The Israeli army has erased 37 towns and destroyed more than 40,000 housing units since the start of its deadly offensive on Lebanon last year, local media said on Tuesday.
The state news agency NNA said the destruction is concentrated in an area extending three kilometers deep from Naqoura to the outskirts of Khiam in southern Lebanon.
(November 1, 2024)
Israeli warplanes and ground forces have blasted a trail of destruction through southern Lebanon the past month. The aim, Israel says, is to debilitate the Hezbollah militant group, push it away from the border and end more than a year of Hezbollah fire into northern Israel.
Even United Nations peacekeepers and Lebanese troops in the south have come under fire from Israeli forces, raising questions over whether they can remain in place.
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(October 10, 2024)
Lapid advocated regime change in Lebanon, saying, “the international community will need to appoint a sort of oversight committee for Lebanon to manage its civilian life for a set period until elections can be held and a new government can take control.”
Crucial to this effort would be the establishment of a collaborator Lebanese army loyal to Israel and its Western and Gulf allies.
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Lapid claimed it would be easy to recruit Lebanese by paying soldiers in a new army $500 a month. New recruits would then be trained by French, Emirati, and US military officers.
The South Lebanon Army (SLA) was established by Israel in 1976 after the collapse of the Lebanese government due to civil war.
Prime Minister Najib Mikati received a call today from Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan during which they discussed the current situation in Lebanon, especially on the humanitarian level and the relief for the families who were forced to be displaced from areas exposed to Israeli aggression.
During the call, Minister Fidan reiterated Turkey‘s readiness to support Lebanon in its humanitarian needs.
National News Agency correspondent reported that enemy drones are flying at low altitudes in the skies of Beirut and its southern suburbs, adding that these drones have not been absent from the Lebanese airspace, nor have reconnaissance overflights.
A military official, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, told AFP this was the first response to Israeli fire since last October because the post had been “directly” hit.
It was the third such killing of a Lebanese soldier since the start of the escalation between the Iran-backed group and Israel on September 23.
Israeli airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon have killed at least 1,030 people – including 156 women and 87 children – in less than two weeks, according to Lebanon‘s Health Ministry. For more information, Yuka Royer interviews Ettie Higgins, Deputy Representative at UNICEF, in Beirut, Lebanon.
Onlookers at the site Sunday clambered over large slabs of concrete, surrounded by high piles of twisted metal and wreckage. Several craters, likely used by rescuers to penetrate under the site of the explosion were visible, some of them apparently up to 30 meters (100 feet) deep.
A few Hezbollah workers were using a bulldozer to excavate around one of the craters, some of them apparently dug by rescuers to reach the dead. State security and investigators were nowhere to be seen.
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The Israeli military is reportedly preparing to invade Lebanon while continuing to launch extensive airstrikes across the country, forcing tens of thousands to flee. Lebanon’s Health Ministry reports the death toll has reached at least 569 people, with more than 1,800 wounded. Israeli strikes have killed United Nations employees, medical workers, at least one journalist and 50 children over the past two days. Meanwhile, Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets at Israel, including a long-range missile fired toward Tel Aviv that was intercepted by Israeli air defense systems. “Lebanese civilians are paying the price,” says Aya Majzoub in Beirut, Amnesty International’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, who calls Israel’s attacks “unprecedented” and “devastating.” “In a single day, on Monday, more than 500 people were killed. … It is one of the highest daily death tolls in recent global wars.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a recorded message, urged Lebanese civilians to heed their calls to evacuate, ahead of its widening air campaign against Hezbollah, news agency AP reported. “Israel’s war is not with you. It’s with Hezbollah. For too long, Hezbollah has been using you as human shields… Starting this morning, the IDF has warned you to get out of harm’s way. I urge you, take this warning seriously. Don’t let Hezbollah endanger your lives and the lives of your loved ones… Once our operation is finished, you can come back safely to your homes,” Netanyahu said.
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National News Agency correspondent on Tuesday reported that the Israeli enemy targeted a building in the Bir Al-Abed area in Beirut’s southern suburbs with 3 missiles.
Civil defense and rescue teams rushed to the targeted building in the southern suburb.
Israel says it is preparing for next stages of Lebanon operation, as US sending additional troops to Middle East
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Israeli enemy aircraft carried out a series of violent raids on areas in Nabatieh, Iqlim al-Tuffah, and the Western Bekaa thisafternoon, reaching 111 raids between 1:30 p.m. until 2:30 p.m.
The Public Health Ministry‘s Emergency Operations Center issued a new update on the outcome of the Israeli raid on the southern suburb of Beirut yesterday, in which the number of martyrs rose to thirty-seven people.
The Ministry indicated that efforts are still underway to remove the rubbles.
The Public Health Ministry’s Emergency Operations Center released a statement announcing an updated toll from the Israeli enemy’s airstrike on the Beirut’s southern suburbs.
According to the new updated toll, the number of martyrs has risen to 12, and the number of wounded 66, including nine in critical condition.
The statement added that the rubble removal operations continue.
The Israeli military’s chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said the strike on Beirut’s southern Dahiya district killed Ibrahim Akil, a commander of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, as well as 10 other Hezbollah operatives.
“We will continue pursuing our enemies in order to defend our citizens, even in Dahiya, in Beirut,” said Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, describing the Israeli strike that targeted Akil as part of “a new phase of war.”
CNN Senior International Correspondent Ben Wedeman reacts to Israeli jets flying over Beirut, Lebanon, as Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah delivered an address in response to a wave of explosions across the country.