The Israel Defense Forces has reportedly killed hundreds in its widening air campaign against Hezbollah
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike hit the Tyre, in southern Lebanon © Getty Images / Stringer; Anadolu
The Israeli military carried out a series of airstrikes on Lebanon on Monday, reportedly killing over 550 people, including 50 children and 94 women. The strikes, which have been described as the deadliest since the 2006 Israeli-Hezbollah war, come amid the Jewish State’s expanding campaign against the Lebanese militant group.
Lebanese authorities have reported that over 1,800 people have been injured. The country’s Health Minister Firass Abiad has claimed that the strikes have hit hospitals, medical centers and ambulances.
The government has ordered schools and universities across the country to begin preparing shelters as thousands of people flee from the southern regions of Lebanon.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military has claimed to have struck over 1,500 targets, describing them as Hezbollah weapons sites.
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25 September 2024
07:10 GMT
Protests against Israeli military action in Lebanon and Gaza have taken place in major US cities, including New York, Los Angeles and Washington DC.
Hands of Lebanon, free Palestine rally getting started in NYC. Israel isolating itself more and more. Our officials might back Israel, but the ppl do not. pic.twitter.com/EJTkABArxH
— Rania Khalek (@RaniaKhalek) September 24, 2024
🇱🇧🇵🇸NEW YORK CITY STANDS AGAINST WAR AND GENOCIDE!Israel is massacring hundreds of Lebanese every day with bombs paid for with our tax dollars — not another penny for Israel’s crimes! pic.twitter.com/smJRjOu3ye
— ANSWER Coalition (@answercoalition) September 24, 2024
TODAY: Los Angeles shut down an intersection for Lebanon and Palestine. pic.twitter.com/jqQQ3012UJ
— BreakThrough News (@BTnewsroom) September 25, 2024
- 06:16 GMT
Hezbollah has confirmed that it fired a ballistic missile at Tel Aviv, saying the target was the Mossad headquarters. The statement said Israeli intelligence agency was responsible for targeted assassinations of Hezbollah leaders and the two deadly waves of explosions of portable devices in Lebanon last week.
- 04:47 GMT
Israel’s “air aggression continued overnight,” according to Lebanese media, with fresh rounds of strikes by “enemy warplanes and drones” reported on Wednesday morning. “Since 5:00am (2:00am GMT), enemy warplanes have launched strikes” in southern Lebanon, the official National News Agency stated, reporting an unspecified number of casualties.
- 04:27 GMT
The IDF claims to have successfully intercepted a surface-to-surface missile fired from Lebanon at Tel Aviv. The incident would mark the first time Hezbollah has targeted the city since last year’s Hamas attack, according to the Times of Israel. However, the Home Front Command says there is no change in security instructions for residents of central Israel.
- 04:01 GMT
Multiple rocket sirens have been activated in Tel Aviv and elsewhere in central Israel, with the IDF urging residents to seek shelter.
🚨Sirens sounding in Tel Aviv and all over central Israel🚨 pic.twitter.com/l06avmq1LS
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) September 25, 2024
- 03:57 GMT
Israel’s envoy to the UN, Danny Danon, has said that West Jerusalem is “not eager to start any ground invasion anywhere,” but will do “whatever necessary” to protect its citizens from Hezbollah rockets.
“We prefer a diplomatic solution. But if it’s not working, we are using other methods to show the other side that we mean business,” he said, emphasizing that Israel will do “whatever necessary to bring the residents back to the north.”
- 02:49 GMT
Lebanon has expressed disappointment with US President Joe Biden’s remarks at the UN General Assembly.
“It was not strong, it is not promising, and it would not solve the Lebanese problem,” Lebanese foreign minister Abdallah Bou Habib said about Biden’s speech. “We are still hoping. The United States is the only country that can really make a difference in the Middle East and with regard to Lebanon.”
- 02:06 GMT
The number of displaced Lebanese civilians has soared and is “now probably approaching half a million,” according to Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib. Before Israel launched its military campaign against Hezbollah, Lebanon had an estimated 110,000 displaced persons.
- 01:52 GMT
At least 569 people have been killed and some 1,835 others wounded in Israeli strikes across Lebanon since Monday, with the death toll steadily rising, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry data cited by Al Jazeera.
- 00:48 GMT
French President Emmanuel Macron has urged his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian to use his influence to reduce tensions between Israel and Lebanon during their meeting on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly.
According to a statement from the Elysee Palace, Macron “highlighted the responsibility of Iran to support a general de-escalation and use its influence with destabilizing actors,” in an indirect reference to Hezbollah.
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