(Beirut) The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) warned on Saturday of a “catastrophic” regional conflict, as the Israeli army fights on two fronts, Lebanese Hezbollah and Palestinian Hamas, allies of Iran.
What you need to know
- After pounding the Gaza Strip for nearly a year, Israeli forces began on September 30 what were initially presented as targeted ground incursions to repel fighters from the Islamist Hezbollah movement in Lebanon;
- Claiming to act in support of Hamas, pro-Iranian Hezbollah opened a front against Israel from southern Lebanon on October 8, 2023, the day after the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement in Israel which triggered the war in Gaza;
- After more than eleven months of cross-border clashes, the Israeli army has intensified its airstrikes against Hezbollah and is now engaged in a ground offensive, different from that carried out in the flat urban environment of Gaza.
Nine people died in new Israeli raids in Lebanon on Saturday, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. Hezbollah, for its part, announced that it had fired missiles at a military base near Haifa, the day after drone strikes on this large city in northern Israel.
These hostilities take place while from Friday evening to Saturday evening, Israel celebrates Yom Kippur, the day of “great atonement” during which borders, airports and most businesses are closed and public transport does not operate.
Moreover, the Israeli army announced that Lebanese Hezbollah had fired around 320 projectiles from Lebanon towards Israel during Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism.
The war in Gaza, triggered by an unprecedented attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023 on Israeli soil, and that in Lebanon are accompanied by an escalation between Israel and Iran, with Israeli leaders threatening to retaliate to an Iranian attack of missiles on 1er october.
PHOTO MOHAMMAD ZAATARI, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Lebanese army soldiers fan out around a building destroyed by an Israeli airstrike, in the village of Barja, south of Beirut, Lebanon, October 12, 2024.
After weakening Hamas in Gaza, Israel moved the war front to Lebanon in September, with the aim of moving Hezbollah away from the border areas and stopping its rocket fire to allow the return to the north of Israel of some 60,000 displaced inhabitants.
“Unacceptable”
The front opened in October 2023 by Hezbollah against Israel, in support of Hamas, transformed into open war on September 23 with the start of intense Israeli bombings on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon, killing in particular the leader of the movement Hassan Nasrallah.
The Israeli army then launched a ground offensive on September 30 in southern Lebanon.
The conflict between Hezbollah and Israel is not just a conflict that involves two countries. Very soon it could be a regional conflict with catastrophic impact for all.
Andrea Tenenti, UNIFIL spokesperson
Israel came under fire on Friday after UNIFIL stationed in southern Lebanon accused Israeli troops of “repeated” and “deliberate” firing on its positions.
Five peacekeepers were injured in 48 hours, according to UNIFIL, whose positions had suffered “a lot of damage”, said Mr. Tenenti.
US President Joe Biden asked Israel to no longer fire on UN forces in Lebanon, while his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron deemed it “unacceptable” that they were being targeted “deliberately by Israeli forces”.
The Israeli army said it fired in the direction of a “threat”.
Since October 2023, more than 2,100 people have been killed in Lebanon, including more than 1,200 since September 23, according to an AFP count based on official figures. The UN has recorded nearly 700,000 displaced people.
The Lebanese Health Ministry said nine people were killed Saturday in Israeli raids targeting the villages of Maaysra and Barja, north and south of Beirut, outside Hezbollah strongholds.
PHOTO HASSAN AMMAR, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rescue workers continue to search for victims at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut, Lebanon, October 12, 2024.
The Israeli army had previously ordered residents of southern Lebanon not to return to their homes.
“For your own protection, do not return home until further notice. […] Anyone heading south risks putting their life in danger,” army spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote in an Arabic message on X.
“Children are dying”
After the intensification on September 23 of Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon, a Hezbollah stronghold bordering northern Israel, tens of thousands of families fled this region, according to the UN.
On Saturday, the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, visiting Beirut, denounced the “crimes” of the “savage Zionist regime” in Lebanon.
PHOTO LOUISA GOULIAMAKI, REUTERS
A displaced girl cleans the sidewalk next to her family’s makeshift shelter in Beirut, Lebanon, October 12, 2024.
The day before, Iran repeated that it was “ready to defend its sovereignty”, while Israel promised its sworn enemy a “surprising” response to its attack on 1er october.
In the devastated and besieged Gaza Strip, the Israeli army continued its offensive, mainly shelling the region of Jabalia (North), where it accuses Hamas of seeking to reconstitute its forces.
According to local Civil Defense, 30 Palestinians were killed Friday in strikes on Jabalia.
Several bodies were taken to Gaza’s Al-Ahli hospital, according to AFP footage which showed a relative hugging the lifeless body of a child.
Not far away, a man is crying. “Children die, this girl is only two months old. What did she do to deserve this? »
Israel called on residents of an area near Jabalia to evacuate.
“They tell us to go south, but we don’t want to go there […] some tried to go, but they were shot at,” said Sami Asliya, a 27-year-old man who is in Gaza after leaving Jabalia.
PHOTO OMAR AL-QATTAA, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Palestinians flee areas north of Gaza City, October 12, 2024.
“While we were walking, there were injured people [sur la route]. My son had to carry an injured woman on his back,” says Oum Youssef Hossaniya, 70, who also comes from Jabalia.
The Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people in Israel, the majority civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures and including hostages who died or were killed in captivity in Gaza.
At least 42,175 Palestinians were killed, the majority civilians, in the Israeli offensive in Gaza, according to data from the Hamas government’s Health Ministry, deemed reliable by the UN.
Main Christian party calls for president to be elected for ceasefire
The leader of the Christian party of the Lebanese Forces (FL) estimated on Saturday that electing a president is the “only option” to achieve a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel and implement international resolutions providing for the disarmament of militias in Lebanon.
The country has been without a president for almost two years, due to differences in the Parliament supposed to elect him between the pro-Iranian Hezbollah and its adversaries, including the FL, the main Christian bloc.
“The emergency requires first and foremost a ceasefire to end the catastrophe our people are enduring,” Samir Geagea told a news conference.
“In the absence of serious international initiatives, our only option to achieve a ceasefire is to elect a President of the Republic,” added the Christian leader, close to Saudi Arabia and the United States. United.