Over 700 people have been killed in Lebanon this week, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. Israel has dramatically escalated strikes, saying it is targeting Hezbollah’s military capacities and senior Hezbollah commanders.
Top Israeli officials have threatened to repeat the destruction of Gaza in Lebanon if the Hezbollah fire continues, raising fears that Israel’s actions in Gaza since Oct. 7 would be repeated in Lebanon.
The International Organization for Migration estimated Thursday that more than 200,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon since Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel in support of Hamas after it stormed into Israel, sparking the Israel-Hamas war. Lebanon says a total of 1,540 people have been killed within its borders in that time.
The United States, France and other allies jointly called for a 21-day cease-fire. Lebanon’s foreign minister said the country welcomed the cease-fire efforts, and decried Israel’s “systematic destruction of Lebanese border villages.”
Israeli military vehicles were seen transporting tanks and armored vehicles toward the country’s northern border with Lebanon, and commanders have issued a call-up of reservists. Netanyahu says Israel is striking Hezbollah “with full force” and won’t stop until its goals are achieved.
Here’s the latest:
The Norwegian Refugee Council aid group is warning that the ongoing escalation between Israel and Hezbollah is reaching deeper into Lebanon and pushing the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon to alarming levels.
“Some Lebanese villages have almost been entirely deserted amid large-scale destruction. Families do not know which way to turn as Israel bombards scores of towns for the first time,” Maureen Philippon, the group’s country director in Lebanon.
In a statement, she said tens of thousands of people are now seeking shelter in ill-equipped primarily schools where two or three families are packed together in the same classroom and there are no showers or bathing areas.
“People now being turned away from shelters as there is simply no space for them inside,” she said, while some displaced families are forced to seek refuge in bus shelters, in their cars, and outside hospitals, unsure where to go next, Philippon said.
TEL AVIV, Israel — An Israeli security official said he expects a possible war against Hezbollah would not last for as long as the current war in Gaza because the Israeli military’s goals are much narrower.
The official said Israel has vowed to dismantle Hamas’ military and political regime in Gaza, but the goal in Lebanon is just to push Hezbollah away from the border with Israel. That is “not a high bar like Gaza” in terms of operational objectives, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military briefing guidelines.
The official said that no decision has been made on whether Israel will carry out a ground operation in southern Lebanon. But he stressed that the military is training for this possibility every day and is ready to implement it.
He added that Israel still sees Resolution 1701, the United Nations-brokered resolution that ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, as the best solution for lasting stability. But that the resolution must be enforced by an international force that is able to keep Hezbollah from setting up infrastructure close to the border with Israel. He said Israel’s punishing aerial bombardments this week, which killed more than 600 people in Lebanon, represent Israel’s decision to start enforcing the resolution on their own.
— By Melanie Lidman
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — An Israeli airstrike hit a tent sheltering displaced people within a hospital complex in central Gaza early Friday, killing one Palestinian man and injuring four others.
The strike on Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah left some tents and tarps torn apart with items such as bottles, mattresses, and a baby chair scattered on the dusty ground.
An Israeli military spokesperson told media it conducted a “precise strike on Islamic Jihad terrorists who were operating inside command and control centers embedded within the Humanitarian Area in Deir al Balah.”
The spokesperson said that steps were take to “mitigate the risk of harm to civilians.” The military did not comment on whether militants had been killed in the strike.
A video filmed by media shows several children surrounding metal parts of the guided missile labeled “manufacturer United States Army” in the vicinity of the hospital where hundreds of displaced people are sheltering.
American Dollar Exchange Rate