Real fear for millions in Lebanon as border clashes escalate and Hezbollah-Israel confrontation enters ‘new phase’
Hezbollah’s deputy chief signalled the group had entered a “new phase” in its battle with Israel as thousands gathered in Beirut for the funeral of a key commander killed in an airstrike on Friday.
The militant group’s second in command, Naim Qassem, vowed to press on with greater intensity with rocket attacks into northern Israel until there’s a ceasefire in Gaza.
Thousands listened in the Lebanese capital as he said Hezbollah had entered an “open-ended battle of reckoning” with its neighbour and vowed to hit back at Israel with even more power and force.
Hezbollah supporters chanted for revenge
“Israel has targeted not only fighters but also children, paramedics, pharmacies, homes and all innocent lives,” he said. “Such actions cannot be justified.”
His tough rhetoric matched that of the Israeli prime minister – who promised in a video message: “Over the past few days, we hit Hezbollah with a string of strikes that it didn’t imagine.
“If Hezbollah didn’t get the message, I promise you, it will get the message,” Benjamin Netanyahu warned.
“We will do everything necessary to restore security” to the north, he said.
Naim Qassem led prayers at the funeral. Pic: Reuters
The funeral of senior Hezbollah senior leader Ibrahim Aqil was held on Sunday. Pic: Reuters
Hezbollah is the strongest militant group allied with Iran and is also an ally of Hamas.
It opened up a new front in the war when it started firing rockets into Israel the day after October’s Hamas attack on Israel, which killed more than 1,000 people and saw 250 taken hostage.
Hezbollah fighters carry the coffin
It has repeatedly said it will not stop firing into Israel until there’s a ceasefire.
Friday’s Israeli airstrikes in the Hezbollah heartland of Beirut killed Ibrahim Aqil – one of its most senior military commanders and founder of the elite Radwan Force.
He was a man who had been on the US most-wanted list for decades and whom Israeli forces said “had the blood of many people on his hands”.
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Lebanon hit by more airstrikes
But women sobbed and the Hezbollah fighters acting as funeral bearers cried as they mourned the loss of a man many loyalists see as a hero.
They chanted for revenge and marched towards the burial ground known as the “Martyrs’ graveyard”, professing loyalty to the group which is a proscribed terror organisation in the US and UK.
At the same time further south in Lebanon, there were several funerals for civilians – mothers, children, whole families who were killed in the same airstrikes.
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Hezbollah fires rockets into Israel
They were in one of two residential apartments hit by the strikes.
Israeli forces say the attack was targeted at the commander and a group of his elite forces meeting deep underneath one of the high-rise blocks. But multiple civilians including children were also killed alongside 16 Hezbollah fighters.
The death toll at the time of writing is more than 40.
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Real fear after triple attack
The airstrikes in a densely populated part of Beirut followed two days of booby-trapped pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members exploding around the country.
The three attacks in a week seem to have drawn the country together in grief and defiance – but there is also a real sense of fear among millions of people across Lebanon.
Hezbollah and Hamas are backed by Iran
However, even as global leaders urged restraint and politicians in the UK and America urged their citizens to leave the country while they still can, both Israel and Lebanon intensified their exchanges along the border.
Read more:
Anxious families line pavement as dozens still missing after strike
Herzog denial doesn’t tally with background talks – analysis
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‘Israel is not interested to be at war with Lebanon’ – Herzog
Israeli warplanes launched hundreds of airstrikes over the weekend, pounding Lebanese villages in the south, while Hezbollah fired a salvo of long-range rockets reaching the deepest into Israeli territory in nearly a year.
Lebanese government ministers who are not Hezbollah have denounced Israel’s actions as “war crimes”.
Thousands gathered in Beirut for the funeral
Its foreign minister said the attacks had resulted in a collective feeling that “no one is safe” and the UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres, warned of the risk of “transforming Lebanon into another Gaza”.
But perhaps the most telling comments came from one of those who turned out at the commander’s funeral in Beirut.
A young 18-year-old university student called Hussein told us: “We are in a war… it is an open war… They [Israelis] bombed us three times this week… including the pager and walkie-talkie thing.”
‘My future is being broken in front of my eyes,’ says Hussein
He went on: “You can’t blame us for being negative… they are bombing us… If you were bombed in Britain or America, you would say that’s terrorism…We can also say this is terrorism… we are being killed, my future is being broken in front of my eyes… and I hate it.”
Alex Crawford reports from Beirut with camera Jake Britton, producer Chris Cunningham and Lebanon producers Jihad Jneid, Sami Zein and Hwaida Saad
They rose to their feet in ecstatic surprise, shouting “heydar, heydar” – a Shia victory chant.
This was the first public appearance of their supreme leader since Israel began attacking their country.
He emerged during evening prayers in his private compound. He said nothing but looked stern and resolute as he waved to the crowd.
He has spent the last weeks sequestered in a bunker, it is assumed, for his safety following numerous death threats from Israel and the US.
His re-emergence suggests a return to normality and a sense of defiance that we have witnessed here on the streets of Tehran too.
Earlier, we had filmed as men in black marched through the streets of the capital to the sound of mournful chants and the slow beat of drums, whipping their backs with metal flails.
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Defiance on streets of Tehran
This weekend they mark the Shia festival of Ashura as they have for 14 centuries. But this year has poignant significance for Iranians far more than most.
The devout remember the betrayal and death of Imam Hussein as if it happened yesterday. We filmed men and women weeping as they worshipped at the Imamzadeh Saleh Shrine in northern Tehran.
The armies of the Caliph Yazid killed the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad in the seventh-century Battle of Karbala.
Shiite Muslims mark the anniversary every year and reflect on the virtue it celebrates, of resistance against oppression and injustice.
But more so than ever in the wake of Israel and America’s attacks on their country.
The story is one of prevailing over adversity and deception. A sense of betrayal is keenly felt here among people and officials.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
Many Iranians believe they were lured into pursuing diplomacy as part of a ruse by the US.
Iran believed it was making diplomatic progress in talks with America it hoped could lead to a deal. Then Israel launched its attacks and, instead of condemning them, the US joined in.
Death to Israel chants resounded outside the mosque in skies which were filled for 12 days with the sounds of Israeli jets. There is a renewed sense of defiance here.
One man told us: “The lesson to be learned from Hussein is not to give in to oppression even if it is the most powerful force in the world.”
A woman was dismissive about the US president. “I don’t think about Trump, nobody likes him. He always wants to attack too many countries.”
Pictures on billboards nearby draw a line between Imam Hussein’s story and current events. The seventh-century imam on horseback alongside images of modern missiles and drones from the present day.
Other huge signs remember the dead. Iran says almost 1,000 people were killed in the strikes, many of them women and children.
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Officially Iran is projecting defiance but not closing the door to diplomacy.
Government spokeswoman Dr Fatemeh Mohajerani told Sky News that Israel should not even think about attacking again.
“We are very strong in defence and as state officials have announced, this time Israel will receive an even stronger response compared to previous times,” she said.
“We hope that Israel will not make such a mistake.”
But there is also a hint of conciliation: Senior Iranian officials have told Sky News that back-channel efforts are under way to explore new talks with the US.
Israel had hoped its attacks could topple the Iranian leadership. That proved unfounded, the government is in control here.
For many Iranians, it seems quite the opposite happened – the 12-day war has brought them closer together.
To the sound of mournful chants and the slow beat of drums, they march, whipping their backs with metal flails.
It is an ancient ceremony going back almost 14 centuries – the Shia commemoration of Ashura.
But this year in particular has poignant significance for Iranians.
The devout remember the betrayal and death of the Imam Hussein as if it happened yesterday.
Iranians gather ahead of Ashura
We filmed men and women weep as they worshipped at the Imamzadeh Saleh Shrine in northern Tehran.
The grandson of the Prophet Muhammad was killed by the armies of the Caliph Yazid in the seventh century Battle of Karbala.
Shia Muslims mark the anniversary every year and reflect on the virtue it celebrates – of resistance against oppression and injustice. But more so than ever this year, in the wake of Israel and America’s attacks on their country.
The story is one of prevailing over adversity and deception. A sense of betrayal is keenly felt here by people and officials.
Men and women weeped as they worshipped at the Imamzadeh Saleh Shrine
Many Iranians believe they were lured into pursuing diplomacy as part of a ruse by the US.
Iran believed it was making diplomatic progress in talks with America, which it hoped could lead to a deal. Then Israel launched its attacks and, instead of condemning them, the US joined in.
“Death to Israel” chants resounded outside the mosque in skies that for 12 days were filled with the sounds of Israeli jets.
There is a renewed sense of defiance here.
One man told us: “The lesson to be learned from Hussein is not to give in to oppression, even if it is the most powerful force in the world.”
‘I don’t think about Trump. Nobody likes him,’ one woman tells Sky News
A woman was dismissive about the US president.
“I don’t think about Trump. Nobody likes him. He always wants to attack too many countries.”
Pictures on billboards nearby link Imam Hussein’s story and current events. They show the seventh century imam on horseback alongside images of modern missiles and drones from the present day.
Other huge signs remember the dead. Iran says almost 1,000 people were killed in the strikes, many of them women and children.
Officially Iran is projecting defiance, but not closing the door to diplomacy.
Government spokeswoman Dr Fatemeh Mohajerani told Sky News that Israel should not even think about attacking again.
“We are very strong in defence, and as state officials have announced, this time Israel will receive an even stronger response compared to previous times. We hope that Israel will not make such a mistake.”
Dr Fatemeh Mohajerani said it would be a mistake for Israel to attack again
But there is also a hint of conciliation. Senior Iranian officials have told Sky News back-channel efforts are under way to explore new talks with the US.
Israel had hoped its attacks could topple the Iranian leadership. Those hopes proved unfounded. The government is in control here.
For many Iranians it seems quite the opposite happened – the 12-day war has brought them closer together.
World
Two security workers injured after grenades thrown at aid site, Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says
Two American security workers in Gaza were injured after grenades were thrown during food distribution in Khan Younis, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has said.
In a statement, the US and Israeli-backed aid group said a targeted terrorist attack was carried out at one of its sites in southern Gaza on Saturday morning.
The two Americans injured “are receiving medical treatment and are in stable condition,” it said, adding that the delivery of aid was “otherwise successful” and that “no local aid workers or civilians were harmed”.
GHF didn’t say exactly when the incident happened but claimed Hamas was behind the attack, adding: “GHF has repeatedly warned of credible threats from Hamas, including explicit plans to target American personnel, Palestinian aid workers, and the civilians who rely on our sites for food.
“Today’s attack tragically affirms those warnings.”
Later, the aid group posted a picture on social media, which it said showed “fragments of a grenade packed with ball bearings” that was used in the attack.
Asked by Sky’s US partner network, NBC News, whether the two injured individuals were responsible for handing out aid or were responsible for providing security, GHF said they were “American security workers” and “two American veterans.”
The aid group did not provide specific evidence that Hamas was behind the attack.
The US and Israeli-backed group has been primarily responsible for aid distribution since Israel lifted its 11-week blockade of the Gaza Strip in May.
Read more:
Hamas gives ‘positive’ response to ceasefire proposal
Outcry as Israeli strike hits school
94 killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza, health staff say
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It comes after Sky News analysis showed GHF aid distributions are associated with a significant increase in deaths in Gaza.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, 600 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid from GHF sites as of 3 July, which charities and the UN have branded “death traps”.
Meanwhile, the Associated Press has reported that Israeli-backed American contractors guarding GHF aid centres in Gaza are using live ammunition and stun grenades.
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Contractors allege colleagues ‘fired on Palestinians’
GHF has vehemently denied the accusations, adding that it investigated AP’s allegations and found them to be “categorically false”.
Israel’s military added that it fires only warning shots and is investigating reports of civilian harm.
It denies deliberately shooting at any innocent civilians and says it’s examining how to reduce “friction with the population” in the areas surrounding the distribution centres.
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