Israel Unleashes Fury: Airstrikes Rain Down on Hezbollah Strongholds in Lebanon

Last updated 5 hours ago

According to Lebanon’s health ministry, Israel launched new operations in various areas of Lebanon after a day of heavy raids that killed more than 550 people, while Hezbollah targeted Israeli airports and military sites.

This morning, Israeli aircraft targeted the town of Yahmar al-Shaqif, around Jisr Lahad, towns around Mahmudiyah, Aita al-Shab and Tire in Jejin, and towns and villages in the southern Baalbek district. Lebanon.

Hezbollah, on the other hand, bombarded Kiryat Shmona in the Upper Galilee with “volleys of rockets”, setting fire to several sites.

Israeli Army Radio reported heavy bombardment targeting Kiryat Shmona with about 50 missiles from Lebanon, indicating damage to buildings.

The radio reported that 9 people were taken to Nahariya Hospital with minor injuries after a recent bombing in the Western Galilee, and that 6 fire crews were sent to put out a fire at buildings in Kiryat Shmona.

Hezbollah announced the bombing of the logistics stores of the 146th Division in the Naftali base in northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon, after a salvo of “Fadi 1 and Fadi 2” missiles, with which the group targeted the Megiddo military airport west of Afula. , early today

“Monday was the bloodiest day in Lebanon since 2006, the last time Hezbollah and Israel engaged in real war,” Lebanon’s health minister described Monday.

Lebanese Health Minister Firas al-Abiad said that 558 people, including 50 children and 94 women, had been killed and 1,835 wounded as a result of Israeli raids in various areas of Lebanon.

The minister confirmed that 54 hospitals participated in providing necessary medical care to the injured and that 14 ambulances were targeted, killing four paramedics and injuring 16 fire brigade personnel.

Israeli airstrikes, which hit areas of southern and eastern Lebanon, have forced thousands of people to flee their homes along the border.

Roads starting from Sidon, Lebanon’s third-largest city by population, all the way to the capital Beirut’s Ras al-Naba area, saw a suffocating traffic jam, as people fled heavy raids to temporary shelters in Beirut.

The displaced journey from the south to Beirut took about 17 hours, according to a BBC team in Lebanon quoting one of the displaced, who described the journey as “exhausting” and confirmed that Israeli attacks “targeted the main road and forced those fleeing to walk on small side roads .”

Others told the BBC they had received warning messages on their phones, forcing them to leave their homes “minutes before violent raids targeting hundreds of towns”.

They also confirmed that their displacement journey, which lasted eight hours on average, witnessed the sound of explosions and missiles, which caused panic among Lebanese, especially children and women.

As for Beirut, it witnessed less traffic than usual, with several establishments closing their doors, while schools were being used as centers to shelter displaced people.

Qatar Airways said it temporarily suspended its flights to and from Beirut and the arrival board at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport canceled a number of flights, including Turkish Airlines flights from Istanbul, Air France from Paris and Royal Jordanian Airlines from Amman. .

Agence France-Presse reported that German airlines Lufthansa, Air France and Delta have suspended their flights to Beirut in recent days, and some airlines’ services to Israel and Iran have also been affected.

Last week, Qatar Airways and National Iranian Airlines banned passengers from carrying pagers and radios on board flights to Beirut after a wave of communications device explosions in Lebanon.

In the context of international reactions to the exchange of bombings between Israel and Hezbollah, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan stressed the need to pressure both sides to “stop the cycle of violence and avoid a wider war”.

Sullivan said in a statement to the American newspaper “The New York Times” that Washington has a path to reach an agreement, but he described the path as “winding and frustrating”.

On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting, Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian stressed that Hezbollah “cannot survive alone” in the face of Israel, insisting in an interview with the American CNN network that the international community “must not allow Lebanon to become another Gaza.”

Pezeshkian emphasized the need to “prevent the ongoing criminal activities committed by Israel in Lebanon,” which Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Arakhchi also condemned, stressing that “Israel’s crimes supported by the United States are clear to the world.”

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf also condemned the attack in Lebanon as a “terrorist attack” and expressed Iran’s support for the Lebanese people.

For his part, Israeli army chief of staff Harji Halevi said that Hezbollah should not be given any respite and that attacks on the group in Lebanon would accelerate.

After conducting a security assessment, Halevi added: “The situation requires intensive and continuous action in all arenas.”

As for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he called on the Lebanese people to “take Israel’s warning seriously,” saying, “Israel’s war is not with you, but with Hezbollah.”

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said the Israeli army was “crushing” Hezbollah’s infrastructure, which had been built up for decades, in an attack launched by Israel today in Lebanon, noting that “the terrorist group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah is now alone. “Recipe.