Israeli army orders Lebanese to evacuate ahead of military raids

Israeli army vehicles deploy at a position along the border with Lebanon in northern Israel on October 1, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 01 October 2024
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Israeli army orders Lebanese to evacuate ahead of military raids

  • The UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL said that the Israeli army informed them of its intention to conduct limited ground incursions into Lebanon

BEIRUT: The Israeli army early on Tuesday launched what it described as a limited ground operation in southern Lebanon after ordering residents in more than 25 Lebanese border towns to evacuate and move north of the Awali River.

Families from the towns of Rmeich and Ain Ebel appealed to the Lebanese Army and Lebanese Red Cross for help moving to a secure location after they were left stranded by air raids on nearby access roads.

An Israeli military spokesman said the ground incursion will be limited, and is aimed at “dismantling and demolishing Hezbollah’s infrastructure.”

Israeli media reported that Israeli troops destroyed 30 tons of antitank mines and 450 RPG rockets after launching the operation on Tuesday.

The UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL said that the Israeli army informed them of its intention to conduct limited ground incursions into Lebanon.

However, UNIFIL said that “any crossing into Lebanon constitutes a violation of Lebanese sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as a breach of Resolution 1701.”

It urged “all parties to refrain from such escalatory actions,” and said that “the cost of continuing along the current path of action is exceedingly high.”

The evacuation order in the border area revived memories for the Lebanese people of similar displacements when Israel occupied the region in the 1970s, a situation that lasted until 2000, followed by further displacement during the 2006 war.

The Israeli army announced in the early hours of Tuesday that “the 98th Division has commenced targeted and specific activities in the southern region of Lebanon.” It also released footage of the division’s preparations.

Commando and paratrooper units, as well as armored forces from the 7th Brigade, have been preparing for weeks to carry out the ground operation, the army said.

Israeli media said that army operations destroyed a large number of Hezbollah tunnels.

“What we feared has happened,” said Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the UN special coordinator for Lebanon. “With strikes across Lebanon, including in the heart of Beirut, and incursions across the Blue Line, violence is escalating to dangerous levels.”

Plasschaert warned: “Every rocket fired, every bomb dropped, every ground raid carried out, takes the parties further away from the goal of resolution 1701 and further away from creating the conditions necessary for the safe return of civilians on both sides of the Blue Line.

“The ongoing cycle of violence will not achieve what either party wants. There is still a glimmer of hope for the success of diplomatic efforts, but the question is: Will this opportunity be seized or will it be squandered?“

Hezbollah continued its military operations against Israeli forces along the southern border.

The Israeli incursion was preceded by Israeli airstrikes in southern regions, extending through the southern suburbs of Beirut, and reaching the farthest areas of the Bekaa Valley.

Numerous residential buildings were completely flattened or partially destroyed.

Hezbollah responded to the Israeli attacks by announcing “rocket barrages of the ‘Fadi 4’ type targeting the Glilot base associated with Military Intelligence Unit 8200 and the Mossad headquarters located in the suburbs of Tel Aviv.”

Hezbollah targeted Israeli soldiers near the Rosh Pina settelement, as well as Israeli forces in the Dovev outpost.

Sirens sounded in Yiftah, Malkia, Ramot Naftali, Dishon in the Galilee and Metula in the Galilee Panhandle.

Israeli media outlets said that two people were injured in a missile strike in northeast Tel Aviv.

An Israeli strike on a house in the southern village of Daoudiyeh is believed to have killed 10 members of the Diab family.

Israeli fighter jets carried out eight raids on Laylaki, Mreijeh, Haret Hreik and Burj Al-Barajneh in Beirut’s southern suburbs, following warnings to residents to evacuate the areas.

An Israeli raid also struck the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain Al-Helweh – the biggest refugee camp in Lebanon – targeting Mounir Al-Makdah, leader of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of the Fatah Movement.

However, Al-Makdah escaped the assassination attempt, while his son, wife, and four other people were killed.

Last August, Israel targeted Khalil Al-Makdah, the leader’s brother, outside the camp with a drone.

A raid targeting Bekaa hit an aid station in Mashghara, killing eight people.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese government and NGOs are struggling to cope with the influx of displaced people into Beirut, Chouf, Tripoli, Akkar, and other areas of northern Lebanon.

Rain has also made it difficult for those sleeping in the street.

A number of displaced people attempted to storm and take shelter in several private properties in Beirut, including Le Bristol Hotel in Ras Beirut, another hotel in Ain Al-Mraiseh, and a building owned by a Kuwaiti national in the same area.

Prime Minister Najib Mikati met UN organizations and ambassadors of donor countries.

He also launched “a flash appeal to mobilize additional support to strengthen the continued efforts of the government in providing essential assistance to displaced civilians.”

Parliament speaker Nabih Berri called on the UN to establish an air bridge to deliver relief supplies and break the air blockade imposed by Israel on Lebanon.

 


Five Iranian security forces killed in attack

Updated 8 sec ago
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Five Iranian security forces killed in attack

TEHRAN: At least five members of Iran’s security forces were killed Sunday in a “terror attack” in the restive southeast, where authorities have been conducting operations against rebels, local media reported.
The Fars news agency reported that in a “terror attack in Saravan county, in the south of the Sistan-Baluchistan province, five members of the security forces were killed.”
Sistan-Baluchistan borders both Afghanistan and Pakistan, and is one of Iran’s most impoverished provinces. It is one of the few mainly Sunni Muslim provinces in Shiite-dominated Iran.
For years it has faced unrest involving drug-smuggling gangs, rebels from the Baluchi minority and Sunni extremists.
Fars said that after the attack in Saravan, “units stationed in the region were quickly deployed to pursue the criminals.”
Iranian forces launched a major operation in the area after an attack on October 26 killed 10 police officers.
That attack was later claimed by the Pakistan-based Sunni jihadist group Jaish Al-Adl (Arabic for Army of Justice).
Local media reported that those behind the October attack have been killed in the current security operation.
Some 15 militants have been reported killed in Sistan-Baluchistan province since the October attack, including three on Sunday, state television said.
It also said more than 30 suspects have been arrested.
Formed in 2012 by Baluch separatists, Jaish Al-Adl is designated a terrorist organization by both Iran and the United States.

Israel PM says okayed Lebanon pager attacks

Updated 10 November 2024
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Israel PM says okayed Lebanon pager attacks

  • Hand-held devices used by Hezbollah operatives detonated in supermarkets, on streets and at funerals in mid-Sept.
  • They killed nearly 40 people and wounded nearly 3,000, and preceded Israel’s ongoing military operation in Lebanon

JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he okayed a deadly September attack on Hezbollah communications devices which exploded in Lebanon, the first time Israel has admitted involvement.
Hezbollah had previously blamed its arch-foe for the blasts that dealt a major blow to the Iran-backed militant group, and vowed revenge.
“Netanyahu confirmed Sunday that he greenlighted the pager operation in Lebanon,” his spokesman Omer Dostri told AFP of the attacks.
Hand-held devices used by Hezbollah operatives detonated two days in a row in supermarkets, on streets and at funerals in mid-September.
They killed nearly 40 people and wounded nearly 3,000, and preceded Israel’s ongoing military operation in Lebanon.
Hezbollah began low intensity strikes on Israel in support of Hamas following its ally’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel which triggered the Gaza war.
Strikes have intensified since war broke out in Lebanon in late September, when Israel escalated its air campaign against Hezbollah and later sent ground troops into south Lebanon.


Israel PM says okayed Lebanon pager attacks

A photo taken on September 18, 2024, in Beirut’s southern suburbs shows the remains of exploded pagers on display.
Updated 10 November 2024
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Israel PM says okayed Lebanon pager attacks

  • Hand-held devices used by Hezbollah operatives detonated two days in a row in supermarkets, on streets and at funerals in mid-September
  • They killed nearly 40 people and wounded nearly 3,000

JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he okayed a deadly September attack on Hezbollah communications devices which exploded in Lebanon, the first time Israel has admitted involvement.
Hezbollah had previously blamed its arch-foe for the blasts that dealt a major blow to the Iran-backed militant group, and vowed revenge.
“Netanyahu confirmed Sunday that he greenlighted the pager operation in Lebanon,” his spokesman Omer Dostri told AFP of the attacks.
Hand-held devices used by Hezbollah operatives detonated two days in a row in supermarkets, on streets and at funerals in mid-September.
They killed nearly 40 people and wounded nearly 3,000, and preceded Israel’s ongoing military operation in Lebanon.
Hezbollah began low intensity strikes on Israel in support of Hamas following its ally’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel which triggered the Gaza war.
Strikes have intensified since war broke out in Lebanon in late September, when Israel escalated its air campaign against Hezbollah and later sent ground troops into south Lebanon.


Netanyahu says spoke again with Trump about Iran ‘threat’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Sunday he had spoken three times with US president-elect Donald Trump.
Updated 10 November 2024
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Netanyahu says spoke again with Trump about Iran ‘threat’

  • “We see eye to eye on the Iranian threat in every aspect,” Netanyahu said
  • Analysts believe Netanyahu had hoped for a Trump return to the White House

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Sunday he had spoken three times with US president-elect Donald Trump over the past few days about the “Iranian threat” to Israeli security.
“In the last few days, I have spoken three times with President-elect Donald Trump... Talks designed to further tighten the strong alliance between Israel and the US,” Netanyahu said, quoted in a statement issued by his office.
“We see eye to eye on the Iranian threat in every aspect,” he added during a weekly cabinet meeting, according to the statement.
Netanyahu also said he had talked to Trump about “great opportunities before Israel in the field of peace and its expansion.”
The United States is Israel’s top ally and military backer, and the election came at a critical time for the Middle East amid wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
Analysts believe Netanyahu had hoped for a Trump return to the White House, given the longstanding personal friendship between the two as well as the former president’s hawkishness on Israel’s arch-foe Iran.
During his first term, Trump moved the US embassy to Jerusalem, recognized Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights and helped normalize ties between Israel and several Arab states under the so-called Abraham Accords.


Israeli strike near Damascus kills seven: war monitor

An Israeli strike on an apartment belonging to Hezbollah killed seven people Sunday in a stronghold of pro-Iran groups.
Updated 10 November 2024
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Israeli strike near Damascus kills seven: war monitor

  • “An Israeli strike killed seven people and wounded 14, including women and children, in the Sayyida Zeinab area,” Syrian Observatory for Human Rights official says

BEIRUT: An Israeli strike on an apartment belonging to the Lebanese Hezbollah group killed seven people Sunday in a stronghold of pro-Iran groups south of Damascus, a war monitor said.
“An Israeli strike killed seven people and wounded 14, including women and children, in the Sayyida Zeinab area,” Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP, revising an earlier toll of three dead.
The Britain-based monitor, which has a network of sources inside Syria, earlier said that “the Israeli attack targeted (Hezbollah) figures in the building where Lebanese families and members of the movement live.”
Syria’s official SANA news agency reported an “Israeli aggression targeting a residential building in the Sayyida Zeinab” area, home to a major Shiite shrine, that killed and injured an unspecified number of people.
On Saturday, four pro-Iran fighters were among five people killed in Israeli strikes in north and northwest Syria, the Observatory reported.
Since Syria’s civil war broke out in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria, mainly targeting army positions and fighters including from Hezbollah.
The strikes have increased since Israel entered an all-out war with Hezbollah in Lebanon on September 23.
Israeli authorities rarely comment on the strikes, but have repeatedly said they will not allow arch-enemy Iran to expand its presence in Syria.