Violent Israeli aerial bombardments on the southern suburbs of Beirut terrorized residents of the Lebanese capital on Sunday, the eve of the first anniversary of the Palestinian Hamas attack that sparked the war in Gaza.
In the Gaza Strip, Israel announced “surrounding” the area of Jabaliya (north) and targeting members of Hamas, while at least 26 people were killed in the center of the Palestinian territory in strikes on a mosque and a school welcoming displaced people, according to the Islamist movement’s Ministry of Health.
The Israeli army claimed to have “carried out a precise strike on Hamas terrorists who were operating in a command center” in a structure “formerly serving as a mosque”.
“Most violent night” in Lebanon
In Lebanon, the official ANI news agency reported more than “30 strikes” during the night on several sectors of the southern suburbs, stronghold of pro-Iranian Hezbollah, which, according to Israel, has already lost “440 fighters” since Monday launch by Israeli troops of ground raids in the south of the country.
According to Lebanese authorities, 23 people died and 93 were injured across the country on Saturday, a toll not including nighttime strikes. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati called on the world to “pressure Israel” for a ceasefire.
South of Beirut, a ball of fire lit up the night sky, with dozens of people fleeing the Sabra district on foot or motorbike, according to an AFP photographer.
“There were strikes from all sides. There was no military target, only civilian buildings and private properties,” Mehdi Zaïter, 60, a grocery store owner in the southern suburbs of Beirut, told AFP. It was the most violent night we had ever experienced. There was so much bombing that it looked like an earthquake,” continues the man who still refuses to leave his house.
In the area, the destruction is enormous and affects many buildings, reported an AFP photographer. Excavators are busy clearing debris from a road leading to the airport, while the strikes continue.
Strikes in Gaza
After weakening Hamas during a devastating offensive still underway in the besieged Gaza Strip, Israel shifted most of its operations in mid-September to the Lebanese front, opened by Hezbollah in support of the Palestinian Islamist movement on September 8. October 2023.
But on Sunday, the Israeli army announced “surrounding” the area of Jabaliya, in the north of the Gaza Strip where it believes that Hamas is rebuilding its capabilities, and having carried out airstrikes against “dozens of targets”, including weapons storage sites.
She also said she would deploy additional troops near the Palestinian territory before the October 7 anniversary.
On the Lebanese front, the Israeli army indicated that it had “carried out a series of targeted strikes in the Beirut region on several weapons storage facilities and sites” of Hezbollah, and said that it would “continue to operate to dismantle the capabilities” of the movement.
Hezbollah, for its part, said it targeted Israeli forces with shells during the night after an infiltration attempt in the Blida area in southern Lebanon.
He also claimed responsibility for rocket attacks on a group of Israeli soldiers during the “evacuation of wounded and dead soldiers” in the border region of Manara, and a drone attack on an Israeli military base in northern Israel. .
“Crise terrible”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to deliver a speech to the nation on Monday to commemorate the unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israeli soil.
Stunning the entire country, it led to the death of 1,205 people, the majority civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures, including hostages who died or were killed in captivity in the Gaza Strip. Of the 251 people kidnapped that day, 97 remain hostages in Gaza, including 33 considered dead.
The Israeli offensive launched in retaliation on Gaza, where Hamas took power in 2007, caused the death of 41,870 people and ravaged the besieged territory, according to the latest report from the Hamas government’s Ministry of Health, including the data is deemed reliable by the UN.
On Friday, Israel, which claims to want to put an end to Hezbollah’s rocket attacks on northern Israel, to allow the return of tens of thousands of displaced people to their homes in northern Israel, targeted intense strikes near from Beirut, according to the Israeli site Ynet, Hachem Safieddine, potential successor at the head of the Lebanese movement of Hassan Nasrallah, killed by an Israeli raid on September 27.
A Hezbollah official told AFP that contact had since been “lost” with Hachem Safieddine.
Since October 2023, more than 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon, including more than a thousand since Israel launched massive strikes against Hezbollah on September 23, according to authorities. Around 1.2 million people have been displaced.
Lebanese Education Minister Abbas al-Halabi announced on Sunday that the start of the school year for 1.25 million students from kindergarten to high school would be postponed from October to November 4, “in the face of the danger that threatens” students and teachers.
On Saturday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Filippo Grandi, estimated that Lebanon was going through a “terrible crisis”, while the UN humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon, Imran Riza, warned against an “alarming increase in attacks against health services”.
This article was automatically published. Sources: ats / afp
Related News :