Israel Attacks Central Beirut for the First Time

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Israel carried out an airstrike in Beirut early Monday, marking the first attack in the Lebanese capital since the outbreak of the war in Gaza last year. An Israeli drone targeted a residential building in the heart of the Lebanese capital, leading, according to a security source, to the death of four people, while Hamas announced the death of its leader in Lebanon.

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In recent days, Israel has shifted its military focus from Gaza to Lebanon, which has witnessed daily Israeli attacks on Hezbollah targets, including the assassination of the party’s Secretary-General, Hassan Nasrallah.

The Lebanese Ministry of Health reported that 105 people were killed and 359 injured due to the Israeli attacks on Sunday.

The Israeli attack on Monday targeted an apartment in the Cola area belonging to two members of the Islamic Group in Lebanon, according to the security source. This is the first Israeli strike in the heart of Beirut since the attack launched by Hamas against Israel on October 7 of last year.

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The security source stated that “at least four people were killed in an Israeli drone strike targeting an Islamic Group apartment in Cola in Beirut for the first time since last October.”

Meanwhile, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine announced on Monday the deaths of three of its members in the Israeli strike on Beirut. In a statement, it said, “The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, mourn the comrade leader Mohammed Abdel Aal, a member of the front’s political bureau and responsible for the military and security department, and comrade leader Imad Awda, a member of the front’s general central committee and its military leader in Lebanon, along with comrade fighter Abdel Rahman Abdel Aal.”

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Video footage aired by television channels showed a partially destroyed apartment in the predominantly Sunni area of Cola, near the road connecting the capital to Beirut Airport.

For its part, Hamas announced on Monday the death of its leader in Lebanon in an airstrike in the south of the country. The movement stated in a statement, “We mourn the martyr leader Fath Sharif Abou al-Amin, the leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas in Lebanon and a member of the movement’s leadership abroad,” who was killed in “a terrorist and criminal assassination operation” targeting his home in the al-Bass camp in southern Lebanon. The statement also mentioned that he was killed in the strike along with his wife, son, and daughter.

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The National News Agency reported that an airstrike targeted the camp near the city of Tyre, indicating that “this is the first time” the camp has been targeted.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz stated that Tel Aviv would only accept a ceasefire in Lebanon if Hezbollah was moved north of the Litani River (southern Lebanon) and disarmed, according to Israeli media. On Monday, the Israeli broadcasting channel (official) reported that Katz had sent messages to his counterparts in 25 countries, including the foreign ministers of Germany, Britain, Italy, and Canada, stating that “Israel will not agree to a ceasefire in Lebanon.”

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He added, “The only acceptable way for Israel to agree to a ceasefire is to move Hezbollah north of the Litani and disarm it,” considering that “the full implementation of all UN Security Council resolutions regarding Lebanon is the only thing that will allow for a ceasefire.”

He continued: “As long as this does not happen, Israel will continue its actions to ensure the security of its citizens and the return of the displaced residents of the north to their homes.”

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He emphasized that the assassination of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike in southern Beirut on Friday “was one of the most justified preventive measures taken by Israel.”

An American official stated on Sunday evening that the administration of President Joe Biden is concerned about Iran’s plans to conduct an attack following Nasrallah‘s assassination by Israel, and is working with Israel on defense matters.

The American official told CNN that common defenses are currently being prepared to address an attack, with changes in the American military posture.

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He declined to specify what type of attack was expected from Iran or to detail the movements undertaken by the American military.

Following the unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, and triggered the devastating war in the Gaza Strip, Hezbollah has opened what it has called “a support front” for Gaza from Lebanon.

After nearly a year of exchanges of fire at the border, Israel launched intensive airstrikes on Hezbollah targets on September 23.

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The Israeli strikes have resulted in hundreds of deaths in Lebanon since last Monday, which was the day with the highest number of casualties since the Lebanese civil war between 1975 and 1990.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barot arrived in Lebanon on Sunday evening, according to what the ministry announced, becoming the first high-level foreign diplomat to visit the country since the intensification of Israeli strikes targeting Iranian-backed Hezbollah.

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Barot informed Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati that Paris is striving to achieve an “immediate ceasefire” from Israeli strikes.

Saudi Arabia stated on Sunday evening that it is following the developments in the situation in Lebanon with “great concern,” emphasizing the need to “preserve its sovereignty,” in the first official Saudi reaction since the assassination of Hezbollah‘s Secretary-General on Friday.

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