Israeli bombings on Beirut, encirclement in Gaza

(Beirut) Violent Israeli aerial bombardments on the southern suburbs of Beirut terrorized residents of the Lebanese capital on Sunday, the eve of the first anniversary of the Palestinian Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.

After weakening Hamas during a devastating offensive still underway in the besieged Gaza Strip, Israel shifted most of its operations in mid-September to the Lebanese front, opened by Hezbollah in support of the Palestinian Islamist movement for a year. year.

But on Sunday in the north of the Gaza Strip, Israel announced it was “surrounding” the Jabaliya area, where Hamas was “reconstructing its forces”. According to Gaza Civil Defense, 17 people including nine children died there.

And in the center of the Palestinian territory in Deir al-Balah, at least 26 people were killed in strikes on a mosque and a school welcoming displaced people, according to the Islamist movement’s Ministry of Health.

After Iranian missile attacks on Israel on Tuesday, the second attack of its kind in six months, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday threatened Iran, its sworn enemy supporting Hamas and Hezbollah, with similar strikes in Gaza and the Lebanon.

Tehran claimed to be “ready” to retaliate according to the Tasnim agency, citing a military source, and the Iranian Oil Minister visited a key oil site in the country, amid concerns about Israeli retaliation.

On the Lebanese front, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited troops along the border, as the Israeli army shelled Lebanon.

“A year ago, we suffered a terrible blow,” he said in reference to the unprecedented Hamas attack on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023. “In the twelve months that followed, we have transformed reality from one extreme to the other. The whole world is amazed by the blows you deal to our enemies,” he added. “It is together that we will fight and together we will win. »

Israel “encircles” northern Gaza

The official Lebanese news agency ANI reported more than “30 Israeli strikes” overnight on several areas of the southern suburbs, a stronghold of Hezbollah, and an AFP correspondent reported strikes in the east of the country. .

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati called on the world to “put pressure on Israel” for a ceasefire, while according to Lebanese authorities, 23 people died on Saturday, a toll not including nighttime strikes.

“It was the most violent night we had ever experienced. There were so many bombings that we would have thought it was an earthquake,” Mehdi Zaïter, 60, told AFP, a greengrocer in the southern suburbs of Beirut, where the destruction was enormous, reported an AFP photographer. .

Around 500,000 students were displaced by Israeli army strikes, a senior official at the Lebanese Education Ministry told AFP on Sunday.

“There are 1.25 million students in Lebanese schools,” said Director General of Education Imad Achkar, and “40% of them have been displaced” by Israeli bombings, which have thrown the roads in total more than a million people.

The Israeli army indicated that it had “carried out a series of targeted strikes in the Beirut region on several weapons storage facilities and sites” of Hezbollah, and said it “continued to operate to dismantle the capabilities” of the movement.

Hezbollah, for its part, assured that it had targeted Israeli forces with shells during the night after an infiltration attempt in the Blida area in southern Lebanon.

He also claimed responsibility for rocket attacks on a group of Israeli soldiers during the “evacuation of wounded and dead soldiers” in the border region of Manara, as well as two drone attacks against Israeli military bases in northern Israel. Israel.

In Gaza, the Israeli army announced “encircling” the area of ​​Jabaliya (North), where it believes that Hamas is rebuilding its capabilities, and having carried out airstrikes against “dozens of targets”, including storage sites of weapons.

She also said she would deploy additional troops near the Palestinian territory before the October 7 anniversary.

And in Syria, an Israeli air raid on an Iranian automobile factory in Homs (center) left three injured, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) and three trucks of humanitarian aid for the refugees who came of Lebanon were destroyed.

Back to school postponed in Lebanon

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to deliver a speech to the nation on Monday to commemorate the unprecedented Hamas attack on Israeli soil.

Stunning the entire country, it led to the death of 1,205 people, the majority civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures, including hostages who died or were killed in captivity in the Gaza Strip. Of the 251 people kidnapped that day, 97 remain hostages in Gaza, including 33 considered dead.

The Israeli offensive launched in retaliation on Gaza, where Hamas took power in 2007, caused the deaths of 41,870 people and ravaged the besieged territory, according to the latest report from the Hamas government’s Health Ministry, including Data is deemed reliable by the UN.

Israel says it wants to put an end to Hezbollah’s rocket attacks on northern Israel, to allow tens of thousands of displaced people to return to their homes in northern Israel and has killed its leader.

After a bombing on Beirut, a Hezbollah official told AFP on Friday that contact was “lost” with Hachem Safieddine, potential successor at the head of Hezbollah to Hassan Nasrallah, killed on September 27 in an Israeli raid.

Since October 2023, more than 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon, including more than a thousand since Israel launched massive strikes against Hezbollah on September 23, according to authorities. Around 1.2 million people have been displaced.

Lebanese Education Minister Abbas al-Halabi announced on Sunday that the start of the school year for 1.25 million students from kindergarten to high school would be postponed from October to November 4, “in the face of the danger that threatens” students and teachers.

Pressure for a ceasefire

The United States does not intend to relax its efforts towards a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and will continue to put “pressure” on Israel and the countries of the region in this direction, declares the vice-president Kamala Harris, according to excerpts released Sunday from a television interview.

Washington is working on “the need for an agreement that would free the hostages and establish a cease-fire. And we will not stop putting pressure on Israel and the region, including Arab leaders,” says the Democratic candidate for the White House on the show 60 minutes from the CBS channel.

Pope Francis on Sunday once again called for an “immediate ceasefire” in the Middle East as well as the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

“Tomorrow will be the first anniversary of the terrorist attack against the people of Israel for which I renew my support. Let us not forget that there are still many hostages in Gaza whose immediate release I request,” the Pope declared after the Angelus prayer.

“Since that day, the Middle East has been plunged into increasingly serious suffering, with destructive military actions that continue to strike the Palestinian population,” continued the Argentine pope.

“These are essentially innocent civilians, people who must receive the necessary humanitarian aid,” he assured.

“I demand an immediate ceasefire, on all fronts, including the Lebanese,” Francis continued.

French President Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed Sunday during a telephone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu France’s “unwavering commitment” to Israel’s security but also insisted on the urgency of a ceasefire. fire in Gaza and Lebanon, announced the Élysée.

“On the eve of the first anniversary of the Hamas terrorist offensive against Israel, he expressed the solidarity of the French people with the Israeli people,” said the French presidency. Emmanuel Macron also expressed “his conviction that the time for a ceasefire has now come”.