Hezbollah deputy leader: Confrontation now ‘open-ended battle of reckoning’
Hezbollah deputy secretary-general Naim Qassem has made a rare appearance during a funeral for a top commander killed in an Israeli air raid on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Friday.
During the funeral, he said that Hezbollah had entered a new phase of its battle with Israel which he described as an “open-ended battle of reckoning.”
Israeli forces deployed in north, Golan Heights
Israeli forces are on patrol in the north of the country and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights as cross-border exchanges of fire with Lebanon-based Hezbollah continue.
Rocket interceptions were visible in the city of Maalot, while military vehicles, including tanks, were in position in the Golan Heights.
Israel closed schools, restricted gatherings in the north and ordered hospitals there to move patients and staff to protected areas – many have secured or underground facilities designed to withstand rocket fire.
Israeli warplanes carried out the most intense bombardment in almost a year of conflict across Lebanon’s south following deadly attacks on Beirut’s Dahieh suburb.
About 150 rockets, cruise missiles and drones were fired at Israel overnight and into Sunday, most of which were intercepted by air defences, including an “aerial target” that came from the east, the military said.
UK calls for ‘immediate ceasefire’ between Israel, Hezbollah
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy has called for an “immediate ceasefire” after a “worrying escalation” between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, as heightening cross-border tensions led to fears of an all-out war.
“Our message to all parties is clear: We need an immediate ceasefire from both sides so that we can get to a political settlement, so that Israelis and Lebanese civilians can return to their homes and live in peace and security,” Lammy said in a speech at the Labour party’s annual conference.
