Israeli drone hovering over Lebanese capital
The loud buzz of an Israeli Hermes 450 drone is being heard by residents of Beirut this morning, as Israel continues to attack the south of the country.
The Hermes 450, designed by Israeli weapons company Elbit Systems, can be used for surveillance, but is also capable of carrying multiple deadly payloads.
Israel’s violations of the airspace above Beirut are common, and over the past week have become an almost daily occurrence.
Hezbollah says Israeli incursion violates Lebanon’s sovereignty
The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah has condemned Israel’s overnight incursion into the village of Blida that killed one person, saying it violated Lebanon’s sovereignty as well as international law.
In its statement, the group maintained that the victim, a municipal employee, was sleeping when he was shot by Israeli forces. The Israeli military earlier said the man had posed an “imminent threat” and that shots were fired as a result.
“Hezbollah strongly condemns this new Israeli crime, which came directly after the visit of the American envoy to Lebanon,” Hezbollah’s statement said. During her visit on Wednesday, the deputy US special envoy to the Middle East, Morgan Ortagus, pressed the Lebanese government to completely disarm Hezbollah by the end of this year.
The group argued that Israel conducts every strike in coordination with the US and that the latest attack was part of their strategy to pressure the Lebanese government into complying with Washington’s request.
Lebanon’s President says army will confront Israel after deadly incursion
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has instructed the armed forces to confront any further Israeli incursion in the country’s south after Israeli forces crossed their shared border and killed a municipal worker during an overnight raid.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned the incident, calling it “a blatant attack on the institutions and sovereignty of the Lebanese state”.
The pivotal announcement was made on Thursday after days of Israeli attacks on Lebanese territory in near-daily Israeli violations of a ceasefire that went into effect in November.
The Lebanese forces, unlike the armed group Hezbollah, have generally stayed on the sidelines of the conflict with Israel. But Aoun, a former commander of the Lebanese army, appears to have finally lost his patience with the Israeli-forced status quo.
Aoun ordered the army to “confront any Israeli incursion into liberated southern territory, in defence of Lebanese territory and the safety of citizens”, during a meeting with Brigadier General Rodolphe Haykal, according to a statement from the presidency.
The order came just hours after Israeli soldiers entered the border town of Blida and stormed the town hall, killing municipal worker Ibrahim Salameh, who had been sleeping there, the state-owned National News Agency (NNA) reported.
Smoke rises from an Israeli air strike on the outskirts of the southern Lebanese village of Jarmak on October 30
Israeli forces strike Lebanon’s Naqoura, set woodland on fire
The Israeli military has carried out an airstrike on the al-Labouneh area in Naqoura, targeting a large stretch of woodland. The state-run National News Agency (NNA) said the strike coincided with a detonation in the same area, which sparked a fire in the area. No casualties have been reported.
