(Beirut) Calls for foreign nationals to leave Lebanon are increasing amid fears of a military escalation between Iran and its allies on the one hand and Israel on the other, which the international community is trying to prevent.
As Iran and its allies await a response to the assassinations of the leader of Hamas and the military chief of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, diplomatic efforts are intensifying. French President Emmanuel Macron and Jordanian King Abdullah II called on Sunday to avoid an escalation “at all costs.”
The Lebanese Ministry of Health said on Sunday night that an “Israeli enemy strike” had killed two people in Houla, in the south of the country.
Earlier, the Israeli army announced that it had “identified a Hezbollah terrorist entering a military structure” in the area, and had “struck” it. Hezbollah reported the death of two of its fighters, without specifying where they were killed.
PHOTO SAEED KHAN, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
A woman holds a poster of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in his Tehran residence, during a pro-Palestinian protest in Sydney, Australia, on August 4.
Cross-border violence has left 547 people dead, including 115 civilians, in Lebanon since Hamas attacked Israel in October, according to an AFP tally.
On the Israeli side, sirens sounded again early Monday in Upper Galilee, due to an air attack “from Lebanon”, the army said, reporting two soldiers injured.
Iran, the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and Hezbollah have blamed Israel for the death Wednesday of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in his Tehran residence. The day before, Israel had claimed responsibility for a strike that killed the Lebanese movement’s military leader, Fouad Shokr, near Beirut.
Israel has not commented on the attack on Ismail Haniyeh, but has vowed to destroy Hamas after the movement’s unprecedented October 7 attack on its soil, which sparked the devastating war in Gaza.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has threatened Israel with “severe punishment” and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah with “open battle on all fronts,” with Hamas and Yemen’s Houthi rebels also vowing to retaliate.
Opposite, the Israeli Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant affirmed Sunday that the army was “ready to react quickly or to attack.”
But “for now,” the internal defense policy “has not changed,” army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told reporters in response to “rumors” about the country being placed on alert.
The United States has beefed up its military presence there with more warships and fighter jets. “At the same time, we are working to de-escalate the situation diplomatically,” said Jon Finer, deputy national security adviser.
“Strong concern”
As Lebanon risks being at the forefront of an escalation, Sweden, the United States, Britain, France, Jordan and Saudi Arabia have called on their nationals to leave the country. Paris has also asked French citizens living in Iran to “leave temporarily”.
For its part, Canada called on its nationals on Saturday – already asked since the end of June to leave Lebanon – to “avoid” going to Israel.
The British embassy announced on Sunday that it was temporarily withdrawing the families of its staff from Beirut.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, whose country is a key partner of Washington, met in Tehran with his counterpart and the president, Massoud Pezeshkian.
Meeting via videoconference, the G7 foreign ministers expressed their “strong concern” about the situation in the Middle East, according to Italian diplomacy.
PHOTO JALAA MAREY, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Rockets fired from southern Lebanon are intercepted by the Israeli “Iron Dome” air defense system over the Upper Galilee region of northern Israel on August 4.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed in a telephone conversation with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Chia al-Soudani “the importance for all parties to take steps” to calm the situation, according to his spokesperson.
Several airlines have suspended flights to Beirut, including Germany’s Lufthansa until August 12, and Air France and Transavia until Tuesday inclusive. Kuwait Airways will halt its rotations from Monday, and Qatar Airways has cancelled its night flights to Beirut until Monday.
Lufthansa has also suspended flights to Tel Aviv until August 8.
At Beirut airport, there are long queues and uncertainty for passengers.
“Terrorist” attack in Tel Aviv
The war in Gaza has led to the opening of fronts against Israel by Hezbollah and the Houthis, who together with Hamas and Iraqi armed groups form what Iran calls the “axis of resistance” against Israel.
On Saturday, Hezbollah claimed to have targeted the northern Israeli town of Beit Hillel with dozens of rockets for the first time, and the Israeli army responded with strikes in southern Lebanon, an almost daily exchange on the Israeli-Lebanese border since October 8.
PHOTO GIL COHEN-MAGEN, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Police officers and first responders gather at the scene of a stabbing attack in Holon, a southern suburb of Tel Aviv, on August 4.
Near Tel Aviv, in the suburbs of Holon, a “terrorist knife attack” carried out by a resident of the occupied West Bank, according to the police, killed a 66-year-old woman and an octogenarian. The assailant was “neutralized” according to the same source.
Deadly Israeli strikes in Gaza
At the same time, the Israeli army is continuing its offensive against the Palestinian territory of Gaza, which is ravaged and threatened with famine according to the UN.
On Saturday, the Civil Defense announced that an Israeli strike on two schools in Gaza City (north) sheltering displaced people had left at least 30 dead, “mainly women and children”. The Israeli army confirmed having struck this school complex, which it said housed a Hamas command center.
Before the strike on the Gaza City school complex, the Civil Defense and the Red Crescent had reported 16 Palestinians killed by Israeli shelling in Jabalia (north) and Deir al-Balah (center).
PHOTO OMAR AL-QATTAA, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Palestinian rescuers extinguish a fire in a building damaged following an Israeli shelling that hit a school compound in northern Gaza City, August 3.
Hamas, which seized power in Gaza in 2007, is considered a terrorist group by Israel, the United States and the European Union.
Its October 7 attack 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 have died, according to the army.
The Israeli offensive in Gaza has so far killed 39,583 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.