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Israeli air raid in Bekaa Valley kills four: Health Ministry
Israeli warplanes have hit a residential area of Karak, located in the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon, leaving four people dead and 17 wounded, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
The attack, which took place about an hour ago, has devastated the area, shattering windows up to 200 metres (650 feet) away from the blast site, according to our correspondent Assed Baig, who is reporting from the area.
“I saw families outside covering their faces in complete shock,” Baig said. Fire crews are currently on-site, searching for residents who are still missing and may be trapped beneath the rubble.
“Tensions here are very high. People are very angry,” Baig said.
Lebanon Civil Defence: Four killed in Israeli attack on Bekaa Valley
On its official Facebook page, the Lebanese rescue organisation says that it pulled four dead people and 18 wounded from the rubble after an Israeli air attack hit the town of Karak in eastern Lebanon.
Israeli military says its troops operated in Naqoura near UNIFIL base
The Israeli military says its soldiers have operated today in the area of Naqoura in southern Lebanon near a base housing soldiers from UNIFIL, the UN’s peacekeeping force in Lebanon.
It added that it instructed the UN forces in the area to remain in protected spaces, after which the Israeli forces opened fire.
This is the first acknowledgment by the Israeli army of an incident today in which its soldiers in southern Lebanon fired on UNIFIL positions, wounding two peacekeepers.
These actions have drawn widespread international condemnation, including from France, Ireland and Italy.
Israel wants UNIFIL out of southern Lebanon
Israel’s attacks against UNIFIL aim to put pressure on the peacekeeping mission to leave southern Lebanon, says Rob Geist Pinfold, lecturer in international peace and security at Durham University in the UK.
“Israel sees UNIFIL not as someone to fight but as an impediment – as people getting in their way – so they are trying to squeeze them and force them to withdraw,” Pinfold told Al Jazeera, noting how Israel feels the UN mission failed to secure the border from nonstate armed groups since its establishment in 2006.
Should southern Lebanon be free of peacekeepers and civilians, Israel would have easier control over the territory and, therefore, would stay “for as long as they want until they get the deal they want”, Pinfold said.
Removing UNIFIL peacekeepers would also reduce the risk of killing an international soldier, something that would “create political pressure to stop Israeli operations,” he said. “Israel wants to see UNIFIL gone and without anybody dying,” he added.
