Israel escalates Lebanon bombardment as officials considers ceasefire plan

The Israeli subject said the attacks were directed astatine Hezbollah infrastructure, including a weapons retention facility.

Israel has ramped up aerial attacks crossed Lebanon arsenic its crushed forces reached their deepest constituent successful Lebanon since they invaded six weeks agone earlier pulling backmost aft battles with Hezbollah fighters, Lebanese authorities media reported.

On Saturday, Israeli aerial strikes connected the colony of Khreibeh successful the Baalbek District of eastbound Lebanon killed six radical including 3 children, and injured 11 others, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said.

Strikes earlier connected Saturday killed 2 medics successful southbound Lebanon, including 1 successful Borj Rahal and different successful Kfartebnit, and injured 4 different rescue workers, with 2 inactive missing, the ministry added.

Israeli aerial strikes besides targeted areas of the confederate suburbs of Beirut for a 5th consecutive day. The Israeli subject has said the attacks were directed astatine Hezbollah infrastructure, including a weapons retention installation and a bid centre.

Reporting from the Lebanese superior Beirut, Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford said that astir residents of Beirut’s confederate suburbs had fled.

“There is virtually cipher determination now. People utilized to spell backmost and cheque connected their homes, their belongings and their businesses during the time but that has present go progressively difficult,” helium said.

He noted that the archetypal strikes happened astir 9am (06:00 GMT). Following evacuation orders, determination was different circular of strikes successful the afternoon.

“There was different monolithic question of strikes connected the confederate metropolis of Tyre, and arsenic we understand, astir the surrounding villages, too. The Israeli subject enactment retired evacuation threats for astatine slightest 15 villages successful confederate Lebanon truthful acold today,” Stratford added.

The Iran-aligned equipped radical Hezbollah fired astir 65 missiles towards Israel by Saturday afternoon, the Israeli subject said.

A worker was besides killed during combat successful confederate Lebanon, the Israeli subject added.

Hezbollah has said it launched a bid of drone strikes connected an Israeli naval basal adjacent the coastal metropolis of Atlit southbound of Haifa.

“A squadron of termination drones” attacked “a gathering of Israeli force service forces adjacent a subject checkpoint successful the Avivim settlement, and deed their targets accurately”, it said successful a statement.

Israel launched its crushed violative and ramped up aerial attacks connected Lebanon successful precocious September aft astir a twelvemonth of cross-border hostilities with Hezbollah successful parallel with the Gaza war.

The Israeli army’s main of unit Herzi Halevi has said that the subject volition proceed to onslaught Lebanon until Israelis displaced from the northbound tin return.

“Hezbollah has paid a precocious price, its concatenation of bid has collapsed, galore of its operatives person been killed, and extended infrastructure dismantled,” Halevi said successful a connection released by the Israeli army.

“We volition halt erstwhile we cognize that we are bringing the residents [of bluish Israel back] safely.”

Saturday’s clashes and further Israeli bombardment came arsenic Lebanese and Hezbollah officials survey a draught connection presented by the US earlier this week connected ending the war.

A apical authorities authoritative successful Beirut said connected Friday that US Ambassador Lisa Johnson had presented a 13-point connection to halt the Israel-Hezbollah conflict. It includes a 60-day truce, during which Lebanon volition deploy troops to the border. The authoritative added that Israel has yet to respond to the plan.

Ali Larijani, a elder advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei besides met Lebanese officials successful Beirut connected Friday, saying Tehran was “looking for solutions”.

Top Israeli officials person repeatedly expressed scepticism of imaginable truce deals, saying Israel indispensable person the close to enforce immoderate ceasefire. Israel has besides demanded that Hezbollah fighters retreat to the country northbound of the Litani River, astir 30km (19 miles) from the borderline with Israel.

In Lebanon, astatine slightest 3,452 radical person been killed and 14,599 wounded successful Israeli attacks since October 2023.

Israel says Hezbollah attacks person killed astir 100 civilians and soldiers successful bluish Israel, the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and confederate Lebanon implicit the past year.

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Al Jazeera and quality agencies