One year of war | Netanyahu vows to defeat Israel’s ‘enemies’

(Jerusalem) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Sunday to defeat Israel’s “enemies” as his army bombed Hezbollah targets near Beirut, on the eve of the anniversary of the Hamas attack that sparked the war in the Gaza Strip.

After weakening Hamas during an offensive launched on October 7, 2023 in the Palestinian territory, Israel moved most of its operations to the northern front in mid-September, where Lebanese Hezbollah has been increasing its fire for a year. rockets towards Israel in support of the Palestinian Islamist movement.

But after a year of war which left tens of thousands dead and the failure of all attempts at mediation, the Israeli offensive also continues in the Gaza Strip, besieged and devastated, where the army announced on Sunday carry out operations in the north.

The army, on alert before the October 7 anniversary, said it was deploying additional troops near the Palestinian territory.

“Together we will fight and together we will win,” said Mr. Netanyahu, visiting soldiers stationed in northern Israel, along the Lebanese border.

“A year ago we suffered a terrible blow,” he said. “Over the next twelve months, we transformed reality from one extreme to the other. The whole world is amazed by the blows you deal to our enemies,” added the Prime Minister, who is due to deliver a speech to the nation on Monday.

Israeli Chief of Staff General Herzi Halevi said his country was waging “a long-term war” against Hamas and Hezbollah, but said Hamas’ military wing had been “defeated.”

The Palestinian movement, for its part, welcomed the “glorious” attack of October 7.

The war on these two fronts is accompanied by an escalation between Israel and Iran, an ally of Hamas and Hezbollah, which fired 200 missiles into Israeli territory on Tuesday, leading to new fears of a conflagration in the Middle East.

On Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant threatened Iran with strikes similar to those targeting Gaza and Lebanon. Tehran claimed to be “ready” to retaliate, according to the Tasnim agency, citing a military source.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday called for an end to the “shocking violence” and “bloodshed” in Gaza and Lebanon.

“The time for a ceasefire has now come,” French President Emmanuel Macron told Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday.

“The Most Violent Night”

On Sunday, Israel announced “encircling” the Jabaliya area, in the north of the Gaza Strip, claiming that Hamas was “replenishing its forces” there, and having carried out airstrikes against “dozens of targets”, including sites weapons storage.

According to Gaza Civil Defense, 17 people, including nine children, died there.

In the center of the 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 Hamas Ministry of Health.

In Lebanon, intense Israeli aerial bombardments on the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, have once again terrorized the capital’s residents.

After a campaign of massive airstrikes against Hezbollah, which dealt it very heavy blows and left hundreds dead across Lebanon, Israel launched ground operations against the Islamist movement in the south of the country on September 30, all by continuing its strikes, particularly on the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Israel has promised to fight the powerful Lebanese armed movement until “victory”, in order to allow the return to the border regions of the 60,000 inhabitants displaced by incessant rocket fire.

The Lebanese news agency ANI reported more than “30 Israeli strikes” overnight on the southern suburbs and an AFP correspondent reported strikes in the east of the country.

“It was the most violent night we had ever experienced. There was so much bombing that it looked like an earthquake,” Mehdi Zaïter, 60, a trader from the southern suburbs of Beirut, where the destruction was enormous, told AFP.

The Israeli army said it had “carried out a series of targeted strikes in the Beirut region on several weapons storage facilities and sites” of Hezbollah.

Hezbollah, for its part, claimed to have targeted Israeli forces with shells after an infiltration attempt in the Blida area, in southern Lebanon. He also claimed responsibility for rocket attacks against military bases in northern Israel.

Back to school postponed in Lebanon

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.

The government announced on Sunday that the start of the school year for 1.25 million students, from kindergarten to high school, would be postponed until November 4, “in the face of the danger that threatens” students and teachers.

In Israel, the October 7 attack resulted in the deaths 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, 33 of whom are considered dead.

The Israeli offensive launched in retaliation on Gaza, where Hamas took power in 2007, caused the deaths of 41,870 people, according to the latest report from the Hamas government’s Ministry of Health, whose data is considered reliable by the UN.

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.