Israel, which celebrates Yom Kippur this Saturday, faces a barrage of international criticism over its military offensive in Lebanon and the firing of its soldiers on peacekeeping forces. Israel explained on Friday that it had fired in the direction of a “threat” near a position of the United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL) in southern Lebanon, where its army is carrying out a vast air and ground offensive against Hezbollah , ally of Palestinian Hamas.
Information to remember
⇒ Peacekeepers injured in Lebanon: Israel says it fired towards a “threat”
⇒ Hezbollah says it fired missiles at Israeli base near Haifa
⇒ In Lebanon, the American envoy says he is working “tirelessly” for a ceasefire
9:30 a.m.
Hezbollah says it fired missiles at Israeli base near Haifa
The Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah said this Saturday that it had fired “missiles” at an Israeli military base near Haifa, the large city in northern Israel. In a statement, the pro-Iranian formation specified that it had bombed with “a salvo of missiles a base located south of Haifa, targeting an explosive materials factory”. The day before, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for an explosive drone attack against an air base in the same city.
9:20 a.m.
Peacekeepers injured in Lebanon: Israel says it fired towards a “threat”
Israel said Friday it fired at a “threat” near a United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL) position in southern Lebanon, where two peacekeepers were injured, an incident that sparked burst of international protests. Leading a vast air and land offensive against Hezbollah, an ally of Palestinian Hamas, since the end of September, the Israeli army has accused the pro-Iranian movement of “deliberately” endangering UNIFIL soldiers, four of whom were injured in two days. .
UNIFIL reported that its headquarters in Ras al-Naqoura suffered “explosions for the second time in 48 hours” on Friday, during which “two Sri Lankan peacekeepers were injured”, after two Indonesian soldiers on Thursday. She denounced the “very great risk” posed by the Israeli army to the Blue Helmets.
9:15 a.m.
Nicaragua to cut diplomatic relations with Israel
Nicaragua will sever its diplomatic relations with Israel, openly criticized by the government of Daniel Ortega for its war against the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza, the country’s vice-president announced on Friday. “Our president has asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs […] to proceed with the severance of diplomatic relations with the fascist and genocidal government of Israel,” Vice-President Rosario Murillo, wife of left-wing President Daniel Ortega, declared to the official press. This decision is essentially symbolic and political, the exchanges between the two countries being almost non-existent, Israel also has no ambassador in Managua.
9:10 a.m.
Lebanon: the American envoy says he is working “tirelessly” for a ceasefire
The US president’s special envoy, Amos Hochstein, said Friday that Washington was working “tirelessly” for a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah, who have been at war for three weeks. “We want the whole conflict to end,” he told Lebanese television channel LBCI from the United States. “We are working tirelessly on this subject.”
These comments come as the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) estimated that the Israeli army’s fire posed a “very great risk” for its soldiers, caught in the crossfire in recent days. Additionally, the US envoy said Israeli strikes on the central neighborhoods of Basta and Noueiri on Thursday evening, which killed 22 people, were “totally unacceptable.” Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Friday called on the UN to adopt a resolution for an “immediate ceasefire”.
9:00 a.m.
Hezbollah asks Israelis to move away from military sites in residential areas
The Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah on Friday ordered Israelis to move away from military sites in residential areas in the north of the country. “The army of the Israeli enemy uses houses (…) as assembly centers for its officers and soldiers” in several regions of northern Israel and “has military bases” in the main northern cities such as “ Haifa, Tiberias, Acre” in particular, Hezbollah declared in a message broadcast in Arabic and Hebrew. The party warns “residents who are near these military gatherings to protect their lives.”
Washington says it supports Lebanon’s efforts to “assert itself”
The United States supports Lebanon’s efforts to “assert itself” against Hezbollah, at war with Israel, and avoid a “wider conflict” in the Middle East, the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken said on Friday. . “It is clear that the Lebanese people have an interest, a great interest, in their State asserting itself and taking responsibility for the country and its future,” he told the press, on the sidelines of the Lebanese summit. the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in Laos.
“We continue to engage intensely to prevent a wider conflict in the region,” insisted the diplomat. “We all have a stake in trying to create an environment where people can go home, be safe, and kids can go back to school […] We believe that the best way to achieve this is to reach a diplomatic agreement, an agreement that we have been working on for some time and on which we are currently focusing,” he said.