Israel pounded Lebanon with unprecedented ferocity in its fight against Hezbollah. This is what the conflict monitoring group Airwars reports, according to which the Tev Aviv bombings against Hezbollah’s strongholds in the country mark the world’s “most intense air campaign” outside Gaza in two decades.
According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, Israel’s raids have killed over 1,400 people in less than three weeksinjuring approximately 7,500 and forcing more than a million people from their homes. The attacks by the Jewish state are taking place at “a level and intensity that Israel’s own allies would never have carried out in the last 20 years,” Emily Tripp, director of the UK-based group, told CNN, citing the campaign military led by the United States against ISIS in 2017, where, at the height of the battle for Raqqa – the de facto capital of the terrorist group – 500 rounds of ammunition were used in a single day.
Over the course of two days, September 24 and 25, the Israeli army claimed to have used 2,000 ammunition and carried out 3,000 attacks. By comparison, for most of the 20-year war in Afghanistan, the United States carried out fewer than 3,000 attacks per year, apart from the first year of the invasion, in which about 6,500 attacks were carried out – according to data from Airwars analyzed by CNN.
Israel wants to conclude fighting in Lebanon in 2-3 weeks
According to Channel 12, The Israeli military believes that the fighting in Lebanon will end in two or three weeks. The indication was given by a senior Israeli security official who recently met with a delegation of the hostages’ families. According to the official, Israel’s goal is to reach an agreement with Hezbollah which would then allow for an agreement on the hostages.
Mystery on the death of Nasrallah’s successor
In one of the latest devastating attacks on Beirut, Israeli Air Force fighters have dropped approximately 73 tons of bombs on the suburb of Dahieh, the stronghold of the Party of God. The raid was aimed at the bunker where Hashem Safieddine, Hassan Nasrallah’s cousin and indicated by many as his probable successor at the helm of Hezbollah, was hiding.
According to Israeli Army Radio and the Maariv website, Safieddine was reportedly killed in the attack together with Hezbollah’s intelligence chief, Hussein Hazimah, known as “Mortada”. The two could have died together due to the collapse of the bunker where they were with other high-level Hezbollah exponents or the toxic gases caused by the explosions.
Khamenei: “Israel a vampire, 7 October legitimate”
The Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, lashed out against Israel and, in his speech at the ceremony in Tehran in memory of Hassan Nasrallah, defined the Jewish state as “a vampire” and judged it to be a “legitimate act”. Hamas attack on 7 October last year.
Iran’s missile attack against Israel is also “completely legitimate” according to Khamenei who warned: “If necessary we will strike again”.
Mystery over Nasrallah’s funeral
Meanwhile, Hassan Nasrallah’s funeral continues to be a mystery. A brief statement from a source close to Hezbollah collected by CNN, which has, did not contribute to resolving it denied the news that the leader of the Lebanese Shiite movement had been buried in secret. “Nothing has been decided” about the time and place of the burial, the source said.
Biden: “We are doing a lot to avoid total war”
The United States “is doing a lot” to avoid a total war in the Middle East, President Joe Biden declared at a press conference, according to which “the main thing we can do is try to rally the rest of the world, our allies” to calm the situation.
Biden explained that “the Israelis have not yet decided how to act in terms of attack (in response to Iran’s raid, ed.). It is being discussed. If I were in their shoes, I would think of other alternatives than hitting the oil facilities” . Then he recalled that “no Administration has helped Israel more than mine. None” and the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu “should remember this”. “Our teams are in contact 12 hours a day” at both the diplomatic and military levels, he added.
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