The Israeli army intensely bombed Hezbollah strongholds near Beirut and in the south and east of Lebanon on Saturday, the day after the announcement of the examination by Lebanese leaders of a truce proposal issued by the States -United.
In addition to destructive and deadly airstrikes in Lebanon, Israeli troops have been carrying out a ground offensive since September 30 in the south of this country, where Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi visited on Tuesday according to a press release from the army on Saturday.
On another front, in the Palestinian territory of Gaza, where Israel is fighting the Islamist movement Hamas, at least 23 people including women and children were killed in Israeli strikes, according to local Civil Defense.
A powerful armed movement accused by its detractors of constituting a “state within a state”, Lebanese Hezbollah opened a front against Israel in support of Hamas, one day after the attack carried out by this Palestinian movement on Israeli soil on October 7 2023, which started the war in Gaza.
After weakening Hamas and after a year of spiraling cross-border violence, Israel moved the main war front to Lebanon, launching on September 23 an intense campaign of destructive and deadly bombings mainly against Hezbollah strongholds.
On Saturday, relentless airstrikes targeted the southern suburbs of Beirut, located near the Lebanese capital’s international airport, according to local media.
The Israeli army said in the middle of the day that it had targeted Hezbollah’s “weapons warehouse and command center” in the southern suburbs, after calling on residents to evacuate certain neighborhoods.
– Rocket fire on Israel –
In the evening, the official ANI agency reported a “very violent” strike on the southern suburbs where Israel killed on September 27 in an air raid the former leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, who was considered to be the the most powerful man in the country.
The only faction to retain its weapons at the end of the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990), in the name of “resistance” against Israel, Hezbollah, created and financed by Iran, has established itself as an essential political force in the Lebanon.
In the east of the country, where Hezbollah is well established, six people including three children died in an Israeli raid, according to the Ministry of Health.
And in southern Lebanon, bordering northern Israel, several towns, including Tyre, and villages were the target of intense strikes, according to media reports. Two rescuers died, according to the Ministry of Health.
Israel says it wants to put Hezbollah and Hamas, two allies of Iran, its sworn enemy, out of harm’s way. He says his goal in Lebanon is to keep Hezbollah away from the border regions and to stop its rocket attacks that have displaced some 60,000 residents of northern Israel.
Despite the hard blows inflicted on Hezbollah, the latter claimed responsibility for rocket fire against northern Israel, where the army reported 65 projectiles fired from Lebanon. Most are usually intercepted by the Israeli defense.
– Halevi in southern Lebanon –
Hezbollah “will continue to shoot, and we will continue to fight (…) and hit them very hard. We will stop when we know that we are bringing the people (of northern Israel) back to safety” home, he said. declared Herzi Halevi during his trip to the border village of Kfar Kila in southern Lebanon, according to the army.
On Saturday, the Israeli army announced the death of an Israeli soldier in southern Lebanon, bringing to 48 the number of its soldiers killed in this region in fighting with Hezbollah since September 30.
After nearly two months of war, a senior Lebanese official said Friday that the United States Ambassador to Beirut, Lisa Johnson, presented Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri with a 13-point plan providing for a 60-day truce and deployment of the army in southern Lebanon.
“Mr. Berri asked for a three-day delay,” said this official on condition of anonymity, who gave no further information on this plan.
More than 3,452 people have been killed in Lebanon since October 8, 2023, according to the Ministry of Health, the majority since September 23.
– “Enough war!” –
On Israel’s southern front, the army continues to bombard the Gaza Strip which is devastated, besieged and threatened with famine according to the UN.
“Get us out (of Gaza), for the love of God (…) Enough war, enough suffering!” lamented Itimad Al-Zain, a Palestinian displaced in Gaza city.
On Friday, a member of the Hamas politburo reiterated the movement’s conditions for a ceasefire with Israel.
The attack on October 7, 2023 in Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mainly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data, including hostages killed or died in captivity.
That day, 251 people were kidnapped. In total, 97 remain hostages in Gaza, including 34 declared dead by the army.
The Israeli retaliatory offensive in Gaza left 43,799 dead, mostly civilians, according to data from the Hamas Health Ministry.
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