War in the Middle East: Hezbollah threatens Israel with new offensives

After deadly strikes in Haifa, Hezbollah threatens Israel with new offensives “if it decides to continue its aggressions”. The recap of the last hours.

The essentials

• On Monday, October 14, according to Palestinian doctors quoted by Associated Press, the courtyard of a hospital in the Gaza Strip was bombed by the Israeli army, killing at least four people and setting fire to a camp for displaced people. In the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Hospital, children were present at the time of the attack, four dead and forty wounded have been reported so far. The IDF claims for its part that it targeted “terrorists”. “Hamas operatives used the hospital compound to plan and carry out terrorist attacks against IDF forces and the State of Israel,” the Israeli army's Arabic-speaking spokesman said on X.
• At the same time, Lebanon's Hezbollah threatened Israel with new offensives in a statement. The organization claims that the attack “south of Haifa is just a taste of what awaits it if it decides to continue its aggression against our people.” As a reminder, a drone strike targeting a military position in Haifa killed at least four Israeli soldiers the day before.
• On Sunday, October 13, two Israeli tanks were accused of “forcing their way into” one of UNIFIL's positions, injuring peacekeepers. The UN Secretary-General denounced these “attacks” against UN peacekeepers, which could be considered as “war crimes”.

Live

21:54 – Netanyahu pleads for the withdrawal of UNIFIL, Paris, Berlin, Rome and London express their concern

On Monday evening, the Israeli Prime Minister said in a second video that “the best way to ensure the safety of UNIFIL personnel is for UNIFIL to respond to Israel's request and temporarily withdraw from danger,” assuring in passing, while the “Hebrew state is accused of “possible war crimes” by the UN after five peacekeepers were killed, injured by Israeli strikes in recent days: “Israel is not fighting UNIFIL. It is not fighting the Lebanese people. It is fighting Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy that is using Lebanese territory to attack Israel.”

Later in the evening, the Foreign Ministers of France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom expressed in a joint statement their “deep concern” following the recent attacks by the Israeli army on UNIFIL bases, which left several peacekeepers injured”. Condemning “all threats to the security of UNIFIL”, they called for that these “attacks cease immediately” and brandished international law.

18:54 – Israel will continue “to strike Hezbollah mercilessly, including in Beirut”, promises Benyamin Netanyahou

While Israel and Hezbollah have been engaged in open warfare since September 23, the Prime Minister of the Hebrew State once again made remarks that were offensive to say the least on Monday, in a video filmed during a visit to a military base hit the day before by a Hezbollah drone and published on social networks. Benjamin Netanyahu clearly assures that Israel will continue to “mercilessly strike Hezbollah in all parts of Lebanon, including in Beirut". 

This Monday morning, according to Palestinian doctors quoted by the Associated Press, the courtyard of a hospital in the Gaza Strip was bombed by the Israeli army, killing at least four people and setting fire to a camp for displaced people. In the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Hospital, children were present at the time of the attack, four dead and forty wounded have been reported so far.

The IDF claims for its part that it was targeting “terrorists.” “Hamas operatives used the hospital grounds to plan and carry out terrorist attacks against IDF forces and the State of Israel,” the Israeli army's Arabic-speaking spokesman said on X. A motive already mentioned by the Israeli army to target this type of establishment. 

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09:22 – A "painful" attack, according to the head of the Israeli army

"We are at war, and an attack on a training base on the home front is difficult and the consequences are painful," indicates the chief of staff of Israeli army Herzi Halevi, after Sunday's attack on a military base south of Haifa, AFP reported on Monday. Four IDF soldiers were killed in the raid by Lebanese Hezbollah.

09:03 – Hezbollah claims to have fired shells at the Israeli army in Lebanon

Lebanese Hezbollah said this morning that its soldiers fired shells early on at Israelis attempting an “infiltration” into southern Lebanon. “When an enemy infantry force attempted to infiltrate Lebanese territory” near Markaba, Hezbollah fighters targeted the force “with artillery shells,” a statement said. Israeli soldiers may also have been targeted elsewhere, in the Labbouneh region, with rockets.

08:50 – The French Embassy “horrified”, after the attack in Haifa

On Sunday, the French embassy said it was “horrified” by the drone strike by Lebanese Hezbollah in Haifa. It denounced “intolerable violence, of which civilians are the first victims, [which] must stop.” “Our thoughts go out to the many injured and their loved ones. From Haifa to Safed, from Ashkelon to Netanya, the Israeli territory has been the daily target of terrorist rockets, missiles and drones for a year,” it is specified in the message published on X. 

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42,289. This is the number of deaths in the Gaza Strip since the Hamas terrorist offensive on October 7, 2023 in Israel. A figure communicated by the Ministry of Health of the Hamas government, on Monday, October 14, 2024, which reveals the intensity of the fighting that has now lasted for more than a year. Over the months, tensions have intensified, and as of October 27, 2023, Israel extended its ground operation to Gaza. The goal for Netanyahu and the IDF is clear: to “annihilate” Hamas. A week-long ceasefire was nevertheless in place in November 2023. After a major leap forward, on April 13, 2024, Iran launched its first massive attack on Israel. Allied to Hamas, Iran then fired nearly 350 explosive drones and missiles at the Hebrew state. An attack in response to missiles fired at the embassy in Damascus in Syria on April 1, in which 11 people lost their lives, including seven Islamic Revolutionary Guards.

On Tuesday, September 17, 2024, a new type of attack broke into the war. Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies exploded. Twelve dead and nearly 3,000 injured were reported in Lebanon. Since its coordinated explosions, Israel has continued to strike Lebanon with air and ground raids. More than 1,000 people were killed in IDF strikes and thousands of Lebanese were forced to be displaced. On October 1, 2024, Iran responded by sending nearly 200 ballistic missiles directly to Israel. Since then, the two countries have been engaged in a merciless war, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatening on October 8, 2024 that Lebanon would experience “destruction and suffering like we see in Gaza” if the country's population did not “free itself” from Hezbollah. Remarks described as “provocation” by the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot.

On Monday, October 14, 2024, the Lebanese Hezbollah threatened Israel with new attacks in a statement. As a reminder, Hezbollah had struck Haifa two days earlier, killing four Israeli soldiers and injuring no fewer than 60. At the beginning of the week, the terrorist organization indicated that “the resistance (…) promises the enemy”. The raid carried out “south of Haifa is only a foretaste of what awaits it if it decides to continue its aggression against our people”, it threatens. According to Palestinian doctors quoted by the Associated Press, the courtyard of a hospital in the Gaza Strip was then shelled by the Israeli army, killing at least four people and setting fire to a camp for displaced people.