A series of Israeli air raids targeted Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon on Saturday, the day after Lebanese officials announced that they were considering a truce proposal between the pro-Iranian movement and Israel, issued by the United States. Hezbollah opened a front against Israel in support of Hamas after the Palestinian Islamist movement attacked Israeli soil on October 7, 2023, which triggered a deadly war in the Gaza Strip. In response to Hezbollah's projectile attacks on Israeli soil for over a year, Israel launched an intense bombing campaign in Lebanon on September 23, and launched a ground offensive in the south of the country on September 30, with the aim of bringing back to their homes some 60,000 residents of northern Israel displaced by the exchanges of fire. In Gaza, a source from Islamic Jihad, the armed Palestinian group that participated in the October 7 attack alongside Hamas, announced to AFP on Saturday that two of its leaders had been killed in an Israeli strike on Thursday on the town of Qoudsaya, in the suburbs of Damascus. Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad are all supported by Israel's sworn enemy, Iran, which announced on Friday that it was in favor of a quick end to the war that has been going on for almost two months in Lebanon. In this explosive context, at least five strikes hit the southern suburbs of Beirut, after a call to evacuate from the Israeli army, indicating to residents that they were “near Hezbollah infrastructure and interests”. These notably targeted the neighborhoods of Haret Hreik, Chiyah and Bir al-Abed, according to the Lebanese National News Agency (ANI). The Israeli army said for its part that it had notably targeted “a weapons warehouse, a command center and Hezbollah's terrorist infrastructure”. – “Destruction” and “damage” – On the night of Friday to Saturday, two raids by the “Israeli enemy” on two villages in the south cost the lives of two rescuers, according to Ani: one engaged with the Islamic Health Committee, affiliated with Hezbollah, the second with the Al-Rissala Association, affiliated with its Shiite ally Amal, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. People and rescuers gather at the site of a strike aerial view in the southern suburbs of Beirut, November 16, 2024 © AFP – IBRAHIM AMRO The Ani also reported a strike on a central district of Tyre, also in the south, near an archaeological site housing Roman ruins classified as a UNESCO world heritage site. This raid resulted in “the destruction of two buildings” and caused “damage to other surrounding buildings”, the Lebanese agency specified, adding that the locality of Khiam, the region of Bint Jbeil as well as the sector of al-Hoch, near Tyre, were also targeted. For its part, Hezbollah claimed several attacks on military sites and localities in Israel, including rocket fire against the Stella Maris naval base, in the city of Haifa. – “Terrorists eliminated” in Gaza – Northern Israel and southern Lebanon © AFP – Jean-Michel CORNU, Sylvie HUSSON, Hervé BOUILLY On Friday, a senior Lebanese official and a Lebanese government source told AFP that US ambassador to Beirut Lisa Johnson had presented Prime Minister Najib Mikati and parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri with a 13-point plan that included a 60-day truce and the deployment of the army in southern Lebanon. “Mr. Berri asked for a three-day extension,” the first official said, adding that Israel had not yet responded. The announcement came shortly after a member of Hamas' political bureau said the Palestinian movement was “ready” for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, calling on US President-elect Donald Trump to “put pressure on Israel,” its ally, which continues to pound the territory. devastated. On Saturday, the Israeli army said its troops were “continuing operational activities in the areas of Jabalia and Beit Lahia” in northern Gaza. According to an Islamic Jihad source, the two leaders killed in Thursday's strike in Syria were Abdel Aziz Al Minaoui, a member of Islamic Jihad's political bureau, and Rasmi Abu Issa, the group's head of external relations. Contacted by AFP, the Israeli army, which has intensified its strikes in Syria in recent weeks, declined to comment. Displaced Palestinians sit in front of a destroyed building in Gaza City, November 15, 2024 © AFP – Omar AL-QATTAA The Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 in southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli data, including hostages killed or killed in captivity. That day, 251 people were kidnapped. In total, 97 remain hostages in Gaza, including 34 declared dead by the army. The Israeli offensive in Gaza has left 43,799 dead, mostly civilians, according to data from the Hamas government's Health Ministry. All reproduction and representation rights reserved. © (2024) Agence France-Presse
By Teilor Stone
Teilor Stone has been a reporter on the news desk since 2013. Before that she wrote about young adolescence and family dynamics for Styles and was the legal affairs correspondent for the Metro desk. Before joining Thesaxon , Teilor Stone worked as a staff writer at the Village Voice and a freelancer for Newsday, The Wall Street Journal, GQ and Mirabella. To get in touch, contact me through my teilor@nizhtimes.com 1-800-268-7116