Israel is “preparing a response” to the missile attack launched on its territory by Iran on Tuesday, one of its military officials announced on Saturday, at a time when Israeli aircraft carried out new bombings in Lebanon, notably in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a stronghold of pro-Iranian Hezbollah.
Israel is preparing a response to the missile attack launched on its territory by Iran, a military official announced on Saturday, at a time when the Israeli army is carrying out new strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, allies of Tehran.
Tuesday’s Iranian attack, the second since April, and the threat of an Israeli response, have stoked fears of a conflagration in the Middle East.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei warned on Friday that his allies, mainly Hezbollah and Hamas, would continue the fight against Israel, in a rare statement as the first anniversary of the unprecedented attack on Israel approached. Palestinian Islamist movement on Israeli soil, October 7, 2023 which triggered the war in the Gaza Strip.
After having weakened Hamas there during a devastating offensive still ongoing, Israel moved most of its operations to the Lebanese front in mid-September, where its troops began a ground operation against Hezbollah on Monday.
Hamas announced this Saturday the death of two of its members in Israeli strikes on the north and east of Lebanon, the Israeli army confirming having killed two leaders of the Palestinian Islamist movement.
In the south of the country, Israeli soldiers “attempted to advance again” and “the clashes continue”the Lebanese movement said on Saturday. He notably claimed to have fired rockets at the Ramat David air base near Haifa, in northern Israel, about 45 km from the border.
We learned around 5 p.m. that Hezbollah announced that it had targeted a military industrial company in northern Israel. For his part, the chief of staff of the Israeli army indicated on Saturday evening that it would continue to strike “without respite” Hezbollah in Lebanon, where the Islamist movement is subject to intense bombings. “We must continue to put pressure on Hezbollah and inflict additional damage on the enemy, without concessions and without respite for the organization,” said General Herzi Halevi.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that the army had succeeded in destroying “a large part” of Hezbollah’s arsenal in Lebanon and to change the course of the war against the Islamist movement supported by Iran. “We have destroyed much of the missile and rocket arsenal that Hezbollah has built over the years”he actually declared in a televised address, adding: “We changed the course of the war”. After weeks of intense bombing targeting Hezbollah, Israel launched a ground offensive on Monday in southern Lebanon, one of the armed movement’s strongholds.
“Increasingly stronger” strikes
At midday, new Israeli strikes shook the southern suburbs of Beirut, after more than a dozen during the night, according to the Lebanese news agency ANI.
The Israeli army, which launched massive bombings in the neighboring country on September 23, saying it was targeting Hezbollah targets, had called on residents to evacuate certain areas.
In the morning, flames were escaping from affected buildings, some of which collapsed, in the area, where residents hurriedly came to gather some belongings, noted a journalist on site.
In a neighboring neighborhood, Abou Abbas, a 62-year-old restaurateur, says he is determined to stay at home despite the strikes.louder and louder every night and the noise of the raids” creepy.
The army also indicated that it had bombed Hezbollah fighters during the night “inside a mosque” in southern Lebanon.
Hamas announced the death of one of its commanders and three members of his family in an Israeli strike on a Palestinian refugee camp near Tripoli in northern Lebanon, the first in this region in a year.
The previous night, the Israeli army had already shelled the southern suburbs of the capital, targeting, according to the Israeli news site Ynet, Hachem Safieddine, potential successor at the head of the movement of Hassan Nasrallah, killed on September 27 in a raid Israeli in this sector.
More than 2,000 deaths in Lebanon in one year
Tehran claimed to have fired some 200 missiles towards Israel on Tuesday to respond to the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, and the death on July 31 of Ismaïl Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas, in an explosion in Tehran blamed on Israel.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad described the operation as a “lesson” inflicted on Israel, receiving Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday. The latter insisted on the need for a ceasefire in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.
US President Joe Biden on Friday advised Israel against attacking Iranian oil sites, with his predecessor and Republican candidate to succeed him, Donald Trump, suggesting strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
The escalation in Lebanon comes after twelve months of cross-border firefights, following Hezbollah’s opening of a front against Israel in support of Hamas, which displaced tens of thousands of residents on both sides of the border.
According to the Lebanese authorities, more than 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon since October 2023, including more than a thousand since September 23.
Around 1.2 million people were displaced by Israeli bombing, including 374,000 people, mainly Syrians, who fled to Syria, according to the same sources.
Tensions in the Middle East Israel Lebanon Iran Beirut Israeli-Palestinian conflict Middle East conflict Middle East conflict
