RFL/RE – The Israeli Air Force launched massive consecutive air strikes on a southern suburb of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on October 6 at a time when the country is also weighing options for its response to a recent Iranian missile attack.
Israel said it conducted a series of “targeted strikes” on “weapons storage facilities” and infrastructure sites that belong to Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Hezbollah has been designated by the United States as a terror group, while the European Union has blacklisted its armed wing but not its political unit, which holds seats in the Lebanese parliament.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency said Hezbollah’s stronghold in the area was hit by more than 30 strikes. A petrol station and a medical supplies warehouse were hit by the air raids.
Video footage showed huge flames and plumes of smoke billowing into the night sky, as residents fled their homes in panic with explosions echoing in the background.
Israel has bombed Beirut suburbs for days, killing Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and possibly his potential successor, Hashem Safieddine.
Security sources have said Safieddine had been out of contact since October 4, after an Israeli air strike near Beirut’s international airport that was reported to have targeted him. Hezbollah has not commented on Safieddine.SEE ALSO:Who Is Hashem Safieddine, The Senior Hezbollah Leader?
Israel says Nasrallah was killed in a strike on the group’s central command headquarters in Beirut on September 27.
The Israeli said on October 5 that its forces had killed 440 Hezbollah fighters in ground operations in southern Lebanon and destroyed 2,000 Hezbollah targets. Nine Israeli soldiers had been killed in southern Lebanon so far, the authorities said.
According to the Lebanese Health Ministry, nearly 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon in the latest conflict, most of them since September 23.
Israel says the attacks on Hezbollah are aimed at enabling the safe return of tens of thousands of citizens to homes in northern Israel, bombarded by the group since last October.
The Israeli forces were on high alert ahead of the first anniversary of an attack on October 7 last year, which sparked the war and was carried out by Hamas — a group that has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and the EU.
According to Israel tallies, some 1,200 people were killed and about 250 taken hostage in the unprecedented Hamas attack on southern Israel.
Health officials in Hamas-run Gaza reported on October 6 that at least 41,870 Palestinian have been killed in the territory in the yearlong war between Israel and Palestinian militants.
Israel said its forces on October 6 surrounded the Jabaliya area of northern Gaza in response to indications that Hamas was rebuilding “its operational capabilities in the area.”SEE ALSO:Iranians Fear ‘War Is Coming’ After Tehran’s Missile Attack On Israel
Israel is also considering a retaliatory strike on Iran, which fired at least 180 ballistic missiles at Israel on October 1.
U.S. President Joe Biden has said Washington was discussing with Israel the possibility of Israeli strikes on Iran’s oil infrastructure. Biden on October 4 urged Israel to consider alternatives to hitting such targets.
Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad visited Kharg island on October 6, amid concerns that Israel could target Iran’s largest oil terminal there.SEE ALSO:U.S. Advises Israel Against Hitting Iranian Oil Fields
“Paknejad arrived this morning in order to visit the oil facilities and meet operational staff located on Kharg island,” the Oil Ministry’s news website Shana reported.
Shana added that the oil terminal on Kharg island has the capacity to store 23 million barrels of crude.