Israeli forces fire at UN position, 22 killed in Beirut strike

Lebanon PM demands UN resolution on ceasefire with Israel

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FE Team | Published: October 11, 2024 22:52:50

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BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, Oct 11 (Agencies): Israeli forces fired at a watchtower used by UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon on Friday, injuring two, a UN source said, the third day in a row peacekeepers have reported Israeli fire at their positions as Israel wages war on Hezbollah.
Renewing his call for a ceasefire, Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said a strike in the heart of Beirut late on Thursday had killed 22 civilians and wounded another 139.
The target was a senior Hezbollah official - Wafiq Safa - who survived, according to three security sources.
The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah erupted one year ago when the Iranian-backed group opened fire in support of Palestinian militant group Hamas at the start of the Gaza war.
It has intensified dramatically in recent weeks, with Israel bombing Beirut's southern suburbs, the south and the Bekaa Valley, killing many of Hezbollah's top leaders, and sending ground troops into areas of southern Lebanon, and Hezbollah firing rockets deeper into Israel.
Thursday night's airstrike marked the third in Beirut itself since Israel went on the offensive on Sept. 23.
At a Beirut hospital that received dozens of wounded, a man sat in a chair in a corridor, his knees covered in white bandages, and his face and body covered with wounds.
"The situation ... I don't even know how to describe it. We received three martyrs ... in pieces," said Wael al-Jaroush, head of the Makassed hospital's medical department.
"This is the first time we've received such a large number of injured from a strike in Beirut."
Among the dead was a family of eight, including three children, who had evacuated from the south, according to a security source.
The UN source said the UNIFIL peacekeeper tower which came under Israeli fire on Friday is located at the force's main base in Naqoura. On Thursday, UNIFIL said another two peacekeepers were wounded when an Israeli tank fired at a watchtower at the same base, hitting it and causing them to fall.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said an escalation of conflicts in the Middle East is a serious threat to global security and everything must be done to avoid all-out war in Lebanon. He also condemned Israeli attacks that wounded UN personnel.
Meanwhile, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Friday urged the United Nations to pass a resolution calling for an "immediate" ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.
Mikati told reporters the foreign ministry would ask the UN Security Council to issue a resolution demanding a "full and immediate ceasefire" and that his government was committed to Resolution 1701 which was adopted in 2006 and called for the Lebanese army and peacekeepers to be the only armed forces deployed in the south of the country.
Hezbollah forges new command for crucial ground war after heavy Israeli blows
Hezbollah is preparing for a long war of attrition in south Lebanon, after Israel wiped out its top leadership, with a new military command directing rocket fire and the ground conflict, two sources familiar with its operations said.
Hezbollah has been diminished by three weeks of devastating Israeli blows - most notably the killing of its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. Friends and foes alike are now watching how effectively it resists Israeli troops that have crossed into Lebanon with the stated aim of driving it away from the border.
Iranian president says Israel, backed
by West, is 'killing innocent people'
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Friday that Israel should "stop killing innocent people", and that its actions in the Middle East were backed by the United States and the European Union.
Pezeshkian was speaking to a Russian state TV reporter on the sidelines of an international meeting in Turkmenistan.
Israel in recent weeks has sharply escalated its assault on Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, including by killing its top leaders, sending ground troops into southern Lebanon and bombing the capital Beirut.
An Israeli strike late on Thursday in the heart of Beirut killed 22 people and injured more than 100, Lebanese authorities said.
Israel says the operations in Lebanon aim to allow tens of thousands of its residents to return home after being forced to leave northern Israel due to Hezbollah rocket fire over the past year.
Erdogan says Gaza 'shame of humanity', calls for permanent ceasefire
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan renewed his attacks on Israel as he arrived in Tirana Thursday, the first stop of a Balkans tour that will also take him to Serbia.