Israeli army calls two brigades to border with Lebanon, and steps up global diplomatic efforts to contain escalation – BBC News Arabic

An Israeli infantry brigade usually has about 1,000 to 2,000 soldiers, and an armored tank brigade has about 100 tanks.

Israeli raids continue on various areas in Lebanon, killing at least 51 people on Wednesday and injuring 223 others, according to what Lebanese Health Minister Firas Al-Abyad said at a press conference, at a time when the number of displaced Lebanese approaches “half. one million.”

On the other hand, the director of the Israeli ambulance announced that 3 Israelis were injured, one of them in a serious condition, as a result of pieces of a rocket falling on Kibbutz Sa’ar near Nahariya, northern Israel.

According to a BBC journalist, at least 10 comments were heard from the Iron Dome system between the city of Haifa and Nazareth.

While the groups of the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq” claimed responsibility on Wednesday night for a “drone” attack on the city of Eilat in Israel, the Israeli army announced that it had intercepted a drone that was launched move from the east and watch for the fall of another. in the area.

The armed group “Hezbollah Brigades” in Iraq called on the groups loyal to Iran to “increase the level and scale of their operations and the level of danger” to Israel, while the Israeli army continues its raids on different parts of Lebanon.

At dawn on Wednesday, Hezbollah announced that a ballistic missile had been launched into Tel Aviv for the first time since the escalation began about a year ago, targeting Mossad headquarters, but the Israeli army intercepted it.

Violent Israeli attacks have been targeting southern and eastern Lebanon since Monday, in a sharp escalation in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah since October 2023, against the backdrop of the Gaza War.

In mid-September, Israel announced an expansion of the war’s objectives in Gaza to include the return of residents of northern Israel who were displaced as a result of the bombing exchange. with Hezbollah since the start of the war in Gaza, to their homes, therefore. launching a series of violent military operations against Hezbollah.

For its part, Hezbollah affirms that it will continue to attack Israel “until the attack against Gaza ends.”

The bombing and violent attacks forced hundreds of thousands of Lebanese to flee their homes.

Nour Hamad (22 years old), a university student from the city of Baalbek, said, “We have been living in a terrible state for four days the sound of the bombing is very scary, it scares children and adults… I can’t hear it anymore.” According to what was reported by Agence France-Presse.

She said: “We cannot express the bitterness of what is happening to us, and no one can bear it. We do not want to stay like this… We want things to be resolved and to return to our ordinary lives.”

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdullah Bouhabib announced that the number of Lebanese displaced as a result of the current escalation between Israel and Hezbollah “approaches half a million.” “

The latest escalation began after a wave of grenade launchers fired by Hezbollah in Israel on September 17 and 18, which resulted in the death of more than eighty people and the wounding of around three thousand others. This was followed by an Israeli attack on September 20 in the southern suburbs of Beirut, in which 16 commanders of the party’s Radwan Force, considered its elite unit, were killed, including its commander .

Hezbollah announced on Tuesday that Ibrahim Muhammad Qubaisi, one of its military commanders, was killed in an Israeli attack in Gobeiry in the southern suburb of Beirut, which, according to the Ministry of Health, caused six people to be killed and wounded. another 15.

It was decided to keep schools and universities closed until the end of the week in Lebanon, and many airlines canceled their flights to Beirut.

US President Joe Biden warned on Wednesday about the threat of “outside war” in the Middle East, which he considered “possible.” ” Biden said in an interview with ABC that he believes that “it is still possible to reach an agreement capable of changing the whole region.”

The United States is leading a new diplomatic effort to end the war in Gaza and Lebanon, and the details are being discussed at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, according to Reuters.

Biden will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, after France asked the UN Security Council on Wednesday night to urgently discuss the threat of a full-scale war breaking out in the Middle East.

At the same time, Slovenia (the current President of the Security Council) announced that the Council will meet at 22:00 GMT on Wednesday to discuss the intensity of the fighting between Lebanon and Israel.

The French President, who spoke on Tuesday night with his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, called on Iran to “support a general cessation of escalation” in the Middle East.

The Prime Minister of Lebanon, Najib Mikati, spoke in New York on Wednesday with the cease-fire efforts of the US Secretary of State, in the presence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Abdullah Bou Habib, and the Ambassador of the US President, Amos Hockstein, according to what the Lebanon. News Agency reported.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also told the Lebanese Prime Minister that the international community must urgently implement a solution to stop Israel’s aggression, according to the Turkish leadership.

On the other hand, the Israel Broadcasting Corporation reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during security consultations that any negotiation with Hezbollah “will be long and under military pressure.” “

Netanyahu had said earlier on Wednesday that Israel would use “full force” in Lebanon until the northern residents return But, the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported, citing an unidentified Israeli source , that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had given a “green light. ” to the dialogue with the United States, to get peace with Hezbollah.

The newspaper quoted the source as saying, “We are approaching a crossroads to find out where the war is coming from. “

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed his trip to the United States to attend the United Nations General Assembly meetings as a result of the increase, but he did not announce that it was completely cancelled.

The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Wednesday in a meeting with the veterans of the army, “Some effective and valuable forces in Hezbollah were killed, and this undoubtedly dealt a blow to Hezbollah, but the strength of Hezbollah is too great to make the case. with the enemy, and the killings will not shake Hezbollah.”

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, warned that Lebanon is standing “on the edge of the abyss.”

US President Joe Biden warned of an “outside war” in Lebanon, stressing the need to “finish” a ceasefire agreement in Gaza.

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday, at the request of France. Fears of an increase in the region influenced the meetings of the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York.

The foreign ministers of Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan warned that “Israel is pushing the region toward an all-out war,” denouncing “Israel’s aggression against Lebanon.”

The Commissioner of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, expressed the fear of an “outside war” and that Lebanon will turn into a second Gaza, which was destroyed by the war has been there. going on for almost a year.