Israel continues to bomb Lebanon on Sunday, with strikes announced in the southern suburbs of Beirut, one of the strongholds of the Shiite Hezbollah movement which fired new salvos of rockets towards Israeli territory the day before, while the prospect of a truce appears more and more distant.
At dawn on Sunday, the Israeli army ordered residents of three areas of the southern suburbs of Beirut, where it says Hezbollah installations are located, to evacuate “immediately”, a usual warning before airstrikes.
“You are near Hezbollah-affiliated facilities and interests, against which the Israel Defense Forces will act in the near future,” wrote the army’s spokesperson for the Arabic-speaking public, Avichay Adraee , in a message on X aimed at residents of Hadath Beirut, Burj al-Barajneh and Chiyah.
The official Lebanese agency NNA also reported an air raid and artillery bombardment on the town of Al-Khiyam (southeast).
On another front, in the Palestinian territory of Gaza, where Israel is fighting the Islamist movement Hamas, at least 24 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Saturday, according to local Civil Defense. On the Israeli side, the army announced on Sunday the death of a 21-year-old soldier in the north of the Gaza Strip.
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” .
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 affected 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 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, 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 on Saturday, notably against bases military personnel 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.
– Truce plan –
After almost two months of war, a senior Lebanese official said Friday that the United States ambassador to Beirut, Lisa Johnson, had presented to Prime Minister Najib Mikati and the head of Parliament Nabih Berri a 13-point plan providing for a truce of 60 days and the 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.
In the south, the army continues to bomb the devastated Gaza Strip, 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 the love of God. Enough war, enough suffering!” said 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.
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