Israeli fighter jets forced to flee Lebanon airspace: Hezbollah
Hezbollah says its air defence units engaged and successfully forced two Israeli aircraft to leave Lebanese airspace “using appropriate weapons” near the Lebanese towns of Hula and Meiss el-Jabal.
Fighters also targeted the Kiryat Motzkin settlement with a barrage of rockets and carried out a second round of strikes with Fadi-1 missiles.
Israel has launched waves of deadly air strikes on Lebanon since Monday, killing nearly 700 people. The international community has warned against Israeli attacks on Lebanon as they raise the spectre of spreading the Gaza war regionally.
IMF says Israel-Hezbollah conflict inflicting heavy human, infrastructure toll
The International Monetary Fund says it’s closely watching the escalating Israel-Hezbollah conflict’s impact on Lebanon, which is already suffering heavy human and infrastructure costs.
“We are monitoring with grave concern the escalation of conflict in the region,” an unnamed IMF spokesperson said in an emailed statement to the Reuters news agency.
“The current conflict is inflicting a heavy human toll, damaging physical infrastructure in southern Lebanon, and exacerbating Lebanon’s already fragile macroeconomic and social situation.”
Mass displacement as Israel strikes Lebanon
Situation ‘very tense’ in Beirut as hundreds of thousands flee Israeli bombing
Hundreds of thousands of thousands of people have moved up here to Beirut. In Beirut itself, I have been speaking to people who are very worried about the situation. They’ve been thinking of moving out of Beirut and up to Mount Lebanon.
But then we had that strike today on the Keserwan district up on Mount Lebanon, so they are rethinking their plans. In fact, people have been talking to me about moving up further north, up to Tripoli – the city in the north of Lebanon.
The situation here in Beirut is very tense.
Every night, we can hear the Israeli drones flying overhead, and now there are these reports of the Israeli military saying there are plans for a possible ground offensive in Lebanon.
I think the situation is very tense and a lot of people are watching this UN General Assembly very closely because I think the next 24 hours are going to be very important for Lebanon.
