Israel attacks targets in Beirut again

For the first time in almost a week, Israeli military aircraft have attacked targets in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut. The number of victims from this morning’s attacks is still unclear, as Lebanese state media reported.

Israel’s military said the attack hit a weapons depot belonging to the militant Islamist Hezbollah under a residential building. The Israeli armed forces had previously published an evacuation warning on the online platform X, announcing an attack on a building in the Haret Hreik district. An eyewitness told the AP news agency that there had been three attacks in the area. The first attack took place less than an hour after the warning.

USA sharply criticizes Israel’s attacks

The US government had previously criticized air strikes by the Israeli military on targets in Beirut in an unusually strong manner. “We have made it clear to Israel that we reject their almost daily attacks in densely populated areas in Beirut,” said John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council in the White House. Israel has the right to carry out “targeted operations” against the infrastructure of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia, but must also ensure that the lives of civilians, UN peacekeepers and Lebanese forces are not endangered – as has already happened.

The human rights organization Amnesty International recently criticized the Israeli military’s evacuation warnings as inadequate and in some cases misleading.

Since September, Israel has bombed numerous targets in the southern suburbs of Beirut, killing several Hezbollah leaders. The densely populated neighborhoods, known as Dahija, are considered strongholds of the Hezbollah militia. There were also isolated air strikes in the center of Beirut.

15 dead in attack on southern Lebanon

On Tuesday evening, at least 15 people were killed in Israeli attacks in the city of Kana in southern Lebanon, according to civil defense. Spokesman Nuhad Bustandschi said that because rescue work was ongoing, the number of victims could rise. Video footage on social media showed the smoking ruins of a building that was the target of the attack. Surrounding buildings were also damaged. Local media reported that there had been several attacks in the city.

USA threatens to cut military aid

The USA also expressed clear criticism of Israel in view of the increasingly deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip – and is now increasing the pressure: If the situation for the people in the sealed-off coastal strip does not noticeably improve within 30 days, there is a risk of a violation of US laws on military aid, it was said from Washington. This could also endanger American military aid to Israel.

The latest images of an attack by Israeli forces on a hospital site in the Gaza Strip were “horrifying,” said Security Council spokesman Kirby.

The US State Department confirmed media reports of a letter in which US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin expressed their “deep concern” about the humanitarian situation in Gaza and called for “urgent and sustained action” on the part of the Israeli government.

It is unclear what concrete consequences the US government could draw if Israel does not comply with the request. It is not “about any threats,” said a State Department spokesman, but about “results” for the civilian population in the Gaza Strip.