Israel vows to accelerate attacks on Hezbollah after 558, including 50 children, killed in Lebanon
Israel has vowed it will not cease its attacks on Hezbollah – and that strikes will only be accelerated.
Lebanon’s health ministry has said Israeli airstrikes in the country since early on Monday have killed 558 people, including 50 children and 94 women.
Health minister Firass Abiad told reporters on Tuesday that 1,835 people were wounded during the same period and were taken to 54 hospitals around Lebanon.
Mr Abiad added that four paramedics were among those killed, and 16 paramedics and firefighters were among the wounded.
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The recent escalation comes on the back of pager and radio explosions targeting Hezbollah, which have largely been attributed to Israel.
Israel’s military chief Herzi Halevi said on Tuesday that Hezbollah must not be given a break, and attacks on the Iran-backed group must be stepped up.
“The situation requires continued, intense action in all arenas,” he added.
Israel’s military released footage said to show airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
Cars sit in traffic as they flee the southern villages, in Sidon, Lebanon, this week. Pic: AP
In other major developments:
• 50 children are among the dead after Israeli strikes on Lebanon this week
• Diplomatic efforts continue in the UN general assembly amid fears of all-out war in the region
• British Defence Secretary John Healey is set to chair a COBRA meeting in light of escalating tensions
• British nationals have been advised to leave Lebanon while they still can
• The streets of southern Lebanon were gridlocked as thousands sought to flee further Israeli strikes
• Hezbollah claims to have conducted retaliatory strikes on Israel
• In Israel’s latest attacks on Beirut, reports claim that Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Qubaisi was killed
Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system fires to intercept rockets launched from Lebanon. Pic: AP
Rockets launched at each other
Many fear the two are edging towards all-out war as this week has seen much-intensified hostilities in the region.
Rocket sirens blared in northern Israel on Tuesday as volleys of attacks were launched from Lebanon, and Israel’s Iron Dome defence system was activated.
Rocket sirens blared throughout the morning in Israel’s north. Video circulating on Israeli media showed explosions on a main road, with drivers pulling over and lying on the ground next to their vehicles.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said that it struck more than 1,500 Hezbollah targets on Monday and Tuesday, destroying missiles, rockets and drones – including weapons stored in private homes.
Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on the Mahmoudieh mountain, as seen from Marjayoun town, south Lebanon. Pic: AP
This map shows data from NASA picking up thermal activity in Lebanon when Israel stepped up missile attacks this week
The initial rounds of Israeli attacks sent thousands of families fleeing from their homes in south Lebanon, amid fears of further strikes.
Photos showed gridlocked roads heading north, in what is said to be the biggest exodus since the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel.
The government has ordered schools and universities to close across the country and began preparing shelters for the displaced.
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Sky’s Alex Crawford witnesses new airstrikes
Diplomatic efforts continue
The UN general assembly is taking place in the shadow cast by escalating tensions in the Middle East and conflicts elsewhere.
Leading powers will be working to take steps away from the escalating clashes.
The US has insisted it still thinks de-escalation on Israel’s northern border is possible and it can find a path to a ceasefire in Gaza as well.
However, recent days are a far cry from apparent optimism in the Biden administration last month when the president said they were “closer than we’ve ever been” to a ceasefire.
Israel has approved a plan to capture all of the Gaza Strip and remain there for an unspecified length of time, Israeli officials say.
According to Reuters, the plan includes distributing aid, though supplies will not be let in yet.
The Israeli official told the agency that the newly approved offensive plan would move Gaza’s civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas’s hands.
On Sunday, the United Nations rejected what it said was a new plan for aid to be distributed in what it described as Israeli hubs.
Israeli cabinet ministers approved plans for the new offensive on Monday morning, hours after it was announced that tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are being called up.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far failed to achieve his goal of destroying Hamas or returning all the hostages, despite more than a year of brutal war in Gaza.
Palestinian children struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza. Pic: AP
Officials say the plan will help with these war aims but it would also push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.
They said the plan included the “capturing of the strip and the holding of territories”.
It would also try to prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group’s rule in Gaza.
The UN rejected the plan, saying it would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies.
It said it “appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy”.
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More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since the IDF launched its ground offensive in the densely-populated territory, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
It followed the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
A fragile ceasefire that saw a pause in the fighting and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners collapsed earlier this year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate against the Houthis and their Iranian “masters” after the group launched a missile attack on the country’s main international airport.
A missile fired by the group from Yemen landed near Ben Gurion Airport, causing panic among passengers in the terminal building.
“Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran,” Mr Netanyahu wrote on X. “Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters.”
Israeli police officers investigate the missile crater. Pic: Reuters
The missile impact left a plume of smoke and briefly halted flights and commuter traffic at the airport. Some international carriers have cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv for several days.
Four people were lightly wounded, paramedic service Magen David Adom said.
Air raid sirens went off across Israel and footage showed passengers yelling and rushing for cover.
The attack came hours before senior Israeli cabinet ministers were set to vote on whether to intensify the country’s military operations in the Gaza Strip, and as the army began calling up thousands of reserves in anticipation of a wider operation in the enclave.
Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the group fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at the airport.
Iran’s defence minister later told a state TV broadcaster that if the country was attacked by the US or Israel, it would target their bases, interests and forces where necessary.
Israel’s military said several attempts to intercept the missile were unsuccessful.
Air, road and rail traffic were halted after the attack, police said, though it resumed around an hour later.
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Yemen’s Houthis have been firing missiles at Israel since its war with Hamas in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, and while most have been intercepted, some have penetrated the country’s missile defence systems and caused damage.
Israel has previously struck the group in Yemen in retaliation and the US and UK have also launched strikes after the Houthis began attacking international shipping, saying it was in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas.
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