southern Beirut suffers the most intense bombardments since the start of the war

INTERNATIONAL – A red sky in the middle of the night. The southern suburbs of Beirut were targeted by a deluge of at least seventeen Israeli strikes on the evening of Wednesday October 23, which caused a huge explosion in the Lebanese capital. According to the Lebanese news agency Ani, these are the most significant bombings in this area since the start of the war between Israel and the pro-Iranian Islamist movement Hezbollah a month ago.

Minutes before the strikes, the Israeli army issued a warning Wednesday evening calling on residents of neighborhoods in the southern suburbs to evacuate their homes, explaining that new strikes would target Hezbollah. in the near future ». “You must immediately evacuate these buildings and those adjacent to them and stay at least 500 meters away”Arabic-language army spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote on X, alongside a map showing the buildings to be targeted.

The strikes carried out this Wednesday evening caused several explosions, as you can see below. According to Ani, six buildings were destroyed in the Laylaki district alone. The offices of the pro-Iranian television channel Al-Mayadeen were also hit.

An Israeli bombardment also targeted the Jnahh neighborhood in the south of the capital, without there being any warning. This strike killed one person and injured five others, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.

In the morning, Israel had already bombed Tyre, in southern Lebanon, forcing some of the inhabitants of this coastal city, an ancient Phoenician and Roman city with a rich archaeological heritage, to flee, where streets were devastated. “The whole city shook”confided Rana, a resident who refused to give her last name, when these strikes hit “ the heart of Tire ».

Three Lebanese soldiers killed during evacuation of wounded

The Lebanese army also indicated on Thursday that three of its soldiers had been killed by Israeli fire in southern Lebanon, not far from the border. “The Israeli enemy targeted members of the Lebanese army in the vicinity of the village of Yater, (in the region of) Bint Jbeil (south), while they were carrying out an operation to evacuate wounded, this which led to the death of three martyrs including an officer”indicated the Lebanese army in a press release.

Israeli forces said Thursday they were continuing their ground raids against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon. The army said it struck more than 160 Hezbollah targets and killed 20 militants over the past day.

These new attacks come at a time when an international conference on Lebanon opens this Thursday in Paris, in the presence of 70 countries and 15 international organizations, whose priority will be to respond to the UN appeal for funds to aid of more than 400 million dollars for displaced people.