Middle East conflict: Israel reports attack on Hezbollah headquarters in Beirut

Israel’s army says it has bombed the headquarters of the Shiite Hezbollah militia in a suburb of the Lebanese capital Beirut. Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said it was located under residential buildings. Thick clouds of smoke could be seen over Beirut and the shock waves could be felt in large parts of the city.

Hagari spoke of a targeted attack. According to unconfirmed media reports, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was the target of the attack. Acting Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati ordered the authorities to “mobilize all affected units.” This is necessary, “particularly given the reports of a large number of victims,” ​​he said. The renewed aggression proves once again that the Israeli enemy is disregarding all international efforts to achieve a ceasefire.

Immediately before the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared at the UN general debate in New York. He did not respond to specific demands for a three-week ceasefire made by the USA, Germany and other countries – and instead spoke of further attacks.

Multiple explosions, massive damage

According to eyewitnesses, the massive airstrike in Beirut occurred in the densely populated suburb of Haret Hreik, near the international airport. Videos on social media showed clouds of smoke rising into the sky after several explosions in various locations.

In his speech in New York, Netanyahu said: “We will continue to pressure Hezbollah until all of our objectives are achieved.” He had previously said the attacks would continue until Israelis evacuated from the northern border could safely return home. Around 60,000 residents of towns near the border have fled the almost daily shelling by Hezbollah. The trigger for this was the start of the Gaza war almost a year ago. Hezbollah says its attacks are acting in solidarity with the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu further said that as long as Hezbollah chooses the path of war, “Israel has no other choice.” His country must defend itself against “savage murderers” who wanted to destroy it and the entire Western civilization.

The US government emphasized that the call for a ceasefire had been coordinated with Israel. The statement was “not simply written in a vacuum,” said White House communications director John Kirby, “but also with Israel itself.”

Hezbollah had previously continued its rocket fire on cities and towns in Israel. According to their own statements, the Shiite militia allied with Iran wants to support Hamas in the Gaza Strip in the fight against Israel and achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza war. Israel shot back on a similar scale for a long time. However, the country has massively increased its airstrikes in Lebanon this week. According to authorities, around 700 people were already dead in Lebanon before the attacks in Beirut on Friday.

Tehran warns: We will not remain indifferent

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the international community of ineptitude and failure in view of the ceasefire that has not yet been achieved. He warned that his country would not remain indifferent in the event of an all-out war. He also called for arms and trade sanctions against Israel.

Netanyahu strongly warned Tehran against intervening in the conflict. “If you attack us, we will attack you,” he said in New York. “There is no place in Iran that the long arm of Israel cannot reach. And that applies to the entire Middle East.”

Iran is considered Hezbollah’s most important supporter. However, observers believe it is unlikely that Tehran will come to its aid in the event of war. Iran’s new government under President Massoud Peseschkian is struggling with a severe economic crisis and is trying to reconnect with the West.

Escape from one crisis area to another

The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah is forcing tens of thousands of people to flee. The United Nations said that significantly more than 30,000 people have fled Lebanon to Syria since the serious Israeli attacks began. About 80 percent of the refugees are Syrian citizens, the others are predominantly Lebanese, said Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, representative of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Syria. “Both Syrians and Lebanese are moving from a country at war to a country that has faced crises and conflict for 13 years.”

According to the UN, there were already 110,000 internally displaced people in Lebanon before the recent escalation caused by the conflict with Israel. Since last week, 118,000 have been added, said Imran Riza, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Beirut.

Rockets on Tiberias, Haifa and other towns

Hezbollah said it fired rockets at the Israeli city of Tiberias and other towns on the Sea of ​​Galilee. The Israeli army said most of the ten projectiles were intercepted. One man was slightly injured by falling rocket debris.

According to the Israeli army, four drones flying in from Lebanon were shot down near the border town of Rosh Hanikra on the Mediterranean. The port city of Haifa had previously been attacked with rockets. The air force attacked the launch pad of these rockets and dozens of other Hezbollah targets.

What Israel wants to achieve and what Hezbollah is about

Israel wants its citizens to be able to live in peace and security in the north of the country in the long term. The government has long demanded that Hezbollah withdraw from the de facto Israeli-Lebanese border beyond the Litani River, in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1701 passed years ago.

Hezbollah denies Israel – just like Hamas and Iran – the right to exist. The Israeli military fears that in the event of a ceasefire, Hezbollah could recover from the heavy blows of the past few days and weeks and regroup.

Hezbollah, in turn, does not want to stop using its weapons until the “aggressions against the Palestinian people in Gaza have stopped,” as Hezbollah boss Nasrallah repeatedly emphasizes. Since the fighting broke out on Nasrallah’s self-proclaimed “Solidarity Front”, hundreds of Hezbollah members have already died. It would be tantamount to a “historic defeat” if the militia were to move away from this position now – after almost a year of constant fighting, writes the think tank International Crisis Group.