Beirut is like ‘Hell’, Israel launches its biggest attack on Lebanon

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Israeli airstrikes hit the southern outskirts of Beirut from Saturday (5/10/2024) to Sunday (6/10/2024) in the most intense attack ever on the Lebanese capital since Israel suspended its military campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah. group.

Huge explosions were heard throughout Beirut throughout the night, with red and white flashes visible several kilometers away. This was Israel’s biggest attack on Beirut so far, according to eyewitnesses and military analysts on local TV channels.

On Sunday morning, gray smoke covered the city with debris strewn on the streets, and columns of smoke could be seen flowing over the area.

“Last night was the worst of the previous nights. The buildings around us shook and at first I thought it was an earthquake. There were dozens of attacks – no we could count them all – and the noise was deafening,” Hanan Abdullah, a resident of the Burj al-Barajneh area, a southern suburb of Beirut, was quoted as saying. ReutersMonday (7/10/2024).

Videos posted on social media showed the latest damage to the highway that connects Beirut’s airport through the southern suburbs to the city center.

The Israeli military confirmed that its air force carried out a series of targeted attacks on several Hezbollah weapons storage facilities and infrastructure in the Beirut area. However, Lebanese authorities have not disclosed where they were hit or the extent of the damage.

The intense weekend airstrikes came ahead of the first anniversary of the October 7 attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas in southern Israel, which killed around 1,200 people and kidnapped more than 250 , according to Israeli data.

The main target of Israel’s attacks across Lebanon and its ground offensive in the southern region of the country is Hezbollah, Iran’s main ally in the region.

Casualties and Damages

More than 2,000 people have been killed in nearly a year of fighting, most of them in the past two weeks, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Health. On Sunday, the ministry confirmed that 23 people had died on Saturday.

The head of the UN Refugee Agency said on Sunday that there had been “numerous incidents” in which Israeli airstrikes violated international law by attacking civilian infrastructure and causing civilian casualties in Lebanon.

Israel said it was only targeting military capabilities and had taken steps to minimize risks to civilians. However, the Lebanese authorities accused Israel of deliberately targeting civilians. Israel also accuses Hezbollah and Hamas of hiding among civilians, a charge they deny.

Over the past few days, Israel has attacked the southern outskirts of Beirut, an area known as Hezbollah’s stronghold but which is also home to thousands of Lebanese civilians, Palestinian and Syrian refugees.

On September 27, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was killed in the attack. Lebanese security sources said that Hashem Safieddine, a possible follower of Nasrallah, could not be contacted on Saturday, following an Israeli airstrike on Thursday that targeted areas near Beirut’s international airport. .

Lebanese security sources said Israel continued to bomb the area, preventing rescue teams from reaching the site of the attack. Hezbollah has not commented on Safieddine’s status.

If Safieddine is indeed killed, this would be another blow to Hezbollah and Iran. Israeli airstrikes across the region over the past year, which have increased dramatically in recent weeks, have killed many Hezbollah leaders.

(luck/luck)

Israeli bombs Beirut, 14 killed including senior Hezbollah leaders