Israeli attacks killed 22 people and injured more than 100 in the center of Beirut this Thursday (10), according to Lebanese authorities. Meanwhile, a senior Hezbollah official escaped an Israeli assassination attempt in the city, according to three security sources.
In southern Lebanon, two United Nations (UN) peacekeepers were injured when an Israeli tank fired at a watchtower at the force’s main headquarters in Naqoura, prompting the organization to say its personnel were facing increasing danger. bigger and bigger.
The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah erupted a year ago when the Iran-backed group opened fire in support of the Palestinian militant group Hamas at the start of the Gaza war.
The situation has escalated dramatically in recent weeks, with Israel bombing Beirut’s southern suburbs, the south and the Bekaa Valley, and killing many of Hezbollah’s top leaders.
Wafiq Safa, who leads Hezbollah’s liaison and coordination unit responsible for working with Lebanese security agencies, was targeted by Israel on Thursday night but survived, security sources said.
The Israeli strikes hit a densely populated residential neighborhood of apartment buildings and small shops in the heart of Beirut.
“I was praying. We heard the first blow and I thought it was at my house. The second was much more powerful than the first,” said Ala’a Baydoun, a resident whose house was damaged. “I went to see where the blow was and saw that in my house, the glass and windows had broken. We came and saw this scene. It was a horrible scene, it was unbelievable.”
Israel did not issue evacuation warnings before the strikes and had not previously attacked the area, which is far from the southern suburbs of Beirut where Hezbollah headquarters have been repeatedly bombed by Israel.
Lebanon’s Ministry of Health reported 22 dead and 117 injured. Among the dead was a family of eight, including three children, who had been evacuated from the south, according to a security source.
Israeli attacks have killed at least 2,169 people in Lebanon over the past year, the Lebanese government said in its daily update. Most have been killed since September 23, when Israel expanded its military campaign. The number does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
The attempt to kill Safa, whose role combines security and political affairs, marked an expansion of Israel’s targets among Hezbollah authorities, who had previously focused on the group’s military commanders and top leaders.
There was no immediate comment on the incident from Israel or Hezbollah.
Lebanese officials and Hezbollah have endorsed a ceasefire as a way to end the conflict, but diplomats fear diplomacy has taken a backseat to military operations.
Lebanon’s acting ambassador to the UN, Hadi Hachem, told the council that “only diplomatic solutions and the implementation of international resolutions, commitment to international law and international humanitarian law are the means to end this war and this aggression.”
Peacekeepers “in danger”
Israel said it killed Muhammad Abdullah, the head of the Islamic Jihad network in the Nur Shams Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank. The Palestinian Health Ministry said on Friday that two people were killed in an Israeli attack in Nur Shams.
Abdullah, who Israel says was involved in a series of attacks against its soldiers, was killed along with another “terrorist” in an attack near Tulkarm, the military and security agency said in a statement on Friday.
The United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, said two of its members were injured when an Israeli tank fired at a watchtower on Thursday at its main headquarters in Naqoura, hitting the tower and causing the soldiers to fall. peacekeepers.
The two peacekeepers were from the Indonesian contingent and were in good condition after being treated for minor injuries, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said in a statement.
The safety of more than 10,400 UN peacekeepers in Lebanon is “increasingly at risk” and operations have virtually halted since the end of September, UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix told the Council of Security. This coincides with Israel’s escalation of its conflict with Lebanon.
UNIFIL called the attacks on peacekeepers “a serious violation of international humanitarian law.”
The White House said the US was deeply concerned about reports that Israeli forces had fired on UN positions and was pressing Israel for details.
The Israeli military said in a statement that its troops were operating in the Naqoura area, “adjacent to a UNIFIL base.”
“Consequently, the IDF [Forças de Defesa de Israel] instructed UN forces in the area to remain in protected spaces, after which the forces opened fire in the area,” the Israeli statement said, adding that it maintains routine communication with UNIFIL.
The peacekeepers are determined to remain at their posts despite Israeli attacks and orders from the Israeli army to leave, said force spokesman Andrea Tenenti.
In New York, Israel’s UN ambassador, Danny Danon, said Israel recommends that UNIFIL move 5 km (3 miles) north “to avoid danger as fighting intensifies.”
Danon said attacking Hezbollah was necessary so that 70,000 displaced Israelis could return to their homes in northern Israel.
The Middle East remains on high alert for further escalation in the region, awaiting Israel’s response to the Iranian missile attack on October 1.
US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris said de-escalation was necessary.
“We have to reach a ceasefire,” Harris told reporters as he left Las Vegas, while commenting on the situations in Gaza and Lebanon. “We have to de-escalate.”
A ceasefire remains elusive in Gaza and Lebanon. Washington’s occasional condemnation of Israel over civilian deaths has been mostly verbal, without any substantial change in policy.
(Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols at the UN, Laila Bassam and Amina Ismail in Beirut, Tom Perry in London, Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem, Clauda Tanios, Tala Ramadan and Ahmed Elimam in Dubai, Kanishka Singh in Washington, and John Irish in Paris)
This content was originally published in Israeli attacks kill 22 in Beirut; Hezbollah officer escapes assassination on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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