Anti-polio campaign begins in central Gaza Strip: Gaza war, day 330

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We will continue our coverage of the conflict tomorrow morning.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says that "Israel cannot eliminate either Hamas or Hezbollah" and should seek alternatives for a peaceful solution to the Gaza war.

Israeli warplanes have launched an airstrike against the village of Mohaibib in the Marjayoun district, residents report.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned in a statement "the genocidal crimes committed by the Zionist occupation in Jenin and the West Bank, the murder of Palestinians and the destruction of their homes in the Gaza Strip," the Lebanese state-run National News Agency reports.

"Syria condemns these Western policies and genocidal crimes perpetrated by the Zionist entity with the support of the United States and the West," the ministry continued, calling for an immediate end to them.

Hezbollah also targeted the Biranit barracks (opposite the Lebanese village of Rmeish). The party claims to have hit its target.

Hezbollah has launched an air attack with a squadron of drones on the headquarters of the Sahl battalion in the Beit Hillel barracks, opposite the Lebanese village of Houla (Marjayoun), claiming to have hit its targets with precision.

The party also claimed to have successfully targeted the Birket Richa position opposite the Lebanese town of Boustan (Sour) at 3.45pm.

The anti-polio campaign has begun in the central Gaza Strip, an official told AFP, on the eve of a "humanitarian pause" announced by the U.N. to allow children to be vaccinated despite the war that has ravaged the Palestinian territory for almost 11 months.

"Teams from the Health Ministry, UNRWA and NGOs began the polio vaccination campaign in the central Gaza Strip on Saturday," said Dr. Moussa Abed, director of first aid at the Hamas government's Health Ministry.

An Israeli drone has dropped incendiary material on the village of Kfar Kila (Marjayoun), residents tell our correspondent.

Earlier today, an Israeli drone also dropped incendiary material on forested areas in the village of Yaroun (Bint Jbeil), causing a major fire.

The Health Ministry of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip has announced a new death toll of 40,691 in the Palestinian territory since the start of the war.

At least 89 people have been killed in the last 48 hours, the ministry said in a statement, adding that 94,060 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7.

Update from south Lebanon:

* The municipality of Yahmor al-Shaqif (Nabatieh) says that firefighting teams are actively responding to a blaze that erupted this morning on the western outskirts of the town, near Deir Siryan and Taibeh. Efforts to control the fire are hampered by rugged terrain. Israeli drones are repeatedly dropping incendiary materials in the affected area, according to the municipality statement. Residents report that another fire on the outskirts of Naqoura (Sour distrcit) was ignited by an Israeli drone.

* ⁠Israeli warplanes targeted a building in the town of Markaba (Marjayoun), residents told our correspondent.

In the Gaza Strip, nine adults from the same family, including two women, were killed in this morning's shelling of a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp (center), Marwan Abou Nassar, a doctor at al-Awda hospital where their bodies arrived, told AFP.

In Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, the sound of fighting resounds today in the deserted streets where only Israeli armored vehicles circulate, AFP reports. A drone and two Israeli military helicopters were flying over the town in the morning.

The Israeli army also said it had "eliminated" two Palestinians last night who were preparing to carry out explosive attacks near West Bank settlements.

"One terrorist attempted to carry out a car bomb attack" near the Guzh Etzion settlement bloc, then a second was caught after "infiltrating Karmei Zur," another settlement further south, the army said. Islamic Jihad and Hamas hailed it as a "coordinated attack."

Fighting has broken out in the northern occupied West Bank, on the fourth day of a vast Israeli "anti-terrorist" operation in the occupied Palestinian territory, where two men allegedly preparing to commit attacks were killed, AFP reported, citing the Israeli army.

Meanwhile, Gaza's Civil Defense said it had pulled 29 bodies from the rubble since dawn and transported dozens of wounded to hospitals across the devastated Palestinian territory.

This morning, Hezbollah claimed a strike at 8:50 a.m., targeting the Israeli Marj site, which faces Markaba, with missiles.

The night in south Lebanon was marked by a series of Israeli airstrikes:

* After 10:30 p.m., Israeli warplanes targeted the outskirts of Majdal Zoun (Sour district) and al-Tiri (Bint Jbeil district) twice.

* Israeli artillery shelling targeted the towns of Ramaya, Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil District) and Zibqine (Sour district).

* After 11:30 p.m. Hezbollah said it bombed Israel’s “artillery position of the 411th Battalion in Naveh Ziv and the headquarters of the Western Brigade 300 in the Yaara barracks as well as a deployment of soldiers in its vicinity with volleys of Falaq and Katyusha rockets.”

* At midnight, flash bombs were dropped over Mais al-Jabal and Blida (Marjayoun district).

* Israeli artillery shelling targeted Deir Siryan (Marjayoun district), while Israeli heavy machine guns combed the outskirts of Aitaroun (Bint Jbeil district).

Tomorrow, the World Health Organization plans to launch a campaign to vaccinate children in Gaza against polio, with "humanitarian pauses" of three days each accepted, according to the organization, by Israel. The first case of this disease, which had not been detected in Gaza in 25 years, was confirmed in mid-August.

In the Gaza Strip, the American NGO Anera announced that four Gazans who had "asked to take command of the lead vehicle" of one of their humanitarian convoys, without their presence having been "coordinated beforehand," had been killed in an Israeli airstrike the previous day.

Yesterday, the Israeli army announced that it had ended its ground operations in the Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah regions (central Gaza), claiming to have killed "more than 250 terrorists" in one month.

London reacted to the occupied West Bank operation by expressing "deep concern at the methods" used by Israel, calling for "urgent de-escalation."

For France, these operations "aggravate a climate … of unprecedented violence," while Spain denounced "an outbreak of violence … clearly unacceptable."

On Thursday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an "immediate end" to the operation, and "strongly condemned the loss of human life, particularly among minors."

By yesterday evening, Israeli forces were operating only in Jenin, following their withdrawal from Toubas and Tulkarem. In the evening, an AFP photographer reported that gunfire and explosions were echoing around Jenin.

In the Nour Chams camp in Tulkarem, residents were taking stock yesterday of the damage caused to buildings and roads by Israeli bulldozers. "We're a second Gaza," lamented Nayef Alaajmeh.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad announced that at least 13 of those killed were fighters from their armed branches.

Since Wednesday, the Red Crescent has also counted 55 wounded and several shootings and attacks on its ambulances.

Twenty Palestinians, mostly fighters, have been killed in three days of a vast Israeli military operation in the north of the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Among the victims were two teenagers, aged 13 and 17, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. The Israeli army claims to have killed "20 terrorists."

Israeli soldiers killed three Hamas fighters in Jenin yesterday, including the commander of the Palestinian Islamist movement in the city, Wissam Khazem, and a fourth man, aged 82, according to the Palestinian agency Wafa.

Good morning,

This is day 330 of the war in the Gaza Strip and the 329th day since Hezbollah opened a "support" front in southern Lebanon.

Follow our live coverage of events as they happen here.