Hezbollah and Israel have been fighting in parallel with Israel’s war in Gaza against Hamas since the Iran-backed Palestinian group’s attack on Israel last Oct 7.
Lebanon’s health ministry said 33 people had been killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon during Saturday, bringing the total toll since hostilities broke out on Oct 8 last year to more than 1,670, including 104 children.
In Beirut, displaced families spent the night on the benches at Zaitunay Bay, a string of restaurants and cafes on Beirut’s waterfront where private security usually shoos away any loiterers.
On Sunday morning, families with nothing more than a duffle bag of clothes had rolled out mats to sleep on and poured tea for themselves.
“You won’t be able to destroy us, whatever you do, however much you bomb, however much you displace people – we will stay here. We won’t leave. This is our country and we’re staying,” said Francoise Azori, a Beirut resident jogging through the area.
The United Nations’ World Food Programme said in a statement on Sunday it had launched an emergency operation to provide food for up to 1 million people affected by the conflict in Lebanon.
“BALANCE OF POWER”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday Nasrallah’s killing was a necessary step toward “changing the balance of power in the region for years to come”.
“Nasrallah was not a terrorist, he was the terrorist,” Netanyahu said in a statement, warning of challenging days ahead.
Israel said it killed senior Hezbollah official Ali Karaki and other commanders along with Nasrallah.
US President Joe Biden described Nasrallah’s death as a measure of justice for what he called his many victims, including thousands of Americans, Israelis and Lebanese, and said the US fully supported Israel’s right to self-defence.
But when asked if an Israeli ground incursion into Lebanon was inevitable, Biden told reporters on Saturday: “It’s time for a ceasefire.”
Source: CNA
