(Beirut) Concerns over a military escalation in the Middle East are growing as Lebanon’s Hezbollah said Saturday night it had launched “dozens” of rockets into northern Israel, in “solidarity” with Palestinians in Gaza and in response to Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon.
“The Islamic Resistance added the new settlement of Beit Hillel to its list of targets and bombarded it for the first time with dozens of rockets,” the pro-Iranian movement said in a statement.
Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah have blamed Israel for the death Wednesday of the leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement, Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in his Tehran residence. His assassination came hours after an attack claimed by Israel that killed the Lebanese military leader of the movement, Fouad Shokr, on Tuesday evening near Beirut.
Israel has not commented on Haniyeh’s assassination, but has vowed to destroy Hamas after an unprecedented attack by the movement on October 7 on its soil, which prompted a devastating response from the Israeli army in Gaza.
Iranian leaders, along with Lebanese Islamist movements Hezbollah and Palestinian Hamas, have vowed to avenge the deaths of Haniyeh and Shokr, with Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei threatening Israel with “severe punishment.”
PHOTO ALEX BRANDON, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Opposite, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed that his country was at a “very high level” of preparation for any scenario, “both defensive and offensive.”
In view of “the possibility of regional escalation by Iran and its partners,” the United States, Israel’s main ally, announced on Friday that it would “modify [leur] military device” to “enhance the protection of the United States armed forces” and “boost support for the defense of Israel.”
Asked by reporters at his Delaware beach resort whether he thought Iran would stay away, US President Joe Biden said: “I hope so, I don’t know.”
Calls to leave Lebanon
The US embassy urged its citizens to leave Lebanon by taking “any available plane ticket.”
” […] My message to British nationals is clear: leave Lebanon now,” declared Foreign Minister David Lammy.
Sweden also announced the closure of its embassy in Beirut and called on its nationals to leave.
Canada, for its part, called on its nationals to “avoid all travel to Israel due to the ongoing regional armed conflict and the unpredictable security situation.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by phone with his French and British counterparts. Blinken and Lammy reiterated the need to “prevent the spread of conflict” from Gaza, according to the State Department.
The war in Gaza has led to the opening of fronts against Israel by Hezbollah and the Yemeni Houthi rebels who, with Hamas and Iraqi armed groups, form what Iran calls the “axis of resistance” against Israel.
“Tel Aviv and Haifa”
PHOTO OREN ZIV, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
An Israeli Navy corvette patrols the port of Haifa.
Iran’s representation to the UN said it expected Hezbollah to strike “deep” into Israeli territory, and “not limit itself to military targets,” after the movement’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, spoke of an “inevitable response.”
According to the Revolutionary Guards, Iran’s ideological army, Ismail Haniyeh was killed by a “short-range projectile” fired at the building where he was after attending the Iranian president’s inauguration ceremony.
“The Zionist regime will certainly receive the answer to this crime at the appropriate time and place,” they warned.
Tel Aviv and Haifa “are among the targets,” the Iranian daily said. Kayhan.
The Houthis have also threatened Israel with a “military response.”
Meanwhile, the cycle of daily violence continues on the Israeli-Lebanese border. Hezbollah announced the death of two of its fighters in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon.
Suspension of air links
In a sign of growing concern, several airlines have suspended their connections to Beirut airport, including Germany’s Lufthansa until August 12.
Air France and Transavia have extended this measure until Tuesday inclusive, and Kuwait Airways will interrupt its rotations from Monday.
PHOTO JOSEPH EID, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
A plane flying over the public beach of Ramlet al-Baida in Beirut
“I am very, very scared, I am going to prepare to leave. I am afraid that I will not be able to leave this country and that I will die here,” says Yana Abdelrida, a 23-year-old student in Beirut.
17 dead in Gaza raid
Nearly 10 months after the start of the war in Gaza, the Israeli army is continuing its offensive there.
An Israeli strike on a school complex housing displaced people has killed 17 people in Gaza City, in the north of the besieged Palestinian territory, which is ravaged and threatened by famine according to the UN, according to the Civil Defense.
The army said the compound was used as a hideout by Hamas, the group that seized power in Gaza in 2007 and is considered a terrorist group by Israel, the United States and the European Union.
The Hamas attack on October 7 in southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data. Of the 251 people kidnapped at the time, 111 are still being held in Gaza, including 39 who died, according to the army.
The Israeli offensive in Gaza has so far killed 39,550 people, according to data from the Hamas-run Gaza government’s health ministry, which does not provide details on the number of civilian and combat deaths.
In Israel, thousands of Israelis demonstrated in Tel Aviv and other cities to call on Mr Netanyahu to accept a deal that would release the hostages.
(Re)read Stéphanie Grammond’s editorial: “Go home as soon as possible!”