[🇱🇧] Lebanon - Israel Conflict -2024

Source: https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/israel-iran-missile-attack-middle-east-10-02-24-intl-hnk/index.html

Lebanon's military says Israel crossed 400 meters into territory before withdrawing​

From CNN’s Tamara Qiblawi and Mostafa Salem

IDF handout photo geolocated to be in southern Lebanon.

Lebanon’s military said Wednesday an Israeli military force breached the border, reaching 400 meters (about a quarter of a mile) into Lebanese territory before withdrawing.

“An Israeli enemy force breached the Blue Line by approximately 400 meters into Lebanese territory in the areas of Khirbet Yaroun and the Aadeyseh, then withdrew after a short period,” the army said.

The Blue Line is a reference to the demarcation border area that separates Israel and Lebanon.

CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment.

The IDF also released a photo of its troops inside Lebanon that CNN has geolocated to be inside southern Lebanon.

 

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Israel's daily aerial assault on Lebanon more intense than most years of US' 20-year war in Afghanistan​

From CNN's Kara Fox

Smoke billows from an Israeli airstrike in Khiam, Lebanon, on October 3.
AFP via Getty Images

Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon is heavier than the height of the United States’ fight against ISIS, data from a conflict monitoring group shows.

Israel has pummeled Lebanon with an unprecedented airstrike campaign in less than three weeks, killing more than 1,400 people, injuring nearly 7,500 others and displacing more than one million people from their homes, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

To put that into context, over the course of two days, on September 24 and September 25, the Israel military said it used 2,000 munitions and carried out 3,000 strikes.

In comparison, for most of America’s 20-year war in Afghanistan, the US carried out less than 3,000 strikes a year, barring the first year of the invasion, where around 6,500 strikes were carried out, according to data from Airwars analyzed by CNN.

Israel’s bombardment, which Israel says is targeting Hezbollah strongholds in the country, marks the world’s “most intense aerial campaign” outside of Gaza in the last two decades, Airwars said.

The majority of the fire exchanged between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of the war has come from Israeli strikes, drones, shelling and missiles on Lebanese territory, according to data from ACLED (Armed Conflict Location and Event Data), an organization that collects data on violent conflict.

Israel has launched nearly 9,000 attacks into Lebanon since October 8 and Hezbollah launched 1,500 attacks in that same time frame, according to the ACLED data.

 

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Israel warns it will take "appropriate measures" against any rescue vehicle used by Hezbollah​

From CNN's Hamdi Alkhshali and Louis Leeson

The Israeli military urged medical teams in Lebanon to avoid cooperating with Hezbollah, warning that it would take “appropriate measures” if their rescue vehicles are used by the militant group.

The Israel Defense Forces has accused Hezbollah of “exploiting” such rescue vehicles to transport what it described as terrorists and weapons.

“Any vehicle proven to be used by an armed terrorist for terrorist purposes, regardless of its type, will be subject to appropriate measures to prevent its military use,” IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee warned.

 

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Most weapon smuggling does not take place through the crossing Israel struck, Lebanese minister says​

From CNN's Mitchell McCluskey


Lebanon’s Minister of Economy and Trade said most weapon smuggling does not take place through the Masnaa border crossing with Syria, which Israel struck on Thursday.

The Israel Defense Forces said it hit an “underground tunnel crossing” at that location to prevent weapons from being smuggled into Lebanon. Amin Salam told CNN’s Isa Soares on Friday that Lebanon intends to inspect the site after the rubble is cleared but that most smuggling takes place through illegal channels rather than the official entry point at Masnaa.

“Smuggling weapons into Lebanon or smuggling anything inside or outside Lebanon mostly is not done through this channel. Mostly it is done through illegal channels, illegal roads, in Lebanon that are not like this one,” he said.

The Masnaa border crossing lies in the Bekaa Valley on the Beirut-Damascus international highway, a major transport link for people and goods between Lebanon and Syria. Tens of thousands of people have used the highway to flee Israeli bombardment in recent days.

 

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Hezbollah has yet to decide when and where to bury Nasrallah, source says​

From CNN's Tamara Qiblawi in Beirut

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah gives a televised address in Lebanon on September 19.
Al-Manar TV/Reuters


Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah last Friday has driven the Iran-backed group even deeper underground. A successor has not yet been named. And perhaps most unusually, a funeral — at least a public one — has not yet been held.

Why this matters:
According to Islamic norms, the dead must be laid to rest at the soonest opportunity, normally within 24 hours. That is especially true for Muslims slain by an enemy state. Questions swirled and reports emerged on Friday morning that the late leader had been buried in secret. But a source close to Hezbollah told CNN this was not true. “Nothing has been decided,” the source said, about the time and place of the burial.

Coupled with the lack of a clear successor, this has shrouded the group in more secrecy. For a week, Hezbollah’s public statements have been cursory at best. This strikes a sharp contrast with the Iran-backed Shia group’s practice of shoring up community support with public gatherings, and Nasrallah’s long and rousing speeches.

 

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More background:
On Friday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei commemorated Nasrallah in Friday prayers, which, in a rare move, he led. Yet there was no public gathering to mark this in Lebanon.

There are security reasons for that, as well as for the lack of a public funeral. Israel’s intensive bombing campaign has battered many Shia-majority neighborhoods and towns, so there is no conceivably safe place to hold it.

Israel’s airstrikes have decimated its command and control and have also killed a large number of civilians, according to the Ministry of Health, and displaced over a million. More than 100 children have been killed in Israeli strikes in the last 11 days alone, according to UNICEF.

Still, this all underscores the fact that this is a very different war. During the last all-out war with Israel in 2006, Nasrallah gave televised speeches nearly every day. The leadership is operating more clandestinely than ever before, after having been confronted by the most extensive Israeli infiltration of its ranks in its history.