BEIRUT: Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, said on Monday Beirut had been working to ease tensions along its southern border with Israel and avoid dragging the country into a new war.

“Lebanon is in the eye of the storm, and the region as a whole is in a difficult situation,” a statement from his office said.

The Lebanese government remains critical of Israel but fears a new war could further devastate its battered economy and risk the lives of its people.

ABERDEEN: Scotland’s leader Humza Yousaf said his wife’s parents were fast running out of food and drinking water in Gaza and could die if unable to leave soon.
Yousaf’s parents-in-law live in Scotland but were visiting relatives in Gaza when Hamas militants poured into Israel and killed 1,300 people last weekend.
Israel has responded with retaliatory strikes killing some 2,750 people and a total blockade on the Palestinian enclave that has kept aid out and foreign passport-holders in.

WASHINGTON: Top US officials warned on Sunday that the war between Israel and militant group Hamas could escalate, as American warships headed to the area amid growing clashes on the country’s northern border with Lebanon.

JERUSALEM: Israel’s strikes on the Gaza Strip have led to an “unprecedented human catastrophe” in the Palestinian territory, the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees said on Sunday.

“Not one drop of water, not one grain of wheat, not a liter of fuel has been allowed in the Gaza Strip for the last eight days,” said Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of UNRWA, told journalists.

“Raise the alarm that as of today, my UNRWA colleagues in Gaza can no longer provide humanitarian assistance as I speak,” Lazzarini said.

KHAN YOUNIS: Medics in Gaza warned Sunday that thousands could die as hospitals packed with wounded people ran desperately low on fuel and basic supplies. Palestinians in the besieged coastal enclave struggled to find food, water and safety ahead of an expected Israeli ground offensive in the war sparked by Hamas’ deadly attack.

Israeli forces, supported by a growing deployment of US warships in the region, positioned themselves along Gaza’s border and drilled for what Israel said would be a broad campaign to dismantle the militant group.