The Israeli military launched what it described as an “extensive wave” of attacks on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Wednesday and ordered residents to evacuate, telling them not to return until further notice, as Lebanon’s death toll from Israeli strikes surpassed 600.
The escalation came as an Israeli strike hit an apartment block in central Beirut’s Aicha Bakkar neighbourhood — the second strike in the heart of the capital in four days — wounding four people, Lebanon’s health ministry said. The Israeli military did not comment on the strike.
“The sound was indescribable, the fear is indescribable. Enough is enough. This is a nightmare, when will it end?” said Bassima Ramadan, a resident living across the street who was woken by the blast around 5:30 a.m.
Lebanon’s health ministry said 634 people had been killed and more than 1,500 wounded since Israel launched its offensive against Iran-backed Hezbollah on 2 March, after the group opened fire to avenge the killing of Iran’s supreme leader at the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran. Some 800,000 people have been displaced, Lebanese authorities say.
This week’s toll includes Catholic priest Pierre al-Rahi and Red Cross medic Youssef Assaf, both of whom died from injuries sustained in separate Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon and were buried on Wednesday. Pope Leo offered his condolences for Rahi, calling him a “true shepherd” killed while trying to help injured parishioners. The International Committee of the Red Cross said Assaf “lost his life while carrying out his humanitarian duty.”
The Israeli military has ordered reinforcements to the Lebanese border area, including its elite Golani Brigade, and Reuters reported on Tuesday that Hezbollah fighters were bracing for a possible full-scale invasion of the south.
Over 100,000 displaced people are in organised shelters, which the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Lebanon director Maureen Philippon described as operating in “super rough conditions” — lacking showers and sufficient toilets, with fears of infectious diseases spreading.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, pressed Beirut to act directly against Hezbollah on Wednesday. “If Hezbollah is being dismantled, what are the evidence? What are the operations against the launch sites? Where are the seizures of their weapons? Where is your military?” he said.
(Reuters)
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