Israel Strikes Hezbollah Positions; Iran Exhorts Tel Aviv’s ‘Adversaries’ To Resist | 10 Points
Clashes between Hezbollah and Israel resumed on Saturday morning as a series of explosions was heard over Beirut’s southern suburbs after the Israeli army issued evacuation orders for parts of the area.
Israel on Friday targeted the intelligence headquarters of Hezbollah in Beirut. The air attack was reportedly carried out to eliminate the potential successor to the leader of Iran-backed Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, whom Israel killed.
Here are the top 10 updates on the Israel-Iran-Lebanon conflict.
On Saturday morning, foreign media heard a blast and saw smoke over Beirut’s southern suburbs. Israel had issued three alerts to the civilians to leave for safer spots. The first alert warned residents in a building in the Burj al-Barajneh neighbourhood and the second in a building in the Choueifat district. The third alert mentioned buildings in Haret Hreik as well as Burj al-Barajneh.
Before this, Hezbollah claimed the Israeli army had been trying to infiltrate the Lebanese southern town of Odaisseh. “Israeli enemy soldiers renewed an attempt to advance towards the vicinity of the municipality in the village of Adaysseh,” Hezbollah said in a statement.
US President Joe Biden said on Friday that he would think about alternatives to striking Iranian oil fields if he were in Israel’s shoes. He added that he thinks Israel has not yet concluded how to respond to Iran. Iran attacked Israel with around 200 missiles on Tuesday. The Benjamin Netanyahu-led country is weighing its options against Iran.
When asked if Netanyahu was trying to influence the US election, Biden said his administration had greatly helped Israel. “Whether he is trying to influence the election, I don’t know but I am not counting on that,” Biden said in response. “No administration has done more to help Israel than I have.”
The Lebanon government has said that 2000 people have been killed in the country in a year. He said most of the deceased died over the past two weeks after Israel attacked Lebanon.
The Lebanese government has accused Israel of targeting civilians, pointing to dozens of women and children.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told a massive crowd in Tehran that the country and its allies would not back down against Israel. They said the enemies of Israel must redouble their efforts and capabilities to resist “the aggressive enemy”. He said Iran would not “procrastinate nor act hastily to carry out its duty” in confronting Israel.
Iran Revolutionary Guards deputy commander Ali Fadavi said on Friday that if Israel attacked the country, Tehran would target Israeli energy and gas installations.
Meanwhile, the conflict has triggered a humanitarian crisis in Lebanon. Many buildings have been reduced to rubble. Nearly all the storefronts in the main market street, Moawad Souk, were damaged and the road was filled with broken glass. “We’re alive but don’t know for how long,” said Nouhad Chaib, a 40-year-old man.
The Middle East region has been embroiled in a war triggered by Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel that killed over 1200 people. Israel’s strikes in response to the attack have killed over 40000 people in Gaza and have displaced most of the residents.