[ベイルート １日 ロイター] – The Israeli military announced in the early hours of the 1st that it had begun a limited ground operation against the Shiite Islamic group Hezbollah’s strongholds in Lebanon’s southern border area.
The military said in a statement that the attack was a “limited, localized and targeted ground attack based on accurate intelligence” targeting Hezbollah strongholds in villages close to the border and posing an immediate threat to communities in northern Israel. He said he had launched an attack. The air force and defense artillery units are supporting the ground forces.
Residents of the Lebanese border town of Aita al-Shaab said they heard heavy shelling, helicopters and drones.
According to Palestinian security officials, the Israeli army’s attack in the early hours of the 1st targeted Mounir Maqda, a leader of the Lebanon-based al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a member of the Palestinian Authority’s mainstream Fatah group.
A building in Ein Hilwa, Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp near Sidon in southern Lebanon, was attacked.
Security sources said the attack occurred overnight on the southern outskirts of the capital, Beirut. The Israeli military had warned nearby residents to evacuate a building south of Beirut, saying it contained a Hezbollah facility. A Reuters reporter saw a flash of light and a series of explosions about an hour after the warning.
On October 1, the Israeli military announced that it had launched a limited and targeted ground operation against Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon’s southern border area. This photo shows smoke rising from the southern suburbs of Beirut following the attack on the same day (2024 Reuters/Amr Abdallah Dalsh)
At least 95 people have been killed and 172 injured in Israeli attacks in the south of the country, the Bekaa plateau and Beirut in the past 24 hours, Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported in the early hours of the morning.
Israel has stepped up its attacks on the pro-Iranian group Hezbollah over the past two weeks, inflicting major damage on the group, including the death of supreme leader Nasrallah in an airstrike on the 28th.
Hezbollah’s No. 2, Naim Qasem, gave his first public speech after Nasrallah’s death on the 30th, saying he was ready to counter Israel’s ground invasion. He said rocket attacks continued as far as 150 kilometers into Israeli territory.
The White House and the US State Department did not respond to requests for comment on Israel’s ground operations.
On the 30th, US President Biden urged restraint on Israel’s military operations against Hezbollah, saying, “If they stop, I’ll be satisfied.” He also reiterated his belief that there should be an immediate cease-fire.
Israeli forces also carried out airstrikes on Lebanon’s neighboring Syrian capital Damascus, killing three civilians and injuring nine others, Syrian state media reported on the 1st, citing military sources.
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