Beirut: Ongoing tensions in the Middle East over an all-out war remained high on Thursday as Israel conducted a rare strike on central Beirut that killed nine people, marking the first time it has struck the heart of the Lebanese capital. The Israeli military claimed to have killed at least 15 Hezbollah members as it keeps up its offensive in Lebanon against the Iran-backed militant group.
Israel said it conducted a precise air strike on Beirut and a security source said it targeted a building in the central Bachoura district near parliament. Three missiles also hit the southern suburb of Dahiyeh, where Nasrallah was killed. Several explosions were heard on Tuesday and several large plumes of smoke were rising after heavy Israeli strikes in the country.
Israel, which has been fighting Hamas in the Palestinian territory of Gaza for almost a year, sent troops into southern Lebanon on Tuesday after two weeks of intense airstrikes in a worsening conflict that has drawn in Iran and risks sucking in the United States. Israel says the aim of its operations in Lebanon is to allow tens of thousands of its citizens displaced from northern Israel by Hezbollah bombardments during the Gaza war to return home safely.
What's happening? Israeli soldiers killed by Hezbollah bomb
Hezbollah also carried out new strikes, targeting what it called Israel's "Sakhnin base" for military industries in Haifa Bay on the Mediterranean coast of northern Israel with a salvo of rockets. The group said it detonated a bomb against Israeli forces infiltrating a southern Lebanese village, resulting in the deaths of four soldiers including female paramedic Agam Naim, according to Haaretz.
Israel said it struck a municipality building in the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil, killing 15 Hezbollah members and destroying many weapons. A Hezbollah-linked civil defence group said seven of its staff, including two medics, were killed in Israel's Beirut attack. An Israeli airstrike on a Beirut southern suburb struck the building housing the media office of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group.
The World Health Organization said 28 healthcare workers had been killed in Lebanon in the previous 24 hours. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also said flight restrictions meant the agency would not be able to deliver a large planned shipment of trauma and medical supplies to Lebanon on Friday.
Biden discussing possible Israeli strikes on Iran's oil facilities
As it pushes into Lebanon, Israel is also weighing its options for retaliation against its arch-foe Iran with the backing of the United States. US President Joe Biden said he is discussing with Israel the possibility of Israeli strikes on Iran’s oil infrastructure.
When asked if he would support such strikes, Biden told reporters at the White House, "We're discussing that. I think that would be a little... anyway." He has previously said he would not support Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. The price of crude oil shot up by 5 per cent immediately after Biden’s remarks and has now increased by 10 per cent since Iran’s large-scale missile attack on Israel on Tuesday, according to BBC.
Israel had vowed to retaliate against Iran for the missile attack on Tuesday when Tehran launched a salvo of 180 missiles in retaliation to Israel's campaign against Hezbollah. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, speaking in Doha, said Tehran would be ready to respond and warned against "silence" in the face of Israel's "warmongering".
Israeli military issues new evacuation orders
Amid the chaos, Israel's military told residents of more than 20 towns in south Lebanon to evacuate their homes immediately on Thursday as it pressed on with its cross-border incursion. The latest warnings took the number of southern towns subject to evacuation calls to 70 and included the provincial capital Nabatieh, suggesting a broadening campaign against Hezbollah.
More than 1.2 million Lebanese have been displaced by Israeli attacks, and nearly 2,000 people have been killed since the start of the Israeli attacks on Lebanon over the last year, most of them in the past two weeks, Lebanese authorities said. Hezbollah says it has repelled several land operations by Israeli troops, including with ambushes and in direct clashes.
Lebanese Army fires back at Israeli troops
Furthermore, Lebanese security sources say Israeli troops have entered Lebanese territory and have been pushed back several times in recent days, without setting up a permanent presence. The Lebanese army said two soldiers were killed by Israeli strikes in separate incidents in south Lebanon on Thursday.
For the first time since the conflict began between Hezbollah and Israel, Lebanese army said it returned fire when a military post was struck by Israeli forces, unusual for a force that has historically stayed on the sidelines of major conflict with Israel.
Foreigners flee Lebanon as conflict escalates
A growing number of countries from Europe, Asia and the Middle East evacuated citizens from Beirut on Thursday as Israel's bombing of the Lebanese capital intensified and governments worldwide urged their citizens to get out. Dozens of Greeks and Greek Cypriots boarded a Greek military aircraft at Beirut airport, many of them children clutching soft toys and school bags.
Some countries provided air evacuations, while elsewhere hundreds of people boarded crowded ferries or smaller vessels as bombs fell on the heart of the city. Expatriates have been scrambling to leave and governments from China to Europe have drawn up plans to get their citizens out.
(with inputs from agencies)
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