BEIRUT – The Israeli military said on Friday it had raided Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut, where a series of explosions ripped through several buildings, sending orange and black smoke into the sky.
The strikes in areas south of the Lebanese capital came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the UN, vowing that Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah would continue. His comments also dimmed hopes of a world-backed standoff aimed at preventing an all-out war.
Israel’s three major television stations said Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was the target of the strikes. But the unconfirmed reports could not be immediately confirmed by The Associated Press, and the military declined to comment. But given the size and timing of the blast, there were strong indications that the target number of the high-altitude target was within the buildings that were hit.
On a scale not seen in previous conflicts, Israel this past week aimed to eliminate the top leadership of Hezbollah. In another sign of the importance of the strike, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s office said he had met with the head of the Israeli army and other senior commanders at the military headquarters, following additional information.
Friday’s bombing was the most powerful seen in the Lebanese capital in the past year. Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the strikes were aimed at Hezbollah’s headquarters, which is under residential buildings. Four buildings in the Haret Hreik area of ​​Dahiyeh were destroyed, Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV reported. The blast shattered windows and shook houses 30 kilometers (18 miles) north of Beirut. Ambulances were seen heading to the scene, sirens blaring.
Officials at a nearby hospital said they found at least 10 injured, three of them seriously, including a Syrian child.
Israel dramatically stepped up airstrikes in Lebanon this week, saying it was determined to end more than 11 months of Hezbollah fire on its territory. The extent of the Israeli operation remains unclear, but officials have said a ground attack to push the terrorist group across the border is possible. Israel has moved thousands of troops along the border in preparation.
At least 25 people were killed in Israeli strikes early Friday, Health Minister Firass Abiad said, bringing the death toll in Lebanon this week to more than 720. He said the dead included a number of women and children.
An early morning strike on Friday in the Sunni border town of Chebaa hit a house, killing 9 members of one family, state media said. The resident identified the deceased as Hussein Zahra, his wife Ratiba, their five children and their two grandchildren.
At the UN, Netanyahu vowed to “continue to humiliate Hezbollah” until Israel achieves its goals.
Netanyahu’s comments dampened hopes of a US-backed call for a 21-day truce between Israel and Hezbollah to allow time for a diplomatic solution. Hezbollah did not respond to this proposal.
Iran-backed Hezbollah, Lebanon’s most powerful armed force, began firing rockets into Israel shortly after the October 7 Hamas attack, saying it was a show of support for the Palestinians. Since then, it and the Israeli army have traded fire almost daily, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes on both sides of the border.
An Israeli security official said he expects that a possible war against Hezbollah will not last as long as the current war in Gaza, because the targets of the Israeli army are much smaller.
In Gaza, Israel has vowed to dismantle the military and political regime of Hamas, but the goal in Lebanon is to push Hezbollah away from Israel’s border — “not as high as Gaza” for operational purposes, the official said. , who spoke on condition of anonymity because of military information guidelines.
The Israeli army said it had carried out several strikes in the past two hours in the south on Friday, including in the cities of Sidon and Nabatiyeh. It said it targeted Hezbollah rockets and infrastructure. It says Hezbollah fired a number of rockets towards the northern Israeli city of Tiberias.
In the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, security personnel pulled the bodies of two women – 35-year-old Hiba Ataya and her mother Sabah Olyan – from the rubble of a building that had been toppled by the strike. “That’s Sabah, these are his clothes, my dear,” cried another man when the body appeared.
Israel says its accelerated strikes this week have caused significant damage to Hezbollah’s military capabilities – and dozens of its top commanders have been killed in the strikes. Officials suggested that its light barrage of missiles and rockets last week showed it had been pushed back.
But the group boasted a large collection of rockets and missiles and its remaining strength is unknown.
Hezbollah officials and their supporters remain defiant. Shortly before Friday evening’s explosion, thousands gathered in another part of Beirut for the funeral of three Hezbollah members killed in previous strikes, including the head of the group’s drone division, Mohammed Surour.
Men and women in the large crowd raised their fists in the air and chanted, “We will never accept humiliation” as they marched behind the three boxes, wrapped in the team’s yellow flag.
Hussein Fadlallah, the head of Hezbollah in Beirut, said in his speech that no matter how many commanders are killed by Israel, the group has an infinite number of fighters deployed in all wars. Fadlallah vowed that Hezbollah will continue to fight until Israel stops attacking Gaza.
“We will not give up support for Palestine, Jerusalem and the oppressed Gaza,” said Fadlallah. “There is no place for neutrality in this war.”
Source link
