AFP Videos – France
First Israeli strike on the heart of Beirut, a Palestinian group targeted
The Israeli army carried out an airstrike in the heart of Beirut on Monday, for the first time since the start of the military escalation between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah, killing three members of a Palestinian armed group.Palestinian Hamas, ally of Hezbollah, also supported by Iran, also announced that its leader in Lebanon had been killed Monday in a strike in the south of the country, where the Israeli army has been carrying out intense bombings against the Lebanese Islamist group for a week .In total, more than a thousand people have been killed in Lebanon, according to Lebanese authorities, since the start of the military escalation between Israel and Hezbollah in mid-September. Israel had once again promised to fight its “enemies” and to “eliminate” them wherever they are, after the death on Friday of the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, killed in a powerful Israeli strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut. Monday begins three days of national mourning in Lebanon. If the latter days, the Israeli army repeatedly shelled the southern suburbs of the capital, stronghold of the Lebanese Islamist movement, it targeted the center of Beirut on Monday for the first time since Hezbollah opened a front against Israel, the day after the unprecedented attack carried out by Palestinian Hamas on October 7, 2023. According to a Lebanese security source, “at least four people were killed in an Israeli drone strike targeting an apartment belonging to Jamaa Islamiya in Beirut intramuros” .This Lebanese Sunni Islamist group supports Hezbollah in its operations in northern Israel “in support” of Hamas.The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a left-wing secular Palestinian organization described as terrorist by Israel and the European Union, announced the death of three of its members in the strike. Videos relayed by televisions show the partially razed floor of the targeted building. This raid comes as the Israeli army leads for the eighth consecutive day of massive airstrikes against Hezbollah strongholds across Lebanon. One of them killed Fatah Charif Abou al-Amine, the leader of Hamas in Lebanon, in the al-Bass Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon, according to the Palestinian movement. – One million displaced -Israel announced in mid-September to move the “center of gravity” of its operations, concentrated until then mainly on the Gaza Strip, towards the north of the country and the Lebanese border, to allow the return of tens of thousands of residents who have fled Hezbollah rocket fire for a year. Before dawn on Monday, the army announced that it had struck dozens of Hezbollah targets in the Bekaa region in eastern Lebanon, including ” dozens of launchers and buildings where weapons were stored.” She said she “succeeded in intercepting a suspicious aerial target which entered Israeli territory from Lebanon” Monday morning. On another front, Israel carried out raids on Sunday against targets of Houthi rebels in Yemen, killing four people, the day after a shot claimed by these pro-Iranian insurgents towards Tel Aviv airport. “No place is too far” for Israel, warned the Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant. According to Lebanese Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, nearly a million people could have been displaced by Israeli bombings, the largest population displacement in the country’s history according to him. This situation raises fears of a regional conflagration. A total war in the Middle East “must be avoided”, urged US President Joe Biden, after describing Nasrallah’s death as a “measure of justice”. – “Great concern” -L Saudi Arabia, very influential in Lebanon, called on Monday for respect for the “sovereignty and territorial integrity” of this country, expressing its “great concern” about the intensification of the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, while the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip continues. In the Palestinian territory, bombarded without respite for a year in response to the attack of October 7, the number of Israeli air strikes has however decreased significantly in recent days, according to AFP journalists, who reported three or four strikes during the night from Sunday to Monday. The death of Hassan Nasrallah, considered the most powerful man in Lebanon, constitutes a major victory for Israel against Iran and its allies. During its operation called “New Order”, the Israeli army said it killed with Hassan Nasrallah “more than 20 other terrorists of different ranks, present in the underground headquarters (of Hezbollah) located under buildings civilians and who directed terrorist operations against Israel. Israel claimed that “most” of Hezbollah’s senior leaders had been killed in recent months during its operations. Despite Israel’s incessant blows, the movement continues its rocket attacks towards northern Israel. “We are afraid that there will be a total escalation,” testified Matan Sofer, a resident of the Israeli town of Rosh Pina, about thirty kilometers from the Lebanese border. “The line” of Nasrallah “will continue and its sacred objective will be achieved with the liberation of Jerusalem”, affirmed Iran, which finances and arms Hezbollah. Hassan Nasrallah’s cousin, Hachem Safieddine, an eminent figure in the party, appears as a potential successor .bur-sg/ila
