on the ground and how they called as well for the dehumanisation of Palestinians and for the obliteration of Gaza,” she told Al Jazeera.
“We looked at the entire context as well – one of apartheid, dispossession, military occupation,” she said. “And the only reasonable conclusion we could make is that Israel intended to commit genocide … in order to meet its military objectives.”
Source: Al Jazeera