Displacement crisis worsening in Lebanon
Beirut’s southern suburbs were home to 700,000 people. South Lebanon was home to 500,000 to 600,000 people. So residents of all these areas are just pouring into Beirut.
There are many people on the streets. Thousands of people are still on the sidewalks, on the beach and in the parks, not to mention the tens of thousands in schools and other facilities. The government is unable to deal with this situation.
UN agencies currently in Lebanon are trying to help, NGOs are trying to help, some Arab countries and others are also trying to help. And we’ve started seeing more aid coming into Lebanon, but it’s not possible for this government to deal with the weight of displacement. Because adding to the numbers of displaced Lebanese are also displaced Syrian and Palestinian refugees.
Yesterday, one of the biggest strikes was on the side of the Palestinian refugee camp in Burj el-Barajneh and that caused many Palestinians to leave that camp. The Sabra and Shatila camps also saw many people leaving for safer areas.
It’s becoming life-threatening to everyone and that’s why the displacement is so large.
Israel is seeking to change power structure in Lebanon
Nabeel Khoury, a former US diplomat who’s currently a non-resident senior fellow at the Arab Center, says Israel’s long-term goals for Lebanon are likely far more extensive than simply pushing back Hezbollah.
“In 2006, their goals were fairly limited. They were trying to degrade and push back Hezbollah. It didn’t last very long. This time around, the attacks have been much more extensive than they were back then. They are also all over Lebanon and not just in one area,” Khoury told Al Jazeera.
“I think they’re also seeking this time to change the power structure in Lebanon. There is currently no president in Lebanon because of a stalemate between the political factions. There’s a caretaker government. I think what they’d like to do is help install someone who would be if not totally allied with them, at least not hostile to Israel,” he said.
Khoury added that Netanyahu and his government are “not interested even in a temporary ceasefire” in Lebanon.
With many Western countries evacuating their citizens, it seems the consensus is there. It's going to be another long war, turning parts of Lebanon into Gaza.
Another regime change that is doomed to fail. The population will still be hostile, if not more hostile to Israel after all this is over. US couldn't do it with military force in Afghanistan, not in Iraq, not going to work for Israel in Lebanon. In fact US' failure in Iraq now has Iraqi terrorists firing at Israel as well.
Hezbollah was created during their 1982 attempt to change the power structure in Lebanon
(The 1982 Lebanon war began on 6 June 1982, when Israel invaded again for the purpose of attacking the Palestine Liberation Organization. The Israeli army laid siege to Beirut. During the conflict, according to Lebanese sources, between 15,000 and 20,000 people were killed, mostly civilians)
History repeating.
Hezbollah repels Israeli incursion into southern Lebanon
We heard a barrage of rocket fire and then almost immediately afterwards we got an alert from the Israeli army saying it intercepted surface-to-surface missiles. So Hezbollah is still very much in the fight.
In the last few moments, we heard an Israeli air strike – a very loud explosion – in the Bekaa Valley in the east of Lebanon. Fighting has been going on all night.
Hezbollah said it fired artillery along the border to repel an Israeli incursion into its territory. Also in Manara, in northern Israel, the group says it attacked Israeli soldiers as they evacuated their dead and wounded.
Fighting is also going on in Lebanon’s Yaroun and Odaisseh. In Odaisseh, Israeli forces have been trying to capture the municipal building for a few days now. These are only two areas along the 120km (75-mile) border area where the Israelis have gained some kind of foothold after being beaten back by Hezbollah.
At least 23 killed, 93 injured in Israeli air strikes across Lebanon
At least 23 people were killed and 93 wounded in Israeli bombing across Lebanon, the Health Ministry says.
The raids targeted the towns and villages of south Lebanon, Nabatieh, the eastern governorate of Bekaa, Baalbek-Hermel, Mount Lebanon, and the north, the ministry added on their X account.
“Israeli strikes yesterday on towns and villages of southern Lebanon” and other parts of the country “killed 23 people and wounded 93 others,” it said.
Casualty figures from more recent bombardment on Beirut’s southern suburbs after midnight were not included.
