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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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.
Israeli military pushes further into Lebanon
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 division will carry out a “limited, localised, targeted” ground operation against Hezbollah militants in the area, Israel claimed, as up to 1.2million people have been displaced across Lebanon.
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Concern over proximity of Israeli tanks near Irish post in Lebanon
The presence of Israel tanks near an outpost where some Irish troops are stationed is “concerning”, the UN’s mission in Lebanon said.
The UN mission said the position of IDF troops “immediately adjacent“ to the peacekeeping post was “an extremely dangerous development”.
The mission “is deeply concerned by recent activities by the IDF [Israel Defence Forces] immediately adjacent to the Mission’s position 6-52, southeast of Marun ar Ras (Sector West), inside Lebanese territory,” it said in a statement.
“The IDF has been repeatedly informed of this ongoing situation through regular channels,” the mission said.
“UNIFIL urgently reminds all actors of their obligations to protect UN personnel and property.”
Iran says Quds force commander is alive and well
Ismail Ghaani, the commander of the overseas arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, is alive and well, his Deputy Brigadier General Iraj Masjedi said, dismissing speculations about his death.
Mr Ghani, who leads the Guard’s overseas military service, has been missing from the public eye for more than a week amid speculations about his death in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon.
His deputy told local reporters yesterday that there was no need for the Guards to release any official statement to shut down the rumours, according to the Financial Times.
“He’s healthy and well and doing his job,” Big Gen Masjedi said of Mr Ghaani, while declining to provide further details.
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