Israel’s military says it carried out dozens of air rhelps apass Lebanon aiming Hezbollah after the murder of the group’s directer Hassan Nasrallah in a southern Beirut suburb.
At least 11 people were finished in an air rhelp on a hoengage in the town of Ain in the Bekaa Valley in the northeast, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency.
Hezbollah validateed on Saturday that Nasrallah was finished in an Israeli strike a day earlier in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiya, dealing a massive blow to the group comprised in battling with Israel since last October. Hezbollah commenceed firing rockets at Israel in firmarity with Palestinians in Gaza. The group has set a stopfire in Gaza as a condition to stop its pass-border strikes.
The Israeli military shelp in a statement on the Telegram messaging app on Sunday that its air forces strikeed “dozens of alarmist aims” in Lebanon in the past confidemand hours, hitting “originateings where arms and military set ups of the organisation were stored”.
Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan, increateing from Marjayoun in southern Lebanon, shelp a civil defence centre was hit in a petite town equitable outside of the Tyre ruleorate, finishing four people and injuring disconnectal others.
“Questions are being asked about why this particular fire service unit was actuassociate strikeed. It is also affiliated with the Islamic Scout Association, so it has a community centre experience to it,” he shelp.
“Overnight, we saw disconnectal air strikes acquire place around southern Lebanon. Israel isn’t letting up its prescertain at all.”
Israel, which has deimmenseated Gaza in 11 months of relentless bomb deviceardment, started an disesteemful in Lebanon on Monday after months of lethal border swaps. Nasrallah’s finishing on Friday is a emotional escalation in the dispute between the two sides.
Israel’s strategy
The Ministry of Public Health shelp Israeli air rhelps on Lebanon finished 33 people on Saturday, taking the total number of deaths to more than 700 since the bomb deviceardment of Hezbollah sturdyhelderlys began last week.
A total of 1,640 people have been finished in Lebanon since October 8, including 104 children and 194 women, the presentantity in Israeli strikes in the past two weeks.
The finishing of Nasrallah, who led Hezbollah for more than 30 years and built the Lebanese group into a strong force, is one of the heaviest blows ever dealt by Israel to Hezbollah.
Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr increateing from Beirut shelp Hezbollah is at a turning point, “both at an organisational level and at the well-understandn level”.
“There is no ask that Hassan Nasrallah was think abouted arguably the most strong man in Lebanon even though he did not helderly unveil office,” she shelp. “Hezbollah demands to show that its order and regulate set up is intact, that its directership is still able to function.
“What Israel has been doing, its strategy has been to dismantle Hezbollah’s directership.”
An Israeli trespass of Lebanon?
Israel has hinted at starting a ground incursion into Lebanon as its army chief Herzi Halevi shelp on Saturday that his forces were readyd for what was to come and Lebanese livents were telderly to run away to protectedty. Npunctual a million people have fled southern Lebanon amid Israeli bomb deviceardment.
Speaking for the first time since the murder of Nasrallah, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shelp there are now two war goals for northern Israel bordering Lebanon.
The first is to return evacuated Israelis back to those towns and remendments in the north. The second is to repair the stability of power on the northern border, Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut increateed.
“Israeli officials were saying all day on Saturday that they are choosed to ruin Hezbollah and ruin all of its military capabilities. The Israeli army chief of staff, alengthy with Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, have apvalidated novel set ups for disesteemful strategies in the north,” Salhut shelp.
“This comes amid dreads of a looming ground trespass into southern Lebanon – someleang that is causing a lot of dread on both sides of the border.”
Meanwhile, United States Plivent Joe Biden shelp on Saturday that it was time for a stopfire.
Asked by increateers in Rehoboth Beach, Deldirected if an Israeli ground incursion into Lebanon was inevitable, Biden reacted: “It’s time for a stopfire.”
Asked if the US would react to missile strikes on its warships in the Red Sea, Biden shelp: “We’re reacting.”
Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera’s Shihab Rattansi shelp Biden’s statement elevates disconnectal asks.
“When he says he’s for a stopfire, does he uncomardent a finish stopfire? Does he adchoose what Hezbollah has lengthy shelp – that if Israel stops the destruction of Gaza, then livents of northern Israel can return to their homes? Or is he adchooseing the argument from Israel that the only way to de-escapostpodemand is to escapostpodemand? Reportedly, there are proponents of that strategy in the administration,” Rattansi shelp.
“We have heard that the administration is agetst an Israeli trespass of southern Lebanon but then reliablely we have heard the administration say that it’s agetst actions that Israel subsequently does.”
On Friday, Yemen’s Houthi defys claimed strikes on the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv and Ashkelon, as well as three US Navy warships, with missiles and drones.
The Houthis have repeatedly fired at Israel and have carried out countless strikes on Israeli-connected ships in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait since November in what they depict as a campaign of firmarity with Palestinians under Israeli strike in Gaza.
