MASNA’A BORDER CROSSING, LEBANON (AP) – Israel expanded its shelling in Lebanon on Saturday, hitting the southern outskirts of Beirut with more than a dozen airstrikes, targeting both Hezbollah and Hamas fighters and targeting Palestinians in the northern hinterland for the first time. attacked a refugee camp.
Thousands of people in Lebanon, including Palestinian refugees, continue to flee the growing conflict in the region, while rallies were held around the world to mark the approaching anniversary of the start of the Gaza war.
A Hamas military official was killed along with his wife and two young daughters in an Israeli attack on the northern Bedawi camp, the Palestinian militant group said. Hamas later said another military member was killed in an Israeli attack in eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, and residents faced the aftermath of destroyed buildings, scattered bricks and no staircases leading anywhere. did.
The Israeli military has announced that it has killed two senior Hamas military officials in Lebanon, where fighting has escalated rapidly. Israel has killed most of the top leadership of Lebanon-based Hezbollah, as well as several senior Hamas officials there, since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
In less than two weeks, at least 1,400 Lebanese, including civilians, medical workers, and Hezbollah fighters, have been killed and 1.2 million people have been forced to flee their homes.
Plumes of smoke dominated the skyline of Beirut’s densely populated southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a strong presence. Israel has targeted Hezbollah commanders and military equipment and said it aims to drive the militants from their shared border.
Iran-backed Hezbollah, Lebanon’s strongest military, began firing rockets at Israel shortly after the October 7 Hamas attack, in what it called a show of support for the Palestinians. Hezbollah and the Israeli military engage in almost daily gun battles.
Israel launched what it called a limited ground operation into southern Lebanon last week after a series of attacks killed longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and others. The fighting is the worst since Israel and Hezbollah fought a brief war in 2006. Nine Israeli soldiers were killed in the ground battle, and Israel said 250 Hezbollah fighters were killed.
“We are working towards a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters in Damascus. The minister did not name the countries that are working on the initiative, saying that it also includes regional countries and some countries outside the Middle East.
Araghchi spoke a day after Iran’s supreme leader praised recent missile attacks on Israel and said he was ready to strike again if necessary.
Fleeing Lebanon on foot
The Israeli military said on Saturday that around 90 projectiles were fired into Israeli territory from Lebanon. Most were intercepted, but several planes crashed in the northern Arab town of Deir al-Assad, where police said three people suffered minor injuries.
At least six people were killed in Lebanon in more than a dozen airstrikes by Israel overnight and into Saturday, Lebanon’s state news agency said.
In less than two weeks, nearly 375,000 people have fled Lebanon to Syria, according to a Lebanese government committee.
Hundreds of people continued to cross the Masna border crossing on foot, stomping through rubble, after an Israeli airstrike left a huge crater in the road leading to the crossing on Thursday, Associated Press reporters reported. I saw it there. Much of Hezbollah’s weapons are believed to come from Iran via Syria.
“We were traveling for two days,” said Issa Hilal, one of the many Syrian refugees in Lebanon who is now returning home. “The roads were very crowded and it was very difficult. We almost died by the time we got here.” Some of the children were screaming and crying.
Other displaced families are now taking shelter along Beirut’s famous seaside Corniche, with tents flapping in the wind, just steps away from luxury homes. “We don’t mind dying, but we don’t want to die at the hands of Prime Minister Netanyahu,” Om Ali Muchek said.
The Israeli military said its special forces were carrying out ground raids on Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon, destroying missiles, launch pads and weapons storage facilities. The newspaper said the military had cleared a tunnel used by Hezbollah to gain access to the Israeli border.
More evacuation orders in Gaza Strip
Some 42,000 Palestinians were killed in Gaza during the war, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which does not distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths. Almost 90% of Gaza’s residents are now forced to flee amid widespread destruction.
Palestinian medical officials said at least nine people were killed in Israeli airstrikes in northern and central Gaza on Saturday. At least five people, including two children, were killed in the attack in the northern town of Beit Hanoun, Gaza’s Ministry of Health said. Another person attacked a house in Nuseyrat refugee camp, killing at least four people, Aouda Hospital said.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment, but has long accused Hamas of operating from within civilian areas.
An Israeli airstrike has killed two children in Gaza City’s Zaitoun district, according to the Civil Defense First Response Group, which operates under the Hamas-run government.
The Israeli military has warned Palestinians to evacuate along the strategic Netzarim corridor in central Gaza, which is the central obstacle to a cease-fire agreement. The military instructed people living in some of the refugee camps in Nuseyrat and Breiji to evacuate to the coastal area of Mwasi, which has been declared a humanitarian zone.
It is unclear how many Palestinians are in these areas. Israeli forces frequently return to the Gaza Strip to target regrouping Hamas fighters.
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Mourou reported from Beirut, Lebanon, and Lidman from Tel Aviv, Israel.
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For more AP coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
