Lebanon’s health ministry reported dozens of deaths, including 10 firefighters killed in an airstrike on a municipal building in the border area. About 2,000 Lebanese have been killed since Hezbollah began firing at Israel a year ago in solidarity with Hamas, most killed in the past few weeks.
The Israeli military has described its ground operation in Lebanon as “localised, limited and targeted”, but it has steadily increased in scale beginning last week.
The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) says its aim is to clear border areas where Hezbollah fighters have been embedded, with no plans to go deep into Lebanon.
Israel’s superpower ally, the United States, believes the Lebanon ground operation continues to be limited, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Monday.
The spiralling conflict has raised concerns that the United States and Iran will be sucked into a wider war in the oil-producing region.
Iran launched a barrage of missiles at Israel on Oct 1 in support of Hamas. Israel has said it will retaliate and is weighing its options. Iran’s oil facilities are a possible target.
HAMAS VOWS TO “RISE LIKE PHOENIX”
Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people and took some 250 hostages to Gaza on Oct 7 last year, according to Israeli figures. The Israeli security lapse resulted in the single deadliest day for Jews since the Nazi Holocaust.
Many Israelis have since regained confidence in their long-vaunted military and intelligence after deadly blows in recent weeks to the command structure of Iran’s proxy force, Hezbollah.
“We are changing the security reality in our region, for our children’s sake, for our future, to ensure that what happened on Oct 7 does not happen again,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem marking the Gaza war anniversary.
