How cancer patients in Gaza are coping under Israeli bombardment and embargo

Special How cancer patients in Gaza are coping under Israeli bombardment and embargo
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Palestinian children suffering from cancer receive treatment, main, at a hospital in prewar Gaza. The enclave once had a well-developed healthcare system. (AFP/File)
Special How cancer patients in Gaza are coping under Israeli bombardment and embargo
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A Palestinian youth transports a body in a donkey-pulled cart, near the Ahli Arabi hospital in Gaza City, on January 31, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. (Photo by AFP)
Special How cancer patients in Gaza are coping under Israeli bombardment and embargo
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Medical equipment are scattered outside the Indonesian Hospital at the edge of the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, after Israeli troops reportedly raided the medical facility, on November 24, 2023. (AFP)
Special How cancer patients in Gaza are coping under Israeli bombardment and embargo
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An injured man is treated on the floor of Gaza City's al-Shifa hospital following an Israeli strike that killed at least 20 and wounded more than 150 as they waited for humanitarian aid. (AFP photo)
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Updated 04 February 2024
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How cancer patients in Gaza are coping under Israeli bombardment and embargo

How cancer patients in Gaza are coping under Israeli bombardment and embargo
  • Displacement, destruction of clinics, and loss of treatments amount to a death sentence for many cancer patients
  • Early diagnosis and life-saving treatment abroad now completely out of reach for thousands of Palestinians

DUBAI: Being diagnosed with cancer and undergoing a lengthy course of treatment is a frightening prospect at any time. Enduring such an ordeal in wartime is a different league of terror altogether.

Some 2 million Palestinian civilians in Gaza have been displaced by months of intense Israeli bombardment, while strict controls on the entry of humanitarian assistance have deprived them of even the most basic resources.

According to the World Health Organization, almost two-thirds of Gaza’s 36 hospitals have been knocked out of action by the fighting, while 13 are “partially functioning” with inadequate fuel and supplies, operating at many times their intended capacity.




Injured people receive treatment in Gaza City's Al-Shifa hospital following a reported Israeli strike that killed at least 20 and wounded more than 150 as they waited for treatment on January 25, 2024.(AFP)

For people undergoing cancer treatment, the destruction of healthcare infrastructure, loss of access to life-sustaining drugs and therapies, and the discomfort of life in displacement could amount to a death sentence.

An article published in The Cureus Journal of Medical Science, citing figures from a Palestinian Ministry of Health report, put the cancer incidence rate in the region at 91.3 cases per 100,000 people in 2021.

“The situation is particularly exacerbated when conflicts prolong,” Dr. Soha Abdelbaky, an oncology consultant at Medcare Hospital Sharjah, told Arab News.




Emergency workers bring a Palestinian man, who was released after being detained with other civilians for questioning by Israeli forces, waits at Al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah on Feb. 1, 2024. (AFP)

“Cancer patients in areas of conflict are often diagnosed at later stages and are less likely to receive the optimal treatment. For cancer patients, even a one-day delay is important, as the disease progresses at a rapid pace.”

Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed, most of them civilians, and 240, including foreign nationals, were taken hostage.

INNUMBERS

2,000 Recorded cancer patients in Gaza prior to conflict.

300 Healthcare workers killed in Gaza since conflict began.

26% Rise in death rate owing to 3-month cancer treatment delay.

Since then, it has waged a ferocious air and ground campaign against Hamas, which has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007, killing more than 26,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

With some 130 hostages still thought to be held in Gaza, the Israeli government said it was determined to continue operations until Hamas was defeated. Plans for the post-war governance of Gaza or a wider peace process, however, are yet to be determined.




Gaza once had a reasonably well-developed healthcare system with a workforce of about 25,000 doctors, nurses and specialists. (AFP)

Meanwhile, more than 2,000 cancer patients, over 1,000 people in need of dialysis to survive, 50,000 cardiovascular patients and about 60,000 diabetics have been left in urgent need of basic health services amid the carnage, according to Euro-Med Monitor.

Even prior to the current bombardment, 16 years of strict Israeli embargo had left people with chronic health conditions facing intense difficulties in accessing medical care.




This infographic was shared on social media by the Palestinian Ministry of Health three years ago. With the destruction of most of the hospitals in Gaza since October 7, 2023, the fate of many of the patients is uncertain. 

In November, the Palestinian Health Authority reported that the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital — the sole facility providing cancer treatment in the Gaza Strip — had ceased operations after sustaining damage.

Days later, fuel shortages reportedly led to the death of four of its patients, while 70 cancer patients were transferred to Dar Al-Salam Hospital in war-torn Khan Younis in southern Gaza.




Palestinian cancer patients, who had crossed from Gaza into Egypt, arrived at the Esenboga Airport in Ankara on November 16, 2023. Two planes carrying more than two dozen Palestinian cancer patients, many of them children, arrived in Turkey for treatment in the early hours of November 16. (AFP)

Gaza once had a reasonably well-developed healthcare system with a workforce of about 25,000 doctors, nurses and specialists. But months of fighting have brought the enclave’s medical infrastructure to its knees.

Aid agencies have been forced to prioritize emergency services. As a result, those with cancer symptoms or managing complex chronic conditions have been left to fend for themselves, reducing their chances of survival.

“Early detection is crucial,” Dr. Maya Bizri, assistant professor of psychiatry and psychosomatic medicine and director of psycho-oncology at the American University of Beirut, told Arab News.

“It’s important to note the up to 8 percent increase in mortality risk for every four weeks’ delay in getting a surgery needed for cancer.”

MOST PREVALENT TYPES OF CANCER

Breast cancer:

• Estimated new cases in 2018: 119,985.

• Deaths in 2018: 48,661.

• Worldwide estimated cases in 2020: 2.3 million.

• Prevalence attributed to lifestyle, environmental changes among females.

Lung cancer:

• Leading cause of global cancer incidence and mortality.

• Estimated diagnoses: 2 million

• Reported deaths: 1.8 million

• Prevalence linked to increased tobacco access and industrialization.

Prostate cancer:

• Second most common solid tumor in men.

• Fifth leading cause of cancer mortality.

• Occurs due to age, family history, genetic mutations.

Colorectal cancer:

• Increasing incidence in Middle East, especially among under-50s.

A 2020 study by the health journal Cancer Medicine showed that a three-month delay in surgery for a patient undergoing breast cancer treatment resulted in a 26 percent increase in the risk of death.

Another study by JCO Global Oncology in 2022 projected that a delay in care of only four months for five common types of cancer would lead to more than 3,600 additional deaths.

“Four weeks is just 30 days — the Gaza war has (lasted more than) 100 days now. So, if we reframe it, cancer care disruption is weaponized as another way that war kills civilians,” Bizri said.

“The weaponization of healthcare has been documented across different wars, with targeting of healthcare workers, despite it breaching the Geneva Convention in Ukraine, in Syria and most recently in Gaza.”




This aerial view shows people standing before destroyed buildings at the site of the Ahli Arab hospital in central Gaza on October 18, 2023 in the aftermath of an overnight Israeli strike. (AFP)

Israel denies accusations that its military deliberately targets health workers and civilian infrastructure. Instead, it has accused Hamas of using tunnel networks beneath Gaza’s hospitals to direct attacks, store weapons and conceal hostages.

Any damage to medical facilities, therefore, is the fault of Hamas, Israeli authorities say, accusing the group of using patients and doctors as human shields.

In other conflict zones around the world, the collapse of healthcare infrastructure usually compels those who can afford it to seek refuge in neighboring countries, frequently opting for temporary resettlement in order to access medical treatment.




Israeli bombardment since Oct. 7 is blamed for the destruction of lifesaving services, including ambulances. (AFP)

In 2022, 122 children in Gaza were diagnosed with cancer, mainly leukemia, according to the World Health Organization. They received only a portion of their care in Gaza owing to the lack of some services and many were routinely referred to hospitals in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Egypt, Israel and Jordan for further treatment.

Early in the latest conflict, the WHO and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital launched a campaign to evacuate sick children so they could be treated abroad. But that option is not available to the majority of cancer patients in Gaza because of the long-standing Israeli blockade.

Obstacles in obtaining the necessary permits for travel outside the enclave further hinder the ability of cancer patients to access optimal care.




Children wounded following Israeli bombardment awaits treatment at Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on December 20, 2023. (AFP)

Prior to the conflict, patients and their relatives had to submit a medical permit request to the Israeli Coordination and Liaison Administration. About 20,000 patients a year, almost a third of them children, sought permits to leave Gaza for healthcare.

According to the WHO, Israel approved just 63 percent of those requests in 2022.

Health agencies have repeatedly called for a ceasefire to allow humanitarian access, urged the warring parties to protect health personnel and infrastructure in line with international humanitarian law, and pleaded with Israeli authorities to prevent delays at checkpoints.




Emergency workers bring a Palestinian man, who was released after being detained with other civilians for questioning by Israeli forces, waits at Al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah on February 1, 2024. (AFP)

In one instance, the WHO said, the detention of health partners during the transfer of critically ill individuals and the delivery of supplies to a hospital in northern Gaza resulted in the death of one patient.

There have also been multiple reported instances of ambulances and aid trucks coming under fire, resulting in the death of more than 300 healthcare personnel since the war began.

With limited staff and resources to cope with the enormous pressure of treating wounded civilians, the skills of Gaza’s remaining cancer specialists are needed for the more immediate demands of the war.

As a consequence, Dr. Bizri said: “Physicians with very advanced skills are now mostly tending to war injuries and life-saving interventions.”




As a result of the war, many doctors in Gaza have been relegated to tend to wounded patients, being unable to practice their specializations.  (AFP)

What is also often overlooked are the psychological repercussions of a cancer diagnosis on patients. Delayed or interrupted treatment can exacerbate such feelings during wartime, when patients report feeling more of a burden.

According to Dr. Abdelbaky, individuals undergoing cancer treatment in conflict zones also experience heightened fear anxiety and distress.

Worsening psychological conditions, including depressive disorders, “can have detrimental effects on the patient’s ability to cope with the diagnosis, treatment, prognosis and maintenance plans,” she said.




Repairing shattered infrastructure and training new health professionals will take years, all while caring for a maimed and deeply traumatized population. (AFP photo)

Even when the current conflict ends, the situation for cancer patients is unlikely to improve fast. Repairing shattered infrastructure and training new health professionals will take years, all while caring for a maimed and deeply traumatized population.

Shortages of equipment for diagnosis, chemotherapy and radiotherapy are also likely to continue well after the end of hostilities owing to supply chain disruptions, aid dependency and the unresolved issue of postwar governance.

Unless a ceasefire is declared and aid agencies are given sufficient access to the Gaza Strip to respond to the immediate health needs of the population, the prognosis for those with chronic conditions like cancer is poor.

 


Prospect of Lebanon ceasefire leaves Gazans feeling abandoned

Prospect of Lebanon ceasefire leaves Gazans feeling abandoned
Updated 55 min 5 sec ago
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Prospect of Lebanon ceasefire leaves Gazans feeling abandoned

Prospect of Lebanon ceasefire leaves Gazans feeling abandoned

CAIRO: The prospect of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah without a similar deal with Hamas in Gaza has left Palestinians feeling abandoned and fearful that Israel will focus squarely on its onslaught in the enclave.
The Iran-backed Hezbollah began firing missiles at Israel in solidarity with Hamas after the Palestinian militant group attacked Israel in October of 2023, triggering the Gaza war.
Hostilities in Lebanon have drastically escalated in the last two months, with Israel stepping up airstrikes and sending in ground forces to Lebanon’s south and Hezbollah sustaining rocket fire on Israel.
Now Israel looks set to approve a US plan for a ceasefire with Hezbollah when its security cabinet meets on Tuesday, while Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib expressed hope that a ceasefire would be reached by Tuesday night.
While diplomacy focuses on Lebanon, Palestinians feel let down by the world after 14 months of conflict which has devastated the Gaza Strip and killed more than 44,000 people. “It showed Gaza is an orphan, with no support and no mercy from the unjust world,” said Abdel-Ghani, a father of five who only gave a first name.
“I am angry against the world that has failed to bring one solution to the two regions,” Abdel-Ghani. “Maybe, there will be another deal for Gaza, maybe.”
An Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire without a deal for Gaza would be a blow to Hamas, whose leaders had hoped the expansion of the war into Lebanon would pressure Israel to reach a comprehensive ceasefire. Hezbollah had insisted that it would not agree to a ceasefire until the war in Gaza ends, but it dropped that condition.
“We had high hopes that Hezbollah would remain steadfast until the end but it seems they couldn’t,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman, who like most Gazans has been displaced from his home. “We are afraid the Israeli army will now have a free hand in Gaza.”
While a Lebanon deal could leave some Hezbollah commanders in place after Israel killed the heavily armed group’s veteran leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and his successor, Israel has vowed to eliminate Hamas completely.
“We hoped the expansion of the war meant one solution for all, but we were left alone in the face of the monstrous (Israeli) occupation,” said Zakeya Rezik, 56, a mother of six.
“Enough is enough, we are exhausted. How many more had to die before they stopped the war? Gaza war must stop, the people are being wiped out, starved, and bombed every day.”


Three bodies recovered from capsized tourist boat off Egypt’s Red Sea coast, 13 missing

Three bodies recovered from capsized tourist boat off Egypt’s Red Sea coast, 13 missing
Updated 18 min 37 sec ago
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Three bodies recovered from capsized tourist boat off Egypt’s Red Sea coast, 13 missing

Three bodies recovered from capsized tourist boat off Egypt’s Red Sea coast, 13 missing

CAIRO: Three bodies were recovered on Tuesday morning from a tourist boat which capsized off Egypt’s Red Sea coast, and rescue teams were still searching for 13 missing people, the Red Sea provincial governor, Amr Hanafi, told Reuters.
The boat, the Sea Story, capsized on Monday near the Sataya Reef, carrying 31 tourists and 13 crew on a multi-day diving trip. It was struck by high waves and sank in 5-7 minutes.
Sixteen passengers were believed to have been trapped inside, according to a Red Sea Governorate statement on Monday.
Twenty-eight survivors were rescued with minor injuries, none requiring hospitalization. Survivors were being accommodated in a hotel in Marsa Alam, where authorities were working with embassies and consulates to provide assistance and documentation.
Hanafi said the boat had passed its last safety inspection in March 2024, with no technical issues reported. The boat, owned by an Egyptian national, was 34 meters long and had received a one-year safety certificate from the Maritime Safety Authority.
The incident occurred during rough weather conditions. The Egyptian Red Sea Ports Authority reported wave heights of 3-4 meters (10-13 feet) and wind speeds of 34 knots in the area on Sunday, leading to the closure of maritime traffic.
It was the second boat to sink in the area this year; in June another vessel suffered severe damage from strong waves, though no casualties were reported.
The Red Sea, renowned for its coral reefs and marine life, is a major hub for Egypt’s tourism industry, which plays a critical role in the country’s economy. 


Israel expected to approve ceasefire with Hezbollah: Israeli official

Israel expected to approve ceasefire with Hezbollah: Israeli official
Updated 57 min 54 sec ago
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Israel expected to approve ceasefire with Hezbollah: Israeli official

Israel expected to approve ceasefire with Hezbollah: Israeli official
  • EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Tuesday that Israel has no reason to refuse a ceasefire with Lebanon along the lines proposed by France and the United States
  • UN demands ‘permanent ceasefire’ in Lebanon, Gaza, Israel

JERUSALEM/BEIRUT: Israel looks set to approve a US plan for a ceasefire with Lebanon’s Hezbollah on Tuesday, a senior Israeli official said, clearing the way for an end to the conflict that has killed thousands of people since it was ignited by the Gaza war 14 months ago.
Israel’s security cabinet is expected to convene later on Tuesday to discuss and likely approve the text at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the official said.

EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Tuesday that Israel has no reason to refuse a ceasefire with Lebanon along the lines proposed by France and the United States. 
“There is not an excuse for not implementing a ceasefire... No more excuses. No more additional requests. Stop this fighting. Stop killing people,” Borrell said at a G7 foreign ministers meeting near Rome.

Lebanon's foreign minister Abdallah Bou Habib said he hoped a ceasefire to end fighting between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah would be agreed later on Tuesday.
He said the Lebanese army would be ready to have at least 5,000 troops deployed in southern Lebanon as Israeli troops withdraw, and that the United States could play a role in rebuilding infrastructure destroyed by Israeli strikes.
As truce talks intensified, Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes killed at least 31 people on Monday, mostly in the south.
An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the security cabinet “will decide on Tuesday evening on the ceasefire deal.”
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the talks were progressing but not finalized.
“We believe we’ve reached this point where we’re close,” he said, adding “we’re not there yet.”

Meanwhile the UN rights chief is gravely concerned over the escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon and wants a “permanent ceasefire” there and in war-ravaged Gaza, his spokesman said Tuesday.
“The only way to end the suffering of people on all sides is a permanent and immediate ceasefire on all fronts: in Lebanon, in Israel and in Gaza,” Jeremy Laurence, a spokesman for Volker Turk, told reporters in Geneva.


While Israel presses its offensive on Palestinian militants Hamas in Gaza, the United States and France have led efforts to broker a ceasefire in Lebanon, where Israel is battling the Iran-backed Hezbollah on a second front.
France reported “significant progress” in ceasefire talks, and Italy, which holds the rotating presidency of the G7 group of nations, expressed “optimism” over a truce in Lebanon.
US news outlet Axios reported the draft agreement includes a 60-day transition period.
Israeli forces would withdraw, the Lebanese army would redeploy near the border, and Hezbollah would move heavy weapons north of the Litani River, said Axios.
A US-led committee would oversee implementation, with provisions allowing Israel to act against imminent threats if Lebanese forces fail to intervene, it added.
News of the security cabinet meeting came as the Israeli military said it carried out a wave of strikes on Monday, including on Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold that Israel has repeatedly bombed since late September when it escalated its air campaign in Lebanon.
The latest strikes hit around two dozen Hezbollah targets across Lebanon in one hour, the military said. A statement said “command centers, and intelligence control and collection centers, where Hezbollah commanders and operatives were located,” were targeted.
The strikes followed intense Hezbollah fire over the weekend, including some attacks deep into Israel.


Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was likely to endorse the US ceasefire proposal.
Asked in New York about the possible truce agreement, Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon said “we are moving forward on this front,” adding the cabinet would meet to discuss it.
The war in Lebanon followed nearly a year of limited cross-border exchanges of fire initiated by Hezbollah. The Lebanese group said it was acting in support of Hamas after the Palestinian group’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza.
Lebanon says at least 3,768 people have been killed in the country since October 2023, most of them in the past few weeks.
On the Israeli side, the Lebanon hostilities have killed at least 82 soldiers and 47 civilians, authorities say.


The initial exchanges of fire forced tens of thousands of Israelis to flee their homes, and Israeli officials have said they are fighting so the residents can return safely.
Some northern residents expressed fears as to whether that was possible under a ceasefire.
“In my opinion, it would be a serious mistake to sign an agreement as long as Hezbollah has not been completely eliminated,” said Maryam Younnes, 29, a student from Maalot-Tarshiha.
“It would be a mistake to sign an agreement as long as Hezbollah still has weapons.”
Dorit Sison, a 51-year-old teacher displaced from Shlomi, said: “I don’t want a ceasefire, because if they do it along the lines that they’ve announced, we’ll be in the same place in five years.”
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir warned on X that reaching a Lebanon ceasefire deal would be a “historic missed opportunity to eradicate Hezbollah.”
Ben Gvir has repeatedly threatened to bring down the government if it agrees to a truce deal with Hamas in the Gaza Strip or Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Efforts this year by mediators to secure a truce and hostage-release deal in the Gaza war have failed.
Qatar early this month said it was suspending its mediation role until the warring sides showed “seriousness.”
With an intensive Israeli military operation in besieged north Gaza continuing, remaining residents were left “scavenging among the rubble” for food, said Louise Wateridge, spokeswoman for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.
Such scavenging puts Gazans at risk of encountering unexploded and unused ordnance that can be found in many populated areas of the territory, the Danish Refugee Council said.


Israeli airstrikes intensify in Lebanon amid rumors of imminent ceasefire agreement

Israeli airstrikes intensify in Lebanon amid rumors of imminent ceasefire agreement
Updated 26 November 2024
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Israeli airstrikes intensify in Lebanon amid rumors of imminent ceasefire agreement

Israeli airstrikes intensify in Lebanon amid rumors of imminent ceasefire agreement
  • Latest attacks cause further destruction in areas stretching from border region to distant areas as far north as Bekaa and beyond
  • Israel escalates attacks to put pressure on Lebanese authorities whenever peace talks advance, says deputy speaker of Lebanese parliament

BEIRUT: Israeli attacks on targets in Lebanon intensified on Monday, as rumors circulated in Tel Aviv and Beirut about the possibility of a ceasefire agreement within two days.

US envoy Amos Hochstein has been leading complex negotiations between Israeli and Lebanese authorities with the aim of ending the conflict, which began on Sep. 23 with Israeli airstrikes, followed by ground incursions into border areas on Oct. 1.

Since then, Israel has assassinated senior Hezbollah leaders, and the confirmed death toll from the fighting stands at about 3,800. This figure does not include Hezbollah members killed on the battlefield, the numbers of which are difficult to ascertain because of intense shelling in southern areas.

The escalating war has also resulted in the destruction of thousands of residential and commercial buildings in areas stretching from the south of the country to the southern suburbs of Beirut and northern Bekaa. Tensions continue to run high as the population lives in fear of the intense airstrikes, with ambulances and fire trucks remaining on standby in all regions.

MP Elias Bou Saab, the deputy speaker of Lebanon’s parliament, said: “We are optimistic about a ceasefire and there is hope. But nothing can be confirmed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. What might put pressure on him is the battlefield.”

Israeli aggression intensifies whenever peace negotiations move closer to an agreement, he added, in an attempt to put pressure on Lebanese authorities.

“We insist on our position regarding the inclusion of France in the committee overseeing the ceasefire implementation,” said Bou Saab.

“We did not hear anything about Israel’s freedom of movement in Lebanon, and we still speak only about UN Resolution 1701, with no additions and with an implementation mechanism.”

Resolution 1701 was adopted by the Security Council in 2006 with the aim of resolving the conflict that year between Israel and Hezbollah. It calls for an end to hostilities, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon, the withdrawal of Hezbollah and other forces from parts of the country south of the Litani River, and the disarmament of Hezbollah and other armed groups.

News channel CNN quoted a spokesperson for the Israeli prime minister as saying talks were moving toward a ceasefire. Another regional source told the network: “The agreement is closer than ever. However, it has not been fully finalized yet.”

Israel’s ambassador to the US, Michael Herzog, said an agreement “could happen in a few days” but “there are still some sticking points that need to be resolved.”

The Israeli Broadcasting Authority quoted the country’s education minister as saying that Hochstein has the green light to proceed with an agreement. It added that a deal with Lebanon had been finalized and Netanyahu was considering “how to explain it to the public.”

Also on Monday, diplomat Dan Shapiro from the US Department of Defense held meetings with senior Israeli officials that focused on the members of a proposed committee to monitor the ceasefire, most notably the participation of France, and the details of a monitoring mechanism to be led by the US.

One report suggested Washington had agreed to provide Israel with a guarantee it would support any military action in response to threats from Lebanon and to disrupt any Hezbollah presence along the border.

According to news website Axios, the draft agreement for a ceasefire includes a 60-day transitional period during which the Israeli army would withdraw from southern Lebanon, to be replaced by the Lebanese army in areas close to the border, and Hezbollah would move its heavy weapons from the border region to areas north of the Litani Line.

Against this backdrop of peace negotiations, the continual Israeli airstrikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut intensified on Monday, following 10 strikes the previous evening. The attacks targeted Haret Hreik, Hadath, Ghobeiry, Bir Al-Abed and Sfeir.

Hundreds of buildings have been damaged or destroyed, and as Arab News visited targeted areas, residents said “there have never been any Hezbollah offices in these structures, neither now nor in the past, and the buildings are mainly for residential purposes.”

A lawyer called Imad said the apartment building in the Hadath area in which he lived collapsed when it was hit by an airstrike.

“It is unbelievable that they use Hezbollah as a pretext to destroy our homes, which we purchased through financial loans to provide shelter for our families. They intend to annihilate us all,” he said.

The Israeli army said on Monday that an airstrike that hit the Basta area of central Beirut early on Saturday had “targeted a command center affiliated with Hezbollah.”

Efforts to help the injured and recover the bodies of the dead continued at the scene of the attack until Sunday evening. The Lebanese Health Ministry said at least 29 people were killed and 67 wounded.

The Israeli army also carried out numerous airstrikes in southern Lebanon, mainly targeting the cities of Tyre and Nabatieh. Ten people were killed, including a woman and a member of the Lebanese army, and 17 injured in three airstrikes on Tyre.

Also in Tyre, an Israeli drone killed a motorcycle rider in a parking lot near the Central Bank of Lebanon. And three civilians were killed by an airstrike in the town of Ghazieh, south of Sidon.

From the southern border to the northern banks of the Litani River, no area has been spared from Israeli airstrikes, which have extended as far north as the city of Baalbek, and the town of Hermel close to the border with Syria.

In the east, back-and-forth operations between the Israeli army and Hezbollah continued as the former attempted to gain control over the town of Khiam. Its forces advanced, supported by Merkava tanks, from the southern outskirts under the cover of airstrikes and artillery bombardment, moving into the center of the town and toward Ebel Al-Saqi and Jdidet Marjeyoun.

The Israeli army also deployed tanks between olive groves in the town of Deir Mimas after an incursion into the town last week. It began advancing toward the Tal Nahas-Kfar Kila-Qlayaa triangle. Elsewhere, Hezbollah and Israeli forces clashed in the western sector of the Maroun Al-Ras-Ainata-Bint Jbeil triangle.

Hezbollah said it targeted Israeli army positions on the outskirts of the towns of Shamaa and Biyada. Israeli forces carried out house-demolition operations in Shamaa.

Hezbollah also continued to launch attacks against northern Israel. The group said its rockets “reached the Shraga base, north of the city of Acre, and targeted an Israeli army gathering in the settlement of Meron.”

Israeli medical services said one person was injured in Nahariya by falling fragments from a rocket.


Gaza’s health ministry says war death toll at 44,235

Gaza’s health ministry says war death toll at 44,235
Updated 58 min 1 sec ago
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Gaza’s health ministry says war death toll at 44,235

Gaza’s health ministry says war death toll at 44,235
  • Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 777 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to the Ramallah-based health ministry

GAZA CITY: The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Monday that at least 44,235 people have been killed in more than 13 months of war between Israel and Palestinian militants.
The toll includes 24 deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to the ministry, which said 104,638 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.