Israel continued its offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon on Wednesday, September 25. For the third consecutive day, new IDF bombings hit the south of the country, according to the Lebanese news agency NNA, but also the region of Baalbek, one of Hezbollah’s strongholds located in the east, according to the pro-Iranian movement’s channel and other Lebanese media. In response, Hezbollah claims to have fired a ballistic missile at the headquarters of Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence service, in the suburbs of Tel Aviv. “The Islamic Resistance launched a Qader 1 ballistic missile at 6:30 a.m. [5h30 heure de Paris] Wednesday”Hezbollah said in a statement. The Israeli army did not immediately comment on the reports. This new escalation of violence in the Middle East has raised concerns among the international community. Follow our live coverage.
An emergency meeting at the UN. The United Nations Security Council is due to hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday at the request of France. Echoing other leaders around the world, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, said he feared “a full-fledged war” and that “Lebanon becomes like Gaza.” In an interview on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, he described the situation as “triple tragedy” : “We already have Gaza, we already have the West Bank, so we have two theaters of operations that have become active front lines.” And now, “we also have Lebanon”, he said.
Hezbollah official killed. Lebanon’s Iran-backed Shiite movement confirmed on Wednesday that one of its military leaders, Ibrahim Mohammed Kobeissi, was killed in an Israeli bombing raid on the southern suburbs of the capital, which left a total of six dead and 15 wounded on Tuesday, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Rockets fired at Israel. In response, Hezbollah fired “about 300 rockets” on Israeli territory, “injuring six civilians and soldiers, most of them slightly”according to the Israeli army. The Islamist movement claimed responsibility for 18 attacks, including against the headquarters of the Israeli army’s northern command near Safed and a naval base south of Haifa, the major northern port.
Nearly 500 000 displaced people in Lebanon. The number of displaced Lebanese is approaching half a million in a few days, the Lebanese Foreign Minister announced Tuesday evening. In addition, the evacuation of foreign nationals is being prepared. The British government announced Tuesday evening the dispatch of troops to Cyprus.