Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the Lebanese folks towards supporting Hezbollah in a video deal with on Tuesday 8 October, telling them that Lebanon might turn into one other Gaza.
Within the video assertion, Netanyahu urged Lebanese folks to take away Hezbollah from energy to keep away from the destruction and struggling brought on by Israel in Gaza.
“You’ve got an opportunity to save lots of Lebanon earlier than it falls into the abyss of a protracted struggle,” Netanyahu mentioned.
He additionally referred to as for the Lebanese folks to “free their nation from Hezbollah’s affect,” to finish the continued battle.
This warning got here as Israel elevated its navy operations towards Hezbollah, deploying hundreds of troops into new areas of southwest Lebanon notably across the areas of Maroun al-Ras and the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Netanyahu claimed that Israeli forces killed 50 Hezbollah members in air strikes on 7 October, whereas the Lebanese Ministry of Well being reported that 36 folks had died and 150 had been injured resulting from Israeli assaults inside the previous 24 hours.
Regardless of these strikes, Hezbollah retaliated by launching rockets into the Israeli port metropolis of Haifa for the third consecutive day, injuring 12 folks.
The scenario on the bottom stays dire, with experiences indicating that over 1,400 folks have been killed in Lebanon and 1.2 million displaced for the reason that starting of intensified hostilities.
Hezbollah’s deputy chief, Naim Qassem, responded defiantly, stating that the group has endured current losses and stays able to persevering with its operations towards Israel.
Because the battle escalates, the humanitarian scenario in Lebanon has reached catastrophic ranges. The United Nations experiences that many have fled their houses, with 180,000 folks displaced or searching for refuge in neighboring Syria.
The World Meals Programme (WFP) has raised alarms about Lebanon’s agricultural sustainability, as farmland is being decimated by ongoing violence. It was reported that the burning of 1,900 hectares of farmland within the south of Lebanon along with one other 12,000 hectares in one of many nation’s most efficient areas which affected 46,000 farmers.
