Israel carried out an airstrike near Kola intersection in central Beirut in the early hours of Monday morning, the first time it has struck Beirut outside the southern suburbs since the war started. The sound of the explosion was heard around the city.
Kola intersection is a popular reference point in Beirut, where taxis and buses gather to pick up awaiting passengers. Initial pictures from the scene of the strike showed two stories of an apartment building completely blown out. A video showed onlookers running towards the building, and a mangled body laying on the sidewalk outside the building, seemingly ejected by the force of the blast.
Prior to Monday morning’s strike, Israel had confined its strikes on Lebanon’s capital city to its southern suburbs. The airstrike threw into doubt which areas of Beirut were still safe from Israel’s expanding aerial campaign.
A blast was heard and smoke seen in Beirut’s Kola district and ambulances can reportedly be heard in the area. It’s being reported that this is likely the first Israeli strike outside of Beirut’s southern suburbs and within the city limits.
The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross has called on countries to urgently recommit to respecting international law, pointing to “the number of wounded and dead during the conflicts in Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine”.
Mirjana Spoljaric said international humanitarian law (IHL) was being “systematically trampled underfoot by those who lead military operations”, in an interview with Swiss daily Le Temps.
The ICRC is the caretaker of the Geneva conventions which strives to act as a neutral intermediary in conflicts.
But it was finding its access to populations in need “increasingly constrained”, said Spoljaric.
On Friday the ICRC launched an initiative with six countries – Brazil, China, France, Jordan, Kazakhstan and South Africa – in a bid to galvanising political support for humanitarian law.
The Geneva conventions, adopted in 1949 in the wake of the second world war, “embody humanity’s shared conscience, values that transcend borders and creeds”, they said in a joint statement.
“Yet, the suffering we witness today in armed conflicts around the world is proof that respect for and compliance with their most fundamental rules are not being upheld.”
The initiative will strive to develop concrete recommendations for ways to prevent humanitarian violations and promote increased protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure, said the IHRC.
Here’s a look at where things stand:
More than 100 people have been killed across Lebanon by Israeli strikes on the country. In an update released on Sunday evening (eastern European summer time), the Lebanese health ministry said 105 people had been killed and another 359 injured.
The Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, has broken his silence on Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah. On Sunday, Syria’s state-run outlet Sana quoted Assad as saying: “We are certain that the Lebanese national resistance will continue on the path of struggle and justice in the face of the occupation, and will continue to support the Palestinian people in their struggle for their just cause.”
Saudi Arabia has stressed the “need to preserve Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”. In a statement released on Sunday amid Israel’s deadly airstrikes, the Saudi foreign ministry said it was “following with great concern the developments taking place in Lebanon”.
The Houthi-run health ministry said at least four people were killed and 29 wounded in the airstrikes on Yemen’s port of Hodeidah. The strikes took place as Israel attacked more targets in Lebanon.
While Israeli air strikes have hit Yemen before in response to drone and missile attacks, this appears to have been the largest Israeli raid on Yemen involving a large number of aircraft and hit up to 10 targets. Images from Hodeidah showed parts of the city covered in a massive pall of dust, and towering explosions in the distance.
More than 100 people have been killed across Lebanon by Israeli strikes on the country.
In an update released on Sunday evening (eastern European summer time), the Lebanese health ministry said that 105 people have been killed while another 359 have been injured.
Israel’s deadly attacks which took place in the last 24 hours occurred on towns and villages in southern Lebanon, Bekaa, Baalbek-Hermel and the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Syrian president Bashar al-Assad has broken his silence on Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.
On Sunday, Syria’s state-run outlet Sana quoted Assad as saying:
The resistance does not weaken with the martyrdom of its leader, but rather remains firmly rooted in the hearts and minds, because great leaders build in their lives the doctrine of struggle, its approach and its path, and they depart leaving behind them an intellectual system and a practical approach to resistance and honor …
We are certain that the Lebanese national resistance will continue on the path of struggle and justice in the face of the occupation, and will continue to support the Palestinian people in their struggle for their just cause.
Martyr Nasrallah will remain in the memory of the Syrians, as a sign of loyalty to his standing by Syria in its war against the tools of Zionism, despite the burdens of confrontation that he carried. At the heart of this loyalty, the name of Martyr Hassan Nasrallah will remain immortal.
Saudi Arabia has stressed the “need to preserve Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
In a statement released on Sunday amid Israel’s deadly airstrikes, the Saudi foreign ministry said that it was “following with great concern the developments taking place in Lebanon”.
The ministry added that it “affirms its support for the Lebanese people and the need for humanitarian consequences”. It also said it is currently coordinating efforts to provide aid and relief to the Lebanese people.
The US was not given notice of Israel’s strike that killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, according to a top Biden aide.
The Guardian’s Edward Helmore reports:
The White House said on Sunday it had not been warned in advance of the airstrike that killed Hezbollah’s leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, in a Beirut suburb and assumed it had caused civilian casualties, while reaffirming its “ironclad” support for Israel.
John Kirby, the national security spokesperson, said the US had not been informed of the airstrike, and that the president, Joe Biden, found out about it only once Israeli planes were in the air.
Speaking to CNN, Kirby also said there was “no question” that civilians had been killed in the attack. “We certainly assume there have been civilian casualties. I don’t think we can quantify it right now, but we are in touch with our Israeli counterparts,” he said.
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The Houthi-run health ministry said at least four people were killed and 29 wounded in the airstrikes on Yemen’s port of Hodeidah.
The strikes took place as Israel attacked more targets in Lebanon, where its intensifying bombardment over two weeks has killed a string of top Hezbollah leaders and driven hundreds of thousands of people from their homes.
US president Joe Biden said on Sunday he would speak with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and believes that an all-out war in the Middle East must be avoided.
“It has to be,” Biden told reporters as he boarded Air Force One for Washington. “We really have to avoid it.”
The president’s statements come as Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon killed dozens of people on Sunday, AP reported. He would not say when he planned to speak with Netanyahu.
Here are some of the latest images coming through the news wires from Lebanon, where Israeli attacks across the country have killed more than 50 people over the past 24 hours:
Over 50 people have been killed in Israel’s latest strikes on Lebanon, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
On Sunday, the health ministry reported that 21 people have been killed while 47 others wounded in Israeli attacks on Baalbek-Hermel in eastern Lebanon.
The ministry also reported that 32 people have been killed with another 53 wounded in Ain al-Delb, a rise from the ministry’s previously reported numbers of 24 people killed and 29 people wounded in the southern village.
The death toll on Israel’s attack on Ain el-Delb, a southern village in Lebanon, has risen to 32, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
Earlier today, the health ministry said Israeli airstrikes have killed 21 people on Sunday in Baalbek-Hemel, east Lebanon.