The Israeli occupation army has expanded its aggression on Lebanon, targeting the heart of Beirut for the first time since the conflict began. A raid shortly after midnight on a building in the Cola area resulted in four deaths and four injuries.
The Disaster Risk Unit in Lebanon revealed on Monday that the Israeli army launched 216 raids on different areas of Lebanon in one day. Since 23 September, 36,188 Syrians and 41,307 Lebanese have crossed into Syria, as international and UN organizations warn of a looming humanitarian crisis.
The extensive aggression on the Lebanese front continues for the eighth day, with violent Israeli raids leaving dozens dead and wounded daily. The world awaits Iran and Hezbollah’s response to the assassination of Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and other leaders, including Ali Karaki, the leader of the party’s southern front.
Amid this, the Israeli army is preparing to launch a limited ground operation in Lebanon, despite unprecedented American pressure to prevent this move. The Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported that the government is seriously considering the operation.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army announced the assassination of two leaders of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine during a night airstrike in Lebanon. The army stated that Nidal Abdel Aal, a member of the Front’s political bureau and head of the military security department in Lebanon, and Imad Odeh, a member of the Front’s General Central Committee and its military commander in Lebanon, were killed in the raid.
Israeli officials claim that the potential ground operation aims to establish a “security buffer zone in southern Lebanon.” The government, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, has not yet made a final decision on the ground operation.
Netanyahu warned Iran that there is no place in the Middle East that Israel cannot reach. “There is no place in the Middle East that Israel cannot reach,” he said in a video statement, warning that “their regime is plunging our region into more darkness and war.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed that the world is safer after Israel assassinated Nasrallah, describing him as a “barbaric terrorist.” Blinken stressed that “diplomacy remains the best and only path to greater stability in the Middle East” and pledged that the United States would continue to work “urgently” to ensure a ceasefire in Gaza.
Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, said after meeting with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri: “I informed the Parliament Speaker of the diplomatic efforts I carried out in New York and the support for Lebanon. We confirmed our approval and pledge to implement the call issued by America, France, and other countries for an immediate ceasefire to begin discussing the full implementation of Resolution 1701.” Mikati stressed that Lebanon is ready to send the Lebanese army to the area south of the Litani and to carry out its duties in full coordination with UNIFIL, immediately after the ceasefire.
