As the Middle East braces for Israel’s response to Iran, the former continues to launch strikes and advance ground invasions across Lebanon. The Lebanese health ministry confirmed 37 deaths and 151 injuries from Israel’s renewed aerial attacks on Lebanon. The IDF aims to continue targeted attacks against Hezbollah in Beirut, the Bekaa Valley, and southern Lebanon.
Israel launched approximately 100 projectiles in overnight attacks, aimed at nearly 200 Hezbollah targets. On Thursday afternoon, Lebanese state media reported that Israeli airstrikes reached the southern suburbs of Beirut. This news came alongside confirmation from the IDF of a successful strike on Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters. The Israeli military has urged an additional 25 villages in southern Lebanon to evacuate as ground incursions advance, bringing the total evacuation to 76 villages as Israel progressed to open-fire combat earlier this week.
According to information passed on to CNN by an Israeli official, Thursday’s overnight attacks in Beirut targeted senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine. Safieddine is suspected to be one of Hasan Nasrallah’s possible successors after his assassination last week. It remains unclear if Thursday’s attacks struck Safieddine.
Waves of Israeli airstrikes also hit the Tulkarem refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, leading to 18 deaths confirmed by the Palestinian health ministry. “It is high time for the international community to put an end to these ongoing crimes, which have no parallel in contemporary history,” the office of the Palestinian Authority’s prime minister said in a statement following the recent attacks in West Bank.
