Israeli Airstrike Targets Beirut – Hundreds Killed, Thousands Wounded across Lebanon

September 23, 2024 Blog, News, Videos
An Israeli airstrike targeted the Lebanese capital Beirut. (Photo: via social media)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

The Lebanese Health Minister Abiad stated in a press conference that the airstrikes targeted hospitals, medical centers, and ambulances.

An Israeli airstrike hit the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on Monday, further escalating Israel’s aggression on the country. According to initial reports, several people were injured in the strike.

The Lebanese Health Minister, Firas Abiad, announced that 274 people have been killed and 1,024 others have been injured, including women, children, and paramedics, as a result of Israeli raids on southern and eastern Lebanon since Monday morning. 

Abiad stated in a press conference that the airstrikes targeted hospitals, medical centers, and ambulances.

In response to the escalating violence, Lebanese Education Minister Abbas Al-Halabi announced the closure of schools and universities nationwide on Tuesday. 

The authorities plan to use educational institutions to shelter those displaced by the most intense Israeli bombardment of Lebanon since October 8, 2023.

‘Preemptive Strikes’

The Israeli military carried out hundreds of airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon, which its spokesperson described as a “preemptive strike” aimed at neutralizing Hezbollah movements targeting Israel. 

The raids targeted towns including Mays al-Jabal, Aitaroun, Houla, Taybeh, Markaba, Bani Hayyan, Jabal al-Rayhan, the heights of Iqlim al-Tuffah, Bint Jbeil, Hanin, Zawtar, and the Nabatieh region in southern Lebanon. 

In the east, the attacks hit the areas surrounding Shaara, Harbata, Hermel, and the towns of Shamstar, Taraya, and Boday. The town of Al-Khader in the Baalbek region and the surroundings of the town of Nabi Sheet were also bombed.

Long-Range Missiles

In retaliation, Hezbollah launched waves of missile attacks targeting a wide area from the Golan to Haifa and Marj Ibn Amer, also involving long-range missiles for the first time since the start of the war on October 8. 

Sirens sounded in towns across greater Tel Aviv and near Ben Gurion Airport, with reports of rockets falling in locations in the West Bank.

Yedioth Ahronoth reported that around 165 rockets have been fired from Lebanon into Israel since the morning. Explosions were heard in the city of Haifa, and sirens were activated in the southern parts of the city, as well as in Acre, Carmel, and the central Galilee, following a large barrage of rockets from Lebanon. 

Channel 12 Israel reported that a rocket fired from Lebanon hit a building in Kiryat Tivon, northern Israel.

Hezbollah announced that it had targeted the Northern Corps reserve headquarters and the Galilee Division reserve base at the Amiad base with missiles and bombed the Rafael military industries complexes in the Zevulun area north of Haifa with dozens of missiles. 

Israeli media reported rockets falling in the Upper Galilee and Nazareth District. Israel Hayom reported that an Israeli citizen was injured in the Upper Galilee, and the army reported that five Israelis were injured when a rocket fell near the Golani Junction in the Lower Galilee.

In response to the rocket fire, Tzafon Hospital in Tiberias announced the evacuation of some patients and the transfer of others to fortified areas or different hospitals, following updated directives from the Home Front Command.

https://twitter.com/PalestineChron/a/1838224072179593239

‘Complicated Days’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking from the Defense Ministry’s main command room in Tel Aviv, warned that Israel was “on the cusp of complicated days.” 

He affirmed that Israel is working to change the balance of power in the north, emphasizing that the country £does not wait for the threat, but rather anticipates it,£ according to Channel 12.

Meanwhile, the Israeli news website Walla website cited senior Israeli army commanders as saying they are “ready to launch a ground operation in Lebanon.”

However, Bloomberg quoted an Israeli military official stating that the current focus remains on the air campaign, and a ground invasion is not imminent.

(PC, AJA)

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