First blow in the center of the Lebanese capital – Dead Palestinian organization officials and the leader of Hamas in Lebanon
Israeli forces launched an airstrike in the "heart" of Beirut in the early hours of Monday, for the first time since hostilities with Hezbollah began, as concerns grow that the Middle East conflict will widen.
According to an AFP source in the Lebanese security services, "at least four people were killed in an Israeli drone strike on an apartment in the heart of Beirut that "belonged to Jemaa Islamiyah", an organization of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, which has repeatedly been the target of Israeli strikes. Although Sunni, the group has allied itself with Hezbollah and is involved in attacks against northern Israel as a sign of "support" for the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (FPLP), a Palestinian movement with a secular character, belonging to the left, announced that three of its members, among them high-ranking, were killed in the Israeli bombardment.
"Mohammed Abdel Aal (…), head of the military security department, Imad Odeh, a member of the Lebanese military command (of the FPLP), and Abdelrahman Abdel Aal were martyred in a cowardly murderous act by the Zionist occupation aircraft in Kola", in Beirut , the Palestinian movement said in a statement released through its official website.
At the same time, the Palestinian movement Hamas announced that its head in Lebanon was killed in an airstrike in the southern part of the country.
"Fattah Sharif Abu al-Amin, the head of Hamas in Lebanon and a member of the movement's command abroad" was killed in a strike on his home in the al-Bass camp in southern Lebanon, Hamas said in a statement.
The official Lebanese news agency ANI reported that an Israeli air strike hit a camp near Tyre, in the southern part of the country.
Videos broadcast by Lebanese television networks showed a partially leveled floor in the building that was hit.
Heavy airstrikes in Lebanon and Yemen
The blow comes as Israel continues military pressure on the Iranian-aligned Lebanese movement for a seventh straight day. On Sunday, it unleashed heavy bombardment on Hezbollah strongholds across Lebanon, two days after killing its leader Hassan Nasrallah.
The Israeli armed forces announced in the early hours of the morning that they had struck dozens of targets — positions, weapons systems, weapons and ammunition depots — of Hezbollah in the Bekaa Valley. Among the targets hit were "dozens of launchers and buildings where weapons were stored."
Sunday's bombings killed at least 105 people, according to the latest figures released by Lebanon's health ministry.
The Israeli said it hit 120 Hezbollah positions yesterday, including rocket launchers and military installations, as part of its "wide-scale" operations.
After almost a year of exchanging fire with Hezbollah and factions allied with it, the Israeli military has since September 23rd rapidly escalated its bombardment, as the Netanyahu government has declared that it is now the "goal" of the war to return to their homes in north tens of thousands of displaced Israelis.
Meanwhile, on another front, the Israeli armed forces launched raids against Houthi positions in Yemen, killing four people, the day after a missile attack claimed by the Iran-aligned movement targeted the airport. of Tel Aviv.
The shelling targeted ports and power plants in the Hodeida region (west), home to a key port for the entry of goods and humanitarian aid into rebel-held areas, according to the Houthi-affiliated Al Masira TV network.
"No location is too far" for Israel, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallad said.
Concerns about peripheral ignition
The situation is intensifying concerns that a regional conflagration is imminent.
A generalized war in the Middle East "must be avoided", US President Joe Biden said, although he called the death of Hassan Nasrallah "a measure of justice".
The US president said he would speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but did not specify when that would happen.
Saudi Arabia, a major player in the region with influence in Lebanon, called for its part to respect the "national sovereignty and territorial integrity" of this country, expressing its "great concern" in the face of the escalation of Hezbollah-Israel hostilities, amid ongoing large-scale Israeli operations against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The first foreign diplomat to travel to Lebanon since Israeli bombardment escalated, France's new foreign minister, Jean-Noel Barot, arrived in Beirut on Sunday.
He delivered emergency medical aid to Lebanon's Health Minister Firas Abyad, who "thanked" him for donating "eleven and a half tons" of supplies.
His arrival coincided with the announcement of the death of a second French national under still unclear circumstances. An 87-year-old French woman was killed on September 23 in a "strong explosion" in a village in the southern part of the country.
Israel should not be allowed to attack "Axis of Resistance" countries one after the other, Iranian President Masoud Pezheskian said.
According to Iran's state media, Pezeshkian said Lebanon should be supported. "Lebanese fighters should not be left alone in this battle so that the Zionist regime (ie Israel) does not attack the countries of the Axis of Resistance (ie as Iran and its allies call themselves) , one after another," he said.
A deputy commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Abbas Nilforoushan, was also killed along with Nasrallah in Beirut.
"We cannot accept such actions and they will not go unanswered. A decisive reaction is necessary," Pezeskian added.
In the operation dubbed "New Order", the Israeli army assured that, in addition to Hassan Nasrallah, "more than 20 other terrorists of various ranks, present in the underground general headquarters (of Hezbollah), under civilian buildings, from where they directed terrorist attacks" were killed. operations against Israel".
Israel asserts that the "majority" of high-ranking Hezbollah officials have been killed in recent months in its military operations.
The death of Hassan Nasrallah, considered by many to be the most powerful man in Lebanon, is seen by Israel and its allies as a major victory over Iran and its allies.
According to the Lebanese Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, those displaced by the Israeli bombardment may reach one million. This is the largest number of people ever forced to leave their homes in the history of the country, according to him.
The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) has announced that it is launching an emergency operation to distribute food aid to one million Lebanese citizens.
Rockets in Israel
Despite Israel's relentless shelling, Hezbollah announced that it had fired rockets into northern Israel. The Israeli military said about 8 missiles landed on vacant lots near Tiberias.
"We fear that there will be a total escalation," said Matan Shofer, a resident of the Israeli community of Ros Pina, about thirty kilometers from the border with Lebanon.
"The line" of Nasrallah "will continue" and "his holy goal will become a reality, with the liberation of Jerusalem", assured for its part Iran, Israel's sworn enemy, which supports, among other things with financing, Hezbollah .
Hassan Nasrallah's cousin, Hashem Safieddin, an influential figure in the party, is seen as his potential successor.
Source: ertnews.gr