Photo: Agence France-Presse Debris is strewn across a street in front of damaged buildings, a day after Israeli airstrikes targeted the Haret Hreik neighborhood in Beirut's southern suburbs, November 16, 2024.
Tony Gamal-Gabriel – Agence France-Presse and Pierre-Henry Deshayes – Agence France-Presse In Jerusalem
Published at 12:07 Updated at 13:36
- Middle East
The Israeli army heavily bombarded Hezbollah strongholds near Beirut and in southern and eastern Lebanon on Saturday, a day after Lebanese leaders announced that they were considering a truce proposal from the United States.
In addition to the destructive and deadly airstrikes in Lebanon, Israeli troops have been conducting a ground offensive in the south of the country since September 30, where Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi visited on Tuesday, according to an army statement on Saturday.
On another front, in the Palestinian territory of Gaza, where Israel is fighting the Islamist Hamas movement, at least 23 people including women and children have been killed in Israeli strikes, according to the local Civil Defense.
A powerful armed movement accused by its detractors of constituting a “state within a state,” the Lebanese Hezbollah has opened a front against Israel in support of Hamas, a day after the attack carried out by this Palestinian movement on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023, which triggered the war in Gaza.
After weakening Hamas and after a year of spiraling cross-border violence, Israel shifted the main war front to Lebanon, launching an intense campaign of deadly and destructive bombings on September 23, mainly against Hezbollah strongholds.
On Saturday, relentless airstrikes targeted the southern suburbs of Beirut, located near the Lebanese capital’s international airport, according to local media.
The Israeli army said at midday that it had targeted “a weapons warehouse and a command center” of Hezbollah in the southern suburbs, after calling on residents to evacuate certain neighborhoods.
Rocket fire on Israel
In the evening, the official agency ANI reported a “very violent” strike on the southern suburbs where Israel killed on September 27 in an air raid the former head of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, who was considered the most powerful man in the country.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000The only faction to retain its weapons after 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 Lebanon.
In the east of the country, where Hezbollah is well established, six people including three children died in an Israeli raid, according to the Ministry of Health.
And in the south of Lebanon, bordering northern Israel, several towns, including Tyre, and villages were the target of intense strikes, according to media reports. Two rescue workers died, according to the Ministry of Health.
Israel says it wants to disable Hezbollah and Hamas, both allies of its arch-enemy Iran. It says its goal in Lebanon is to push Hezbollah away from border areas and stop its rocket attacks that have displaced some 60,000 residents of northern Israel.
Despite the blows inflicted on Hezbollah, it has claimed responsibility for rocket attacks on northern Israel, where the army reported 65 projectiles fired from Lebanon. Most are usually intercepted by the Israeli defense.
Halevi in southern Lebanon
Hezbollah “will continue to shoot, and we will continue to fight […] and hit them very hard. We will stop when we know that we are bringing the people (of northern Israel) back to safety” home, Herzi Halevi said during his trip to the border village of Kfar Kila in southern Lebanon, according to the army.
On Saturday, the Israeli army announced the death of an Israeli soldier in southern Lebanon, bringing to 48 the number of its soldiers killed in the region in fighting with Hezbollah since September 30.
After nearly two months of war, a senior Lebanese official said Friday that U.S. Ambassador to Beirut Lisa Johnson had presented Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri with a 13-point plan that includes a 60-day truce and the deployment of the army in southern Lebanon.
“Mr. Berri asked for a three-day extension,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity and giving no further details on the matter. plan.
More than 3,452 people have been killed in Lebanon since October 8, 2023, according to the Health Ministry, the majority since September 23.
“Enough war!”
On Israel's southern front, the army continues to bombard the devastated Gaza Strip, besieged and threatened with famine according to the UN.
“Get us out (of Gaza), for the love of God […] Enough war, enough suffering! “, lamented Itimad Al-Zain, a displaced Palestinian woman in Gaza City.
On Friday, a member of Hamas' political bureau reiterated the movement's conditions for a ceasefire with Israel.
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- Netanyahu vows to strike Lebanese Hezbollah “mercilessly”
The October 7, 2023 attack in Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data, including hostages killed or who died in captivity.
That day, 251 people were kidnapped. A total of 97 remain hostages in Gaza, including 34 declared dead by the army.
The Israeli retaliatory offensive in Gaza left 43,799 dead, mostly civilians, according to data from Hamas's Health Ministry.