Israeli bombing killed dozens of people overnight in Gaza, the health ministry of the Hamas-run Palestinian territory said on Thursday (Jan 4), as regional tensions have surged over the almost three-months-old war
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due to head to the Middle East, a US official said on condition of anonymity, the top diplomat's fourth trip to the region since the Israel's bloodiest ever Gaza war began on October 7
The Israeli military has reported more strikes in and around Gaza City, now a largely devastated urban combat zone, and Khan Yunis, the biggest urban centre in the besieged territory's south
The Gaza health ministry reported "dozens of martyrs and more than 100 wounded in the continued barbaric aerial and artillery bombardment of citizens' homes in the Gaza Strip"
Tensions have also surged with Israel's northern neighbour Lebanon, where a strike in Beirut on Tuesday, carried out by Israel, killed Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Aruri
Hezbollah has vowed that the killing of Aruri and six other Hamas operatives on its home turf will not go unpunished, labelling it "a serious assault on Lebanon ... and a dangerous development"
ADVERTISEMENT
