► Lebanon announces the closure of schools in Beirut and its surroundings Monday and Tuesday
Schools in Beirut and its surroundings will be closed this Monday November 18 and Tuesday November 19, announced the Lebanese Ministry of Education, after two Israeli strikes which targeted the heart of the capital a few hours apart.
“The Minister of Education, Abbas Halabi announced the closure of public and private schools and private higher education institutions which provide face-to-face classes”according to a press release from the ministry, specifying that the measure will be applied in establishments in Beirut, certain sectors of Chouf, Metn-north, and in Baabda and Aley.
► 11 dead and 48 injured in Israeli strikes on the Tire region
Eleven people were killed on Sunday and 48 others injured in Israeli strikes targeting towns in the Tire region, in southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah is strongly established, the Lebanese Ministry of Health announced.
“Israeli enemy raids on villages in the Tire district left 11 dead and 48 injured”indicated the ministry, after nearly two months of open war between Hezbollah and Israel, which says it wants to neutralize the pro-Iranian movement to bring home its displaced inhabitants from the north of the country, bordering southern Lebanon.
► Israel claims to have “eliminated” Hezbollah’s “head of propaganda”
The Israeli army confirmed that it “eliminated” the media manager of Lebanese Hezbollah, Mohammad Afif, presented as the “head of propaganda” of the pro-Iranian movement, in a strike the same day in the Beirut region.
Mohammad Afif “was directly involved in Hezbollah’s terrorist activity against the State of Israel”the Israeli army said in a statement.
Hezbollah had announced a little earlier the death of its media manager killed in an Israeli “strike” in the Ras el-Nabaa district, in the heart of Beirut. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, four other people were killed.
► Jamaa Islamiya denies having been hit in Beirut
An MP from the Lebanese Islamist group Jamaa Islamiya, Imad Hout, denied that one of the centers of the allied group of Lebanese Hezbollah and Palestinian Hamas was hit or was the target of an Israeli strike in the heart of Beirut.
“No centers or institutions affiliated with the group are in the area targeted by the strike and no member of the group was the target”said Imad Hout, denying the information from state media. A Lebanese security source reported that the strike had targeted an electronics store.
► One dead and nine injured in an Israeli strike on Beirut
At least one person was killed and nine others were injured, two of them seriously, in a strike “the Israeli enemy” in the central and commercial district of Mar Elias in Beirut, announced the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
“The Israeli enemy's raid on Mar Elias Street in Beirut left one dead and nine injured, including two in critical condition”indicated the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
This is the second strike targeting the heart of Beirut this Sunday. On live images from AFPTV, a fire glowed red in the middle of the buildings of the capital, where a pungent smell floated in certain neighborhoods near Mar Elias.
