Israel has expanded its attacks on Lebanon. The Israeli forces are conducting air strikes as well as ground operations. Direct fighting is ongoing between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon.
Nearly 1,400 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon over the past three weeks. About 1.2 million people have been displaced. Nearly 200,000 people have taken refuge in Syria.
According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, more than 2,000 lives have been lost in the country due to Israeli attacks in the past year.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon on September 27. Two days later, Israel launched a ground offensive into Lebanon through the southern border. The next day, Iran conducted missile strikes on Israel. This has transformed the year-long cross-border conflict between Hezbollah and Israel into a full-scale war. International media reports suggest that even during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah conflict, the attacks on Lebanon were not this extensive. This time, Israel has attacked areas that were not targeted even during the major conflict in 2006.
Face-to-face combat
Hezbollah reported on Saturday that their fighters are engaged in combat with Israeli troops along Lebanon’s southern border. Israeli forces have been repelled in many areas. A missile attack was carried out on an Israeli tank near the border. Additionally, rocket attacks were launched on the Ramat David airbase in the northern Israeli city of Haifa yesterday.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military stated in a press release yesterday that their ground offensive in southern Lebanon continues. They claim that over 250 Hezbollah fighters have been killed in a week of fighting.
Israel claims to have destroyed various Hezbollah installations in attacks yesterday.
According to a statement from the Israeli military, Hezbollah had stockpiled weapons, ammunition, and explosives at these installations. Israel also claims to have destroyed a Hezbollah tunnel near the border.
The Israeli military said they conducted an airstrike on a mosque in southern Lebanon yesterday. Israel claims that the mosque housed a Hezbollah command center, from where attacks on Israeli soldiers and Israel were planned and executed.
In addition, Israel carried out aerial bombing raids on Beirut and surrounding areas. Reports of Israeli bomb attacks were received in the Dahiyeh area south of Beirut yesterday evening. At the same time, air strikes occurred near Beirut International Airport. Yesterday, bombing incidents also took place in the eastern Lebanese city of Zahlé in Baalbek.
Hamas leader killed in Lebanon
A top leader of Hamas, the ruling group in Gaza, Palestine, was killed along with his wife and two daughters in an Israeli air strike yesterday at the Beddawi refugee camp in the Tripoli area of northern Lebanon. According to an Al Jazeera report, the Hamas leader named Said Atallah Ali was a commander of the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the group.
Preparation for large-scale attacks
Al Jazeera reported yesterday, citing various Israeli media sources, that Israel is preparing for large-scale simultaneous attacks on Iran, Lebanon, and Gaza. Western allies of Israel may also participate in these attacks. U.S. military chief General Michael Kurilla is visiting the Middle East to discuss these attacks. He was expected to arrive in Israel yesterday.
U.S. air strikes in Yemen
The United States has conducted simultaneous air strikes on various cities in Yemen, including the capital Sanaa. The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) deployed in the Middle East announced this information in a statement last Friday.
The CENTCOM statement said that the U.S. military carried out 15 strikes on various Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen on Friday.
According to a report by the Houthi-controlled media outlet Al Masirah TV Network, the United States conducted four air strikes in the capital Sanaa and seven in the port city of Hodeidah. The attacks in Hodeidah targeted the airport and the Kateeb area, where the Houthis have a military base.
Two hundred thousand people have taken refuge in Syria
More than 200,000 people have fled Lebanon to seek refuge in neighboring Syria in the face of Israeli attacks. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Filippo Grandi provided this information yesterday.
In a post on the social media platform X yesterday, Filippo Grandi said that more than 200,000 people have crossed the border from Lebanon to Syria to seek shelter from Israeli air strikes. Among them are Lebanese citizens as well as people who had fled Syria as refugees to Lebanon in the face of conflict.
Meanwhile, the Lebanese Ministry of Health reported yesterday that more than 2,000 people have lost their lives in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since October 7. This includes 127 children and 261 women.
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