SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Israeli strikes on Beirut after evacuation warning: state media
Beirut, Lebanon, Oct 20 (AFP) Oct 20, 2024
Two Israeli air strikes targeted south Beirut on Sunday after the Israeli army warned civilians to evacuate the stronghold of Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, state media said.

The reported strikes came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement of trying to assassinate him by attacking his residence.

"Enemy (Israeli) airplanes carried out two strikes this morning on Beirut's southern suburbs, one of them hitting a residential building in Haret Hreik" near a mosque and a hospital, the National News Agency reported.

The Israeli military had earlier issued an "urgent warning" for civilians living near buildings it said were affiliated with Hezbollah in the neighbourhood to immediately evacuate.

"You are located near facilities and interests affiliated with Hezbollah, which the IDF (Israeli army) will work against in the near future," the military's Arabic spokesman Avichay Adraee said on Telegram.

Netanyahu's office on Saturday said a drone was launched towards his residence in the central town of Caesarea but he and his wife were not home and there were no injuries.

"The attempt by Iran's proxy Hezbollah to assassinate me and my wife today was a grave mistake," Netanyahu said in a statement.

"Anyone who tries to harm Israel's citizens will pay a heavy price," he said in comments directed at Tehran and "its proxies", which include Lebanon's Hezbollah, a group Israel has been at war with since late September.

Iran said Hezbollah, which it arms and finances, was behind the attack on Netanyahu's residence.

"This action was taken by the Lebanese Hezbollah," Iran's mission to the United Nations said in response to a question about its role in the attack, according to Iran's official IRNA news agency.

Hezbollah has not claimed the attack.

Israel has vowed to retaliate against Iran, its regional arch-foe, for an October 1 missile barrage. Iran has warned it will hit back.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
The bacteria that wont wake up found in spacecraft cleanrooms
Lodestar Space wins SECP support to advance AI satellite awareness system
Vast spinning galaxy filament mapped in nearby Universe

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Data centers: a view from the inside
Nanoscience breakthrough puts low-cost, printable electronics on the horizon
Ghana e waste workers trapped in toxic survival trade off

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
US and allies sharpen coalition spacepower through CSpO partnership
Space operators urged to share costs of clearing orbital debris
Secure ESA contract advances GomSpace satellite cybersecurity

24/7 News Coverage
Bio-hybrid robots turn food waste into functional machines
Greenland mantle heat map sharpens outlook for rising seas
NASA backs WHOI effort to read organic signals from ocean worlds



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.