DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli airstrikes killed at least 46 people in the Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours, including 11 in a makeshift café in an area that had been declared by Israel as humanitarian, doctors reported. In Lebanon, warplanes attacked the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut on Tuesday and caused the death of 33 people in other parts of the country.
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The new bombing occurred while the United States said it would not reduce its military support to Israel after a deadline to allow more humanitarian aid in Gaza expired. The State Department mentioned that there had been some progress, although international aid groups said that Israel has not met the demands of the United States.
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In Lebanon, large explosions rocked the southern suburbs of Beirut, an area known as Dahiyeh, where Hezbollah has a significant presence, shortly after the Israeli army issued evacuation warnings for 11 houses there.
At the moment, there was no information about the victims. The Israeli army said it had attacked Hezbollah infrastructure, including command centers and weapons production sites, without providing evidence.
Another Israeli attack on an apartment building in east Beirut killed at least six people. Wael Murtada said the destroyed house belonged to his uncle and that those inside had fled Dahiyeh last month. He said three children were among the dead and others were missing.
An Israeli airstrike on a residential building in central Lebanon killed 15 people, including eight women and four children, and injured at least 12 others, Lebanon's Ministry of Health reported. The attack occurred without prior warning, and state media said the building was housing displaced families.
Israel has been carrying out more intense bombings in Lebanon since late September, promising to weaken Hezbollah and put an end to over a year of cross-border attacks by the Lebanese political-paramilitary group.
A rocket struck a storage building in the northern Israeli city of Nahariya on Tuesday, killing two people, rescuers said. Two other people were injured by shrapnel in a separate impact outside the city.
A Hezbollah drone crashed into a daycare center near the northern Israeli city of Haifa on Tuesday morning, but the children were inside a bomb shelter and there were no injuries. The impact scattered debris across the playground.
Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip leave 46 dead
At the same time, Israel has continued its offensive in Gaza that began over 13 months ago, triggered by Hamas' assault in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
An Israeli attack carried out on Monday night hit an improvised café used by displaced people in Muwasi, the center of an area that had been declared "humanitarian" by the Israeli army a few months ago.
At least 11 people died, including two children, according to employees of Nasser Hospital, where the victims were taken. A video from the scene showed men carrying injured people covered in blood among tables and chairs set up on the sand in a facility made of corrugated metal sheets.
An attack on a house in the northern town of Beit Hanoun left 15 people dead on Tuesday, including relatives of Al Jazeera journalist Hossam Shabat, who has been reporting from the north.
Mohamed Shabat and his wife Dima, both volunteer doctors at Kamal Adwan Hospital, died along with their daughter Eliaa, according to the hospital's director, Hossam Abu Safiya.
Attacks in the central and southern Gaza Strip killed another 20 people, according to Palestinian medical officials.
So far, the Israeli military forces have not commented on the attacks.
Pressured by the USA, Israel allows more aid to enter Gaza.
Hours earlier, the Israeli army announced a small expansion of the humanitarian zone, where they told Palestinians to evacuate from other parts of Gaza to take refuge. Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are housed in extensive tent camps in and around Muwasi, a largely desolate area of dunes and agricultural fields with few facilities or services along the Mediterranean coast.
Israeli forces have also been besieging the northern end of Gaza since early October, fighting against Hamas fighters who, they say, regrouped there.
After not allowing the entry of practically any food or aid for over a month, the siege has raised fears of famine among the tens of thousands of Palestinians believed to still be taking refuge there.
The United States gave Israel a 30-day deadline, which expired this week, to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, asking, among other things, to allow the entry of at least 350 trucks each day.
So far, Israel has fallen short. In October, an average of 57 trucks entered Gaza per day, and approximately 75 trucks have entered daily so far in November, according to official figures from Israel. The UN puts the number lower, at 39 trucks daily since early October.
Israel has announced a series of measures in recent days to increase aid, including the opening of a new crossing to central Gaza and some small deliveries of food and water to the north. However, the impact so far is unclear.
More forced evacuations in the isolated northern Gaza.
The Israeli military forces announced on Tuesday that four soldiers were killed in Jabaliya, bringing the total number of soldiers killed in the assault there to 24 since it began.
Palestinian health officials say that hundreds of Palestinians have died, although the actual numbers are unknown as rescuers cannot reach the buildings destroyed in the attacks. Israel has ordered residents in the area to evacuate. However, the UN has estimated that about 70,000 people remain in the territory.
Many Palestinians there fear that Israel aims to permanently evacuate the area in order to more easily control it. On Tuesday, witnesses told The Associated Press that Israeli troops had surrounded at least three schools in Beit Hanoun, forcing hundreds of displaced people who were taking refuge inside to leave.
"Drones broadcasted announcements demanding that people move south towards the City of Gaza," said Mahmoud al-Kafarnah, speaking from one of the schools as sounds of gunfire could be heard. "The tanks are outside," he commented. "We don't know where to go."
Hashim Afanah, taking refuge with at least 20 other people in his family home, said that forces were evicting people from homes and shelters.
Israel's offensive in Gaza has killed over 43,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities who do not distinguish between civilians and combatants in their count but say that over half of the dead are women and children. Israel says it targets Hamas militants who hide among civilians.
The war in Gaza began when fighters led by Hamas invaded southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 250 as hostages. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, with approximately one third of them believed to be dead.