By Nadine Osman
London (The Muslim News): In a devastating escalation of violence, Israeli airstrikes have continued to wreak havoc across both southern Lebanon and Gaza, with the Lebanese Health Ministry reporting at least 136 dead and thousands injured within the last 24 hours. Among the casualties, 63 were killed and 92 injured in a fresh wave of Israeli strikes on southern and eastern regions of the country. On Sunday, an airstrike on the town of Ain Ed Delb, east of Sidon, resulted in 45 deaths and left 70 more wounded.
The violence extended beyond the southern suburbs of Beirut, with three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine being killed in Israel’s first airstrike on the Kola area of the capital. In the eastern region of Hermel, 12 more lives were lost, and six medics were killed when Israeli jets struck a civil defence centre in the western Bekaa Valley.
Since September 23, Israel has relentlessly targeted Hezbollah [Hizbullah] strongholds across Lebanon. The Lebanese Health Ministry now reports over 900 deaths and more than 2,700 injuries. Several high-ranking Hezbollah commanders, including its leader Hassan Nasrallah, have been killed.
Hezbollah’s deputy leader, Naim Qassem, expressed the group’s readiness for an Israeli ground invasion, pledging that the group would soon appoint a new leader.
Meanwhile, Israel’s position remains firm. Foreign Minister Israel Katz stated that Tel Aviv will only agree to a ceasefire if Hezbollah is disarmed and pushed north of the Litani River. Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, has indicated a willingness to comply with UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which calls for the Lebanese army’s deployment south of the river.
As the conflict rages on in Lebanon, Gaza continues to suffer under relentless Israeli bombardment. On Monday, Israeli airstrikes killed at least 12 Palestinians, including a family of four, in the central city of Beir al-Balah. Drone strikes in Khan Younis claimed the lives of three more, and another person was killed in Israeli shelling of the al-Mawasi area west of Rafah, designated by Israel as a “safe zone” for displaced civilians. Several more airstrikes targeted neighbourhoods in Gaza City and the northern town of Beit Lahia, adding to the mounting death toll, which includes the recovery of three bodies in Gaza City.
Since the conflict began on October 7 last year, triggered by a Hamas cross-border attack, the Gaza Strip has witnessed devastating losses.
Indiscriminate Israeli bombings have killed over 41,600 people, predominantly women and children and a further 96,200 injured. The ongoing Israeli offensive has displaced nearly the entire population of Gaza, intensifying a humanitarian crisis with severe shortages of food, clean water, and medical supplies.
Despite international calls for a ceasefire, including a UN Security Council resolution, the violence shows no sign of abating, fuelling fears of a wider regional conflict.
[Photo: Smoke rises at Marjayoun plain as Israeli attacks continue at Abu al-Saki, Hiyam & Kafr Kila regions in Lebanon on 30 09, 2024.
Photojournalist: Ramiz Dallah/ AA]
