Israel airstrikes, Hezbollah commander killed

Lebanon says only US can make sides stop

Hezbollah confirmed Wednesday morning that senior commander Ibrahim Qubaisi of the militant group was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Tuesday in the Lebanese capital, as Israel had previously announced. Israel said Qubaisi was the head of the group's rocket and missile force.

Lebanon's Health Minister Firass Abiad told Al Jazeera television that Israeli strikes since Monday morning have killed 569 people, including 50 children, and injured 1,835 in Lebanon.

An area hit by an airstrike in Nabatiyeh, Marayoun, Lebanon on September 23, 2024. Photo: AP

Israel's new offensive against Hezbollah has raised fears that, combined with the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, it will spark a full-scale war across the Middle East.

Currently, many countries around the world are worried about that worst-case scenario, asking their citizens to quickly leave Lebanon as well as Israel. In the latest development, the UK said it is sending 700 troops to Cyprus to help its citizens evacuate from war zones in the Middle East.

The UN Security Council said it would meet on Wednesday to discuss the conflict. "Lebanon is on the brink. The Lebanese people - the Israeli people - and the people of the world - cannot allow Lebanon to become another Gaza," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.

At the United Nations, which is holding its General Assembly this week, US President Joe Biden appealed for calm. "All-out war is in no one's interest. Even if the situation escalates, a diplomatic solution is still possible," he said.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib criticised Mr Biden's speech as "not strong, not promising" and said the US was the only country "that can really make a difference in the Middle East". Washington is a long-time ally of Israel and its largest arms supplier.

The parties ignored the call of the international community.

Despite world leaders gathering at the United Nations and calling for a de-escalation, there has been no sign of a halt. Early Wednesday, another Israeli air strike hit the coastal town of Jiyyeh, 75 kilometers (47 miles) north of the border with Israel, two security sources said.

Source: ISW. Graphic photo: Reuters

Minister Bou Habib said an estimated half a million people have been displaced in Lebanon. He said the Lebanese prime minister hopes to meet with US officials in the next two days.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, whose country has hostile relations with Israel, told the United Nations General Assembly that the international community must ensure a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and persuade Israel to stop its attack on Lebanon, “before it engulfs the region and the world”.

The United States and other mediators, Qatar and Egypt, have so far been unsuccessful in their efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in the nearly year-long war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, an ally of Hezbollah.

The site of an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon on September 24, 2024. Photo: Reuters

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the attacks had weakened Hezbollah and would continue. Hezbollah "has suffered a series of blows to its command and control, its fighters and its equipment. These are all serious blows," he told the Israeli military. He accused the United Nations of shirking its responsibility to stop Hezbollah attacks on Israel.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah said it had launched rockets at the Dado military base in northern Israel and attacked the Atlit naval base south of Haifa with drones, among other targets.

Syrian military sources said that suspected Israeli missiles were also launched at the Syrian port city of Tartous and were intercepted by Syrian air defenses.

At a funeral held on Tuesday for those killed in Lebanon by Israeli bombing, Mohammed Helal - whose daughter was killed in Israeli air strikes - declared: "We are not afraid. Even if they kill, dissect and destroy us."

Hoang Anh (according to Reuters, CNN, AP)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/israel-khong-kich-du-doi-chi-huy-hezbollah-thiet-mang-va-phan-ung-cua-the-gioi-post313787.html