Israeli forces bomb Beirut’s southern suburbs
Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) says Israeli forces launched three raids on Haret Hreik in the capital’s southern suburbs overnight, destroying a number of buildings. The predawn attacks came as Israel’s military continued its bombardment of southern Lebanon, with raids reported in Khiam, Jdeidat Marjayoun, al-Qalaa and Burj al-Muluk.
Earlier, NNA reported that Israeli attacks late on Wednesday killed at least five people and wounded 23 others in Maarakeh. Another nine were killed and 65 wounded in Tyre, it reported.
Two killed in Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon
Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) is reporting that Israeli warplanes bombarded several towns and villages in the Nabatieh region of southern Lebanon overnight.
One person was killed in an attack on the town of Rumin, while a young man was killed in an attack on the village of Kfarchouba, NNA reported.
Israeli army names soldier killed in southern Lebanon
The Israeli army says 20-year-old Sergeant Gur Kehati, from the Nir Banim settlement in central Israel, has been killed in combat in southern Lebanon. The Israeli soldier served in the 13th Battalion of the Golani Brigade.
According to Haaretz and other Israeli newspapers, a 71-year-old Israeli archaeologist who accompanied troops into southern Lebanon “in violation of orders” was also killed on Wednesday.
The 71-year-old, named as Ze’ev Erlich, was reportedly killed yesterday in an exchange of fire with Hezbollah after entering an archaeological site in southwest Lebanon without the required approvals. He was accompanied by a senior army officer.
According to Israeli media, disciplinary action is expected against leaders of the Golani Brigade who allowed the visit to the ancient fortress.
Some Israeli ministers have recently begun pushing the biblical idea of a “greater Israel” stretching from the Nile to the Euphrates and encompassing parts of Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan.
According to the army, 803 soldiers, officers, and reservists have been killed in more than a year of Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon. Of these, more than 304 were killed during Hamas’s attack on October 7 last year.
‘Major battle for control’ near Lebanon’s Tyre
Over the last hour, the Israeli military issued new evacuation orders for three areas east of the coastal city of Tyre, before air attacks. Yesterday, the Israeli air force carried out a series of attacks across the Tyre governorate, killing at least nine people and injuring 17.
The focus on this area in southern Lebanon coincides with a push by Israeli ground forces nearby, trying to make their way to a very strategic hill known as al-Bayyaada. The air attacks are about disrupting supply lines so that Hezbollah cannot reinforce its troops in that area.
What Israel is trying to do is take control of the coastal road that goes from the border to al-Bayyaada. From al-Bayyaada, it aims to take control of the surrounding areas.
At that point, they would have the southern city of Tyre in sight. Israeli forces are already using artillery in this area, which means their artillery batteries are inside Lebanon. So, we are really seeing a major battle for control in this corner of southern Lebanon.
