Israel launches 17 strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs; Hezbollah targets Israeli military industry company

Shafaq News/ On Wednesday evening, the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, were subjected to 17 violent Israeli airstrikes, during which the Israeli army announced the bombing and destruction of a weapons storage facility belonging to Hezbollah.

Media reports indicated that one of the strikes targeted an apartment used as an office for Al-Mayadeen channel in the southern suburbs. In this context, the caretaker Minister of Information, Ziad Makari, stated, "The Israeli entity always violates all covenants, and what we witnessed in Gaza is now seen in Beirut," adding, "We remember today the martyrs Farah Omar and Rabi Maamari, and the martyrs of journalism," who were killed by Israel while covering news.

"Al-Mayadeen, which represents hundreds of thousands, will continue, and this aggression will not affect it," he affirmed.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese Ministry of Health reported that the Israeli airstrikes on Al-Janah area in the southern suburbs resulted in one death and several injuries, including a child. Additionally, the Israeli strike that targeted a house in Halabta, north of Baalbek, killed one person and injured another. Strikes on the city of Tyre and its surroundings resulted in 16 injuries.

In a related context, the Lebanese army announced on Thursday the death of several of its members due to an Israeli strike targeting them in the south. The army wrote on X, "The Israeli enemy targeted Lebanese army personnel in the outskirts of Yater-Bint Jbeil while carrying out an evacuation operation for the wounded, resulting in the martyrdom of three soldiers, including an officer."

The Lebanese army had previously announced on Sunday the death of three soldiers in an attack on one of its vehicles on the road between Ain Ibl and Haneen in southern Lebanon.

For its part, Hezbollah announced that it targeted “a military industry company located in one of Tel Aviv's suburbs with missiles.” In another statement, Hezbollah said it used “precise missiles and new types of drones” for the first time in its clashes with Israeli forces, confirming that it “succeeded in repelling Israeli forces in clashes in several border villages in southern Lebanon.”

In turn, the spokesperson for the Israeli army, which often seeks to downplay the scale of losses, noted that around 25 launch operations from Lebanon were detected, most of which were intercepted, along with a few crash incidents. This followed the sounding of sirens in Acre, Kiryat, and nearby areas. Israeli media affirmed that the sirens were activated 395 times on Wednesday.

In this context, media outlets reported that US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin expressed grave concern in a phone call on Wednesday, according to a Pentagon statement, to his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant regarding reports of strikes against the Lebanese armed forces last Sunday, as well as attacks on UN peacekeeping forces (UNIFIL). Austin emphasized the need to take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of the Lebanese armed forces and UN peacekeeping forces operating in southern Lebanon.

Austin's statement comes at a time when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is leading a regional tour aimed at containing military escalation in the area.

Since the end of September, the Israeli army has been conducting airstrikes targeting various villages in southern and eastern Lebanon, as well as the southern suburbs of Beirut, resulting in the deaths of over 1,500 people, including children and women, while Hezbollah fighters continue to engage in battles and launch rockets at Israel.