Israeli assaults throughout Lebanon have killed not less than 3,103 folks and injured 13,856 others since October final 12 months, in keeping with Lebanon’s Ministry of Well being.
Because the genocide in Gaza started, Israel has additionally been at warfare with the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, which is an ally of the Palestinian group Hamas, and expresses solidarity with the folks in Gaza.
In September this 12 months, Israel expanded its warfare from Gaza into southern Lebanon.
On Thursday, Lebanon’s Ministry of Well being additionally mentioned that Israeli strikes killed not less than 53 folks and wounded 161 others over the previous 24 hours.
5 Malaysian peacekeepers from the United Nations Interim Pressure in Lebanon (UNIFIL), three Lebanese troopers and three Lebanese civilians have been among the many wounded after an Israeli raid in south Lebanon’s major metropolis of Sidon.
In an announcement, UNIFIL reminded “all actors to keep away from actions placing peacekeepers or civilians at risk”, including that “variations ought to be resolved on the negotiating desk, not by way of violence”.
UNIFIL, in addition to unarmed technical observers often known as UNTSO, have lengthy been stationed in southern Lebanon to watch hostilities alongside the demarcation line between Lebanon and Israel, often known as the Blue Line – drawn by the UN in Might 2000 to divide the 2 nations.
Reporting from Beirut, Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan mentioned the Israeli assault on the UNIFIL location was essential.
“The Awali checkpoint is without doubt one of the locations the place Israel points a compelled evacuation order. It tells folks to go north of the Awali River. That’s the place the checkpoint is,” Khan mentioned.
“So that they’re telling folks to go north of that exact checkpoint, however they’re additionally hitting that checkpoint as properly. That is very, very regarding for UNIFIL, which has been attacked practically 20 instances since Israel introduced its floor invasion,” Khan added.
Israel additionally bombarded Beirut’s southern suburbs. “Demise has develop into a matter of luck. We are able to both die or survive”, Ramzi Zaiter, a resident of south Beirut, informed the AFP information company.
The Israeli strikes on Lebanon got here after Hezbollah mentioned it carried out a missile assault concentrating on a army base close to Israel’s Ben Gurion Worldwide Airport on Wednesday. The Lebanese armed group mentioned it had additionally focused the “strategic Stella Maris naval base for monitoring and surveillance” with missiles northwest of Haifa in Israel on Thursday.
In its warfare replace, the Israeli army mentioned round 40 projectiles crossed into northern Israel from Lebanon however have been intercepted. The army added that in current weeks, 5 Israeli troopers have been killed and 16 others wounded in fight in southern Lebanon.
‘Shield Lebanon’s historic websites’
Additionally on Thursday, greater than 100 Lebanese lawmakers issued an attraction to the UN, demanding the preservation of UNESCO World Heritage Websites in areas being closely bombed by Israel.
Lebanon is dwelling to 6 UNESCO World Heritage websites, together with Roman ruins in Baalbek and Tyre, the place Hezbollah holds sway.
In Baalbek, Israeli strikes on Wednesday destroyed a heritage home and broken a historic resort close to the town’s Roman temples, in keeping with native authorities.
In a letter addressed to the top of UNESCO, Lebanese MPs said, “In the course of the devastating warfare on Lebanon, Israel has brought on grave human rights violations and atrocities.” The letter demanded the safety of Lebanon’s historic websites in Baalbek, Tyre, Sidon, and different invaluable landmarks “at the moment in danger because of the escalation of the atrocities”.
On Monday, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati known as for a ceasefire “to guard our nation’s cultural heritage, together with the traditional archeological websites of Baalbek and Tyre”.
In the meantime, some in Lebanon are hopeful a brand new management in america, the place Republican Donald Trump has gained the presidency, would possibly deliver them a reprieve.
“Many imagine that no important diplomatic efforts will happen till Trump, the US president-elect, assumes workplace in January,” mentioned Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut.
