The target of Israel’s airstrikes across Lebanon and its ground invasion in the south of the country is the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, Iran’s chief ally in the region.
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More than 2000 people have been killed in nearly a year of fighting, most of them in the past two weeks, according to the Lebanese health ministry. The ministry said on Sunday that 23 people had been killed on Saturday.
The United Nations’ refugee chief said on Sunday that there were “many instances” where Israeli airstrikes had violated international law by hitting civilian infrastructure and killing civilians in Lebanon.
Israel says it targets military capabilities and takes steps to mitigate the risk of harm to civilians, while Lebanese authorities say civilians have been targeted.
For days, Israel has bombed the Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh – considered a stronghold for Hezbollah but also home to thousands of ordinary Lebanese, Palestinian and Syrian refugees – killing its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on September 27.
A Lebanese security source said on Saturday that Hashem Safieddine, Nasrallah’s potential successor, had been out of contact since Friday after an Israeli airstrike near the city’s airport that was reported to have targeted him. Israel continues to bomb the area of the strike, preventing rescue workers from reaching it, Lebanese security sources said.
Firefighters extinguish a fire after an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut.Credit: AP
Hezbollah has not commented on Safieddine’s whereabouts. His loss would be another blow to the group. Israeli strikes across the region, sharply accelerated in recent weeks, have devastated Hezbollah’s leadership.
The war in Gaza goes on
Israel’s war in Gaza, launched after the October 7 attacks and aimed at eliminating Hamas, another Iran-backed group, has killed nearly 42,000 people, Palestinian authorities say. The coastal enclave lies in ruins.
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At least 26 people were killed and 93 others wounded when Israeli airstrikes hit a mosque and a school sheltering displaced people in the Gaza Strip early on Sunday, the Hamas-run Gaza government media office said. The Israeli military said it had conducted “precise strikes on Hamas terrorists”.
Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel a day after the October 7 attacks and after Israel began bombing Gaza, saying it was acting in solidarity with Palestinians.
Israeli authorities said on Saturday that nine Israeli soldiers had been killed in southern Lebanon so far.
In northern Israel, air raid sirens sounded on Sunday and the Israeli military said it had intercepted more rockets fired from Lebanese territory.
Iran has signalled it does not want a direct war with Israel but has launched responses on occasion to Israeli attacks. It fired a barrage of ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday that did little damage. Israel has been weighing options for its response.
Iranian state media reported later on Sunday that flights from all Iran’s airports would be cancelled until 6am local time on Monday due to operational restrictions, without elaborating. It was not clear if the announcement was linked to the ongoing conflict in the region.
Reuters
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