Israeli strikes on Lebanon causing ‘carnage’, health minister says

Lebanon’s wellness curate has said what is happening successful his state is “carnage”, arsenic hospitals conflict to header with the fig of casualties from 2 days of wide Israeli aerial strikes targeting the equipped radical Hezbollah.

Dr Firass Abiad told the BBC it was “clear” that galore of the 550 radical killed successful Monday’s attacks were civilians, including children and women.

Israel said it deed hundreds of Hezbollah sites, accusing the radical of hiding weapons successful residential areas.

On Tuesday, the Israeli subject killed the caput of Hezbollah’s rocket forces arsenic the strikes continued, portion Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the radical was starring Lebanon “to the borderline of the abyss”.

Hezbollah responded by firing much than 300 rockets into bluish Israel, injuring six people, according to the military.

Although neither broadside seemed funny successful backing down, US President Joe Biden told the UN General Assembly that a full-scale struggle was “not successful anyone's interest” and insisted that a “diplomatic solution is inactive possible”.

UN Secretary General António Guterres warned that the satellite “cannot spend Lebanon to go different Gaza”.

Nearly a twelvemonth of cross-border warring betwixt Israel and Hezbollah sparked by the warfare successful Gaza has killed hundreds of people, astir of them Hezbollah fighters, and displaced tens of thousands connected some sides of the frontier.

Hezbollah has said it is acting successful enactment of Hamas and volition not halt until determination is simply a ceasefire successful Gaza. Both groups are backed by Iran and proscribed arsenic violent organisations by Israel, the UK and different countries.

Monday’s Israeli aerial strikes crossed confederate Lebanon and the eastbound Bekaa Valley had resulted successful the deadliest time successful the state since astatine slightest 2006 - the past clip Hezbollah and Israel fought a war.

Abiad told a quality league connected Tuesday that 50 children, 94 women and a fig of aesculapian workers were among the 558 radical killed. More than 50 hospitals were presently treating the 1,835 different radical who were wounded, helium added.

Later, successful an interrogation with the BBC, the wellness curate described what happened arsenic “carnage.”

“If you look astatine the radical who were brought to the exigency rooms it’s wide that they’re civilians. They are not the combatants that the Israelis assertion they are,” helium said.

“We cognize astir the victims of the attacks due to the fact that our ambulances are the ones that transferred them to hospitals,” helium added. “[They were] civilians who were doing their mean things.”

When comparing the existent hostilities with the 2006 warfare betwixt Israel and Hezbollah, Abiad said: “Definitely we’re looking astatine a much cruel war, particularly successful the mode civilians are being targeted.”

The UN Human Rights Office besides expressed alarm astatine the fig of casualties successful Monday’s strikes, saying they could person violated planetary humanitarian law.

When asked by journalists astir the audio and substance messages sent by the Israeli subject to radical successful Lebanon, telling them to evacuate areas adjacent buildings wherever Hezbollah stored weapons, spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said: “Telling civilians to fly doesn't marque it good to past onslaught those areas, knowing afloat good that the interaction connected civilians volition beryllium huge.”

Roads successful confederate Lebanon were besides congested for a 2nd day, arsenic thousands much radical fled northbound to get distant from the Israeli attacks. Journeys that would usually instrumentality an hr were lasting 12 oregon more.

At a structure successful Beirut, 65-year-old Maryam told the BBC that she had travelled each nighttime with 12 relatives successful 1 tiny car.

“We got unneurotic and left. We didn’t privation to permission our homes, due to the fact that leaving your location is difficult,” she said. “We arrived present astatine 4 successful the morning. With our children. It’s due to the fact that of our children that we left.”

During a sojourn to an quality base, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would “continue striking Hezbollah” until it had achieved its warfare extremity of returning displaced Israeli civilians to their homes on the bluish border.

He besides addressed the radical of Lebanon, insisting that “our warfare is not with you” and informing them that Hezbollah person Hassan Nasrallah was "leading you to the borderline of the abyss”.

“I told you yesterday to evacuate homes successful which determination is simply a rocket successful the surviving country and a rocket successful the garage. Whoever has a rocket successful the surviving country and a rocket successful the store volition nary longer person a home,” helium said.

Israeli subject spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told an evening briefing that Hezbollah had turned confederate Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley “into a combat zone” and that craft had continued to onslaught targets determination passim Tuesday.

He besides released video footage that helium said showed secondary explosions during strikes connected residential buildings that indicated missiles and a motortruck carrying a rocket launcher had been stored wrong them.

Hagari besides said the caput of Hezbollah’s rocket and rocket unit, Ibrahim Qubaisi, had been killed successful an aerial onslaught successful Beirut’s confederate suburbs connected Tuesday afternoon, on with astatine slightest 2 different commanders who were with him astatine the time.

Qubaisi was “a cardinal fig successful activating missiles” and was “responsible for a bid of attacks connected Israeli territory”, helium added.

Hezbollah confirmed successful a Telegram station that Qubaisi had been "martyred" successful a strike.

The Lebanese wellness ministry said six radical were killed and 15 others injured successful an “Israeli force raid” that partially destroyed the apical 2 floors of a artifact of flats successful Beirut’s Ghobeiry neighbourhood.

Hezbollah said that its fighters had fired barrages of rockets towards much than a twelve Israeli towns and subject bases, arsenic good arsenic an explosives factory. It besides claimed that a caller benignant of rocket had been utilized to onslaught the IDF’s Samson unit.

Sirens continued to dependable passim the time crossed bluish Israel and interceptor rockets from Israel’s Iron Dome aerial defence strategy were seen streaking into the sky.

Some of the astir 300 rockets landed, causing harm and injuring six civilians and soldiers, astir of them lightly, according to Hagari.