Lebanon’s health minister, Firass Abiad, has announced that a recent Israeli air raid on a suburb of Beirut culminated in a minimum of 31 casualties, inclusive of seven females and three minors. Of the 68 persons injured by the attack, 15 are still being treated in the hospital. This is recognised as the most fatal Israeli assault on Beirut since the Israel-Hizbullah conflict of 2006.
The fatalities also include Ibrahim Akil, a high-ranking Hizbullah official who spearheaded the Radwan Forces. In addition to him, approximately 12 militant individuals who were congregated in the basement of the obliterated structure were also killed. Mr Abiad revealed that three of the casualties were Syrian citizens.
The sudden assault was conducted by Israel during a peak time on Friday afternoon, a time usually characterised by high traffic from returning workers and learners. On the following morning, journalists were escorted around the disaster area by Hizbullah’s media representatives as excavation work continued amidst the debris.
Lebanon’s Red Cross stood by as the area was secured and people restricted from accessing the demolished building, ready to recover bodies from the rubble. The lethal Israeli strike happened only a few hours post Hizbullah’s extensive bombardment of North Israel.
Israeli retaliation, however, has not been limited to Hizbullah as they’ve also been involved in consistent armed exchanges with Hamas. This came about after Hamas’s assault on South Israel in early October ignited an extreme Israeli military response in Gaza.
In spite of these assaults, Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence mechanism was successful in intercepting a majority of the Katyusha rockets.
Previously, most cross-border offensives have impacted mostly evacuated and sparse regions of North Israel and South Lebanon.
In a recent statement, the security cabinet of Israel has declared that halting Hizbullah’s offensive actions in the northern region of the country to enable locals to reclaim their residences has become a formal objective of the war. This policy change takes into account a potential extensive military undertaking in Lebanon, which could trigger an intense and comprehensive confrontation. The reciprocal assaults previously have resulted in the displacement of tens of thousands of individuals from both the Lebanese southern areas and the northern territories of Israel.