Tag: Israel

JERUSALEM: Israel claimed the death of a senior Hezbollah military official after a rare Israeli airstrike on Beirut as the death toll rose Saturday to at least 31 people, with dozens more wounded, shortly after Hezbollah pounded northern Israel with 140 rockets. The strikes are part of a new cycle of escalation between the enemies that has raised fears of a full-out war erupting in the Middle East, particularly after two separate attacks in Lebanon in which communication devices exploded simultaneously around the country, reportedly killing 37 people. and injuring more than 3,400 others.

Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire regularly since Hamas’ October 7 assault on southern Israel ignited the Israeli military’s devastating offensive in Gaza. Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory during the nearly 1-year-old Israel-Hamas war. The ministry does not differentiate between fighters and civilians in its count but says a little over half of those killed were women and children. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

Approx. 180 Hezbollah targets and thousands of launcher barrels, ready for immediate use against Israeli civilians, were dismantled by a number of strikes in southern Lebanon.

The IDF will continue operating to dismantle and degrade Hezbollah’s capabilities and terrorist… pic.twitter.com/lWyQNoydII — Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) September 21, 2024

Here’s the latest:

White House national security adviser calls reported death of Hezbollah commander a good outcome Wilmington – White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan called the reported death of Ibrahim Akil “a good outcome” and said that he planned to speak with Israeli officials later Saturday about the operation. .

Akil, the main target of the Friday strike, had been wanted by the US for years for his alleged role in the 1983 bombing of the US Embassy in Beirut and in taking American and German hostages in Lebanon in the 1980s.

He was under US sanctions and in 2023, the US State Department announced a reward of up to USD 7 million for information leading to his “identification, location, arrest, and/or conviction”. “That individual has American blood on his hands and has a rewards for justice price on his head,” Sullivan told reporters on the sidelines of the Quad summit that US President Joe Biden is hosting in Wilmington, Delaware.

“He is somebody who the United States promised long ago we would do everything we could to see brought to justice.” Sullivan added the moment was also meaningful for the American victims. “You know 1983 seems like a long time ago,” Sullivan said. “But for a lot of families and a lot of people, they’re still living with it every day.”

Israeli strike on a school kills 22 people, Gaza Health Ministry says Deir Al-Balah (Gaza Strip) — Israeli fire killed 22 people in a strike on a school in the north of the enclave, the Gaza Health Ministry said on Saturday. The strike on the school in the Zeitoun area of ​​Gaza City injured another 30, the statement said.

Earlier on Saturday, the Israeli army said it struck a Hamas “command and control centre, which was embedded inside a compound that previously served” as a school. Death toll from Israeli strike on Beirut suburb rises to 31 Beirut — The death toll from an Israeli airstrike on a Beirut suburb has risen to 31, including seven women and three children, Lebanon’s health minister said on Saturday.

Firass Abiad told reporters that 68 people were also wounded in Friday’s airstrike, of whom 15 remain in hospital, in the deadliest Israeli strike on Beirut since the Israel-Hezbollah war in the summer of 2006. Among the dead was Ibrahim Akil, a Hezbollah commander. who was in charge of the group’s elite Radwan Forces, and about a dozen members of the militant group who were meeting in the basement of the building that was destroyed.

Israel launched the rare airstrike in the densely populated southern Beirut neighborhood on Friday afternoon during the rush hour when people were returning home from work and students were leaving schools. On Saturday morning, Hezbollah’s media office took journalists to the site of the airstrike where workers were still digging through the rubble.

Lebanese troops cordoned off the area around the building that was destroyed as members of the Lebanese Red Cross stood nearby to take any recovered bodies from under the rubble. Weaponising ordinary devices violates international law, United Nations rights chief says United Nations — Weaponising ordinary communication devices represents a new development in warfare, and targeting thousands of Lebanese people using pagers, two-way radios and electronic equipment without their knowledge is a violation of international human rights law, the United Nations human rights chief said on Friday.

Volker Turk told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council there must be an independent and transparent investigation of the two attacks in Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday where these devices exploded, reportedly killing 37 people and injuring more than 3,400 others. “Those who ordered and carried out these attacks must be held to account,” he said.

Lebanon has blamed Israel for the attacks, which appeared to target Hezbollah militants but also saw many civilian casualties, including children. Hezbollah has fought many conflicts with Israel, including a war in 2006, and it has conducted near-daily strikes against Israel to support Hamas militants who attacked Israel on October 7.

When reporters asked Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon about speculation Israel was behind the two explosions, he said: “We are not commenting.

BEIRUT: Hezbollah fired a new barrage into northern Israel on Thursday, continuing its drumbeat of exchanges with the Israeli military as fears of a greater war rise. Hundreds of electronic devices used by Hezbollah exploded in Lebanon earlier this week, killing at least 37 people and wounding some 3,000 others. The device explosions appeared to be the culmination of a monthslong operation by Israel to target as many Hezbollah members as possible all at once.

Over two days, pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah detonated, wounding and even crippling some fighters, but also maiming civilians connected to the group’s social branches and killing at least two children. It was unclear how the attack fit into warnings by Israeli leaders in recent weeks that they could launch a stepped-up military operation against Hezbollah, Lebanon’s strongest armed force.

The Israeli government has called it a war aim to end the Iranian-backed group’s cross-border fire in order to allow tens of thousands of Israelis to return to homes near the border. Speaking to Israeli troops on Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said , “We are at the start of a new phase in the war — it requires courage, determination and perseverance.” He made no mention of the exploding devices but praised the work of Israel’s army and security agencies, saying “the results are very impressive.”

Gallant said that after months of fighting Hamas in Gaza, “the center of gravity is shifting to the north by diverting resources and forces.”Hezbollah said early Thursday it had targeted three military positions in northern Israel near the border, two of them with drones. . The Israeli military said the drones crashed near communities.

Hospitals reported they treated at least eight patients lightly or moderately injured. The military said early Thursday it had struck several militant sites in southern Lebanon overnight. The volley of strikes was a signal by Hezbollah that it would continue its near daily fire, which it says is a show of support for Hamas. Israel’s 11-month-old war with Hamas in Gaza began after its militants led the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Israel has responded to Hezbollah’s fire with strikes in southern Lebanon, and has struck senior figures from the group in the capital Beirut. The exchanges have killed hundreds in Lebanon and dozens in Israel and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents on each side of the border. Israel and Hezbollah have repeatedly pulled back from an all-out war under heavy pressure from the United States, France and other countries.

But in their recent warnings, Israeli leaders have said they are determined to change the status quo dramatically. Israel began moving more troops to its border with Lebanon on Wednesday as a precautionary measure, Israeli officials said. Israel’s army chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said plans have been drawn up for additional action against Hezbollah, though media reported the government has not yet decided whether to launch a major offensive in Lebanon.

Lebanon is still reeling from the deadly device attacks of Tuesday and Wednesday. The explosions have rattled anxious Lebanese fearing a full-scale war. The Lebanese Army said it has been locating and detonating suspicious pagers and communication devices, while the country’s civil aviation authorities banned pagers and walkie-talkies on all airplanes departing from Beirut’s international airport until further notice. The attack was likely to severely disrupt Hezbollah’s internal communication as it scrambles to determine safe means to talk to each other. Hezbollah announced the death of five combatants Thursday, but did not specify if they were killed in the explosions or on the front lines.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was scheduled to speak later Thursday as the group vowed to retaliate against Israel. The blasts went off wherever the holders of the pagers or walkie-talkies happened to be in multiple parts of Beirut and eastern and southern Lebanon — in homes and cars, grocery stores and cafes and on the street, even at a funeral for some killed in the bombings, often with family and other bystanders nearby. Many suffered gaping wounds on their legs, abdomens and faces or were maimed in the hand.

Tuesday’s pager blasts killed 12 people, including two children, and wounded some 2,300 others. The following day’s explosion killed 25 and wounded more than 600, Health Minister Firas Abiad said, giving updated figures. Abiad told reporters that Wednesday’s injuries were more severe than the previous day as walkie-talkies that exploded were bigger than the pagers. He praised Lebanon’s hospitals, saying they had managed to deal with the flood of wounded within hours. “It was an indiscriminate attack. It was a war crime,” he said.