Israeli strikes on Lebanon continue this Saturday, November 23, leading to the death of at least 19 civilians, while fierce fighting on the ground pits the Israeli army against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. In the Gaza Strip, the armed wing of Hamas announces the death of a hostage
Information to remember
⇒ Strategic gateway to South Lebanon, the town of Khiam has been the focus of fighting for several days
⇒ Several Israeli strikes in Beirut and East Lebanon left at least 19 civilians dead this Saturday
⇒ Hamas announces the death of a hostage in the Gaza Strip
Fierce fighting between Hezbollah and the Israeli army for a “strategic gate” in southern Lebanon
Fierce fighting between Lebanese Hezbollah and the Israeli army is raging in the border town of Khiam, a “strategic gate” in southern Lebanon that Israel has been trying to seize for several days, the National Security Agency said on Saturday. information (ANI). “Israel continued its nighttime attacks against the town of Khiam until the morning, using all types of weapons to achieve control of the locality” according to ANI. Israeli tanks have been stationed east of Khiam, 6 km from the border, for more than three weeks. On Tuesday, tank movements north of the town were also recorded, according to the agency, which indicates that the Israeli army is seeking “to encircle the town on all sides”, aided by massive air and ground cover in and around the city. surroundings of the locality, where it dynamites buildings and houses and claims to destroy Hezbollah tunnels.
Over the past two days, Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for around twenty attacks against Israeli soldiers in Khiam.
Israel says it wants to distance Hezbollah from the border areas of southern Lebanon to allow the return of some 60,000 inhabitants of the north of the country displaced by rocket fire from the Islamist movement. Khiam is considered by Israel as a “strategic gateway facilitating rapid land progression”, according to the Lebanese agency. Israeli troops withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000, under pressure from Hezbollah, after 22 years of occupation. During the occupation, Khiam was home to a prison run by the South Lebanon Army, an Israeli proxy militia.
Hamas announces the death of a hostage
The armed wing of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas announced on Saturday the death, in a combat zone in northern Gaza, of a hostage kidnapped during the attacks of October 7, 2023, an assertion not confirmed by the Israeli army.
In a statement, Abou Obeida, spokesperson for the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, indicated that the resumption of contacts, broken off for several weeks, with the guards of the hostages had made it possible to establish that this woman had been killed in an area of Israeli army operations in the north of the Palestinian territory.
No details were provided on the date and location, the identity of the victim or the circumstances of his supposed death. Contacted by AFP, the Israeli army said it was examining these assertions.
Abou Obeida clarified that the life of another hostage held with the supposed victim was also in danger and placed the responsibility on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his government and his army.
During the unprecedented attack by Hamas commandos on October 7, 2023, 251 people were kidnapped on Israeli soil. A total of 97 hostages remain in Gaza, 34 of whom were declared dead by the army.
Eight dead in Israeli strike in eastern Lebanon
Eight people, including four children, were killed in an Israeli strike on Saturday in eastern Lebanon, the Lebanese Ministry of Health announced. “The Israeli enemy strike on Chmestar killed eight people, including four children, and injured nine, four of them seriously,” the ministry said in a provisional report. The national news agency Ani said the attack “killed a family including a mother and her four children.”
The United States says it wants a diplomatic solution to the conflict in Lebanon
American Defense Minister Lloyd Austin recalled on Saturday the United States’ “commitment” to a “diplomatic solution in Lebanon”, during an exchange with his Israeli counterpart Israel Katz. The Pentagon chief “reiterated the United States’ commitment to a diplomatic solution in Lebanon that allows Israeli and Lebanese civilians to return home safely on both sides of the border,” according to a statement from the Pentagon. his ministry. Israel says it wants to incapacitate Lebanese Hezbollah and Hamas, both supported by Iran, after the unprecedented attack of this Palestinian movement on its soil on October 7, 2023, which triggered the devastating war in Gaza.
Israel’s primary political and military supporter, the United States claims to want to achieve an end to these conflicts through diplomatic means. Washington also continues to repeat its desire to see an improvement in the disastrous humanitarian situation in Gaza. Lloyd Austin once again called on “the Israeli government to continue to take measures to improve the terrible humanitarian situation in Gaza”, where the approximately 2.4 million inhabitants have been besieged by Israel for more than a year are threatened with famine according to the UN. Washington nevertheless affirmed last week that Israel was not violating American law regarding humanitarian aid to Gaza while calling for additional progress, a month after threatening to suspend its military aid.
Strike in central Beirut leaves at least 11 dead
The Israeli strike which targeted a residential area of Beirut early Saturday left 11 dead and 63 injured, the Lebanese Ministry of Health announced in a new report. In a press release, the ministry specified that the final toll would be determined “after DNA analyzes of human remains found on site”. A previous report reported four deaths.