The first strike in several days of calm targeted south Beirut, the operator’s main stronghold, following an intense period of earlier bombardment in the Israel-Hezbollah war.
On Wednesday, Israel launched strikes on Hezbollah’s main bastion and a southern Lebanese city under its influence, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed calls for a ceasefire.
After several days of calm, south Beirut, the operator’s main stronghold, experienced the first strike, following an intense earlier bombardment in the Israel-Hezbollah war.
On Wednesday, Israeli warplanes targeted the city of Nabatiyeh in south Lebanon, a stronghold of Hezbollah and its ally Amal.
The strikes resulted in a thick plume of smoke over houses, palm trees, and the blue-tipped minaret of a mosque.
The Lebanese health ministry reported that the Nabatiyeh strikes killed five people in two municipal buildings, with a local official confirming the mayor’s death.
In late September, Israel escalated its bombardment, primarily targeting Hezbollah strongholds, and deployed ground troops across the Lebanese border on September 30.
According to an AFP tally based on Lebanese health ministry figures, the Israel-Hezbollah war has resulted in at least 1,356 deaths in Lebanon, though the actual number is likely higher.
In October of the previous year, Hezbollah began low-intensity strikes on Israel to support its ally Hamas following the October 7 attack that sparked the Gaza war.
Despite Hamas being weakened, Israel expanded its military focus to include Lebanon, committing to continue until the tens of thousands of Israelis displaced by Hezbollah’s attacks could return home.
Lebanon, plagued by economic and political crises for years, has seen at least 690,000 people displaced by the war, according to the International Organization for Migration.
Hours after Netanyahu informed French President Emmanuel Macron of his opposition to a unilateral ceasefire, which he believed would not alter Lebanon’s security situation and would revert it to its prior state, the latest strikes occurred, his office reported.
Netanyahu and the Israeli military have advocated for a buffer zone along the Israeli-Lebanese border, free of Hezbollah fighters.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu has made it clear that Israel will not accept any agreement that does not ensure this buffer zone and prevent Hezbollah from rearming and regrouping,” his office stated.
Hezbollah’s deputy leader Naim Qassem declared on Tuesday that a ceasefire was the only solution and threatened to widen missile strikes across Israel.
“Since the Israeli enemy targeted all of Lebanon, we have the right from a defensive position to target any place in Israel,” he stated.
On Tuesday, Hezbollah claimed it launched rockets towards Haifa in northern Israel and targeted Israeli bulldozers and a tank near the border.
Israel continued its bombardment on Tuesday and captured three Hezbollah fighters in south Lebanon.
When questioned about Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon, where residential buildings in central Beirut were hit on October 10, the US State Department openly criticized the actions.
“We oppose the campaign as conducted over the past weeks in Beirut,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller stated to reporters.
In a recent letter to the Israeli government, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned that weapon deliveries might be withheld if humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza was not increased.
