{"id":36824,"date":"2024-10-03T22:28:52","date_gmt":"2024-10-04T02:28:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/massive-blasts-in-beirut-after-renewed-israeli-air-strikes\/03\/10\/2024\/"},"modified":"2024-10-03T22:28:52","modified_gmt":"2024-10-04T02:28:52","slug":"massive-blasts-in-beirut-after-renewed-israeli-air-strikes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/massive-blasts-in-beirut-after-renewed-israeli-air-strikes\/03\/10\/2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Massive blasts in Beirut after renewed Israeli air strikes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Apparent Israeli bombing has caused large explosions just outside Beirut&#8217;s international airport during a further night of air strikes targeting Hezbollah in the city.<\/p>\n<p>It is not clear what was the target, but the airport borders the Dahieh area &#8211; Hezbollah&#8217;s stronghold in the capital.<\/p>\n<p>Elsewhere, the Lebanese army said two of its soldiers had been killed in the country&#8217;s south as Israeli forces pressed on with their invasion against Hezbollah and ordered another 20 towns and villages to evacuate.<\/p>\n<p>The Israeli military has not commented, but did say its troops had killed Hezbollah fighters near the border. Hezbollah said it had targeted Israeli troops on both sides of the frontier.<\/p>\n<p>The two fatal attacks on the Lebanese army soldiers were just hours apart on Thursday, the third full day of the invasion.<\/p>\n<p>In the first incident, the army said, one soldier was killed and another was wounded \u201cas a result of an aggression by the Israeli enemy during an evacuation and rescue operation with the Lebanese Red Cross in Taybeh village&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>The Red Cross said four of its volunteers were also lightly wounded, and that their movements had been co-ordinated with UN peacekeepers.<\/p>\n<p>The army said that in the second incident another soldier was killed \u201cafter the Israeli enemy targeted an army post in the Bint Jbeil area\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe personnel at the post responded to the sources of fire,\u201d the Lebanese army added, marking a rare involvement in a conflict in which it has not engaged.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"caas-figure\">\n<div class=\"caas-figure-with-pb\" style=\"max-height: 1307px\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"caas-img-container caas-img-lightbox caas-img-loader portrait\" style=\"padding-bottom:136%\" data-lightbox-src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/0SEu_ti4nWLT3ERR.is3iQ--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTI0MDA7aD0zMjY2\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/bbc_us_articles_995\/80157e076d083fba2b6ca580816bd40c\"><span class=\"caas-img-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Map showing southern Lebanese towns and villages affected by Israeli military evacuation orders (3 October 2024)\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/JwFhPx.l6vEqXHhDgU6UXw--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTEzMDc-\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/bbc_us_articles_995\/80157e076d083fba2b6ca580816bd40c\" class=\"caas-img\"\/><button class=\"link caas-lightbox\" aria-label=\"View larger image\" data-ylk=\"sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;elm:expand;itc:1\"><span class=\"openArrows icon\"><svg width=\"22\" height=\"22\" viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\"><path d=\"M12.372 0.92C12.372 0.414 12.782 0.004 13.287 0.004L21 0L20.996 7.712C20.996 8.217 20.586 8.628 20.08 8.628C19.574 8.628 19.164 8.217 19.164 7.712V3.183L12.337 10.011L10.988 8.663L17.816 1.835H13.287C12.782 1.835 12.372 1.425 12.372 0.92ZM1.835 17.816L8.663 10.988L10.012 12.337L3.183 19.164H7.712C8.218 19.164 8.627 19.574 8.627 20.08C8.627 20.586 8.218 20.995 7.712 20.995L0 21L0.004 13.287C0.004 12.782 0.414 12.372 0.92 12.372C1.425 12.372 1.835 12.782 1.835 13.287V17.816Z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><figcaption class=\"caption-collapse\">[BBC]<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The news came as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told residents of another two dozen towns and villages in the south, including the regional capital of Nabatieh, to leave immediately for their own safety.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike the communities ordered to evacuate on Tuesday, they are all located north of the Litani river, which lies about 30km (18 miles) from the border.<\/p>\n<p>Before the invasion, Israel had demanded that Hezbollah\u2019s withdraw to the Litani, in accordance with a UN Security Council resolution that ended their last war in 2006.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to the BBC from Beirut, the World Food Programme&#8217;s country director in Lebanon, Matthew Hollingworth, described the situation there as \u201chorrific\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is black smoke billowing over the southern suburbs and we see it each morning when we come to work and we see it all day long. And there&#8217;s a striking number of people who are displaced around the city.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are these cars everywhere that are from people that have fled the fighting in the south of the country and the southern suburbs. There&#8217;s traffic everywhere, people sleeping outside.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Juan Gabriel Wells, Lebanon country director with the International Rescue Committee, said nearly half of displaced people surveyed by his organisation in shelters run by the government were children under the age of 15.<\/p>\n<p>Israel&#8217;s latest air strikes on Beirut come 24 hours after a residential building in the centre of the capital was hit. A civil defence agency linked to Hezbollah also said seven of its first responders were among nine people killed in the strike.<\/p>\n<p>Lebanon\u2019s health minister later said more than 40 paramedics and firefighters had been killed by Israeli fire in the past three days.<\/p>\n<p>The Israeli Air Force carried out air strikes during Thursday against targets it said belonged to Hezbollah including the group&#8217;s intelligence headquarters, weapons production sites, weapons storage facilities.<\/p>\n<p>Two weeks of Israeli strikes and other attacks targeting Hezbollah have killed more than 1,300 people across Lebanon and displaced more than one million, according to local authorities.<\/p>\n<p>Israel went on the offensive after almost a year of cross-border hostilities sparked by the war in Gaza, saying it wanted to ensure the safe return of residents of border areas displaced by Hezbollah rocket, missile and drone attacks.<\/p>\n<p>Hezbollah is a Shia Islamist military, political and social organisation that wields considerable power in Lebanon. It is designated as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the US, the UK and other countries.<\/p>\n<p>The IDF also announced on Thursday that its aircraft had struck 200 Hezbollah \u201cterrorist targets\u201d in southern Lebanon and elsewhere overnight, including weapons storage facilities and observation posts. About 15 Hezbollah fighters were killed when the municipality building in Bint Jbeil was hit, it said.<\/p>\n<p>Later, it said a structure housing three Hezbollah commanders had been destroyed during a joint operation carried out by the air force and infantry.<\/p>\n<p>Hezbollah said on Thursday evening that its fighters had \u201crepelled failed attempts\u201d by Israeli commandos to advance into some border villages during the day.<\/p>\n<p>The group also said it had targeted \u201cenemy gatherings\u201d and homes on the other side of the frontier, while also continuing to fire rockets deep into northern Israel.<\/p>\n<p>The IDF said more than 230 projectiles had been launched into Israeli territory over the course of the day. Most were intercepted or fell in open areas, and there were no casualty reports.<\/p>\n<p>The communities sitting along Israel\u2019s northern border fence are now a closed military zone.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"caas-figure\">\n<div class=\"caas-figure-with-pb\" style=\"max-height: 540px\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"caas-img-container caas-img-lightbox caas-img-loader\" style=\"padding-bottom:56%\" data-lightbox-src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/8pSZIY0Kg2O1wXAnYJQb1A--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTI0MDA7aD0xMzUw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/bbc_us_articles_995\/bb1ce925b4e7b0814912d19575ace755\"><span class=\"caas-img-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"caas-img caas-lazy has-preview\" alt=\"Dean Sweetland, who lives in a kibbutz on Israel's northern border with Lebanon\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/9NOedpbctjUt4_J.Wq42Iw--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MA--\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/bbc_us_articles_995\/bb1ce925b4e7b0814912d19575ace755\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Dean Sweetland, who lives in a kibbutz on Israel's northern border with Lebanon\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/9NOedpbctjUt4_J.Wq42Iw--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MA--\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/bbc_us_articles_995\/bb1ce925b4e7b0814912d19575ace755\" class=\"caas-img\"\/><button class=\"link caas-lightbox\" aria-label=\"View larger image\" data-ylk=\"sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;elm:expand;itc:1\"><span class=\"openArrows icon\"><svg width=\"22\" height=\"22\" viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\"><path d=\"M12.372 0.92C12.372 0.414 12.782 0.004 13.287 0.004L21 0L20.996 7.712C20.996 8.217 20.586 8.628 20.08 8.628C19.574 8.628 19.164 8.217 19.164 7.712V3.183L12.337 10.011L10.988 8.663L17.816 1.835H13.287C12.782 1.835 12.372 1.425 12.372 0.92ZM1.835 17.816L8.663 10.988L10.012 12.337L3.183 19.164H7.712C8.218 19.164 8.627 19.574 8.627 20.08C8.627 20.586 8.218 20.995 7.712 20.995L0 21L0.004 13.287C0.004 12.782 0.414 12.372 0.92 12.372C1.425 12.372 1.835 12.782 1.835 13.287V17.816Z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><figcaption class=\"caption-collapse\">Dean Sweetland said his house near Israel&#8217;s northern border shook several times a day with rocket and anti-tank missiles fired from Lebanon [BBC]<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Dean Sweetland, a former British soldier who moved to Israel eight years ago, is one of the few people still living in a near-empty kibbutz within sight of the Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil.<\/p>\n<p>He told the BBC that his house shook several times a day with rocket and anti-tank missiles fired from Lebanon, some of them intercepted by Israel\u2019s air-defences overhead.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can\u2019t continue this for another year, having Hezbollah sitting on our border just waiting to do an October 7th on us,\u201d he said, referring to Hamas\u2019s deadly attack on southern Israel last year that triggered the Gaza war.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut my son is in the army, and do we want our kids to be in there, slaughtered, where Hezbollah has been waiting for us to go in for nearly 20 years?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not going to be pretty,\u201d he continued, \u201cbut if that\u2019s what it takes, then that\u2019s what it takes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\" style=\"display:block\" class=\"lazyload\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/a1.api.bbc.co.uk\/hit.xiti\/?w=75&resize=75 75w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/a1.api.bbc.co.uk\/hit.xiti\/?w=100&resize=100 100w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/a1.api.bbc.co.uk\/hit.xiti\/?w=150&resize=150 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/a1.api.bbc.co.uk\/hit.xiti\/?w=240&resize=240 240w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/a1.api.bbc.co.uk\/hit.xiti\/?w=320&resize=320 320w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/a1.api.bbc.co.uk\/hit.xiti\/?w=500&resize=500 500w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/a1.api.bbc.co.uk\/hit.xiti\/?w=640&resize=640 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/a1.api.bbc.co.uk\/hit.xiti\/?w=800&resize=800 800w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/a1.api.bbc.co.uk\/hit.xiti\/?w=1024&resize=1024 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/a1.api.bbc.co.uk\/hit.xiti\/?w=1280&resize=1280 1280w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/a1.api.bbc.co.uk\/hit.xiti\/?w=1600&resize=1600 1600w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/a1.api.bbc.co.uk\/hit.xiti\/\"\/><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/lebanese-soldiers-killed-israel-extends-205739650.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Apparent Israeli bombing has caused large explosions just outside Beirut&rsquo;s international airport during a further night of air strikes targeting Hezbollah in<br \/><button class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/massive-blasts-in-beirut-after-renewed-israeli-air-strikes\/03\/10\/2024\/\">Read More &rsaquo;<\/a><\/button><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36826,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36824"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36824\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}