BEIRUT (AP) – Israel killed a top Hezbollah commander on Tuesday as part of a two-day bombing campaign that has killed more than 560 people and displaced thousands more in southern Lebanon. He has been prompted to take shelter from the conflict.
With the two sides on the brink of war, Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets at Israel, including a long-range projectile that set off air raid sirens in Tel Aviv and central Israel. It was the group's farthest strike so far in nearly a year since the exchange. Israel said it intercepted the missile, and there were no reports of casualties or damage.
Hezbollah said it fired a ballistic missile at the headquarters of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, which it said was responsible for the targeted killing of its senior leaders. Israel said it hit the site in southern Lebanon where the missile was fired from.
Families who fled south Lebanon. Headed to Beirut and the coastal city of Sidon, with schools sleeping shelters as well as cars, parks and beaches. Some tried to leave the country, causing traffic jams. border with Syria.
Isa Baidoun escaped when the village of Shehain was bombed and went to Beirut with his family. They slept in cars on the side of the road because the shelters were full.
“We fought a lot on the road to get here,” said Bedoun, who rejected Israel's claim that it only hit military targets. “We evacuated our homes because Israel is targeting and attacking civilians.”
Volunteers cook meals for displaced families at an empty gas station in Beirut that has become a first aid center. Catastrophic harbor explosion In 2020
Israel said late Tuesday that warplanes had carried out “massive strikes” on Hezbollah weapons and rocket launchers in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa region in the north.
Asked about the duration of Israel's operations in Lebanon, military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told a news conference that the goal was to keep them “as short as possible, so we are attacking with great force.” At the same time, we should be prepared to take more time.”
Tensions between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah have risen steadily over the past 11 months. Hezbollah is firing rockets, missiles and drones at northern Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza and the Iran-backed militant group Hamas.
Israel has responded with targeted killings of Hezbollah commanders and heavy airstrikes by threatening wider action.
At the request of France, the UN Security Council convened an emergency meeting on Lebanon on Wednesday.
Israel said a strike in Beirut on Tuesday killed Ibrahim Kobesi, who it said was a top commander of Hezbollah's rocket and missile units. Military officials said Kubisi was responsible for the launches toward Israel and planned an attack in 2000 in which three Israeli soldiers were kidnapped and killed. Later, Hezbollah confirmed his death.
It was the latest in a series of killings and setbacks for Hezbollah, the strongest political and military actor in Lebanon and widely considered the top paramilitary force in the Arab world.
Lebanon's health ministry said six people were killed and 15 wounded in the attack in the southern suburbs of Beirut, an area where Hezbollah has a strong presence. The country's national news agency says that three floors of a six-story apartment building were destroyed in the attack.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Lebanon said one of his staff and his young son were among those killed in the Bekaa region on Monday, while a contract cleaner was killed in an attack in the south. .
Hezbollah said its missile strikes hit eight locations in Israel on Tuesday, including an explosives factory in Zakron Ya'akov, 60 kilometers (37 miles) from the border. It fired 300 rockets, injuring six soldiers and civilians, mostly lightly, according to Israeli military spokesman Hagari.
The renewed exchange followed Monday's barrage of rack-ups. Most deaths On a single day in Lebanon in 2006, after a month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah.
Dozens of mourners picked up 11 bodies, including four women, an infant and a 7-year-old girl, from the streets in the Lebanese village of Sakskia on Tuesday. (AP Video/Imad Haddad)
On Tuesday, mourners carried 11 bodies from the streets of the Lebanese village of Sakskia, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the Lebanon-Israel border, including four women, an infant and a 7-year-old girl. . All were killed in Israeli bombing of the village on Monday.
Some of the bodies were wrapped in Hezbollah flags and some were wrapped in black cloth. A garland of flowers was placed on top of the smallest one.
Mohammad Hilal, father of 7-year-old Juri Halal, said his daughter was an “innocent child martyr”.
“He is a martyr for the south and for Palestine,” Halal said, declaring his allegiance to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Israel said it targeted sites where Hezbollah had stockpiled weapons. Data from U.S. fire-tracking satellites analyzed Tuesday by The Associated Press showed the wide range of Israeli airstrikes aimed at southern Lebanon, which covers more than 1,700 square kilometers (650 square miles).
NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management System is commonly used to track US wildfires, but can also be used to track flares and burns following airstrikes. Monday's figures showed significant fires across southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley.
At least 564 people, including 50 children and 94 women, have been killed and more than 1,800 injured in Israeli strikes since Monday, the Lebanese health ministry said. A country is still burning. from A deadly attack on communications equipment last week
Nearly a year of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel displaced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border before this week's escalation. Israel has vowed to do whatever it takes to ensure its citizens return to their homes in the north, while Hezbollah has said it will halt its rocket attacks in Gaza until a ceasefire is reached. Will continue. Which seems to go away fast..
The Israeli military says it has no immediate plans for a ground attack but is ready for one. It has moved thousands of troops serving in Gaza to the northern border. It says Hezbollah has about 150,000 rockets and missiles, some capable of striking anywhere in Israel, and that the group has fired about 9,000 rockets and drones since last October.
Israel said its warplanes hit 1,600 Hezbollah targets on Monday, destroying cruise missiles, long- and short-range rockets and attack drones, including weapons hidden in private homes. .
Monday's escalation came after a particularly intense exchange of fire on Sunday, when Hezbollah fired about 150 rockets, missiles and drones into northern Israel.
Last week, thousands of communications devices used primarily by Hezbollah members were destroyed. There were explosions in different areas of Lebanon.In which 39 people were killed and around 3000 were injured, most of whom were civilians. Lebanon blamed Israel, but Israel neither confirmed nor denied responsibility.
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Melzer contributed from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writers Jon Gambrill in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Basim Maru and Fadi Taweel in Beirut; Julia Frankel in Jerusalem; and Imad Haddad in Saqqiyah, Lebanon, contributed to this report.
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