Lebanon | Intense Israeli raids, Hezbollah rocket salvos against Israel

(Beirut) The war continues to rage between Israel and Hezbollah, with intense Israeli bombings in Lebanon and salvos of rockets fired by the Lebanese movement into Israeli territory, removing any prospect of an immediate truce.

In Israel, two flares landed on Saturday in the courtyard in front of the private residence in Caesarea (center) of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was not there, announced the Israeli security services, who spoke of a “dangerous escalation” .

On another front, in the Palestinian territory of Gaza, where Israel is fighting the Islamist movement Hamas, at least 24 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.

Synagogue hit in Haifa

In the east of the country, six people including three children died in a strike, according to the Ministry of Health. In southern Lebanon, bordering northern Israel, several towns, including Tyre, and villages were the target of intense strikes. Two rescuers died, according to the ministry.

The Israeli army claimed to have targeted “Hezbollah weapons depots and command centers” in the Tire region.

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.

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 drive Hezbollah away from border regions and stop its rocket attacks that have displaced some 60,000 residents of northern Israel.

Despite the hard blows inflicted on Hezbollah, several of whose leaders were killed, the movement claimed to have hit an Israeli tank with “a missile” in southern Lebanon and fired new rockets against northern Israel.

He claimed to have targeted military bases in and around the city of Haifa.

The army reported around 80 projectiles fired during the day from Lebanon. In Haifa, a synagogue was hit and two civilians injured. Several projectiles were intercepted.

Halevi in ​​southern Lebanon

In addition to air strikes, the Israeli army has been carrying out a ground offensive in southern Lebanon since September 30, where Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi visited on Tuesday, the army said on Saturday.

Hezbollah “will continue to shoot, and we will continue to fight, to advance in depth […] and hit him very hard. We will stop when we know that we are bringing the people (of northern Israel) safely back home, Herzi Halevi said in the Lebanese border village of Kfar Kila.

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,” this official added on condition of anonymity without further details 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. A center housing displaced people, houses and a hair salon were particularly affected, according to Civil Defense.

“Get us out (of Gaza), for God’s sake. Enough war, enough suffering! “, launched Itimad Al-Zain, a Palestinian displaced in Gaza City.

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 the Hamas health ministry.

In Tel Aviv, Israelis took to the streets again to demand from Benjamin Netanyahu’s government an agreement allowing the release of hostages in Gaza.