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The Israeli army struck central Beirut on Monday, killing at least five people, as a rocket attack from Lebanese Hezbollah killed a woman in Israel, a war that shows no sign of abating.
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November 18, 2024 – 10.32pm
(Keystone-ATS) Israel is also at war with Palestinian Hamas in the besieged Gaza Strip, where new raids have killed at least eight people.
Israel says it wants to put Hezbollah and Hamas, allies of Iran, its sworn enemy, out of harm’s way. He vowed to destroy Hamas after the attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement on its soil on October 7, 2023, which sparked the war in Gaza, and seeks to stop Lebanese Hezbollah’s rocket fire on its territory.
In the evening, at least five people died in a strike against the densely populated Zokak el-Blatt district, the Health Ministry said.
The National Information Agency (ANI) spoke of an “enemy drone” attack against this sector, located about 400 meters from the Grand Serail, seat of the Prime Minister, and near an area where there are embassies.
Across the border, in Israel, a woman was killed in the fall of a rocket in Shfaram (north) according to firefighters.
In the evening, warning sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and central Israel. Five people were injured in Ramat Gan, a suburb of Tel Aviv, including a woman seriously, after the interception of a missile fired from Lebanon, according to the army and emergency services.
Around 100 projectiles were fired by Hezbollah into Israel on Monday, according to the army.
Schools closed
On Sunday, two Israeli strikes left 10 dead in central Beirut. One of them killed Hezbollah spokesperson Mohammad Afif and four other members of his media team, said the movement whose leadership has been largely decimated by Israel in recent months.
After the strikes, the Ministry of Education ordered the closure of schools in Beirut on Monday and Tuesday.
In addition to rocket fire, Hezbollah, even weakened, claims to repel Israeli troops who have been carrying out ground operations in southern Lebanon since September 30.
On October 8, 2023, Hezbollah opened a front against the Israeli army in support of Hamas. After a year of cross-border violence and after weakening Hamas in Gaza, Israel launched intense bombings on Hezbollah strongholds on September 23.
Israel says it wants to keep this movement away from the border regions of southern Lebanon and ensure the return home of some 60,000 residents of northern Israel displaced by Hezbollah fire for more than a year.
Since October 8, 2023, more than 3,500 people have been killed in Lebanon according to the Ministry of Health, the majority since September 23. On the Israeli side, 46 civilians and 78 soldiers were killed.
In Lebanon, tens of thousands of residents have also been displaced.
“Very positive”
On a proposed US truce between Israel and Hezbollah, a Lebanese official said authorities in Beirut had a “very positive” position and were finalizing their “remarks.”
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated Monday that his army “will carry out operations” against Hezbollah even in the event of a truce agreement, an option rejected in advance by Hezbollah.
Created and financed by Iran, Hezbollah is the only faction in Lebanon to have retained its weapons at the end of the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990). It is accused by its detractors of constituting a “State within a State”.
“A war against children”
On Israel’s southern front, in the Gaza Strip, Israeli strikes left eight dead, including four members of the same family in the Al-Mawassi displaced persons camp (south), according to Civil Defense.
The situation in Gaza is “apocalyptic”, denounced the head of diplomacy of the European Union Josep Borrell. It’s a “war on children.”
“The EU has blood on its hands” in Gaza, accused the NGO Oxfam.
On October 7, 2023, commandos infiltrated into southern Israel from the neighboring Gaza Strip carried out an attack that resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on data official information, 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.
In retaliation, the Israeli army launched a massive bombing campaign followed by a ground offensive in Gaza, which left at least 43,922 dead, mostly civilians, according to data from the Hamas Ministry of Health, judged reliable by the UN. Almost all of the approximately 2.4 million inhabitants have been displaced in this territory plagued by a humanitarian disaster.
According to the Hamas Interior Ministry, at least 20 people were killed in an operation against humanitarian aid looters in Gaza.
Considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union, Hamas took power in Gaza in 2007, two years after Israel’s withdrawal from this territory which it occupied for 38 years.
