Netanyahu on the border with Lebanon, intense raids on Hezbollah strongholds

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the border with Lebanon on Sunday, where his army has intensified its deadly strikes on the strongholds of the pro-Iranian Lebanese Hezbollah, its sworn enemy.

In northern Israel, the sirens of Alerts were activated after around 100 projectiles were fired from neighbouring Lebanon towards Israeli territory, the army said, reporting the interception of some and the landing of others on open ground.< /p>

On its southern border, Israel continued its war against Hamas in Gaza, triggered by the attack carried out on October 7, 2023 by the Palestinian Islamist movement on Israeli soil. The day after the attack and in support of Hamas, Hezbollah opened a front against Israel, which degenerated into open warfare last September.

A few days before the presidential election on November 5 in the United States, Israel's main ally, and despite international pressure, attempts to end hostilities in Gaza and Lebanon have remained in vain.

Israelis react after rocket sirens and during the funeral of a soldier in Mitzpe Netofa in northern Israel on November 3, 2024 © AFP – Jalaa MAREY

On Sunday, Benjamin Netanyahu, who has vowed to neutralize Hamas and Hezbollah, two movements allied with Iran, visited the Lebanese border, according to a statement from his office without further details.

His last visit to the Israeli-Lebanese border was on October 6.

– Damaged hospital –

Northern Israel and southern Lebanon © AFP – Jean-Michel CORNU, Cléa PECULIER

At the same time, his army carried out a series of airstrikes against several sectors of southern Lebanon – Tyre, Tebnine, Haret Saïda, Ghaziyeh in particular.

At least three people died in Haret Saida, according to Lebanese authorities. In Ghaziyeh, a residential building was hit and a child was pulled alive from the rubble.

The area around the public hospital in Tebnine was hit and the facility is at risk of being out of service due to the extent of the damage, according to the mayor, Nabil Fawaz.

In Khiam, about six kilometers from the Israeli border, the Lebanese Red Cross recovered five bodies from 21 trapped for a week under the rubble, according to the official Ani news agency.

In this locality, fierce fighting is pitting Hezbollah against Israeli troops, who have been engaged in a ground offensive in southern Lebanon since September 30.

Rescuers walk past a building destroyed by a strike in the southern Lebanese town of Ghaziyeh on November 3, 2024 © AFP – Mahmoud ZAYYAT

For its part, the Israeli army claimed to have killed several Hezbollah fighters.

In eastern Lebanon, Israel launched a new call for evacuate in particular the village of Douris, located a few kilometers south of the thousand-year-old city of Baalbeck.

Shortly after, strikes targeted the area, with the Ani agency reporting the destruction of a cafe-restaurant.

– Offensive in Jabalia –

Palestinians mourn the death of two of their relatives killed in a nighttime bombardment in Deir el-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, on November 3, 2024 © AFP – Eyad BABA

Since September 23, Israeli forces have intensified their strikes against Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon, saying they want to neutralize the movement in the border regions and prevent rocket fire to allow the return of 60,000 displaced people in northern Israel.

At least 1,930 people have been killed since September 23 in Lebanon, according to an AFP count based on official data.

In the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army said it had killed Raafat Qodeih, a member of Hamas' Noukhba unit who, according to Israel, had infiltrated Kibbutz Nir Oz during the October 7, 2023 attack, where around thirty residents were killed and more than 70 taken hostage and taken to Gaza.

Israel vowed to destroy Hamas after the attack, which killed 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli data, including hostages killed or killed in captivity. Of the 251 people kidnapped, 97 remain hostages in Gaza, 34 of whom have been declared dead by the army.

The Israeli army launched a devastating offensive in Gaza in retaliation that left 43,341 dead, mostly civilians, according to data from the Hamas Health Ministry, and caused colossal destruction and a humanitarian disaster.

Relatives mourn the death of Israeli soldier Yair Hananya, killed in the Gaza Strip, during his funeral in the northern Israeli town of Mitzpe Netofa on November 3, 2024 © AFP – Jalaa MAREY

Since October 6, the Israeli army has concentrated its offensive in the northern Gaza Strip, claiming that Hamas is gathering its forces there. It claimed to have “eliminated dozens of terrorists” in Jabalia in the last 24 hours.

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