Israeli bombings continue against Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, but the Israeli army has also attacked, once again, the forces of UNIFIL, a UN organization supposed to monitor the situation in the Israeli-Lebanese border.
The essentials
- Bombing exchanges resumed this Monday, October 21 between Israel and Lebanon. The Israeli army said in a statement that it had struck dozens of Hezbollah command centers and “financial infrastructures”, including subsidiaries of the financier linked to the Shiite party al-Qard al-Hassan. The strikes affected the southern suburbs of Beirut, the Bekaa plain and southern Lebanon. Dozens of rockets were targeted in northern Israel from Lebanon according to IDF statements reported by the Haaretz newspaper.
- Strikes also continue in the Gaza Strip. “The nightmare in Gaza is intensifying. […] No place in Gaza is safe,” said a United Nations special envoy for the Middle East peace process, in a statement relayed on X.
- But Israel also continues to affect UN infrastructures, those belonging to UNIFIL, a force detached from Blue Helmets deployed on the Israeli-Lebanese border. An Israeli army “bulldozer” “deliberately demolished [une] observation tower and the closure” of a UNIFIL position in southern Lebanon, Sunday evening according to a UNIFIL press release. “Despite the pressure exerted on the mission […] peacekeeping soldiers remain stationed in all positions,” adds the UN force.
Latest updates
14:31 – A “new phase of negotiation” after the death of the Hamas leader
During the same interview, Emmanuel Macron indicated to Benyamin Netanyahu that the “elimination” of Hamas leader Yahya Sinouar “must be an opportunity to begin a new phase of negotiation in order to establish a ceasefire in Gaza, obtain the release of all the hostages and allow a massive delivery of humanitarian aid. After his declaration in favor of the protection of civilians in Lebanon, the Head of State recalled “France’s attachment to the security of Israel” according to the Elysée press release and expressed “his solidarity with the Prime Israeli minister” after the “unacceptable” drone attack which targeted his personal home.
14:20 – Faced with Netanyahu, Macron denounces Israeli attacks against the UN
Emmanuel Macron spoke with Benyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister and “denounced the actions carried out by the Israeli army against the influence of UNIFIL”, the United Nations Interim Force, according to a press release from the Élysée . The President of the Republic expressed his “desire for the United Nations to play their full role in southern Lebanon, to allow the return of civilian populations to their homes, in safety, on both sides of the border between Lebanon and Israel.” Finally, the Head of State asked that “infrastructure be preserved, that the civilian population be protected and that a ceasefire be established as quickly as possible” in Lebanon.
08:43 – Israel attacks Hezbollah funding
Israel launched several strikes against Lebanon during the night from Sunday to Monday and the bombings targeted dozens of command centers and “Hezbollah financial infrastructures” according to the IDF press release. Among the targets is the subsidiary of al-Qard al-Hassan, a financial organization linked to the Shiite party. The strikes affected the southern suburbs of Beirut, the Bekaa plain and southern Lebanon, reports the Haaretz newspaper.
10/20/24 – 5:29 p.m. – Israel promises legal action against France after Macron’s decision on the Euronaval show
END OF LIVE – Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz announced that his ministry would take legal action against France following Emmanuel Macron’s decision to de facto ban companies from the Jewish state from Euronaval exhibition, naval military exhibition. The show will take place at the beginning of November in Villepinte. According to Challengethe French authorities authorized Israeli companies to participate on the condition that the weapons they produce are not used in Gaza or Lebanon. A condition which excludes the vast majority of them, analyzes the media.
10/20/24 – 5:09 p.m. – “The nightmare intensifies. No place is safe in Gaza.”
“This follows weeks of intensified operations which have resulted in the deaths of dozens of civilians and an almost total absence of humanitarian aid for the populations of the north,” lamented Tor Wennesland, UN special envoy for the process. of peace in the Middle East, in a press release relayed on “The nightmare in Gaza is intensifying. No place is safe in Gaza.”
Horrifying scenes unfolding in Gaza, amidst conflict, relentless Israeli strikes & an ever-worsening humanitarian crisis. I condemn the continuing attacks on civilians. Hostages must be freed, displacement of Palestinians must cease, & civilians must be protected.
My Statement???? pic.twitter.com/IoBoL8mVgq— Tor Wennesland (@TWennesland) October 20, 2024
20/10/24 – 4:37 p.m. – Sébastien Lecornu highlights the “disagreements” with “the way in which Israel conducts its wars”
French Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, on Sunday called France for a cease-fire in Lebanon and Gaza, he said on RTL. The minister highlighted the “political and diplomatic disagreements with the way Israel conducts its wars”, but assured that the Jewish state “is our ally”, thus distinguishing between Israel and Israeli leaders.
42,500. This is the number of deaths in the Gaza Strip since the Hamas terrorist offensive on October 7, 2023 in Israel. A figure communicated by the Ministry of Health of the Hamas government on Monday October 14, 2024 and which reveals the intensity of the fighting which has lasted for more than a year now. Over the months, tensions intensified, and as of October 27, 2023, Israel extended its ground operation to Gaza. The objective for Netanyahu and the IDF is clear: to “annihilate” Hamas. A one-week ceasefire nevertheless took place in November 2023. After a significant leap forward, on April 13, 2024, Iran launched its first massive attack on Israel. Hamas ally, Iran then fired nearly 350 explosive drones and missiles at the Jewish state. An attack in response to missiles fired at the embassy in Damascus, Syria on April 1, in which 11 people lost their lives, including seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Tuesday September 17, 2024, a new kind of attack broke into the war. Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies explode. Twelve deaths and nearly 3,000 injured have been recorded in Lebanon. Since its coordinated explosions, Israel has continued to strike Lebanon with air or ground raids. More than 1,000 people are killed in IDF strikes and thousands of Lebanese are forced to be displaced. On October 1, 2024, Iran responded by sending nearly 200 ballistic missiles directly to Israel. Since then, the two countries have been waging a merciless war. On October 8, 2024, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, threatened Lebanon with “destruction and suffering like those we see in Gaza” if the population of the country does not ” “liberated” not from Hezbollah. Comments described as “provocation” by the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot.
Monday October 14, 2024, Lebanese Hezbollah threatened Israel with new attacks in a press release. As a reminder, Hezbollah had struck Haifa two days earlier, killing four Israeli soldiers and injuring no less than 60. At the start of the week, the terrorist organization indicated that “the resistance (…) promises the enemy”. The raid carried out “south of Haifa is only a foretaste of what awaits him if he decides to continue his attacks against our people”, she threatens. According to Palestinian doctors cited by Associated Press, the courtyard of a hospital in the Gaza Strip was then bombed by the Israeli army, killing at least four people and causing a fire in a camp for displaced people.