GAZA - At least 22 people were killed by Israeli bombardment on the city of Jabalya in northern Gaza, according to emergency responders on Saturday.
The bodies were transferred to Al-Ahli Baptist hospital, according to the head of emergency services in northern Gaza, Fares Afana. Afana said that in addition to those killed, there were also injuries and “a number of missing still under the rubble.”
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported multiple airstrikes had struck a densely populated neighborhood in Jabalya overnight completely destroying multiple houses. Wafa reported at least 30 injured and 14 missing, citing emergency responders.
Also, Israeli strikes on two Lebanese towns killed at least nine people, including one town with a predominantly Sunni population, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
Four people were killed and 14 injured in an Israeli airstrike on Barja, a predominantly Sunni town some 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Beirut, according to Lebanese health authorities. The strike in Barja stands out because Israel has been striking targets in predominantly Shia areas where Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia militant group, tends to have stronger support. Five people were killed and 14 were also wounded in the town of Maaysra in northern Lebanon on Saturday, the ministry said. This is the second time Maaysra has been hit in the last few weeks.
Another town in northern Lebanon, Deir Billa, was hit for the first time. The health ministry has not yet released casualty numbers for that strike. Death toll: More than 1,500 people have been killed and some 8,000 injured in strikes in Lebanon since September 16, when Israel stepped up its campaign against Hezbollah, according to a CNN tally of Lebanese health ministry statements. Iranians donate gold to a donation drive for Hezbollah and Lebanon in Tehran, Iran, on Saturday, October 12.