Lebanon to complain to Security Council about ‘Israeli attacks on civilians’

Update Lebanon to complain to Security Council about ‘Israeli attacks on civilians’
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Firefighters douse a burning car after it was hit in a reported Israeli drone attack in Lebanon's southern area of Naqoura near the border with Israel amid ongoing cross-border tensions. ( AFP)
Update Lebanon to complain to Security Council about ‘Israeli attacks on civilians’
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Firefighters douse a burning car after it was hit in a reported Israeli drone attack in Lebanon's southern area of Naqoura near the border with Israel amid ongoing cross-border tensions. ( AFP)
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Updated 13 March 2024
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Lebanon to complain to Security Council about ‘Israeli attacks on civilians’

Lebanon to complain to Security Council about ‘Israeli attacks on civilians’
  • Israeli missile fired from drone targeted car near northern entrance of Tyre
  • It killed Hadi Mustafa, the logistics support officer of Al-Qassam Brigades

BEIRUT: Lebanon will file a complaint with the UN Security Council to protest about a series of Israeli attacks that have led to civilian casualties in residential areas, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

“The series of Israeli attacks considered the most violent on March 11 and 12 targeted civilians in residential areas around the city of Baalbek and nearby towns, which led to casualties and injuries among civilians,” a ministry statement said.

Abdullah Bou Habib, Lebanon’s caretaker foreign minister, said: “The concerning thing is that this escalation occurred in areas far from the southern Lebanese borders, indicating Israel’s desire to expand the conflict and drag the entire region into a war that may start with such aggressive acts and turn into a regional war sought by the Israeli government as a lifeline to escape its internal predicament.”

The ministry called on “the international community to pressure Israel to stop its escalating attacks.” It also demanded that members of the Security Council “condemn Israeli attacks against Lebanon and fully implement Resolution 1701 (2006) for permanent stability and peace along Lebanon’s southern borders.”

On Wednesday, Israel violated conflict rules for the third consecutive day, in place since Oct. 8, by conducting hostile operations in the area from south of the Litani River to the north.

This is part of Israel’s new approach to pursue and assassinate Hezbollah and Hamas leaders and members in Lebanon through targeted drone strikes.

In the morning, an Israeli missile fired from a drone targeted a car near the northern entrance of the city of Tyre, close to the Rashidiya Palestinian refugee camp.

It killed Hadi Mustafa, the logistics support officer of Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas in Lebanon, and a Syrian man on a motorcycle near Mustafa’s car.

Two other individuals were also wounded.

Hamas said in a statement that Mustafa’s mission was to “coordinate with the resistance forces in Lebanon.”

This is the fourth time that Israel has targeted Hamas personnel in Lebanon.

It is also the first time that the entrance of the city of Tyre, where thousands of displaced people from the southern border area have sought refuge, was targeted. The city is a meeting point for UNIFIL soldiers.

The Israeli army confirmed that it killed “Hamas official Hadi Ali Mustafa by bombing a car that was transporting him in Lebanon.”

A security source told Arab News: “The Israeli escalation that moved from southern Lebanon to Baalbek and the surrounding towns, then targeting the entrance to the city of Tyre, aims to break the equations to pursue members of Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad wherever they are.”

Israeli warplanes flew at a low altitude for the first time on Tuesday night over cities and villages in the south, breaking the sound barrier and causing a loud noise that terrified residents and resulted in broken windows in homes.

Israeli media reported that several rockets were launched from Lebanon toward the Golan Heights. Hezbollah has not claimed responsibility for the rockets.

The Israeli army continued its airstrikes and artillery fire on Lebanese border areas from Marjayoun Plain to the Labbouneh area in Naqoura, often striking houses.

The bombardment included the outskirts of Alama Al-Shaab, Al-Qantara, Kafraya, Al-Dahyra, Yarin and Yater, where a residential house was targeted and several people were slightly injured.


Gaza civil defense says 19 killed in Israeli strikes

Gaza civil defense says 19 killed in Israeli strikes
Updated 15 sec ago
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Gaza civil defense says 19 killed in Israeli strikes

Gaza civil defense says 19 killed in Israeli strikes
  • More than 40 others wounded in three massacres caused by Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip
Gaza City: Gaza’s civil defense agency said that 19 people, some of them children, were killed in Israeli air strikes and tank fire on Saturday.
Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that “19 people were killed and more than 40 others wounded in three massacres caused by Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip between midnight and this morning,” as well as by tank fire in Rafah in the territory’s south.

Lebanon says at least four killed in Israeli strike on central Beirut

Lebanon says at least four killed in Israeli strike on central Beirut
Updated 11 min 41 sec ago
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Lebanon says at least four killed in Israeli strike on central Beirut

Lebanon says at least four killed in Israeli strike on central Beirut
  • Footage broadcast by Lebanon’s Al-Jadeed station showed at least one destroyed building and several others badly damaged around it

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s health ministry said at least four people were killed in an Israeli strike in the heart of Beirut on Saturday, with rescue operations still ongoing.
“The Israeli enemy strike on Basta Al-Fawqa in Beirut killed four people and injured 23 others,” the ministry said in a statement, giving a preliminary toll. Rescuers were still “removing the rubble”, it added.

A powerful Israeli airstrike targeted central Beirut on Saturday, security sources said, shaking the Lebanese capital as Israel pressed its offensive against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.

Lebanon’s National News Agency said early on Saturday that the attack resulted in a large number of fatalities and injuries and destroyed an eight-story building. Footage broadcast by Lebanon’s Al-Jadeed station showed at least one destroyed building and several others badly damaged around it.

Israel used bunker buster bombs in the strike, leaving a deep crater, said the agency. Beirut smelled strongly of explosives hours after the attack.

The blasts shook the capital around 4 a.m. (0200 GMT), Reuters witnesses said. Security sources said at least four bombs were dropped in the attack.

It marked the fourth Israeli airstrike this week targeting a central area of Beirut, where the bulk of Israel’s attacks have targeted the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs. On Sunday an Israeli airstrike killed a Hezbollah media official in the Ras Al-Nabaa district of central Beirut.

Israel has killed several leaders of its long-time foe Hezbollah, Tehran’s most important ally in the region, in air strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Israel launched a major offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon in September, following nearly a year of cross-border hostilities ignited by the Gaza war, pounding wide areas of Lebanon with airstrikes and sending troops into the south.

The conflict began when Hezbollah opened fire in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas after it launched the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel.

A US mediator traveled to Lebanon and Israel this week in an effort to secure a ceasefire. The envoy, Amos Hochstein, indicated progress had been made after meetings in Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday, before going to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz.


Orchestra conductor mourns childhood home’s destruction in Israel’s southern Lebanon offensive

Orchestra conductor mourns childhood home’s destruction in Israel’s southern Lebanon offensive
Updated 23 November 2024
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Orchestra conductor mourns childhood home’s destruction in Israel’s southern Lebanon offensive

Orchestra conductor mourns childhood home’s destruction in Israel’s southern Lebanon offensive
  • Destruction of Lubnan Baalbaki’s childhood home in October came during Israel’s offensive in Lebanon
  • Baalbaki’s family home in Odaisseh, designed by his late father, held more than just personal memories

BEIRUT: Lubnan Baalbaki, the conductor of the Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra, watched on his phone screen as an aerial camera pointed to a village in southern Lebanon. In seconds, multiple houses erupted into rubble, smoke filling the air. The camera panned right, revealing widespread devastation.
He zoomed in to confirm his fears: His family’s house in the border village of Odaisseh, where his parents are buried, was now in ruins.
“To see your house getting bombed and in a split second turned into ash, I don’t think there is description for it,” Baalbaki said.
The destruction of his childhood home in October came during Israel’s offensive in Lebanon. The aim, Israel says, is to debilitate the Hezbollah militant group, push it away from the border and end more than a year of Hezbollah fire into northern Israel.
The Israeli military has released videos of controlled detonations in areas along the border, saying it is targeting Hezbollah facilities and weapons.
But the bombardment has also wiped out entire residential neighborhoods or even villages. The World Bank in a recent report said over 99,000 housing units have been “fully or partially damaged” by the war in Lebanon.
Baalbaki’s family home in Odaisseh, designed by his late father, renowned Lebanese painter Abdel Hamid Baalbaki, held more than just personal memories. It held a collection of Abdel Hamid’s paintings, his art workshop and over 1,500 books. All were destroyed along with the house.
What cut even deeper, Baalbaki said, was the loss of the letters his parents exchanged during his father’s art studies in France. Only a few remain as digital photos.
“The language of passion and love they shared was filled with poetry,” Baalbaki said.
In a book of poems and photographs his father created for his wife following her sudden death in a car accident, the first page reads, “Dedication to Adeeba, the partner of my most precious days, the love bird that left its nest too soon.”
Abdel Hamid painstakingly designed his wife’s tombstone. Later, he was laid to rest beside her in the garden next to the house. For their son, watching his childhood home go up in smoke brought back the pain of losing them.
It was a moment he had feared for months.
Hezbollah began firing missiles into Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, in solidarity with Hamas in Gaza. Israel responded with airstrikes and shelling. For nearly a year, the conflict remained limited.
After the war dramatically escalated on Sept. 23 with intense Israeli airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon as well as Beirut’s southern suburbs, Baalbaki and his siblings frequently checked satellite images for updates on their village.
On Oct. 26, explosions in and around Odaisseh triggered an earthquake alert in northern Israel. That day, videos circulated online, one of which showed their home being obliterated.
Until a few days before that, the satellite images showed their house still standing.
Now, Baalbaki said, he is resolved to honor his father’s dream.
“The mourning phase started to turn to determination to rebuild this project,” he said.
When the war is over, he plans to rebuild the house as an art museum and cultural center.


226 health workers killed in Lebanon since Oct. 7 — WHO

226 health workers killed in Lebanon since Oct. 7 — WHO
Updated 23 November 2024
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226 health workers killed in Lebanon since Oct. 7 — WHO

226 health workers killed in Lebanon since Oct. 7 — WHO
  • Over 187 attacks on healthcare workers have taken place in Lebanon over 13 months, says UN health agency
  • Fifteen of Lebanon’s 153 hospitals have ceased operating or are only partially functioning, warns WHO

GENEVA: Nearly 230 health workers have been killed in Lebanon since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza following the Oct. 7 attacks last year, the World Health Organization said.
In total, the UN health agency said there had been 187 attacks on health care in Lebanon in the more than 13 months of cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah over the Gaza conflict.
Between Oct. 7, 2023 and Nov.18 this year, “we have 226 deaths and 199 injuries in total,” Abdinasir Abubakar, the WHO representative in Lebanon, said via video link from Beirut.
He said “almost 70 percent” of these had occurred since the tensions escalated into an all-out war in September.
Saying this was “an extremely worrying pattern,” he stressed that “depriving civilians of access to lifesaving care and targeting health providers is a breach of international humanitarian law.”
Abubakar said: “A hallmark of the conflict in Lebanon is how destructive it has been to health care,” highlighting that 47 percent of these attacks “have proven fatal to at least one health worker or patient” — the highest percentage of any active conflict today.
By comparison, Abubakar said that only 13.3 percent of attacks on health care globally had fatal outcomes during the same period, pointing to data from a range of conflict situations, including Ukraine, Sudan, and the occupied Palestinian territory.
He suggested the high percentage of fatal attacks on health care in Lebanon might be because “more ambulances have been targeted.”
“And whenever the ambulance is targeted, actually, then you will have three, four or five paramedics ... killed.”
The conflict has dealt a harsh blow to overall health care in Lebanon, which was already reeling from a string of dire crises in recent years.
The WHO warned that 15 of Lebanon’s 153 hospitals have ceased operating or are only partially functioning.
Hanan Balkhy, WHO’s regional director for the eastern Mediterranean region, stressed that “attacks on health care of this scale cripple a health system when those whose lives depend on it need it the most.”
“Beyond the loss of life, the death of health workers is a loss of years of investment and a crucial resource to a fragile country going forward.”


226 health workers killed in Lebanon since Oct. 7: WHO

226 health workers killed in Lebanon since Oct. 7: WHO
Updated 23 November 2024
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226 health workers killed in Lebanon since Oct. 7: WHO

226 health workers killed in Lebanon since Oct. 7: WHO
  • Abubakar said: “A hallmark of the conflict in Lebanon is how destructive it has been to health care,” highlighting that 47 percent of these attacks “have proven fatal to at least one health worker or patient”

GENEVA: Nearly 230 health workers have been killed in Lebanon since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza following the Oct. 7 attacks last year, the World Health Organization said.
In total, the UN health agency said there had been 187 attacks on health care in Lebanon in the more than 13 months of cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah over the Gaza conflict.
Between Oct. 7, 2023 and Nov.18 this year, “we have 226 deaths and 199 injuries in total,” Abdinasir Abubakar, the WHO representative in Lebanon, said via video link from Beirut.
He said “almost 70 percent” of these had occurred since the tensions escalated into an all-out war in September.
Saying this was “an extremely worrying pattern,” he stressed that “depriving civilians of access to lifesaving care and targeting health providers is a breach of international humanitarian law.”
Abubakar said: “A hallmark of the conflict in Lebanon is how destructive it has been to health care,” highlighting that 47 percent of these attacks “have proven fatal to at least one health worker or patient” — the highest percentage of any active conflict today.
By comparison, Abubakar said that only 13.3 percent of attacks on health care globally had fatal outcomes during the same period, pointing to data from a range of conflict situations, including Ukraine, Sudan, and the occupied Palestinian territory.
He suggested the high percentage of fatal attacks on health care in Lebanon might be because “more ambulances have been targeted.”
“And whenever the ambulance is targeted, actually, then you will have three, four or five paramedics ... killed.”
The conflict has dealt a harsh blow to overall health care in Lebanon, which was already reeling from a string of dire crises in recent years.
The WHO warned that 15 of Lebanon’s 153 hospitals have ceased operating or are only partially functioning.
Hanan Balkhy, WHO’s regional director for the eastern Mediterranean region, stressed that “attacks on health care of this scale cripple a health system when those whose lives depend on it need it the most.”
“Beyond the loss of life, the death of health workers is a loss of years of investment and a crucial resource to a fragile country going forward.”