Following Lebanon’s missile strike, Israel retaliated against Beirut early Thursday morning, killing at least six people, according to Reuters.
Israel claimed it had carried out a precise airstrike on the Lebanese capital, targeting a building in the Bachoura neighbourhood near parliament. This was the closest Israeli strike on Beirut’s central downtown district.
Lebanese health officials report at least six people killed and seven wounded. Three missiles also hit the southern suburb of Dahiyeh, where Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed last week. UN special coordinator in Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, stated:
Another sleepless night in Beirut. Counting the blasts shaking the city. No warning sirens. Not knowing what’s next. Only that uncertainty lies ahead. Anxiety and fear are omnipresent.
The elimination of Nasrallah dealt a major blow to the movement and removed Iran’s most powerful proxy in the Middle East. Meanwhile, Hezbollah and other regional allies of Tehran launched attacks in the region in support of Hamas in Gaza. Houthis, who have carried out attacks on shipping routes in the Red Sea, targeted Israel’s commercial capital Tel Aviv with drones, the group’s military spokesman Yahya Saree said on Thursday.
Israel also stated on Wednesday that eight soldiers were killed in a ground battle in southern Lebanon as its troops invaded its northern neighbour.
Escalation gaining momentum
Hezbollah said its fighters had engaged Israeli forces inside Lebanon. The movement reported ground clashes for the first time since Israeli troops crossed the border on Monday. Hezbollah also claimed to have destroyed three Israeli Merkava tanks with rockets near the border town of Maroun El Ras.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared:
We are at the height of a difficult war against Iran’s Axis of Evil, which wants to destroy us. This will not happen because we will stand together and with God’s help, we will win together.
Iran said on Wednesday its missile barrage was over unless there were further provocations, but Israel and the United States vowed to retaliate firmly. However, US President Joe Biden said he would not support an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities in response to its ballistic missile attack and urged Israel to act “proportionally.”
G7 leaders expressed “strong concern” about the Middle East crisis. They also drew up contingency plans to evacuate citizens from Lebanon after Tuesday’s sharp escalation. Meanwhile, China called on the UN Security Council to take “urgent actions” to de-escalate the situation in the Middle East.
According to the Lebanese government, more than 1,900 people have been killed and over 9,000 injured in nearly a year of border fighting in Lebanon. Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati reported that some 1.2 million Lebanese had been forced from their homes as a result of Israeli attacks.
