New Delhi: The head of Hezbollah met top leaders of Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad to “assess the recent developments in the Gaza Strip”, Lebanon’s Al-Manar TV reported Wednesday.
The meeting between Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Islamic Jihad Secretary General Ziad Nakhale, and Hamas deputy chief Saleh Al-Arouri comes at a time when Israel said it has foiled several plans by Hezbollah to carry out attacks against Israel from southern Lebanon.
There are fears that Lebanon-based Hezbollah may open another front against Israel, even as the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) is poised to launch a ground invasion of the besieged Gaza enclave.
Hezbollah’s Al-Manar reported that among the issues discussed in the meeting was “ramifications at all levels” of ‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ or Hamas’s 7 October attack on southern Israel, which reportedly killed 1,400 Israelis while 224 people were taken hostage.
In retaliation, Israel blocked water, electricity and fuel to Gaza and unleashed relentless airstrikes – which Palestinian authorities say killed over 5,700 Palestinians in the last 18 days.
Al-Manar quoted Hezbollah’s media office as saying: “The leaders tackled the latest developments since the start of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and the events that followed on all fronts including the confrontations across the border between Lebanon and the occupied Palestine.”
The statement added: “Sayyed Nasrallah assessed with Nakhale and Al-Arouri the international and regional stances as well as steps to be taken by the Axis of Resistance in this critical phase in order to achieve an all-out victory and to stop the brutal attack on the oppressed people of Gaza and the West Bank.”
Meanwhile, 54 aid trucks have so far been allowed to enter Gaza via the Rafah crossing in Egypt, the only point where Gaza does not share a border with Israel. The United Nations has warned that this supply was too little, estimating that civilians in the enclave needed 100 trucks daily to meet all needs.
The UN’s agency for the relief of Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, also said Tuesday that it would be forced to halt its operations in Gaza from Wednesday night due to lack of fuel.
🔺According to Ministry of Health, over 5,000 people have been killed in📍#Gaza since 7 October – including 2,055 children.
🔺@UNRWA will run out of fuel TOMORROW night – forcing us to halt operations and delivery of humanitarian aid to people in need.https://t.co/CdFUVTHGrO pic.twitter.com/TM4sgX5Msw
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) October 24, 2023
UNRWA said nearly 600,000 internally displaced people were sheltering in 150 UNRWA facilities in Gaza. “Only in the Middle areas, Khan Younis and Rafah, nearly 430,000 IDPs are in 93 UNRWA shelters. This is an increase of 10,000 people only in the past 24 hours,” it added.
The agency said the three convoys of 54 trucks – allowed into Gaza since 21 October – included some food, drinking water and medicines, but not the much-needed fuel.
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