Israel-Hezbollah latest: Israel expands ground invasion of Lebanon amid fresh wave of airstrikes in Beirut
Israel has pushed into south-west Lebanon after days of fighting on the eastern side of the country
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The Israeli military has pusher further into southern Lebanon as Beirut was rocked by a fresh wave of airstrikes overnight.
Israeli troops have moved into south-west Lebanon after nine days of focusing on the eastern side of the border - where Israel invaded on 30 September.
The 146th reservist division will carry out a “localised” ground operation alongside an artillery brigade against Hezbollah militants in the area, as up to 1.2million people have been displaced across Lebanon.
It comes as Beirut’s southern suburbs were rocked by fresh Israeli airstrikes overnight, with Israeli forces claiming it killed senior Hezbollah commander Suhail Hussein Husseini.
If confirmed, the death of Suhail Hussein Husseini would be the latest in a string of Israel’s assassinations of leaders and commanders of Hezbollah and its ally Hamas.
More than 2,080 have been reported killed in total, and a further 9,869 wounded, since Israel began its bombing operations in Lebanon last month.
On Monday, Israeli citizens marked the anniversary of Hamas’s deadly 7 October attacks, during which 1,205 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage. Of those, 101 remain in Gaza.
Nearly 42,000 Palestinians have since been killed by Israel’s retaliatory air and ground attacks, according to the Gazan health ministry.
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Israel state ceremony performs dramatisation of moment October 7 attack begins
A dramatisation of the moment the October 7 attack began was performed at an official Israeli state memorial on the first anniversary.
Video played during the pre-recorded ceremony displayed the date as 7 October 2023 and the time as 6am.
Women in white dresses danced to heavy music before screaming was heard and gunfire sounds played.
Later in the sequence, the dancers fell to the floor.
On Monday, Israel marked one year since Hamas‘ attack, during which the group killed around 1,200 people and took 251 more hostage in Gaza, 101 of which remain in the enclave.
Nearly 42,000 Palestinians have since been killed by Israel’s retaliatory air and ground attack in Gaza, according to the local, Hamas-run health ministry.
Israel state ceremony performs dramatisation of moment October 7 attack begins
A dramatisation of the moment the October 7 attack began was performed at an official Israeli state memorial on the first anniversary. Video played during the pre-recorded ceremony displayed the date as 7 October 2023 and the time as 6am. Women in white dresses danced to heavy music before screaming was heard and gunfire sounds played. Later in the sequence, the dancers fell to the floor. On Monday, Israel marked one year since Hamas' attack, during which the group killed around 1,200 people and took 251 more hostage in Gaza, 101 of which remain in the enclave. Nearly 42,000 Palestinians have since been killed by Israel’s retaliatory air and ground attack in Gaza, according to the local, Hamas-run health ministry.
Israeli military ‘takes Hezbollah outpost'
The Israeli military’s Golani Brigade has claimed to have taken control of a Hezbollah outpost overlooking northern Israel.
The compound, in the southern Lebanese village of Maroun El Ras, is just north of the Israel-Lebanon blue line.
“The Hezbollah combat compound included a residential building and an olive grove, where a launcher, loaded and ready to fire at communities in northern Israel, was found,” the Israeli military said.
It also claimed a stockpile of weapons including guns, camouflage nets, rocket launchers and anti-tank missiles were found at the outpost.
Around 20 Hezbollah rockets fire at Israel
Around 20 Hezbollah rockets have been fired across northern Israel over the last hour, the Israeli military said.
A number of projectiles were intercepted. Fallen projectiles were identified in the area, the Israeli military added.
Lebanon situation getting worse every day, EU warns
The situation in Lebanon is getting worse by the day, the European Union’s foreign chief Josep Borrell told the European Parliament on Tuesday, adding a ceasefire should be achieved.
According to figures, some 20 per cent of the Lebanese population had been forced to move amid the conflict, he said.
Up to 1.2million people have been displaced across Lebanon and more than 2,080 have been reported killed in total, and a further 9,869 wounded, according to Lebanese authorities.
Why is Israel invading Lebanon?
Israel has claimed the invasion is necessary to destroy Hezbollah’s bases of operations and push the militia out of southern Lebanon, stopping the group’s near-daily rocket fire into northern Israel since 7 October.
Head of the Israeli military’s Northern Command Major General Ori Gordin wants to clear Hezbollah from the border to create a “buffer zone,” which would allow the evacuated Israelis to return home.
Since the Israeli offensive of Lebanon began last month 2,080 people have been killed and a further 9,869 wounded, according to Lebanese health authorities.
Around 1.2million Lebanese people have been displaced across Lebanon since last October - 90 per cent of which have been over the last few weeks, according to the UN.
On the ground: NHS medics volunteering in Gaza warn of catastrophic collapse of healthcare system
NHS medics volunteering in Gaza have warned of the “catastrophic” collapse of the healthcare system one year into the war, as they described trying to treat the wounded and sick amid shortages of everything from paracetamol to surgical gauze.
Nurses and doctors working in field hospitals run by the British medical charity UK-Med have called for immediate delivery of supplies and for health workers and facilities to be protected, as the world marks the grim milestone of one year at war.
UK-Med, which runs two facilities in the centre of Gaza, has treated 200,000 people and sees around 1,400 patients a day, but is struggling with overwhelming demand and a punishing lack of supplies.
NHS medics volunteering in Gaza warn of catastrophic collapse of healthcare system
‘The situation is extremely desperate... humanitarian access and supplies remain severely restricted,’ the medics tell Bel Trew
Pictured: Aftermath of Israeli airstrikes on Beirut
Hamas will rise like the phoenix, says top member
Hamas’s leader-in-exile Khaled Meshaal said the Palestinian group would rise again and that it continues to recruit fighters and manufacture weapons.
Israel says Hamas no longer exists as an organised military structure and has been reduced to guerrilla tactics. Hamas fighters account for at least a third of the roughly 17,000 Palestinian deaths in Gaza, according to Israeli officials.
“Palestinian history is made of cycles,” Mr Meshaal, 68, a senior figure under overall leader Yahya Sinwar, told Reuters.
“We go through phases where we lose martyrs and we lose part of our military capabilities, but then the Palestinian spirit rises again, like the phoenix, thanks to god.”
Pictured: Displaced children across Lebanon
Beirut rocked by fresh airstrikes
Beirut’s southern suburbs were rocked by fresh Israeli airstrikes overnight, with Israeli forces claiming it killed senior Hezbollah commander Suhail Hussein Husseini.
If confirmed, the death of Suhail Hussein Husseini would be the latest in a string of Israel’s assassinations of leaders and commanders of Hezbollah and its ally Hamas.
More than 2,080 have been reported killed in total, and a further 9,869 wounded, since Israel began its bombing operations in Lebanon last month.
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