In another Escalation in the conflict with Hezbollah Israel has attacked hundreds of targets in Lebanon from the air. At least 492 people were killedthe Lebanese government said. According to Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad, 35 children were among the fatalities.
More than 1,645 people were injured in the attacks on “cities and villages in southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley and Baalbek” in the east, Abiad said. Thousands of families in the affected areas have fled.
It is the highest number of dead and injured in southern Lebanon since the beginning of the war-like conflict between Israel and Hezbollah almost a year ago.
Israel increases attacks on positions in the Bekaa Valley
The Israeli army said it attacked more than 1300 destinationsto destroy Hezbollah’s military infrastructure. The pro-Iranian militia fired missiles towards Israel again. The escalation of the conflict caused great international concern.
© dpa/Hassan Ammar
After the intensive bombings in the south by Israel’s air force, Positions attacked in the Bekaa Valley in northeast Lebanonaccording to security sources. Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets at positions in northern Israel. The militia targeted, among other things, arms industry facilities near the port city of Haifa and military bases.
Previously there had been reports about Warnings to the civilian population in Lebanon through so-called robot calls with pre-recorded messages or via SMS. People should stay away from villages where Hezbollah weapons are stored until further notice, they said. The Lebanese Ministry of Information described the action as “psychological warfare” by Israel. The Lebanese were asked not to pay more attention to the messages and calls “than necessary.”
Israel’s army had already stopped the attacks in the neighboring country expanded in recent days. Dozens of people were killed and injured in this attack. The army has so far avoided questions about whether a military ground offensive is possible. If Israeli troops invade Lebanon, an even greater involvement of allied militias from Hezbollah in the region or from Iran cannot be ruled out.
Panic in southern Lebanon
The warlike conflict has escalated following the explosion of thousands of communications devices in Lebanon and an Israeli attack on the Hezbollah leadership near Beirut with more than 50 dead, including civiliansintensified again last week. According to the Israeli military, Hezbollah fired 150 missiles at civilian areas in Israel on Monday.
Residents were in a state of panic after the recent air strikes in southern Lebanon. Many people were flee from the suburbs of the city of Tyre in the southresidents told the German Press Agency. Some rushed to the center of the coastal city and to the site of the UN observer mission UNIFIL. The streets filled with cars of people who apparently wanted to drive towards Beirut or other places in the north of the country. Traffic jams occurred on the roads.
© REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah
There is “panic and chaos”eyewitnesses reported. In the coastal city of Sidon, which lies about halfway between Tyre and Beirut, traffic came to a complete standstill at times. Drivers shared videos on social media showing masses of Lebanese driving north.
Lebanon’s government accuses Israel of “war of extermination”
The Lebanese government accused Israel of “a War of annihilation in every sense of the word“We as a government are working to stop this new Israeli war and prevent a descent into the unknown,” said Acting Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
In the afternoon, the Israeli army also warned residents of the Bekaa Valley in the northeast of the country. Anyone who is near a house in which Hezbollah weapons are hidden should within two hours at least one kilometer away. The Bekaa Valley is located in northeastern Lebanon, about two hours’ drive from Beirut. The area is where Hezbollah was founded.
Hezbollah is much more heavily armed than it was 20 years ago
Israel and Hezbollah have already waged war against each other in 1982 and 2006. The militia, which is supported by Iran, is now much more heavily armed than it was during the war almost 20 years ago. According to its own statements, it is acting in solidarity with the Islamist Hamas, which is fighting against Israel in the Gaza Strip. Hezbollah and Hamas are supported by Iran.
Israel’s army has recently reduced the number of its attacks in the Gaza Strip and is increasingly focusing on Hezbollah. Israel wants the militia to withdraw behind the Litani River, 30 kilometers from the border – as stipulated in UN Resolution 1701, which marked the end of the war in 2006.
According to the resolution, Hezbollah must not have a presence along the border. However, this will neither by the UN observer mission nor by the Lebanese army. Israel has declared the return of its residents to their homes in the north to be one of the goals of the Gaza war.
Hezbollah recently weakened
Hezbollah has been weakened after several attacks and has recently suffered the hardest blows in decades.
In total, Hezbollah has fired more than 8,800 rockets and drones into Israeli territory in just under a year, the Israeli military said. Before the Hezbollah attacks began on October 8, 2023, estimates of Hezbollah’s arsenal were 150,000 rockets, drones and cruise missiles.
Israel’s Defense Minister: People must show composure
Israel’s Defense Minister Joav Galant said at a meeting that Country is deepening its attacks in Lebanon. This will continue until Israel has achieved its goal of ensuring the safe return of the inhabitants of its northern sector. “We have days ahead of us in which the public must show composure, discipline and full compliance with the instructions of the home front,” Galant said. (dpa, AFP, KNA)
