Not a lot of western media coverage so far (US, UK, Canada etc.,) This follows hot on the heels of the empty words spouted by the US yesterday. Those empty words follow on the heels of plenty of other hollow promises and empty rhetoric- Peace and compromise but the only action is guaranteeing more war.
Dozens of Israeli airstrikes targeted the Western Bekaa region and southern Lebanon on Thursday evening.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army claimed to have struck approximately 30 Hezbollah rocket launchers along with other “infrastructure” in the airstrikes conducted in Lebanon on Thursday.
This development followed hours after Israeli warplanes flew at low altitude over Beirut, causing loud sonic booms, coinciding with Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s speech. In his address, Nasrallah condemned recent Israeli breaches targeting communication devices used by the group.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) hammered southern Lebanon with airstrikes on Thursday afternoon
The attacks “crossed all red lines”, he said. “The enemy went beyond all controls, laws and morals,” he said, adding the attacks “could be considered war crimes or a declaration of war, they could be called anything and they deserve to be called anything. Of course, that was the intention of the enemy.”
As the broadcast was aired, deafening sonic booms from Israeli warplanes shook Beirut, a sound that has become common in recent months but has taken on a greater significance as the threat of all-out war has steadily ramped up. Israel said its warplanes struck southern Lebanon overnight. Hezbollah reported that airstrikes resumed in the border area in the afternoon.
Nasrallah said Hezbollah hoped Israeli troops would enter southern Lebanon because that would create a “historic opportunity” for the group.
No military escalation, killing, assassinations or all-out war would return Israeli residents to the border area, he added, referring to a top war priority for the Israeli government.
Whilst Nasrallah described the attacks as unprecedented, accusing Israel of trying to kill 5,000 people, he also played down the impact on Hezbollah, saying the group’s structure had not been shaken.
“Yes, we received a big and harsh blow, but this is also the nature of war,” Nasrallah said. “We know that our enemy has superiority on the technological level and we have never said otherwise.”
Israel carried out intensive airstrikes Thursday against several towns in southern Lebanon amid growing concerns about an escalation of the conflict between Hezbollah and Tel Aviv.
The tension follows two waves of explosions targeting wireless devices in Lebanon that resulted in 37 deaths and thousands of injuries.
An Anadolu Agency reporter confirmed that more than 50 airstrikes occurred in towns in southern Lebanon.
The Lebanese National News Agency reported that warplanes “conducted a series of strikes on Mahmoudiyeh area near Aaichiyeh village and Kasarat al-Aroosh in the Jezzine area.”
“Israeli enemy aircraft launched ten missiles toward the Birket Jabbour area,” it said.
In a separate incident, four people were injured in an Israeli airstrike targeting the town of Hanniyeh in the Tyre district of southern Lebanon, according to the Health Ministry.
The ministry noted that those injured included three Palestinians and a Lebanese citizen