The conflict with Hezbollah is escalating further. Israel carried out airstrikes on southern Lebanon on Wednesday for the third consecutive day, the Lebanese news agency NNA reported. “Since 5am (4am French time), enemy warplanes have launched strikes” on several areas in southern Lebanon, the official agency said, adding that there were casualties but without specifying their number.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Tuesday that his country would “continue to strike Hezbollah” in Lebanon. “I say to the Lebanese people: our war is not against you, our war is against Hezbollah,” he said in a video released by his office.
Key information to remember
⇒ A missile fired from Lebanon intercepted by Israeli air defense
⇒ Nearly 500,000 displaced people in Lebanon, according to the Minister of Foreign Affairs
⇒ Hezbollah commander killed in Israeli strike
Warning sirens sound in Tel Aviv
Air raid sirens sounded in Tel Aviv on Wednesday morning after a surface-to-surface missile was launched from Lebanon, which was intercepted, the Israeli military said. “Following the sirens that sounded in the Tel Aviv and Netanya areas, a surface-to-surface missile was identified coming from Lebanon and was intercepted by the air defense,” a military spokesman said.
Nearly 500,000 displaced in Lebanon, according to the Minister of Foreign Affairs
The number of displaced Lebanese is approaching half a million since the escalation of Israel’s bombing campaign against Hezbollah, Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said on Tuesday. Before the recent strikes, Lebanon had about 110,000 displaced people, and “now we are probably approaching half a million,” the minister said on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
The statements come as Israeli strikes on Monday against the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah, an ally of Palestinian Hamas, left 558 dead, including 50 children and 94 women, and 1,835 wounded, according to Lebanese authorities. This is the heaviest human toll in one day since the end of the civil war (1975-1990).
Hezbollah confirms one of its commanders killed in Israeli strike
Hezbollah confirmed on Wednesday that one of its military leaders, Ibrahim Kobeissi, had been killed in an Israeli bombardment on Tuesday on the southern suburbs of Beirut, a stronghold of the powerful pro-Iranian group. In a statement, Hezbollah announced the death of “commander Ibrahim Mohammed Kobeissi”, who “fell as a martyr on the road to Jerusalem”, the expression that the movement uses to refer to fighters killed by Israeli fire. This strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut left at least six dead and fifteen wounded, according to the Lebanese authorities.
The Israeli army had earlier said in a statement that “air force fighter jets eliminated on Tuesday in Beirut Ibrahim Mohammed Kobeissi, the commander of the Hezbollah terrorist organization’s missile and rocket network.” According to the Israeli army, Mohammed Kobeissi, who commanded several units, including one of precision-guided missiles, was targeted along with other commanders of Hezbollah’s missile and rocket force.
Macron called on his Iranian counterpart to support “a general de-escalation” in the Middle East
French President Emmanuel Macron called on his Iranian counterpart Massoud Pezeshkian to “support a general de-escalation” in the Middle East, during a meeting Tuesday at the UN on the sidelines of the General Assembly, the Elysée Palace said in a statement. In early August, the French and Iranian leaders had already spoken by phone. Emmanuel Macron had already urged his counterpart to “do everything to avoid a new military escalation” in the region.
“The President of the Republic stressed Iran’s responsibility to support a general de-escalation and to use its influence in this sense with the destabilizing actors who receive its support to move towards a ceasefire in Gaza and a cessation of hostilities,” the French presidential palace said on Tuesday. Emmanuel Macron and Massoud Pezeshkian also discussed Iran’s nuclear program.
Biden’s remarks at UN on Middle East ‘not encouraging’, says Lebanon
Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib deplored US President Joe Biden’s remarks at the UN podium on Tuesday on the Middle East. “They were not strong, they were not encouraging, and they are not going to solve the Lebanese problem,” he said on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Biden delivered his last major speech at the UN podium on Tuesday, sending a personal message to world leaders: the interests of your people must take precedence over your desire to remain in power.
Israel “has the right to defend itself” without inflicting “collective punishment”
“Israel has the right to exist” and “to defend itself”, “defending itself does not necessarily mean (inflicting) collective punishment”, affirmed the President of the European Council Charles Michel on Tuesday, during an exchange with the press on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
He also noted the need to respect the principle of proportionality. “We defend international law always and everywhere” in the world, Charles Michel also declared, while the West is criticized for not putting enough pressure to push Israel to stop its reprisals in Gaza which have caused a serious humanitarian crisis.
Gaza: Meloni urges immediate ceasefire
“It is imperative to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of the Israeli hostages without delay,” the Italian Prime Minister said Tuesday at the United Nations. The words of Giorgia Meloni, leader of a far-right party in power since 2022, echo the urgent call of the international community, which fears that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will set the entire Middle East ablaze. “We can no longer witness tragedies like the one unfolding before our eyes in recent days in southern and eastern Lebanon, with defenseless civilians including many children,” she said.
The Italian leader also called on Israel to respect international law by protecting civilians in Gaza. She stressed that Palestinians were doubly victims of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and “destructive choices.”