Hezbollah has confirmed the killing of its leader Hassan Nasrallah in a massive Israeli air attack on a densely populated neighbourhood of Beirut that reduced several residential buildings to rubble.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel “settled the score” with the assassination of Nasrallah as his air force’s bombing campaign goes on.
Asked by reporters if an Israeli ground incursion into Lebanon was inevitable, US President Joe Biden said on Saturday: “It’s time for a ceasefire now.”
Asked if the US would respond to missile attacks on its warships in the Red Sea, Biden said: “We’re responding.”
The head of the United Nations is urging all sides to “step back from the brink” following the dramatic escalation of events in Beirut over the last 24 hours, his spokesman said.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres believes “this cycle of violence must stop now”, Stephane Dujarric said. “The people of Lebanon, the people of Israel, as well as the wider region, cannot afford an all-out war.”
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Guterres urged both sides to recommit to the full implementation of the 2006 UN Security Council resolution that ended the Israel-Hezbollah war in Lebanon, “and immediately return to a cessation of hostilities”, Dujarric said.
South Africa has denounced Israel’s ‘indiscriminate’ attacks on Lebanon as
Pretoria expressed concern regarding the recent escalation of “extrajudicial killings”, most notably the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and other leaders in Lebanon.
“The scale of injuries caused by Israel’s indiscriminate explosions is deeply troubling and warrants strong condemnation from the international community,” South Africa’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“Such attacks on civilians constitute a grave violation of international human rights and humanitarian law. These actions serve to exacerbate an already tense situation in the Middle East and appear to be aimed at undermining international peace efforts in the region.
“We stand in solidarity with the government of Lebanon during this challenging time and express our support in the aftermath of these ongoing attacks.”
In Beirut’s southern suburbs, many people are forced to sleep outside as heavy Israeli bombardment continues. Homes are destroyed and the threat of further strikes keeps residents on edge.
Hundreds of thousands have already fled Israeli attacks targeting the south and east of the country.
Meanwhile, some displaced families have run to Beirut beach for safety during Israeli bombing.
Fatima Chahine, a Syrian refugee, slept on the Ramlet al-Bayda public beach in Beirut with her family and hundreds of strangers.
“We only want a place where our children won’t be afraid,” she said. “We fled from the war in Syria in 2011 because of the children and we came here. And now the same thing is happening again.”
At the beach, the displaced are spread out over the pavement or in cars parked by the kerb. Others camped out in beach pagodas or on blankets in the sand.
“We spent more than three hours going in circles between schools and shelters and we didn’t find one with room,” said Talal Ahmad Jassaf, a Lebanese man who also slept on the beach with his family.
He said he is considering going to the relative safety of Syria, but worries about air strikes on the road between Beirut and Damascus.
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