Israeli Airstrike in Beirut Kills Nine, Including Hezbollah Members
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Lebanon’s health ministry said nine people were killed in the Israeli airstrike on an apartment in Beirut. Israel has been hitting areas where Hezbollah, the militant group, is strong since late September, but it is a rare occurrence for strikes to be made in Beirut’s heart.
The strike hit late Wednesday and was unexpected. It struck a building near key landmarks, including United Nations headquarters, the office of the prime minister, and parliament.
Seven members of Hezbollah’s civil defense were killed, according to the group’s civil defense unit.
Israel launched a ground invasion of Lebanon, attacking Hezbollah militia while frequent aerial bombardments had been going on. Israeli forces continued with an aerial attack on Gaza, killing scores of civilians alongside children.
The Israeli military confirmed that eight of its soldiers have died in the conflict happening in southern Lebanon. The focus of Israel has been to strike at Hezbollah’s stronghold in the region while ratcheting up its operations in Gaza, despite the high number of casualties.
Israel Airstrikes and Ongoing Conflict with Hezbollah
Israeli airstrikes have since been responsible for the daily rocket exchange between Hezbollah along the Lebanon border since October 7, 2023. Israeli airstrikes started after a Hamas cross-border attack killed 1,200 Israelis and resulted in 250 others being captured. Israeli airstrikes became more stringent when the government of Israel declared war on the militant group in Gaza.
More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel airstrikes, with health officials stating that over half of the casualties were women and children.
The international community has also voiced its apprehension over the strikes of Israel but the US expressed its concern and President Joe Biden said he did not envision Israel airstrikes hitting Iran at this time, clarified that permission had not been granted for such an operation.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, President Biden mentioned the situation two days after Tehran launched nearly 200 ballistic missiles against Israel. While Israel declared to have downed most of the missiles, Iran responded by asserting that most of its strikes hit their intended targets.
The recent Israel airstrikes have increased skepticism over the growing Middle East conflict and involvement of the United States in Israel’s defense. Israel airstrikes are still an integral part of its military actions, judging by the remarks of President Biden: “First of all, we don’t ‘allow’ Israel, we advise Israel,” adding, “And nothing’s going to happen today.”
Israel airstrikes on Gaza recently killed a Palestinian convicted of murdering two Israeli soldiers in the West Bank early in the 2000 uprising.
Abdel-Aziz Salha: Notorious Figure in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
One of the angry rioters who surged into a Palestinian police station in the West Bank town of Ramallah was Abdel-Aziz Salha, who killed two Israeli reservists. The reservists had been arrested after accidentally straying into a zone under Palestinian control.
Salha, along with other colleagues, is known for flashing his blood-stained hands from a window of a police station. The gesture had severe repercussions, forming one of the defining symbols of the second intifada, or the Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule.
The killing of the reservists marked an escalation of Israeli-Palestinian tensions as the peace process from the 1990s started to unravel.
Salha was killed in an overnight airstrike on the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah, the military said. Salha was a Hamas militant, according to the military.
Salha was seized by the Israeli within days of the murder of the reservists, tried, and convicted of life imprisonment. He is one of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners released in 2011 as part of a sweetheart deal for an Israeli soldier held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Yahya Sinwar – one of the masterminds of the assault on October 7 and today’s senior leader in Hamas, also among them.
In another development, Lebanon’s minister of public works and transport declared that all border crossings into Syria are conducting their activities under the auspices of state institutions.
Adraee added that Israeli forces ambushed and shelled a truck on Sunday transporting the weapons Hezbollah was attempting to import into Lebanon. No additional information on this aerial raid was issued.
In the last several weeks, Israeli airstrikes have targeted hundreds of targets throughout Lebanon, particularly in the eastern border region and the Bekaa Valley, which had come to be regarded as areas strongly controlled by Hezbollah.
Analysts have long believed the Iran-backed group smuggled weapons into Lebanon through its porous border with Syria.
Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad also released a statement saying strikes on health facilities and workers by Israeli forces violate international law and treaties.
