Israel issues evacuation notice for Baalbeck city in eastern Lebanon after war death toll crosses 43,000

The Israeli army issued an evacuation warning for residents in the entire eastern Lebanese city of Baalbeck, along with surrounding areas and key routes in the Bekaa Valley. The area marked for evacuation includes the ancient Roman temple complex, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Lebanon’s Heath Ministry said more than 2,790 people have been killed and 12,700 wounded since Oct. 8, 2023, when Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel, drawing retaliation. Israeli ground forces invaded southern Lebanon at the beginning of October.

Multiple United Nations agencies rallied on Tuesday around their fellow organisation UNRWA, that provides aid to Palestinian refugees, after Israel's parliament took steps to ban it in the coming months.

The foreign ministers of Cyprus and Luxembourg say the UN agency for Palestinian refugees is “indispensable” to providing food, education and health care to Palestinians. Turkey’s Foreign Ministry called Israel’s decision a “clear violation of international law.”

United States President Joe Biden’s administration says it is seeking an explanation from Israel about its attack Tuesday on a town in northern Gaza that Palestinians say killed at least 88 people, including dozens of women and children.

The death toll from more than a year of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza has passed 43,000, Palestinian officials reported Monday, without distinguishing between civilians and combatants. The Israel-Hamas war began after Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducting 250 others.

For the first time in the ongoing Israel-Hezbollah war, the Israeli army has issued an evacuation warning for residents in the entire eastern city of Baalbek, along with surrounding areas and key routes in the Bekaa Valley.

Earlier Wednesday, a drone strike targeted a van on Lebanon's Aaraya highway, a major road linking Beirut to the Bekaa, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the Lebanese capital, resulting in flames, according to Lebanese state media.

Another vehicle in Bchamoun, roughly 10 kilometers (6 miles) southeast of Beirut, was also targeted, as reported by the state-run National News Agency. This is the first time in the conflict that the area is targeted.

The number of casualties and the intended targets were not yet known.

The area marked in Wednesday’s evacuation order includes the ancient Roman temple complex, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. On Oct. 6, an Israeli strike hit some 700 meters (750 yards) away from the ancient citadel, which houses two of the largest Roman temples in the world.

Norway wants clarity on Israel's obligation to Palestinians under international law

Norway is asking for a clarification on Israel’s responsibility under international law when preventing the United Nations, international humanitarian organizations and states from helping Palestinians.

“The international community cannot accept that the U.N., international humanitarian organizations and states face systematic obstacles to being able to work in Palestine and provide humanitarian aid to the Palestinians under occupation,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said Wednesday. “It undermines the Palestinians’ right to vital aid. Then we have to react.”

The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, also known as UNRWA, provides essential services to millions of Palestinians across the Middle East and has underpinned aid efforts in Gaza throughout the Israel-Hamas war. 

Legislation barring it from operating in Israel passed with an overwhelming majority on Monday. Israel says UNRWA has allowed itself to be infiltrated by Hamas, with the militants siphoning off aid and using the agency’s facilities as shields. UNRWA denies the allegations, saying it is committed to neutrality and acts quickly to address any wrongdoing by its staff.

Norway has called for a resolution in the U.N. General Assembly that asks the International Court of Justice “to give an advisory opinion on the duties of Israel as an occupying power to facilitate aid to the population of Palestine.” Gahr Støre added that a number of countries have expressed support for the initiative, in addition to UNRWA.

Under international law, Israel has an obligation to help the Palestinian population under occupation, Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said.

“With this initiative, Norway wants to establish that no country can rise above its obligations under international law,” Barth Eide said. “We see similar trends in other countries — that leaders try to undermine humanitarian law and aid work in situations of crisis and conflict. We must stop this development.”