Five people killed in Israeli attack on Wardaniyeh, Lebanon
The Public Health Emergency Operations Center of Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health says five people have been killed and 12 wounded in an Israeli attack on Wardaniyeh in southern Lebanon.
The centre’s statement added that in addition to the dead and wounded who are able to be identified, there were also “body parts” left in the wake of the attack and DNA tests are being conducted to identify who they belong to.
To date, Israel’s attacks on Lebanon have killed more than 2,000 people, according to the Health Ministry.
Rescuers and people inspect the site of an Israeli strike that hit a building,in the town of Wardaniyeh, Lebanon, Wednesday
Top UN envoy in Lebanon calls for truce, UN resolution enforcement
A call by the US and France for a 21-day truce between Israel and Hezbollah “is still on the table,” said the top UN official in Lebanon.
“We need a realistic roadmap for the implementation, by both sides, of resolution 1701. And this must include clear implementation and enforcement mechanisms,” said UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.
A UN peacekeeping mission is mandated by Security Council resolution 1701, adopted in 2006, to help the Lebanese army keep its southern border area with Israel free of weapons or armed personnel other than those of the Lebanese state.
France and the United States last month proposed a 21-day ceasefire. But those talks quickly appeared to stall as Israel heavily bombed Beirut’s southern suburbs, killing longtime Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.
“The joint call for a 21-day ceasefire, as launched by the US or led by the US and France, I think is still on the table and very relevant, so we should not dismiss it. I don’t think that new initiatives will add to it,” Hennis-Plasschaert said.
“The many appeals and calls for ceasefire are crystal clear. We need a window for diplomatic efforts to succeed,” she said.
Since then, however, comments from US officials have cast doubt on the country’s enthusiasm for a ceasefire in Lebanon, instead expressing approval for Isreal’s expanded attacks on all areas of the country in pursuit of punishing Hezbollah.
Southern Beirut suburb now resembles a war zone after two weeks of Israeli aerial assault
The southern suburb of Beirut is now pretty much considered to be a warzone by people who have fled this area since Israel began its intensive aerial assault about two weeks ago.
This area was once home to about 700,000 people.
Usually, we don’t have any warnings from the Israeli military about when or where they’re going to strike in this area. In the past, evacuation warnings have been issued, but they are usually useless.
Many people have told us that when they continue to strike areas, they don’t announce, so nobody takes the warnings seriously. As a result of these air strikes, we have now almost a million and a half people displaced internally.
Children’s schools have also been affected. We’ve just had a statement from Save the Children, who say that 1.5 million Lebanese children are now going to have their education disrupted yet again.
A view shows a damaged site in the aftermath of Israeli strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, in Lebanon, Tuesday
