A Shiite neighborhood in the south of the Lebanese capital was the target of Israeli strikes early Wednesday. An evacuation order from the Israeli army had been issued a few minutes earlier.
On Tuesday evening, Hezbollah claimed to have fired a “ large salvo of missiles » to the city of Safed, located in northern Israel. Israeli forces say 50 projectiles were fired, without reporting any casualties.
In France, the president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (Crif) denounced the “a fault that is both historical and political” by Emmanuel Macron. According to comments reported by participants in the Council of Ministers, the French president declared that it is a “UN decision” who has “created” the State of Israel.
We take stock of recent developments in the conflict.
Read also: declarations from Netanyahu, rockets in Safed and Haifa… Update of the day
Strike on southern Beirut
Two strikes hit the Shiite neighborhood of Haret Hreik in southern Beirut early Wednesday, minutes after the Israeli army issued an evacuation order for the area, according to images broadcast live by an AFPTV journalist. .
“You are near Hezbollah-linked facilities and interests, against which the Israeli army will act in the near future,” the Israeli army said in a statement.
The official Lebanese agency ANI clarified that it was an airstrike.
A second strike also hit this neighborhood, according to images from the AFPTV journalist.
50 projectiles fired from Lebanon
The Israeli army indicated that 50 projectiles were fired overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday at northern Israel from Lebanon, where it is opposed to Hezbollah.
“Some projectiles were intercepted,” said this source without reporting any victims. Hezbollah, for its part, claimed to have fired “a great salvo of missiles” towards the city of Safed. This is the third time in less than two days that the Islamist movement has attacked this city in northern Israel. He also said he had launched “missile salvos” against Israeli artillery positions in Dalton and Dishon (north-east).
Israel: American soldiers responsible for the anti-missile defense system have arrived
The Pentagon announced Tuesday that the first soldiers responsible for operating the Thaad high-altitude missile defense system, considered one of the most advanced in the world, arrived in Israel on Monday and that others would follow.
This deployment strengthens the anti-aircraft defense of Israel, whose leaders have promised to respond to the attack carried out on October 1 by Iran, which launched some 200 missiles on its soil. American ships and planes helped Israel defend against this attack and the previous one on April 13. But with this mobile anti-missile defense system, around a hundred American soldiers will be on the ground and will therefore find themselves at risk.
Thaad, designed to intercept missiles at high altitude and providing protection over a wide area, will be “fully operational in the near future”, Pentagon spokesperson General Pat Ryder said in a statement Tuesday.
This system, developed in the 1990s but first put into use in 2008, requires 95 people to operate it. It consists of six truck-mounted launchers, each consisting of eight interceptors, a powerful radar system and a fire control element, according to the US Congressional Research Service.
Crif is moved by Macron’s remarks in the Council of Ministers
The president of Crif was moved Tuesday evening by remarks attributed to President Emmanuel Macron in the Council of Ministers on the role of the UN in the creation of the State of Israel. “The remarks attributed to the President of the Republic, if confirmed, are both a historical and political mistake,” wrote Yonathan Arfi in a message on the social network
According to comments reported by participants in the Council of Ministers, Tuesday, Emmanuel Macron considered that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should not “freeing oneself from UN decisions”, emphasizing that it is a “UN decision” who has “created” the State of Israel. A reference to Resolution 181 adopted in November 1947 by the United Nations General Assembly, providing for the partition of Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state.
US and Canada sanction pro-Palestinian group Samidoun
The United States and Canada announced sanctions on Tuesday against the pro-Palestinian organization Samidoun, accusing it of serving as a front for fundraising for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The PFLP, accused of having orchestrated waves of attacks against Israelis for decades, is considered a terrorist organization by Washington and Ottawa, as well as the European Union.
The US Treasury Department describes Samidoun, a network that claims to support Palestinian prisoners, as “a fake charity that serves as an international fundraiser” for the PFLP and which would be based in Vancouver. For its part, the Canadian government determined that Samidoun met the definition of a “terrorist group” under the country’s penal code.
The coordinated action by the United States and Canada exposes individuals who associate with or make financial contributions to Samidoun to potential financial sanctions, among other measures.
Oil falls to pre-Iran attack on Israel
Oil prices returned to their level before the Iranian missile attack on Israel on Tuesday, with the market no longer believing in a major escalation between the two countries.
A barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in December dropped 4.14%, to close at $74.25. The American West Texas Intermediate (WTI) with maturity in November dropped 4.40%, to $70.58.
During the session, Brent and WTI reached levels they had not seen since October 1, the day Iran launched nearly 200 missiles at Israel.
The market plunged after the publication of information from Washington Post according to which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated to US President Joe Biden that the Israeli response would target Iranian military targets. The Jewish State would thus spare the energy infrastructure of the Islamic Republic which operators had until now considered to be at risk.
