At least six people were killed and several others were injured after Israeli warplanes struck the Southern Suburb (Al-Dahiyah Al-Janoubiyah) of the Lebanese Capital Beirut on Tuesday, September 24. The airstrike is the third assault within the last few days on the Southern Suburb, which is considered as a strong base of support of Hezbollah in Beirut.
After the assault was carried out, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) claimed that Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Mohammad Qabisi was assassinated in the attack and that he was accompanied with other Hezbollah commanders from the rocket unit when the airstrike took place. On Wednesday, September 25, Hezbollah confirmed the assassination of its commander Ibrahim Mohammad Qabisi, and its fighter Hussein Hani Ezz al-Din, also known as Hajj Fares, stating that they were “martyred all the way to Al-Quds”.
Israeli fighter jets also struck many other areas across south Lebanon and Bekaa on Tuesday. Although no casualties were reported in those areas, the Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad announced on Tuesday that the death toll from the intense aggression launched by Israel on different parts of Lebanon on Monday, September 23, had risen to 569 people, including 50 children and 94 women, with 1,835 others injured.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) expressed its outrage and deepest sadness mourning two of its staff, who were killed in Israeli attacks against Lebanon on Monday. UNHCR said in the statement that staff member, Dina Darwiche, was killed along with her youngest son when the building where they lived was hit by an Israeli missile. UNHCR’s other staff member Ali Basma was also confirmed dead in an Israeli airstrike on Monday.
Meanwhile Al Mayadeen media network mourned Hadi al-Sayyed, who was a team member within its online department’s social media unit. Al-Sayyed was killed in the new waves of Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon on Tuesday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed in a statement on Tuesday to continue the aerial attacks on Lebanon. “We will continue to hit Hezbollah… the one who has a missile in his living room and a rocket in his home will not have a home,” Netanyahu said.
Later on Tuesday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also emphasised that the Israeli aggression on Lebanon will not stop. “We must continue until we achieve our goal — to ensure the safe return of Israel’s northern residents to their homes,” Gallant stated. “Hezbollah is not Hamas, there are similarities but also differences. The terrain looks different, the enemy looks different, the threats and challenges are different,” Gallant added, highlighting the differences between Israel’s battles against the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas and its battles against Hezbollah.
The Israeli ongoing aggression on Lebanon was condemned by countries including Brazil, Russia, China and Pakistan during sessions of the United Nations General Assembly on Monday and Tuesday.
Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on Monday, condemning “in the strongest terms” the Israeli airstrikes against civilians in different parts of Lebanon.”Brazil renews its call to the parties involved to immediately cease the attacks in order to halt the concerning escalation of tensions, which threatens to lead the region to a large-scale conflict with severe negative impacts on civilian populations,” the statement said.
During a news conference, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov expressed Russia’s concerns about the escalation. “This is an event that is potentially extremely dangerous and may lead to the expansion of the conflict, the complete destabilization of the region. Of course, this causes our extreme worry and concern,” Peskov stated. “It is difficult to talk about any prospects for a settlement, because the peace track was essentially monopolized by the US without much success,” Peskov added, blaming the United States for hindering peace in the “Middle East”.
For his part, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian stated during a news conference on Tuesday: “China is highly concerned about the current tensions between Lebanon and Israel, deeply alarmed by the large number of casualties caused by the military operations in question”. “China opposes violations of Lebanon’s sovereignty and condemns all actions that harm innocent civilians,” Jian added.
The Pakistani Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday: “This act of aggression against the Republic of Lebanon is a grave violation of the UN Charter and international law”. “We call upon the international community to take urgent steps to hold Israel to account for its alarming adventurism in the region and its acts of aggression and genocide,” the ministry added.
While Israel continues to launch intense airstrikes on Lebanon, Hezbollah has not stopped its retaliatory attacks on Israeli military sites. The Lebanese resistance group announced on Tuesday that its fighters targeted the headquarters of the special naval task unit “Shayetet 13” in the Atlit Base in the northern Mediterranean coast occupied by Israel, with a squadron of drones. Hezbollah also unveiled the deployment of a new rocket called Fadi-3 for the first time, in its attack against Israel’s Samson Remote Controlled Weapon Station (RCWS) west of the occupied lake of Tiberias in the north, which serves as a command and regional equipment center.
