what to remember from Thursday, October 3

Israel continues its ground operations in Lebanese territory, near the border with Israel, where clashes continue against Hezbollah.

Since Monday, Israel has been carrying out a ground offensive in several locations in the south of the country, one of the strongholds of the powerful Lebanese movement supported by Iran. Airstrikes particularly targeted Beirut and its southern suburbs on Thursday October 3, one of which hit “intelligence headquarters” Hezbollah near the Lebanese capital, the army announced. Some “15 Hezbollah terrorist targets were struck Thursday in Beirut, according to this source, including in particular “arms production sites and weapons storage sites. Here is what to remember from this new day of conflict.

Ninth Israeli soldier dead in southern Lebanon

The Israeli army announced the death of a new soldier in fighting in southern Lebanon, bringing to nine the number of soldiers killed since the start of the ground offensive on Monday against the Islamist movement Hezbollah. “Captain Ben Zion Falach, aged 21 (…) fell yesterday [mercredi] during fighting in southern Lebanon”the army said in a statement. However, the Israeli army is still continuing its cross-border operations. “We will not allow Hezbollah to establish itself [à nouveau] in these places in the future”Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said in a video statement. “The severe blows dealt to Hezbollah […] in Beirut in the valley [de la Beqaa]and in southern Lebanon will continue”he assured.

The Lebanese army, for its part, announced that it had responded to Israeli fire for the first time in a year, after the death of a second of its soldiers in southern Lebanon. “A soldier was killed after the Israeli enemy targeted a military post in the Bint Jbeil area in the south, and military personnel responded to the fire.announced the army in a press release.

New Israeli strikes on Beirut

Three new Israeli strikes hit the southern suburbs of Beirut, the Lebanese National News Agency reported. A source close to the pro-Iran Islamist group told AFP that a targeted building housed the office of Hezbollah’s information department, which “had been evacuated”. During the night, 17 air raids were launched by Israel on the Shiite sectors of Haret Hreik, Burj al-Barajneh and Hadath Gharb, in the south of the capital, according to the NNA agency. An Israeli strike also hit a “civil protection center” Hezbollah, in the Bachoura district of Beirut, leaving six dead and seven injured. The Israeli army, for its part, declared that 15 Hezbollah fighters had died in one of its strikes.

A deadly Israeli strike in the West Bank

The Palestinian Authority announced that 16 people were killed following an Israeli strike on the refugee camp of Tulkarem, a town in the northern West Bank where the Israeli army said it had carried out an air raid. “As part of a joint operation of the armed forces and the Shin Bet [l’agence de sécurité intérieure d’Israël]the Israeli Air Force carried out a strike on Tulkarem”indicates a brief Israeli military statement. A resident interviewed by AFP said that an Israeli plane had “hit a cafeteria [dans] a three-story building. There are many victims in the hospital.” he added.

Israeli army says it has released Iraqi Yazidi woman held in Gaza

The Israeli army said it had released this week a young Yazidi woman held captive in the Gaza Strip for ten years after being kidnapped by jihadists from the Islamic State group and “sold” to a member of Hamas. According to the army, this 21-year-old woman was “saved” in the landlocked territory, within the framework of“a complex operation in coordination with the United States, Jordan and other international partners”.

In Washington, the US State Department confirmed that the United States had “contributed” to the evacuation of the young Iraqi woman, “so she can reunite with her family in Iraq”. “The terrorist who held her was killed, probably during strikes [israéliennes]and she managed to escape and stay hidden somewhere in the Gaza Strip.”adds a press release from the Israeli army, without further details.

Two Belgian journalists injured in Lebanon

Two journalists from the Belgian television channel VTM were attacked and injured during the night from Wednesday to Thursday in Beirut while they were covering an airstrike in the city center, their editorial staff announced. War reporter Robin Ramaekers, suffering from “facial fractures”and cameraman Stijn De Smet, who suffered a leg injury, were both hospitalized.

The two journalists were attacked by a group of men when they had just arrived at the scene of an Israeli airstrike that left seven people dead in the Bachoura district, in the center of Beirut. “While Robin was interviewing witnesses and Stijn was filming, a group of around twenty men accused them of spying for Israel”explained the Flemish channel VTM at midday. The situation degenerated, with some attackers being armed, according to initial information.

The G7 expresses its concern

The leaders of the G7 countries expressed their “deep concern” facing “the deterioration of the situation” in the Middle East, and warned against “an uncontrollable escalation” in the region. “We, the leaders of the G7, express our deep concern at the deterioration of the situation in the Middle East”they write in a joint press release. They condemn “with the greatest firmness Iran’s direct military attack against Israel”which represents “a serious threat to regional stability”. “A dangerous cycle of attacks and retaliation risks fueling uncontrollable escalation in the Middle East, which is in no one’s interests,” These countries are still worried.