Israel’s war on Lebanon has ‘reached a critical point’, UN warns
Almost 873,000 people have been displaced within Lebanon by Israel’s attacks on the country, and the majority of those are women, the United Nations reports in its latest flash update on the humanitarian crisis.
To date, 78 attacks on healthcare facilities across Lebanon have been reported and 130 health workers have been killed in Israeli attacks, with a further 111 injured, the UN said.
“The ongoing conflict in Lebanon has reached a critical point, with over 3,000 deaths recorded since 8 October 2023 – 58 percent more than the 1,900 fatalities during the 2006 conflict,” the UN added.
“Additionally, an estimated 1.3 million people have been displaced, both within Lebanon and into neighbouring countries, 33 percent more than the number of people displaced in 2006.”
Injured residents return to homes devastated by Israeli air attack in Lebanon’s Barja
Lebanese rescue workers continued to dig through the rubble of a destroyed apartment building in the town of Barja, south of Beirut, on Wednesday after the Lebanese Health Ministry said 20 people were killed in an Israeli air strike the previous night.
A resident of the destroyed building, Moussa Zahran – who lived on one of the upper floors of the block – returned to sift through the ruins of his home with his burned feet wrapped in gauze and his son and wife still recovering in hospital from their wounds.
“These rocks that you see here weigh 100 kilos; they fell on a 13-kilo kid,” Zahran told the Reuters news agency, referring to the weight of his young son and the apartment wall that collapsed on him during the Israeli attack.
Israel gave no warning before the strike.
Moussa Zahran sits inside his house, which was destroyed in an Israeli strike, in Barja, Lebanon, on Wednesday
Uncle of Hezbollah’s late leader Nasrallah reported killed
Hezbollah has reported that an uncle of the movement’s late leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has been killed in an Israeli attack.
In a post on social media, the movement said that sources had announced the death of Nasrallah’s uncle – identified as Abu Haider Nasrallah – in an attack in southern Lebanon’s Bazouriyeh area, in Tyre district.
He was killed alongside his family, Hezbollah said in a short post.
Hassan Nasrallah, 64, was killed in an Israeli strike in September after leading the armed group for 32 years. Nasrallah was replaced as Hezbollah’s secretary-general by Naim Qassem, the longtime number two to the late leader.
Israeli military announces death of soldier in Hezbollah attack
The Israeli military has said a 20-year-old soldier with the 605th Engineering Battalion was killed on Wednesday in a Hezbollah rocket attack in the Avivim area of the upper Galilee in northern Israel.
Israeli authorities say at least 70 people have been killed by Hezbollah attacks in Israel and the occupied Golan Heights since the outbreak of intense clashes in October 2023.
Distrust of Trump in Lebanon amid ongoing Israeli bombardment
An Israeli strike targeted a residential building in the coastal town of Barja south of Beirut, killing at least 20 people on Wednesday. At least 50 people were also killed in Israeli strikes in the Baalbek region.
Lebanon’s government has accused Israel of rejecting diplomatic initiatives, while Hezbollah says it’s open to talks only after the aggression ends. But diplomatic channels will likely be on pause until President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.
