Eurasia Press & News
Lebanese sources say a top Hezbollah missile commander Ibrahim Qubaisi is among six killed in an IDF strike on Beirut.
The top Hezbollah commander in charge of the terror group’s missile unit was killed in an Israeli strike on a Beirut apartment building, two Lebanese security sources have told Reuters.
The Lebanese health ministry also gave an initial toll of six dead and 15 wounded in the strike. Pictures from the scene showed the top two floors of the apartment building have been hit.
Iran says Hezbollah cannot stand alone
Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, expressed fears on Tuesday of a wider regional war in the Middle East but said Hezbollah, which is backed and financed as a proxy force against Israel by Iran, “cannot stand alone” against the Jewish state.
“Hebzollah cannot stand alone against a country that is being defended and supported and supplied by western countries, by European countries and the United States,” Pezeshkian said in an interview with CNN translated from Farsi to English.
On Monday while in New York for the opening of the 79th United Nations general assembly the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, described the escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah as almost a “full-fledged war.”
Israel air strikes named ‘Operation Northern Arrows’
Israel has called its airstrikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon “Operation Northern Arrows” as the major military action enters the second day.
IDF’s chief of staff, Lt Gen Herzi Halevi unveiled the codename for its operation to secure Israel’s northern border against Hezbollah attacks with the intention of up to 60,000 displaced Israelis returning to their homes, while he warned Israel was preparing for the next steps of the operation.
Last week, Israel said it was shifting the focus of its firepower from Gaza to its Lebanon front last week, calling it a “new phase” of war with the Iran-backed Lebanese militia.
Israeli strikes killed nearly 500 people on Monday, the deadliest day for the country since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, the Lebanese health ministry said.
Israel launched fresh air strikes on Tuesday prompting thousands more to flee southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah returned fire launching over 100 rockets into northern Israel.
Escalation risks ‘complete destabilisation of region,’ says the Kremlin
The Kremlin said Tuesday that the escalation of the conflict between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah risked destabilising the region, according to Al-Jazeera.
“It is, of course, an event that is potentially very dangerous,” risking expansion of the zone of the conflict and “complete destabilisation of the region”, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists.
“Of course that causes us extreme concern and worry,” the Kremlin spokesman added.
Peskov was responding to a question about how the Kremlin views the latest Israeli strikes on Lebanon and the possible ways it sees to resolve the conflict.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement that Moscow “decisively condemns the massive military attacks committed against Lebanon”.
Moscow views “indiscriminate attacks targeting civilians” as categorically unacceptable, she added.
Temporary shelters set up as thousands flee Israeli bombs
Sky is reporting that Lebanese minister Nasser Yassin has said temporary shelters with space for 26,000 people have been set up as residents of Lebanon’s south flee Israeli bombs.
Families have loaded cars, vans and trucks with belongings, gridlocking motorways to the north. Children crammed onto parents’ laps and suitcases were tied to car roofs.
Some 89 shelters in schools and other facilities have been activated to receive them, said Mr Yassin.
Death toll reaches 558 people according to health ministry
As Israel strikes continue into Tuesday Beirut’s Health Ministry has released the latest casualty figures with 558 people, including 50 children reported to have been killed and 1,835 people in total wounded in fierce bombardment of various parts of Lebanon, mainly in the south according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah fired a barrage of over 100 missiles at Israeli air bases in response as world leaders and the United Nations called for urgent de-escalation.
Israel is fighting on several fronts and it is being reported that 12 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours.
President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran is prepared to de-escalate tensions with Israel
Bloomberg is reporting the move is possible if Iran sees the same level of commitment on the other side.
“We’re willing to put all our weapons aside so long as Israel is willing to do the same,” Pezeshkian told reporters Monday ahead of the UN General Assembly in New York. “We’re not seeking to destabilize the region.”
Pezeshkian is in the US for his first appearance at the UN’s annual gathering, where he’s scheduled to speak on Tuesday. After a delay because of the conflict in Lebanon, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to address the same summit on Wednesday although this could change.
The Iranian president commented as tensions between Iran and Israel reach new heights after Tehran blamed Israel for being behind a large-scale explosion of pagers and walkie talkies that saw several killed and thousands of people injured in Lebanon — including Iran’s ambassador to Beirut. Iran has threatened to retaliate.
The Iranian leader Masoud Pezeshkian has already accused Israel of seeking wider war in the Middle East and laying “traps” to lead Iran into a broader conflict. He pointed to the deadly explosions of pagers, walkie-talkies and other electronic devices in Lebanon last week, which he blamed on Israel, and the assassination of Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31, hours after Pezeshkian’s inauguration.
“We don’t want to fight,” the Iranian president said. “It’s Israel that wants to drag everyone into war and destabilize the region. … They are dragging us to a point where we do not wish to go.” Iran supports both Hamas in Gaza and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militants.
Pezeshkian has spoken for the first time at the UN General Assembly after taking over as President from Ebrahim Raisi who was killed in a helicopter crash on a mountainside in May this year.
Israeli airstrike resume this morning
Israeli airstrikes have resumed on Tuesday against Lebanon after a brief respite since strikes yesterday and overnight, according to reports on Israeli radio.
After nearly 500 people were killed on Monday and Hezbollah launched over 100 rockets against northern Israel on Tuesday morning, Israel has now launched further strikes.
Lebanese state news agency NNA said: “Hostile airstrikes resumed on Baalbek and its surrounding areas, targeting Al-Tal Al-Abyad district at the northern entrance of Baalbek, the town of Talia, and the outskirts of Shamstar.”
Sky News reports that four strikes struck close to Tyre, southern Lebanon.
Israeli army radio confirmed that another wave of strikes is underway.
40 Beirut flights canceled, but airport remains open
Beirut’s main airport, Rafic Hariri has cancelled 40 flights both in and out of the country on Tuesday morning, leaving options for those seeking to flee Lebanon rapidly reducing.
Local reports of airport chaos and vehicle gridlock on the roads to both Beirut and the nation’s main international airport mean that air passenger travel for Lebanon is becoming cut off while Israeli strikes are still on-going.
Destinations and arrivals affected include those to and from Germany, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Turkey, Ethiopia, Switzerland, France, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, and Qatar, according to CNN.
Lebanese aviation authorities state there are currently no full flight suspensions and clarified that certain airlines chose to pause operations to Beirut due to the Israeli strikes in recent days.
Qatar Airways, EgyptAir, Tarom and Lufthansa are among those that have suspended flights to Lebanon.
US reacts to refugee crisis unfolding while UN peacekeepers stop patrols
Thousands of Lebanese have fled the south, with the main highway out of the southern port city of Sidon jammed with cars heading toward Beirut in the biggest exodus of the area since Israel last invaded in 2006.
A spokeswoman for President Joe Biden said the administration was concerned about what’s happening between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon and insisted that getting a cease-fire deal between Israel and Gaza was key to easing tensions in the region.
“It’s in everyone’s interest to resolve it quickly and diplomatically,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
A State Department official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss the private diplomatic efforts, said the U.S. and numerous other countries were keen to present an “off-ramp” for both Israel and Hezbollah to reduce tensions and prevent an all-out war.
The U.S. has “concrete ideas” for restoring calm that it will present to allies and partners at this week’s U.N. General Assembly, the official said. He wouldn’t detail what the “concrete ideas” were because he said they had yet to be presented to allies and partners for what he termed a “stress test” for their likelihood of success.
U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon near the Israeli border have stopped their patrols and are staying in their bases “given the volume of exchange of fire,” a U.N. spokesman said. Stéphane Dujarric told reporters that U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres was “alarmed” at the escalating violence and large number of civilian casualties reported in Lebanon.
The Lebanese Health Ministry asked hospitals in southern Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa Valley to postpone non-urgent surgeries to treat people wounded by “Israel’s expanding aggression on Lebanon.”
Latest Barrage: Hezbollah fire up to 120 rockets at northern Israeli towns
Hebrew-language media Kan public broadcaster is reporting a rocket barrage has struck targets including warehouses in the northern city of Kiryat Shmona leaving one building on fire, with firefighters already attending. There are no reports of injuries so far.
Local reports have also been filed of rocket sirens having been sounded early this morning in the Lower Galilee area, which was targeted by rocket fire.
According to the Times of Israel the Israeli Defense Force earlier announced 65 rockets had been launched from Lebanon, including 10 targeting areas east of the coastal city of Haifa by 7.43 a.m. local time. It is being reported that woman was lightly wounded by shrapnel.
Early Tuesday death toll
Palestinian officials say Israel’s strikes early Tuesday killed at least seven people in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis. At least 15 others, including women and children, were injured in the strikes, they said.
Israel’s military says it will do “whatever is necessary” to push Hezbollah away from Lebanon’s border with Israel. The two countries have been trading fire since the Israel-Hamas war began.
Thousands of people fled southern Lebanon, jamming the main highway to Beirut in the biggest exodus since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.
Guterres warning
The annual meeting at the U.N. General Assembly opened on Tuesday under the shadow of increasing global divisions, inlcuding major conflict in the Middle East.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres previewed his opening “State of the World” speech to presidents, prime ministers, monarchs and ministers at Sunday’s “Summit of the Future,” saying “our world is heading off the rails — and we need tough decisions to get back on track.”
He pointed to conflicts “raging and multiplying, from the Middle East to Ukraine and Sudan, with no end in sight” and to the global security system, which he said is “threatened by geopolitical divides, nuclear posturing, and the development of new weapons and theaters of war.”
The most anticipated moment for Tuesday’s opening assembly meeting will be U.S. President Joe Biden’s likely final major appearance on the world stage, an event which looks to be overshadowed by the devastation in Lebanon.
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters last week that the U.S. focus in the assembly will be on ending “the scourge of war,” lamenting that roughly 2 billion people live in conflict-affected areas.
But she also said: “The most vulnerable around the world are counting on us to make progress, to make change, to bring about a sense of hope for them.”
Monday’s strikes kills nearly 500
Israeli strikes Monday on Lebanon killed more than 490 people, including more than 90 women and children, with 1,645 wounded Lebanese authorities said, in the deadliest barrage since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war. The Israeli military warned residents in southern and eastern Lebanon to evacuate ahead of its widening air campaign against Hezbollah.
Thousands of Lebanese fled the south, with the main highway out of the southern port city of Sidon was jammed with cars heading toward Beirut in the biggest exodus since 2006.
Israel’s military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said the army will do “whatever is necessary” to push Hezbollah from Lebanon’s border with Israel.
Hagari claimed Monday’s widespread airstrikes had inflicted heavy damage on Hezbollah. But he would not give a timeline for the operation and said Israel was prepared to launch a ground invasion of Lebanon if needed.
“We are not looking for wars. We are looking to take down the threats,” he said. “We will do whatever is necessary to do to achieve this mission.”
Hagari said Hezbollah has launched some 9,000 rockets and drones into Israel since last October, including 250 on Monday alone.
Israel estimates Hezbollah has some 150,000 rockets and missiles, including guided missiles and long-range projectiles capable of striking anywhere in Israel.
Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said the earlier strikes hit hospitals, medical centers and ambulances. The government ordered schools and universities to close across most of the country and began preparing shelters for the displaced.
Some strikes hit residential areas in the south and the eastern Bekaa Valley. One hit a wooded area as far away as Byblos, more than 80 miles (130 kilometers) from the border north of Beirut.
Threat of escalation
Israel said it was expanding the airstrikes to include areas of the valley along Lebanon’s eastern border with Syria. Hezbollah has long had an established presence in the valley, where the group was founded in 1982 with the help of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in the wake of Israel’s invasion and occupation of Lebanon.
Israel’s military chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said Israel was preparing its “next phases” of operations against Hezbollah, and that its airstrikes were “proactive,” targeting Hezbollah infrastructure built over the past 20 years.
Halevi said the goal was to allow displaced Israelis to return to their homes in northern Israel.
