Israel knew there would be civilian casualties
Five children were killed in this attack in Beirut yesterday. The latest figures suggest that at least 13 people died and almost 50 were wounded, but we are waiting for a final figure to come from the Lebanese Health Ministry.
There are still people that we think might be under the rubble of those buildings. This was a strike on a residential area.
Let’s compare this to the assassination of Hamas’s number two, Saleh al-Arouri, in Beirut earlier this year. That was a very surgical drone strike on a room in an office building. I was there.
Yesterday’s attack was several attacks, several drone missiles that basically brought down almost two buildings. Israel knew that there would be civilian casualties and it went ahead and did it anyway. And that’s what the Lebanese are saying, that, once again, Israel is acting with absolute immunity.
The big conversation across Lebanon is what’s going to happen next.
Beirut attack indicates how robust Israeli intelligence is
According to official Israeli radio, which was quoting a senior Israeli security source, a tip provided by a reliable intelligence asset was what spurred them on to carry out this attack.
It really is an indication of the robust intelligence that Israel’s government and military have on the ground, not just in Lebanon, but in the occupied Palestinian territory and in Syria. This is not the first time in the past year that they’ve carried out assassinations of senior Hezbollah commanders.
Israel is doubling down. They think that forcing Hezbollah through monstering them with military strikes, in multiple areas, on multiple fronts, of varying ferocity, will force it to make some kind of tactical retreat. Netanyahu said, “Our goals are clear, our actions speak for themselves.” Gallant said, “We will continue pursuing our enemies in order to defend our citizens, even in Beirut.”
Lebanon Health Ministry news conference
Lebanon’s Health Minister Firass Abiad is holding a news conference following the Israeli attack on Beirut yesterday.
Lebanon’s Health Minister says at least 31 people, including three children and seven women, were killed in the Israeli attack on southern Beirut yesterday. Another 68 people were wounded in the attack, he added.
The three children among the 31 killed in Israel’s attack on southern Beirut yesterday were aged four, six and 10, Lebanon’s Health Minister said.
Here are the key points Lebanon’s Health Minister Firass Abiad made during his live news conference:
- The 31 people killed in Friday’s attack included three children, seven women as well as three Syrians.
- A total of 68 people wounded during the attack were transferred to 12 hospitals. Fifteen are still in hospitals, including two who are in critical condition.
- The total death toll from the pager explosions, walkie-talkie attack and drone attack this week is 70.
- Another 177 wounded people from all three attacks remain in hospital. Of those, 152 are in intensive care, and 2,078 surgeries have taken place since the start of the attacks.
- An attack on civilians is a war crime.
- The Lebanese healthcare system has enough medicine and supplies for up to four months but it needs to be prepared for an expanded Israeli aggression.
Lebanon’s Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said that the country has entered a “decisive” phase after the attacks on a residential suburb of southern Beirut.
Mawlawi said everything must be done to prevent further violations of Lebanese territory and avoid further deterioration of the security situation. The minister added that the Central Internal Security Council was uncovering the “networks” used by Israel to carry out its attacks.
Israel ‘dragging region into war’: Lebanese ministry
Lebanon’s Minister of Public Works and Transport Ali Hamieh has said the bombing of a residential building in Beirut’s southern neighbourhood constituted a “war crime” and claimed Israel was “dragging the region into a war”.
Speaking to our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic, Hamieh said the raid was an attack on the “laws that govern the international community”.
He added that 23 people, including children and women, were still missing under the rubble.
Israeli attacks in Lebanon take disrespect for international law to new level
The Israeli attacks in Lebanon over the past week have serious implications for international law, Ibrahim Fraihat, professor in international conflict resolution at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, said.
“What we are seeing in Lebanon takes the disrespect of international humanitarian law to a [new] level,” Fraihat told Al Jazeera. “These violations are being normalised by the silence of the West.”
He said Israel was emboldened by the West’s inaction in Gaza and by its “double standard” compared with Russia’s war in Ukraine. He also warned that the escalation of tensions in Lebanon was bound to divert attention from Gaza, allowing for more human rights violations to take place there.
