[News] War on Gaza: Israel threatens to 'copy-paste' Gaza situation on to Lebanon

[Anti-Imperialist News]

middleeasteye.net
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/war-gaza-israel-threatens-copy-paste-gaza-situation-lebanon>
War on Gaza: Israel threatens to 'copy-paste' Gaza situation on to Lebanon
By MEE staff
January 8, 2024
------------------------------

Israel <https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel>has threatened to
"copy-paste" the destruction of Gaza onto Lebanon
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/lebanon>if Hezbollah does not halt
its attacks from the north.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Sunday, Defence Minister
Yoav Gallant said he viewed the ongoing conflict in Gaza as part of a fight
against a wider "axis" comprising Hamas, Iran and the Lebanese armed group,
among others.

“My basic view: we are fighting an axis, not a single enemy,” he told the
outlet. “Iran is building up military power around Israel in order to use
it.”

On Monday, an Israeli air strike killed senior Hezbollah
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/hezbollah>commander Wissam al-Tawil,
raising fears of a further escalation between Israel and its northern
neighbour.

Tawil died along with another fighter from the Lebanese armed group,
according to the Reuters news agency, after the air strike hit the pair's
car in the village of Majdal Selm.

Known as “Jawad”, Tawil was a deputy head of a unit in the elite Radwan
force and played an important role in Hezbollah's recent confrontations
with the Israeli army.

Hezbollah has launched sporadic attacks on Israel since the conflict in
Gaza began on 7 October, but has repeatedly resisted being drawn into a
wider conflict.

Despite this Gallant said Israel would not hesitate to target the group as
allowing them and their allies "to decide how we live our lives here in
Israel” was “something we don’t accept”.

“They see what is happening in Gaza,” he said. “They know we can copy-paste
to Beirut.”
Intentional starvation

At least 73 Palestinians were killed in Gaza in the past 24 hours, with the
death toll topping 22,900.

Israeli NGO B’Tselem
<https://mailchi.mp/btselem/btselem-israel-is-starving-gaza> on Monday
accused Israel of deliberately starving Gaza, and that around 2.2 million
people are surviving in Gaza “on almost nothing, routinely going without
meals”.

“The desperate search for food is relentless, and usually unsuccessful,
leaving the entire population – including babies, children, pregnant or
nursing women and the elderly – hungry,” the statement read.

<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/war-gaza-israel-lebanon-air-strike-kills-wissam-al-tawil>

War on Gaza: Israel kills top Hezbollah commander Wissam al-Tawil in
Lebanon air strike

The organisation said most cultivated fields had been destroyed, and
accessing open areas during the war was dangerous in any case.

Bakeries, factories and food warehouses have been bombed or shut down due
to Israel shutting off all fuel and electricity to the Strip since 9
October.

Stockpiles in private homes, stores and warehouses have also run out.

Separately, Save the Children said
<https://www.savethechildren.net/news/gaza-more-10-children-day-lose-limb-three-months-brutal-conflict>more
than 10 children per day, on average, had lost one or both of their legs in
Gaza since conflict erupted.

Since 7 October, more than 1,000 children have had one or both legs
amputated, according to Unicef
<https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/12/1144927>, with many of these
operations on children done without anaesthetic.

"I’ve seen doctors and nurses completely overwhelmed when children come in
with blast wounds. The impact of seeing children in that much pain and not
having the equipment, medicines to treat them or alleviate pain is too much
for even experienced professionals," said Save the Children’s country
director for the occupied Palestinian territory, Jason Lee.

"Even in a war zone, the sights and sounds of a young child mutilated by
bombs cannot be reconciled let alone understood within the bounds of
humanity."
Journalist deaths

Though Israel's allies have continued to provide support, there have been
increasing calls for restraint by the international community.

The UN voiced concerns on Monday at the high number of journalists killed
in Gaza.

"Very concerned by high death toll of media workers in Gaza," the UN rights
office said on X, formerly Twitter, adding that each death should be
"thoroughly, independently investigated to ensure strict compliance with
international law, and violations prosecuted".

<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/war-gaza-global-day-action-13-january-100th-day-war>

War on Gaza: Activists gear up for global 'day of action' ahead of 100th
day of war

Separate Israeli air strikes on Monday killed the family members of two
Palestinian journalists in Gaza.

Ahmad al-Batta, a reporter for Qatar-based Al Araby, lost his mother and
several other members of his family in one attack.

A video of Batta finding out about the attack has been aired by Al Araby.

Separately, Sameer Radi, a reporter for a Palestinian television channel,
also lost his wife and two children in an air strike.

Two journalists, including the son of Al Jazeera's Gaza bureau chief Wael
al-Dahdouh, were killed by an Israeli
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel> strike in southern Gaza on
Sunday.

Hamza al-Dahdouh and his colleague Mustafa Thuraya, a video stringer for
AFP, were doing fieldwork documenting the destruction caused by an
overnight Israeli air strike in a residential area between Khan Younis and
Rafah when a missile hit the vehicle they were travelling in, according to
Al Jazeera.

In October, Wael lost his wife, daughter, another son and a grandson when
they were killed
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-al-jazeera-kills-family-gaza-bureau-chief>
by an Israeli air strike while sheltering in a relative's home.

Last month, Wael was himself wounded by an Israeli strike
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-war-israeli-drone-strike-wounds-al-jazeera-journalists-gaza>
that killed his Al Jazeera colleague Samer Abudaqa.

Gaza's government media office said Sunday's killings took the death toll
of Palestinian journalists in Gaza killed since 7 October to 109.
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