Scenes of damaged buildings after Israeli attacks in the Laylaki and Haret Hireyk neighborhoods in the Dahieh district of Beirut, Lebanon, on October 1, 2024.
Hussam Shibarro | Anadolu | Getty Images
Israel attacked a so-called Hezbollah weapons facility south of Beirut on Saturday after the Lebanese armed group fired rockets into northern Israel and a spokesman said a drone was launched at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s holiday home.
Netanyahu was not present and it was unclear whether the building was attacked. But he described it as an assassination attempt by “Iranian proxy Hezbollah” and said it was a “grave mistake” as Israel prepares to retaliate for an Iranian missile attack earlier this month.
The attack came as medics in Gaza and Hamas media said Israeli bombing had killed more than 100 people across the coastal enclave and tightened the siege of three hospitals. Efforts have been underway to root out Palestinian militant groups for more than a year.
Israel and its enemies Hamas and Hezbollah pledge keep fighting Already cold hope, death Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar Wednesday’s clashes could lead to a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon and prevent further escalation in the Middle East.
Officials, diplomats and other sources said that as the U.S. election approaches, Israel Looking for Utilizing intensified military operations to protect its borders and ensure that its rivals cannot regroup.
On Saturday, Israeli planes dropped leaflets over southern Gaza bearing Sinwar’s photo and reading: “Hamas will no longer rule Gaza.”
Late on Saturday, an Israeli airstrike on a multi-story building in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya killed at least 73 people and injured dozens more, medics and Hamas media said.
The Israeli military is reviewing reports of casualties from airstrikes in northern Gaza, an Israeli official said, adding that preliminary checks showed the figures were exaggerated and inconsistent with information received.
In Beirut’s southern suburbs, Israel carried out heavy attacks on multiple locations and thick smoke hung over the city into the evening.
The Israeli military said the attack targeted “some of Hezbollah’s weapons storage facilities and the Hezbollah intelligence headquarters command center.”
Witnesses said Israel had issued evacuation orders to four separate suburban neighborhoods, urging residents to stay 500 meters away, but strikes were also carried out in other areas.
Tens of thousands of people have fled the southern suburbs, a once densely populated area that is home to Hezbollah offices and underground facilities, since Israel began regular attacks about three weeks ago.
On September 27, an Israeli airstrike killed the Secretary-General of Hezbollah. Hassan Nasrallahnearby attacks killed other top figures in the Iran-backed group.
USA think U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he would like to see Israel reduce some of its attacks in and around Beirut.
New area is coming
Earlier on Saturday, an Israeli attack killed two people as they were traveling on Lebanon’s main highway near the predominantly Christian town of Jounieh. The Israeli military said it was investigating the incident.
Another attack in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley killed at least four people, health authorities said. One of them is the mayor of a nearby town, second mayor Will be killed this week.
A series of rocket attacks by Hezbollah in Israel killed one person and injured at least nine others, the Israeli ambulance service said.
Hezbollah had no immediate comment on a drone strike targeting Netanyahu’s house in the northern Israeli town of Caesarea, which the prime minister said was aimed at killing him and his wife.
The conflict over the past year has triggered direct confrontation between Iran and Israel, including missile attacks on Israel in April and October 1.
Netanyahu has vowed to respond to October’s ballistic missile attack.
“I say to Iran and its proxies in its axis of evil: Anyone who seeks to harm Israeli citizens will pay a heavy price,” he said in a statement after the Caesarea attack.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations said in a statement: “We have responded to the Israeli regime and the relevant actions were carried out by Hezbollah in Lebanon.”
Negotiations deadlocked
Hezbollah has been at war with Israel since war broke out in Gaza last October between Israel and Iran-backed Hamas. The Israeli military said that Hezbollah fired about 200 “projectiles” on Saturday alone.
Israel launched a ground assault inside Lebanon nearly three weeks ago in an attempt to stabilize border areas for Lebanese citizens fleeing the fighting.
The Israeli military said on Saturday it had destroyed tunnel shafts and underground infrastructure in southern Lebanon. It also said it killed Hezbollah’s deputy commander in the Bint Jubail region on Friday.
The Israeli military has launched an investigation into the death of a Hezbollah detainee in Lebanon, Israeli media said.
More than 2,400 people have been killed in Lebanon since October 2023, most of them in the last month, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry, while Israeli authorities say 59 people have been killed in northern Israel and the occupied Golan Heights. kill.
According to Israeli statistics, Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people and took 250 hostages in the attacks that triggered the war. Palestinian officials say the Israeli military response has killed more than 42,500 people.
Israel’s offensive has left 2.3 million people in Gaza homeless. widespread hunger and Hospitals and schools destroyed.
COGAT, the Israeli military agency that oversees the administration of the Palestinian territories, has stepped up efforts to deliver aid to Gaza amid international pressure. Israel and the United Arab Emirates airdropped aid to southern Gaza on Saturday.
Western leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, said Sinwar’s death provided an opportunity for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of remaining hostages.
Negotiations for such a deal have been deadlocked for weeks. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is leading the diplomatic effort, is expected to travel to Israel on Tuesday as part of a regional visit, Axios reported on social media platform X.
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