Israel had warned. Its army carried out airstrikes in Lebanon on Sunday October 20 against the offices of a company it accuses of financing Hezbollah, after having shelled positions of the pro-Iranian movement across the country. The UN Peace Force in Lebanon, for its part, accused the Israeli army of having “deliberately” destroyed a Blue Helmet “observation tower” in southern Lebanon, the latest in a series of incidents against his positions which have earned Israel a barrage of international criticism.
Information to remember
⇒ Israel bombs a financial organization linked to Hezbollah in Lebanon
⇒ Lebanese Hezbollah says it shot down an Israeli drone
⇒ Lebanon: a security source reports strikes near Beirut airport
07:15
Israel bombs financial organization linked to Hezbollah in Lebanon
The Lebanese news agency Ani reported on Sunday eleven Israeli strikes which mainly targeted “branches of Al-Qard al-Hassan” in the southern suburbs of Beirut, and one targeting the same group in eastern Lebanon. , after Israeli calls for the population to evacuate the area around the offices of this organization, subject to American sanctions.
The financial company “Al-Qard al-Hassan is involved in financing Hezbollah’s terrorist operations,” said the Israeli army’s spokesperson for the Arabic-speaking public, Avichay Adraee, on the social network in the South, an AFP correspondent saw people fleeing from the vicinity of a site of this organization. Earlier, the Israeli army announced that it had targeted a Hezbollah “command center” near the capital and carried out airstrikes on dozens of locations in the South.
07:00
Lebanese Hezbollah says it shot down Israeli drone
Lebanese Hezbollah claimed to have shot down an Israeli drone on Sunday without specifying where, after Lebanon’s national news agency reported an Israeli strike against a financial group linked to the pro-Iranian Islamist movement in the east of the country. .
Members of the “anti-aircraft defense units […] shot down an Israeli Hermes 450 drone,” Hezbollah underlined. Previously, the state agency Ani had reported an Israeli strike against a financial institution in the Hermel region and a security source had reported other strikes near Beirut airport.
06:50
Lebanon: security source reports strikes near Beirut airport
A Lebanese security source reported strikes falling near Beirut international airport, where commercial flights are maintained despite Israel’s military operations against the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon.
This source, speaking on condition of anonymity, reported two strikes near the airport, the only one to operate international flights in Lebanon. It is located near the southern suburbs of Beirut, targeted by Israeli bombings on Sunday evening. An AFP video journalist saw plumes of smoke rising near the airport.
06:45
Israel announces death of senior officer in Gaza
Israeli authorities announced on Sunday the death of a senior army officer in the Gaza Strip, bringing the death toll to 358 soldiers since the start of the ground military offensive in the Palestinian territory on October 27, 2023. Colonel Ahsan Daksa, commander of the 401 Armored Brigade, was 41 years old and a member of the Druze community. He “was killed in action while fighting against Hamas terrorists in Gaza,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a statement.
Army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said he was killed while near his tank in northern Gaza. The army has been carrying out an offensive there for more than two weeks against the Palestinian Islamist movement, particularly in Jabalia, ravaged by hostilities.
06:30
Lebanon: UNIFIL says Israeli army “deliberately” destroyed “observation tower”
An Israeli army “bulldozer” on Sunday “deliberately demolished” an “observation tower and the fence” of a UNIFIL position in Marwahin in southern Lebanon, the peacekeeping mission announced in a statement. UN peace.
“Despite the pressure placed on the mission […] peacekeepers remain stationed in all positions,” according to the statement. “We will continue to carry out the tasks for which we have been mandated,” namely “monitoring and reporting” on the situation on the border between Israel and Lebanon, adds UNIFIL.