Israeli assaults throughout Lebanon have killed not less than 3,103 individuals and injured 13,856 others since October final 12 months, in keeping with Lebanon’s Ministry of Well being.
For the reason that genocide in Gaza started, Israel has additionally been at battle with the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, which is an ally of the Palestinian group Hamas, and expresses solidarity with the individuals in Gaza.
In September this 12 months, Israel expanded its battle from Gaza into southern Lebanon.
On Thursday, Lebanon’s Ministry of Well being additionally stated that Israeli strikes killed not less than 53 individuals and wounded 161 others over the previous 24 hours.
5 Malaysian peacekeepers from the United Nations Interim Power in Lebanon (UNIFIL), three Lebanese troopers and three Lebanese civilians had been among the many wounded after an Israeli raid in south Lebanon’s predominant metropolis of Sidon.
In an announcement, UNIFIL reminded “all actors to keep away from actions placing peacekeepers or civilians at risk”, including that “variations must be resolved on the negotiating desk, not via violence”.
UNIFIL, in addition to unarmed technical observers often called UNTSO, have lengthy been stationed in southern Lebanon to observe hostilities alongside the demarcation line between Lebanon and Israel, often called the Blue Line – drawn by the UN in Might 2000 to divide the 2 nations.
Reporting from Beirut, Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan stated the Israeli assault on the UNIFIL location was essential.
“The Awali checkpoint is likely one of the locations the place Israel points a pressured evacuation order. It tells individuals to go north of the Awali River. That’s the place the checkpoint is,” Khan stated.
“In order that they’re telling individuals to go north of that exact checkpoint, however they’re additionally hitting that checkpoint as nicely. That is very, very regarding for UNIFIL, which has been attacked practically 20 occasions since Israel introduced its floor invasion,” Khan added.
Israel additionally bombarded Beirut’s southern suburbs. “Loss of life has turn out to be a matter of luck. We will 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 stated 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 stated 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 battle replace, the Israeli army stated round 40 projectiles crossed into northern Israel from Lebanon however had been intercepted. The army added that in current weeks, 5 Israeli troopers had been killed and 16 others wounded in fight in southern Lebanon.
‘Defend Lebanon’s historic websites’
Additionally on Thursday, greater than 100 Lebanese lawmakers issued an enchantment 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 pinnacle of UNESCO, Lebanese MPs acknowledged, “Throughout the devastating battle 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 “presently in danger as a result of 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 new management in the USA, the place Republican Donald Trump has gained the presidency, may carry them a reprieve.
“Many imagine that no important diplomatic efforts will happen till Trump, the US president-elect, assumes workplace in January,” stated Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut.
