Intense Israeli strikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon

(Keystone-ATS) On Saturday, a series of strikes hit the southern suburbs of Beirut, after a call to evacuate from the Israeli army which said it had targeted “an arms warehouse, a command center” of Hezbollah.

Also in the evening, the official Lebanese press agency reported a “very violent” Israeli strike on the Haret Hreik neighborhood, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, targeted throughout the day by a series of bombings. It caused six deaths, according to a Lebanese ministry.

“The Israeli air force carried out a very violent strike on Haret Hreik,” announced the ANI agency. In the evening, an AFP videographer reported three successive strikes on the southern suburbs. Since Saturday morning, the Israeli army has issued several evacuation calls for raids on 10 targets.

The only faction to retain its weapons at the end of the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990), in the name of “resistance” against Israel, Hezbollah, created and financed by Iran, has established itself as an essential political force in the Lebanon.

Its former leader Hassan Nasrallah, killed by Israel on September 27 in the southern suburbs of Beirut, was considered the most powerful man in the country.

65 projectiles fired from Lebanon

In southern Lebanon, several towns including Tire and villages were the target of intense Israeli strikes, according to media reports. Two rescuers linked to Hezbollah and its Shiite ally Amal died, according to the Ministry of Health.

Despite the hard blows inflicted on Hezbollah, the latter claimed responsibility for rocket fire against northern Israel, where the army reported 65 projectiles fired from Lebanon during the day.

In addition to incessant aerial bombardments, Israeli troops have been carrying out a ground offensive in southern Lebanon since September 30.

After nearly two months of war, a senior Lebanese official said Friday that the United States ambassador to Beirut, Lisa Johnson, had presented to Prime Minister Najib Mikati and the head of Parliament Nabih Berri a 13-point plan including a 60-day truce and the deployment of the army in southern Lebanon.

“Mr. Berri asked for a three-day delay,” said this official on condition of anonymity, who gave no further information on this plan.

More than 3,440 people have been killed in Lebanon since October 8, 2023, according to the Ministry of Health, the majority since September 23.

23 dead in Gaza

On Israel’s southern front, the army continues to bombard the Gaza Strip which is devastated, besieged and threatened with famine according to the UN.

Israeli troops are continuing their offensive in northern Gaza to prevent Hamas from regrouping its forces there, according to the army.

According to Civil Defense, 23 people including women and children were killed in strikes, notably on houses and a school housing displaced people in the south and north of the Palestinian territory.

“There was a very strong explosion,” said Jamil Al-Masri after a strike on a house near Rafah (south). “The house was destroyed, there were flames, smoke and dust everywhere.”

Two bodies were pulled out of the rubble, and people were still trapped, he added.

On Friday, a member of the Hamas politburo reiterated the movement’s conditions for a ceasefire with Israel.

Still in Gaza, a source from Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian group which participated in the October 7 attack alongside Hamas, announced to AFP on Saturday that two of its leaders – Abdel Aziz Al Minaoui and Rasmi Abou Issa – were killed in an Israeli strike Thursday in Qudsaya near Damascus.

The Israeli army, which had confirmed raids in the area, refused to comment on the deaths.

Tens of thousands killed

Israel says it wants to put Hezbollah and Hamas, two allies of Iran, its sworn enemy, out of harm’s way. He says his goal in Lebanon is to keep Hezbollah away from the border regions and to stop its rocket attacks which have displaced some 60,000 residents of northern Israel.

The Israeli offensive in Gaza has left 43,799 dead, mostly civilians, according to data from the Hamas Health Ministry.