ISRAELIS PROTEST
Hezbollah number two Naim Qassem warned in a speech on Saturday that “if Israel does unleash a war, we will face up to it – and there will be large losses on both sides”.
“If they think such a war would allow the 100,000 displaced people to return home … we issue this warning: Prepare to deal with hundreds of thousands more displaced.”
The cross-border violence since early October has killed 623 people in Lebanon, mostly fighters but also including at least 142 civilians, according to an AFP tally.
On the Israeli side, including in the Golan Heights, authorities have announced the deaths of at least 24 soldiers and 26 civilians.
Hezbollah has said it is acting in support of its ally Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The Hamas attack which began Gaza’s war resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Militants also seized 251 captives during the attack, 97 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 41,182 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, which does not provide breakdowns of civilian and militant deaths.
On Saturday thousands of people once more took to the streets of Israel’s main cities in a bid to increase pressure on the government to reach a hostage release deal.
Months of effort by Qatari, Egyptian and US mediators have failed to secure a truce and hostage release deal. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is facing rising anger from critics who accuse him of not doing enough to get the captives home.
Source: CNA
