The Israeli government confirmed a “targeted” aerial attack in the early hours of Thursday morning on a Hezbollah-affiliated site in central Beirut, reportedly the closest that Israeli forces have come to Lebanon’s government headquarters in the ongoing operation against Hezbollah.
Hezbollah, a Shiite jihadist terror organization, has coopted much of the Lebanese government and launched a major terrorist campaign against northern Israel in support of fellow Iran-backed jihadist outfit Hamas. Hezbollah campaigns in the north resulted in the evacuation of at least 60,000 Israeli civilians; the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) revealed evidence this week that Hezbollah leaders were planning to invade northern Israel to conduct an attack similar to Hamas’s siege of the country on October 7, 2023, which resulted in about 1,200 deaths, the abduction of dozens, and documented instances of infanticides, gang rape, desecration of corpses, and other atrocities.
Israel dramatically escalated its campaign against Hezbollah in the past month, culminating with the terrorist organization confirming this weekend that an airstrike killed its longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah. Hezbollah’s leadership structure also suffered after a string of explosions throughout Lebanon – appearing to emanate from pagers, walkie-talkies, and other electronics – eliminated several high-ranking Hezbollah terrorists. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement in the explosions.
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Lebanon’s L’Orient Today, citing the Lebanese National News Agency, reported on Thursday that Israeli airstrikes hit the headquarters in central Beirut of the “Islamic Health Committee,” a Hezbollah organization, in the early hours of Thursday and left at least seven dead. The Islamic Health Committee is the official medical arm of Hezbollah, a parallel institution to Lebanon’s legitimate health care infrastructure.
The Times of Israel similarly confirmed the strikes, citing the IDF, and reportedly at least six people dead. Al Manar, a pro-Hezbollah propaganda outlet, claimed that “seven paramedics” were killed in the strike, citing the Islamic Health Society itself.
“Reports said the target was an apartment building in Beirut’s Bashoura neighborhood, close to parliament, the nearest Israeli strikes have come to Lebanon’s seat of government,” the Times of Israel noted. The newspaper added that, unlike prior strikes in urban areas, the IDF did not include in its usual evacuation warmings for civilians the neighborhood of central Beirut implicated. the IDF did issue evacuation notices for at least three other sites targeted for attacks against Hezbollah. The IDF also issued evacuation notices for civilians in 25 towns and villages on the Lebanese side of the border with Israel.
Lebanese outlets reported 17 Israeli airstrikes on Thursday, among them those in central Beirut.
The strikes follow revelations this week by the IDF that Hezbollah had been planning an October 7-style invasion of Israel from the north, which it allegedly referred to as “Conquer the Galilee.”
“Hezbollah has openly declared that it plans to carry out its own October the 7th massacre on Israel’s northern border, on an even larger scale,” IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari announced. “For years, Hezbollah has been planning to do in northern Israel what Hamas did in southern Israel on October 7th: invade Israel, infiltrate civilian communities and massacre innocent civilians.”
“To make sure that Hezbollah can never carry out such an attack and in order to enable all 60,000 Israelis to safely return back to their homes in northern Israel, the IDF is taking action,” he continued. “Hezbollah planned to launch their October 7th attack from villages across southern Lebanon where they have been building up their arms; capabilities; and forces for the last two decades. Hezbollah also dug tunnels under homes in these villages close to the border with Israel.”
The IDF announced a “limited” ground operation into Lebanon on Monday, intended to eliminate the Hezbollah threat. the Israeli government revealed in announcing the move, however, that it had been operating within Lebanon for months, specifically in response to the discovery of the “Conquer the Galilee” plan.
Hezbollah, in turn, announced a flurry of missile campaigns against Israeli targets, which Iranian media breathlessly replicated.
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“Hezbollah said they targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers in Kfar Giladi at 9:15 a.m. with rockets. At the same time, the Lebanese resistance movement said they attacked an Israeli base in Ramim with rockets,” the Iranian Tasnim News Agency reported on Thursday. “Another attack was reported at 9:15 a.m. in Maskafam, where Hezbollah fighters launched rockets at Israeli forces. Hezbollah claimed further success at 11:30 a.m., saying they targeted Israeli military movements at the Al-Raheb military center with artillery, causing casualties.”
Iran itself attempted to bomb Israel on Tuesday, launching hundreds of missiles at Israeli targets that mostly missed and resulted in no significant damage. The Iranian regime nonetheless declared victory the next day. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the failed missile barrage was a “great source of pride” that ““proved the Israeli regime’s Iron Dome system is more fragile than glass.”
American President Joe Biden, who has been largely sidelined in the ongoing war between Israel and Iran’s coalition of terrorist proxies, has discouraged the Israeli military from continuing to target terror groups, urging a ceasefire and limited response to Iranian belligerence.
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