Israeli strikes kill 12 in Gaza as arrests made over flares fired at Netanyahu's home
Tel Aviv, Nov 17: Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip overnight killed 12 people, Palestinian medical officials said on Sunday.
Israeli police meanwhile arrested three suspects after flares were fired at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's private residence in the coastal city of Caesarea.
In Lebanon, Israeli warplanes pounded the southern suburbs of Beirut after the military warned people to evacuate from several buildings.
The Hezbollah group has a strong presence in the area, known as the Dahiyeh, and the strikes came as Lebanese officials are considering a United States-brokered cease-fire proposal. One of the strikes hit central Beirut for the first time in weeks.
Netanyahu and his family were not at the residence when two flares were fired at it overnight, and there were no injuries, authorities said. A drone launched by Hezbollah struck the residence last month, also when Netanyahu and his family were away.
The police did not provide details about the suspects behind the flares, but officials pointed to domestic political critics of Netanyahu. Israel's largely ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, condemned the incident and warned against “an escalation of the violence in the public sphere”.
Netanyahu has faced months of mass protests over his handling of the hostage crisis unleashed by Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack into Israel, which ignited the ongoing war in Gaza.
Critics blame Netanyahu for the security and intelligence failures that allowed the attack to happen and for not reaching a deal with Hamas to release scores of hostages still held inside Gaza. Israelis rallied again in the city of Tel Aviv on Saturday night to demand a cease-fire deal to return them.
Overnight strikes in central Gaza kill 12
Israeli strikes killed six people in Nuseirat and another four in Bureij, two built-up refugee camps in central Gaza dating back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation.
Another two people were killed in a strike on Gaza's main north-south highway, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah, which received all 12 bodies.
The war between Israel and Hamas began after Palestinian Hamas group stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducting 250 others. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, about a third of them believed to be dead.
The Health Ministry in Gaza says around 43,800 Palestinians have been killed in the war. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but has said women and children make up more than half the fatalities. Around 90 per cent of Gaza's population of 2.3 million Palestinians have been displaced, and large areas of the territory have been flattened by Israeli bombardment and ground operations.
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Punjab: Law student kills woman classmate inside classroom, then shoots himself
Chandigarh (PTI): A first-year law student in Punjab's Tarn Taran district on Monday allegedly shot dead his fellow woman student in the head inside the classroom before turning the gun on himself and pulling the trigger, as horrified classmates watched.
The weapon used in the crime appeared to be illegal, police said, adding that the accused, Prince Raj, 20, -- the son of a retired Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel -- was critically injured and undergoing treatment, while Sandeep Kaur, 19, died on the spot.
Both Prince and Sandeep were first-year law students and classmates at Mai Bhago Law College in Usma village in Tarn Taran.
A family member of Sandeep alleged that Prince had been harassing her for some time, while her mother, Harjinder Kaur, questioned how a student managed to bring a firearm into the college. Sandeep was engaged to be married, her family said.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Jagbir Singh said Prince opened fire on Sandeep inside the classroom shortly before the class was to begin and then turned the gun on himself.
Prince was taken to Guru Nanak Dev hospital in Amritsar, where his condition was stated to be critical, police said.
Tarn Taran Senior Superintendent of Police Surendra Lamba said an investigation was underway to determine the motive behind the killing.
"Prima facie, they appear to have been friends. Possibly, the friendship turned bitter. It is all part of the investigation," he said, adding that police will question the friends and family members of the duo.
The SSP said an FIR has been registered on the complaint of the family of the deceased.
The entire incident was captured on a CCTV camera installed in the classroom. The footage showed Prince, Sandeep, and another female student sitting together, while some other students could also be seen.
Suddenly, Prince got up, took out a pistol from his bag and shot Sandeep. He then shot himself in the head and fell on the floor. The shocked student, sitting with Sandeep, got up and checked on her, but she was motionless.
A few students rushed inside the classroom after hearing the gunshot, but fled upon seeing Sandeep.
Sandeep's mother said she got a call from the college authorities, informing her that her daughter had been injured.
"I was not told that she was shot," Harjinder told reporters, adding that when she reached the college, she found her daughter lying motionless.
A widow and the sole breadwinner of the family, Harjinder has seven daughters, including Sandeep, and a son.
Prince hailed from Mallian village, while Sandeep was a resident of Naushehra Pannuan village.
Police have deployed additional force on the campus and called a forensic team. Investigators are probing how the accused procured the weapon and how it was brought into the college premises, officials said.
