Cairo/Tel Aviv, 30 October 2024 (dpa/MIA) - At least 93 Palestinians were killed by an Israeli strike on a multi-story residential building in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, a Hamas-controlled media office said.

Around 40 people remain missing in the wake of the attack in the city of Beit Lahia, located near the border with Israel, said spokesman Ismail al-Thawabta.

In Washington, Statement Department spokesman Matthew Miller called the killings "horrifying" and noted that a number of children who have been displaced by the war were reportedly among the dead.

"We are deeply concerned by the loss of civilian life in this incident. This was a horrifying incident with a horrifying result," he said.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have been conducting intensive operations in the northern Gaza Strip, an area it had previously declared cleared of Iran-backed militants months ago.

But in recent weeks the army has escalated its air and ground operations to go after Hamas militants who have regrouped into scattered cells.

"The IDF is aware of reports that civilians were harmed today in the Beit Lahia area. The details of the incident are being looked into," a statement said.

"The IDF is conducting targeted operations and making efforts to avoid causing harm to uninvolved civilians. We emphasize that the area was evacuated by the IDF and it is currently an active combat zone."

Deadly attacks in Lebanese coastal communities

At least six people were killed and around 37 wounded in an Israeli airstrike on an apartment on a suburb of the Lebanese port city of Sidon, the country's Health Ministry said

The attack hit the Haret Saida suburb of Sidon, about 40 kilometres south of the capital Beirut.

The Lebanese state-run National News Agency reported there was a building complex belonging to Hezbollah, the Iran-aligned militant group and political party that is allied with Hamas, opposite to the site where the attack took place.

Another eight people were killed and 21 injured in an Israeli attack on the southern coastal town of Sarafand, about 20 kilometres south of Sidon, Lebanon's Health Ministry said.

The ministry said that since October 2023, 2,792 people have been killed in Israeli attacks and another 12,772 wounded.

Austrian soldiers on UNIFIL  mission injured

Eight Austrian soldiers serving with the UN observer mission in southern Lebanon were slightly injured by rocket fire, the Austrian Defence Ministry said.

The ministry said the attack took place at the UNIFIL mission's main base at Naqoura and described the injuries sustained by the peacekeepers as minor.

The peacekeeping force has been stationed in Lebanon since 1978 and comprises about 10,000 soldiers and civilian personnel. Austria is participating in the mission with 160 soldiers.

UNIFIL said the rocket set a vehicle workshop on fire and that "Hezbollah or an affiliated group" was likely to blame.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer wrote on X: "We condemn in the strongest possible terms today's very serious incident, presumably caused by Hezbollah or affiliated groups and we demand a swift clarification of the circumstances that lead to it."

Hezbollah names Naim Qassem as new leader

Hezbollah said on Tuesday they had chosen deputy chief Naim Qassem to lead the group, four weeks after the killing of the previous secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah.

Since Nasrallah's death, Qassem has given several speeches that were broadcast on television. It is unclear where he is currently.

Hezbollah's Shura Council elected Qassem to the post in accordance with the "recognized procedure for the election of the general secretary," the Shiite militia announced. Qassem is now leading Hezbollah and the Islamic Resistance on a "noble mission." The militia announced that it would continue to pursue its previous goals under the new leader "until victory is achieved."

Qassem was born in a village near Nabatiyeh in southern Lebanon and is about 70 years old.

He is one of the members who founded Hezbollah in the early 1980s to fight against the Israeli occupation of Lebanon. Since 1991, he has been deputy head and thus one of the most influential figures within the organization alongside Nasrallah.

Four Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza clashes

In the Gaza Strip, four soldiers were killed in clashes in the north of the coastal area, the Israeli army said on Tuesday.

The soldiers, aged between 20 and 22, were killed by an explosive device in a building in the refugee neighbourhood of Jabalia, according to media reports.

During the assault by the Palestinian militant organization Hamas and other extremists from the Gaza Strip on Israel - which resulted in 1,200 deaths and 250 abductions over a year ago - and in the ongoing clashes since then, 776 soldiers have been killed, according to the army statements.

The Israeli army has been active in the refugee neighbourhood of Jabalia, which is just north of Beit Lahia, for weeks.

Qatar: Talks on Gaza ceasefire continuing

Talks on stopping the fighting in the Gaza Strip are proceeding in "Doha, Cairo and in European capitals," a spokesman for the Qatari Foreign Ministry told a press conference in Doha on Tuesday.

Much had been achieved, Majid al-Ansari said, according to a report on the website of Qatar's Al Sharq newspaper.

Al-Ansari said he could not comment on the precise details, but added that there were "parallel lines" in the efforts to contain the escalation in the Gaza Strip and in Lebanon.

Qatar was using all options to find a durable solution and to do justice to its "Palestinian brothers," he said.

Qatar, along with the United States and Egypt, has attempted to mediate in the conflict, but the talks have been deadlocked for months. Egypt recently proposed a two-day ceasefire.