Israeli airstrikes rock Beirut, Hezbollah command centre hit
Adds comment from evacuated civilian, paragraph 3, death of commander, paragraph 10
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Israel launches fresh wave of strikes on Beirut
Residents of southern suburbs warned to leave
No confirmation of fate of Hezbollah leader Nasrallah
By Maya Gebeily, Timour Azhari and James Mackenzie
BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, Sept 28 (Reuters) -A wave of air raids hit Beirut's southern suburbs early on Saturday as Israel stepped up attacks on Hezbollah, after a massive strike on the Iran-backed movement's command centre that apparently targeted leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Reuters witnesses heard more than 20 airstrikes before dawn on Saturday. Abandoning their homes in the southern suburbs, thousands of Lebanese congregated in squares, parks and sidewalks in downtown Beirut and seaside areas.
"They want to destroy Dahiye, they want to destroy all of us," said Sari, a man in his 30s who gave only his first name, referring to the suburb he had fled after an Israeli evacuation order. Nearby, the newly displaced in Beirut's Martyrs Square rolled mats onto the ground to tried to sleep.
An unprecedented five hours of continuous strikes early on Saturday followed Friday's attack, by far the most powerful by Israel on Beirut during nearly a year of war with Hezbollah. It marked a sharp escalation of a conflict that has involved daily missile and rocket fire between the two sides.
The latest escalation has sharply increased fears the conflict could spiral out of control, potentially drawing in Iran, Hezbollah's principal backer, as well as the United States.
There was no immediate confirmation of Nasrallah's fate after Friday's heavy strikes, but a source close to Hezbollah told Reuters he was not reachable. The Lebanese armed group has not made a statement.
Israel has not said whether it tried to hit Nasrallah, but a senior Israeli official said top Hezbollah commanders were targeted.
"I think it's too early to say... Sometimes they hide the fact when we succeed," the Israeli official told reporters when asked if the strike on Friday had killed Nasrallah.
Earlier, a source close to Hezbollah told Reuters that Nasrallah was alive. Iran's Tasnim news agency also reported he was safe. A senior Iranian security official told Reuters that Tehran was checking his status.
The Israeli military said in a statement that it had killed the commander of Hezbollah's missile unit, Muhammad Ali Ismail, and his deputy Hossein Ahmed Ismail.
DEATH TOLL RISES
Hours before the latest barrage, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the United Nations that his country had a right to continue the campaign.
"As long as Hezbollah chooses the path of war, Israel has no choice, and Israel has every right to remove this threat and return our citizens to their homes safely," he said.
Several delegations walked out as Netanyahu approached the lectern. He later cut short his New York trip to return to Israel.
Lebanese health authorities confirmed six dead and 91 wounded in the initial attack on Friday - the fourth on Beirut's Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs in a week and the heaviest since a 2006 war.
The toll appeared likely to rise much higher. There was no word on casualties from the later strikes. More than 700 people were killed in strikes over the past week, authorities said.
Hezbollah's al-Manar television reported seven buildings were destroyed. Security sources in Lebanon said the target was an area where top Hezbollah officials are usually based.
Hours later, the Israeli military told residents in parts of Beirut's southern suburbs to evacuate as it targeted missile launchers and weapons storage sites it said were under civilian housing.
Hezbollah denied any weapons or arms depots were located in buildings that were hit in the Beirut suburbs, the Lebanese armed group's media office said in a statement.
Alaa al-Din Saeed, a resident of a neighbourhood Israel identified as a target, told Reuters he was fleeing with his wife and three children.
"We found out on the television. There was a huge commotion in the neighbourhood," he said. The family grabbed clothes, identification papers and some cash but were stuck in traffic with others trying to flee.
"We're going to the mountains. We'll see how to spend the night - and tomorrow we'll see what we can do."
Around 100,000 people in Lebanon have been displaced this week, increasing the number uprooted in the country to well over 200,000.
Israel's government has said that returning some 70,000 Israeli evacuees to their homes is a war aim.
FEAR THE FIGHTING WILL SPREAD
Hezbollah has fired hundreds of rockets and missiles against targets in Israel, including Tel Aviv. The group said it fired rockets on Friday at the northern Israeli city of Safed, where a woman was treated for minor injuries.
Israel's air defence systems have ensured the damage has so far been minimal.
Iran, which said Friday's attack crossed "red lines", accused Israel of using U.S.-made "bunker-busting" bombs.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Washington was not informed of that strike beforehand. President Joe Biden was being kept abreast of developments.
At the U.N., where the annual General Assembly met this week, the intensification prompted expressions of concern including by France, which with the U.S. has proposed a 21-day ceasefire.
"This must be brought to an end immediately," French Ambassador Nicolas de Riviere told a Security Council meeting.
At a New York press conference, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: "We believe the way forward is through diplomacy, not conflict... We will continue to work intentionally with all parties to urge them to choose that course."
Hezbollah opened the latest bout in a decades-long conflict with a missile barrage against Israel immediately following the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza last year.
Reporting by Maya Gebeily, Timour Azhari and James Mackenzie; Additional reporting by Tom Perry in Beirut, Jana Choukeir and Nadine Awadalla in Dubai, Phil Stewart in Washington, Emily Rose in Jerusalem and Ahmed Tolba in Cairo; Writing by James Mackenzie and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and William Mallard
Neueste News
Rechtlicher Hinweis: Die Unternehmen der XM Group bieten Dienstleistungen ausschließlich zur Ausführung an sowie Zugang zu unserer Online-Handelsplattform. Durch diese können Personen die verfügbaren Inhalte auf oder über die Internetseite betrachten und/oder nutzen. Eine Änderung oder Erweiterung dieser Regelung ist nicht vorgesehen und findet nicht statt. Der Zugang wird stets geregelt durch folgende Vorschriften: (i) Allgemeine Geschäftsbedingungen; (ii) Risikowarnungen und (iii) Vollständiger rechtlicher Hinweis. Die bereitgestellten Inhalte sind somit lediglich als allgemeine Informationen zu verstehen. Bitte beachten Sie, dass die Inhalte auf unserer Online-Handelsplattform keine Aufforderung und kein Angebot zum Abschluss von Transaktionen auf den Finanzmärkten darstellen. Der Handel auf Finanzmärkten birgt ein hohes Risiko für Ihr eingesetztes Kapital.
Sämtliche Materialien, die auf unserer Online-Handelsplattform veröffentlicht sind, dienen ausschließlich dem Zweck der Weiterbildung und Information. Die Materialien beinhalten keine Beratung und Empfehlung im Hinblick auf Finanzen, Anlagesteuer oder Handel und sollten nicht als eine dahingehende Beratung und Empfehlung aufgefasst werden. Zudem enthalten die Materialien keine Aufzeichnungen unserer Handelspreise sowie kein Angebot und keine Aufforderung für jegliche Transaktionen mit Finanzinstrumenten oder unverlangte Werbemaßnahmen für Sie zum Thema Finanzen. Die Materialien sollten auch nicht dahingehend aufgefasst werden.
Alle Inhalte von Dritten und die von XM bereitgestellten Inhalte sowie die auf dieser Internetseite zur Verfügung gestellten Meinungen, Nachrichten, Forschungsergebnisse, Analysen, Kurse, sonstigen Informationen oder Links zu Seiten von Dritten werden ohne Gewähr bereitgestellt. Sie sind als allgemeine Kommentare zum Marktgeschehen zu verstehen und stellen keine Anlageberatung dar. Soweit ein Inhalt als Anlageforschung aufgefasst wird, müssen Sie beachten und akzeptieren, dass der Inhalt nicht in Übereinstimmung mit gesetzlichen Bestimmungen zur Förderung der Unabhängigkeit der Anlageforschung erstellt wurde. Somit ist der Inhalt als Werbemitteilung unter Beachtung der geltenden Gesetze und Vorschriften anzusehen. Bitte stellen Sie sicher, dass Sie unseren Hinweis auf die nicht unabhängige Anlageforschung und die Risikowarnung im Hinblick auf die vorstehenden Informationen gelesen und zur Kenntnis genommen haben, die Sie hier finden.
