An Israeli bombing in Beirut killed a senior Hezbollah commander on Tuesday. Cross-border rocket attacks heightened fears of a full-scale Middle East war, with Lebanon stating only the United States could help end the conflict.
Hezbollah confirmed on Wednesday that Israeli airstrikes on Beirut killed senior commander Ibrahim Qubaisi on Tuesday, as Israel had claimed. Israel stated that Qubaisi oversaw Hezbollah’s rocket and missile division.
Health Minister Firass Abiad reported that Israel’s onslaught in Lebanon has caused 1,835 injuries since Monday morning. The attacks have also resulted in 569 deaths, including 50 children.
The renewed assault on Hezbollah has increased fears that the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, ongoing for nearly a year, is escalating. This intensification could destabilize the entire Middle East. In an effort to assist its residents in fleeing Lebanon, Britain said it was deploying 700 troops to Cyprus.
The issue will be discussed by the U.N. Security Council during its meeting on Wednesday.
“Lebanon is at the brink. The people of Lebanon – the people of Israel – and the people of the world – cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza,” U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.
This week is the United Nations General Assembly, and U.S. President Joe Biden appealed for composure there. “Nobody has an interest in a full-scale conflict. Even if a situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible,” he said.
Abdallah Bou Habib, Lebanon’s foreign minister, criticized Biden’s speech as “not strong, not promising.” He asserted that the United States is the only nation that can truly make a difference in the Middle East and in Lebanon. “Washington is the largest weaponry supplier to Israel and a longstanding friend.
At a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace event in New York City, he stated that the United States “is the key… to our salvation.”
Thousands of refugees who had fled from southern Lebanon were taking refuge in schools and other facilities in Beirut.
Volunteers provided water bottles, medication, and other items for the newcomers at the Technical Institute of Bir Hassan.
Matila, eleven months old, napped on a mattress in one classroom while other kids stood on chairs and drew on a whiteboard to pass the time. The youngsters at the shelter had access to milk, croissants, and diapers, according to 50-year-old Rima Ali Chahine.
“It’s a lot of pressure for grownups and children. They’re exhausted and stressed. They could not sleep,” she said. “The kids – they are living through terrible conditions.”
Two security sources reported that an Israeli strike occurred early on Wednesday in the seaside town of Jiyyeh. This town is located 46 miles (75 km) north of the Israeli border.
HEZBOLLAH WEAKENED, SAYS ISRAEL
According to Bou Habib, there are an estimated 500,000 displaced individuals in Lebanon. He stated that for the next two days, the prime minister of Lebanon intended to meet with officials from the United States.
In the almost year-old conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, an ally of Hezbollah, the United States and other mediators Qatar and Egypt have not been able to broker a ceasefire.
The international community needs to “secure a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and bring an end to the desperate barbarism of Israel in Lebanon, before it engulfs the region and the world,” according to President Masoud Pezeshkian of Iran, whose nation and Israel are arch foes.
According to the Israeli military, its air force carried out “extensive strikes” against Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon on Tuesday. These targets included weapons storage facilities and several launchers that were pointed at Israeli land.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said the attacks have weakened Hezbollah and will continue. Hezbollah “has suffered a sequence of blows to its command and control, its fighters, and the means to fight. These are all severe blows,” he told Israeli troops.
He charged that the United Nations was abdicating its duty to stop Hezbollah from attacking Israel.
Hezbollah claimed to have targeted a number of sites, including the Dado military base in northern Israel with rockets and the Atlit naval base south of Haifa with drones.
According to Syrian army officials, suspected Israeli missiles were also fired towards the port city of Tartous in Syria and were intercepted by the country’s air defenses. Regarding the report, the Israeli military chose not to comment.
Israel has escalated a years-long air campaign against Iran-aligned armed groups and their arms transfers in Syria since the beginning of the Gaza war in October.
Tuesday was designated as a funeral day for those slain in Lebanon by Israeli artillery. Mohammed Helal, grieving over his daughter Jouri, was stubborn in the seaside city of Saksakiyeh.
“We are not afraid. Even if they kill, dissect and destroy us,” he said.
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