Lebanon | Beirut schools closed after deadly Israeli strikes

(Beirut) Schools closed their doors on Monday in Beirut the day after deadly strikes carried out in the heart of the Lebanese capital by Israel, which killed a leader of the armed Hezbollah movement.

At war against Hezbollah in Lebanon and Palestinian Hamas in Gaza, Israel has carried out new strikes on these two fronts.

An Israeli strike targeted the densely populated Zokak el-Blatt neighborhood in central Beirut on Monday evening, according to a security source. In the besieged Palestinian territory of Gaza, raids left at least eight dead according to Civil Defense.

Israel says it wants to put these two movements allied to Iran, its sworn enemy, out of harm’s way.

He vowed to destroy Hamas after the attack carried out by this 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 Lebanon, “public and private schools and private higher education institutions which provide face-to-face classes” will remain closed until Tuesday inclusive by order of the Ministry of Education.

“There is no longer any safe region […] You can be at home and get bombed,” said Heba, a 44-year-old teacher, who did not want to give her name.

On Sunday, two Israeli airstrikes in central Beirut killed at least 10 people, according to the Health Ministry. One of them killed Hezbollah’s main spokesperson, Mohammad Afif, along with four members of his media team.

Afif was part of the close circle of the former leader of the movement, Hassan Nasrallah, himself killed by Israeli aircraft on September 27 in the southern suburbs of Beirut. His funeral took place in Saida in southern Lebanon, where Israeli aircraft carried out new raids.

A hundred projectiles on Israel

Israel has largely decimated the leadership of Hezbollah, a movement accused by its detractors in Lebanon of constituting a “state within a state”. He confirmed having killed Afif, described as the movement’s “head of propaganda”.

Even weakened, Hezbollah continues to fire rockets daily at Israel and claims to push back Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, where they launched a ground offensive on September 30.

Around 100 projectiles were fired from Lebanon on Monday, according to the Israeli army. A woman was killed in northern Israel according to firefighters.

After a year of cross-border violence and after having weakened Hamas, Israel launched intense bombings on Hezbollah strongholds on September 23.

He says he wants to move this movement away from the border regions of southern Lebanon and ensure the return of some 60,000 displaced people to northern Israel.

Since October 8, 2023, more than 3,510 people have been killed in Lebanon according to the Ministry of Health, the majority since September 23. On the Israeli side, 45 civilians and 78 soldiers were killed.

In Lebanon, tens of thousands of residents have also been displaced.

“Very positive”

UNESCO announced that it was placing under “temporary reinforced protection” 34 cultural sites in Lebanon threatened by Israeli bombings, including those of Baalbeck (East) and Tire (South).

On a proposed US truce between Israel and Hezbollah, a Lebanese official said authorities in Beirut had a “very positive” position and stressed that they were finalizing their “remarks” before transmitting their response to the United States. United.

Hamas also said it was ready for a conditional ceasefire.

However, the two wars have so far shown no sign of abating. Israel says it wants to continue the war until its “objectives” are achieved.

“They were screaming”

On Monday, Israeli strikes killed eight people in the Gaza Strip, including four members of the same family in the Al-Mawassi displaced persons camp (south), according to Civil Defense.

“There was a powerful explosion, which caused a fire, then there was chaos. The women and children were screaming,” said a witness, Said Al-Burai.

Raids targeted a building which was destroyed in the northern city of Gaza, a rescuer said.

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, considered reliable. by the UN, displaced almost all of the approximately 2.4 million inhabitants and caused a humanitarian disaster.

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 the territory it occupied for 38 years.