What to remember from Wednesday, September 25

The Israeli bombings in Lebanon have been the subject of many speeches at the UN General Assembly. For Emmanuel Macron, “there must not and cannot be war” in this country.

The Israeli army said on Wednesday evening, September 25, that it had struck “more than 2,000 terrorist targets” Hezbollah in Lebanon over the past three days, as cross-border firefights between the Lebanese Islamist movement and the Israeli army have intensified sharply. With more than 50 deaths reported by the end of the day, the toll of these bombings in 72 hours exceeds 550 victims in Lebanon, according to the country’s authorities. Enough to push the heads of state gathered in New York for the UN General Assembly to call for a ceasefire. Here are the main developments of the day.

Israeli army raises possibility of land “entry” into Lebanon

The Israeli army chief of staff has ordered soldiers to prepare for a possible “entrance” in Lebanon, during an exercise on the northern border, the IDF reported in a statement on Wednesday. “You can hear the planes here, we are attacking all day, both to prepare the area for the possibility of your entry, but also to continue to hit Hezbollah”General Herzi Halevi told members of an armored unit.

Pending a possible ground deployment, the Israeli army has announced that it will continue its bombings. “of great magnitude” in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley in the east, two strongholds of the Iran-backed Islamist movement, on the third day of massive strikes that have thrown between 90,000 and 500,000 Lebanese onto the roads, according to sources, many of them already displaced for the first time since October, the UN said.

Hezbollah fired a missile towards Tel Aviv

The pro-Iranian organization says it has targeted a Mossad site, the Israeli secret service, on the outskirts of Tel Aviv with a Qader-1 missile. This is a first, according to the Israeli army, which intercepted this missile and carried out new deadly air strikes against the Islamist movement in Lebanon, at a time when the international community fears a conflagration in the Middle East.

A new security objective set by Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday, September 25, that his country would use “the force” against Hezbollah in Lebanon until the return of the inhabitants of northern Israel, evacuated for several months because of the rocket fire in the region. “We are inflicting blows on Hezbollah that they could not imagine, we are doing it with force and with tricks. I can promise you one thing: we will not stop until they return home.”the Israeli prime minister said in a video.

Hezbollah official’s death confirmed

Hezbollah confirmed on Wednesday that one of its military leaders, Ibrahim Mohammed Kobeissi, was killed Tuesday in an Israeli airstrike. However, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday morning that the recent deaths of Hezbollah commanders in Lebanon could not put an end to the “on your knees” the Islamist movement, allied with Tehran and mainly based in southern Lebanon.

Emmanuel Macron called for de-escalation in Lebanon

“There must not, there cannot be war in Lebanon,” declared the French president before the United Nations in New York on Wednesday evening. “We strongly call on Israel to stop the escalation in Lebanon and on Hezbollah to stop the shooting”he said. Regarding the war in the Gaza Strip, which “has lasted too long” according to Emmanuel Macron, the extremely heavy human toll, established at 41,495 dead on Wednesday by the Hamas Health Ministry, is a “scandal for humanity”he denounced. “This war must end and a ceasefire must be declared as soon as possible.”

On the sidelines of his speech, The French president spoke with his American counterpart, Joe Biden, to discuss “efforts to achieve a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon and avoid a wider war”according to the White House.