L’escalation continues. The Israeli army announced this Tuesday 1is October that ground troops had crossed the border to fight Hezbollah in villages in southern Lebanon, despite international calls for de-escalation. After the devastating blow inflicted on the Shiite armed group with the assassination of its leader Hassan Nasrallah on Friday September 27 in a strike near Beirut, Israeli leaders had warned that the war was not over against the pro-Iranian movement, enemy of ‘Israel.
The Israeli army announced in a statement that these ground operations which began Monday evening were “limited, localized and targeted” against “terrorist targets and infrastructure” of Hezbollah. The IDF, however, did not specify the number of soldiers involved in this incursion. “These targets are located in villages near the border and pose an immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel,” she said.
The army had been carrying out intense and deadly bombings on Lebanon for several days. According to a Lebanese security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, Israel launched at least six new strikes on south Beirut overnight, after the Israeli army ordered residents to evacuate. the places.
United States support
In a statement published on the social network cannot carry out attacks of the type of those of October 7 against the communities of northern Israel.
A “diplomatic resolution is necessary” to ensure the safety of civilians “on both sides of the border”, also reaffirmed the head of the Pentagon.
On Monday, September 30, President Joe Biden suggested that he was opposed to Israeli ground operations, calling for a ceasefire. The Israeli armed forces “operate according to a methodical plan […] for which Civil Defense soldiers have trained and prepared in recent months,” explained the army, specifying that aviation and artillery supported the ground forces with precise strikes.
Hezbollah does not admit defeat
In a statement released overnight, Hezbollah said it had “targeted” Israeli troops “moving” in orchards near the border, with a source close to the group saying the soldiers were “right on the border.” .
The “party of God” had no immediate comment after the Israeli military announced the ground raids, but the group’s al-Manar TV reported the Israeli statement on its Telegram channel. The Lebanese army, overwhelmed by the military power of Hezbollah, is in the process of “repositioning” its troops further from the border, a military official told AFP. According to Syrian state media, Israeli strikes also targeted the Damascus region overnight.
ALSO READ Death of Hassan Nasrallah: shock and disbelief in BeirutThe official Sana news agency reported three civilians killed and nine others injured in the raids. According to Syrian state television, a journalist, Safaa Ahmad, was among the dead.
International disapproval
World leaders called on Monday for de-escalation in the face of the risk of “total war” in the region. The head of the UN, Antonio Guterres, had thus expressed his opposition to any Israeli “land invasion” of Lebanon, while the head of French diplomacy, Jean-Noël Barrot, traveling to Beirut, had called on Israel to “s “refrain from any land incursion” as well as a ceasefire.
Several countries, including Canada and the United Kingdom, have announced that they have chartered flights to evacuate their nationals from Lebanon. France deployed a military ship as a “precaution”, in case of need to evacuate its nationals. The death toll from Monday’s Israeli strikes in Lebanon is 95 dead, according to the Ministry of Health. The death of Hassan Nasrallah, who was considered the most powerful man in Lebanon, constitutes a major victory for Israel against Iran, Israel’s enemy, and its allies, including Hamas.
Israel has promised to fight its “enemies” and “eliminate” them wherever they are found. There is “no place in the Middle East that Israel cannot reach,” warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The head of the Pentagon once again warned Tehran during the night against a possible “direct military attack targeting Israel”, emphasizing the “serious consequences” that this would entail for Iran.
