Israeli strikes kill civilians, injure UN peacekeeper, soldiers in Lebanon

Israel has launched new airstrikes across Lebanon as the regime’s unrelenting aggression against the Arab country continues to claim more lives and ruin civilian infrastructure. 

The Lebanese army confirmed on Thursday that an Israeli strike on the southern Lebanese city of Sidon killed three Lebanese citizens and wounded three Lebanese soldiers.

The strike targeted a car while it was passing a checkpoint, which led to the killing of the three Lebanese who were inside it, the army said in a statement.

The wounded soldiers had been serving at the checkpoint. 

The strike also left several UN peacekeepers injured in the same area. At least four Malaysian personnel from UNIFIL forces were said to be among those wounded in the Israeli aerial raid. 

Sidon has been struck multiple times by Israeli warplanes in recent weeks.

In Bekaa Valley, Israel’s overnight air raids demolished several houses in the village of al-Ain. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said that at least 40 people had been killed and dozens more wounded in eastern Bekaa Valley and Baalbek city since Wednesday.

Attacks in other parts of the country killed another 36 people on Wednesday, the ministry added.

In early Thursday, the regime was also reported to have attacked Beirut’s southern suburbs, including a site adjacent to Rafiq Hariri International Airport.

The attacks came after the regime issued short-notice evacuation orders apparently directed at the residents of the areas, claiming that the areas contained facilities belonging to Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement.

Tel Aviv has been using similar claims on countless occasions since last October, when it markedly intensified its deadly acts of aggression against Lebanon, in order to try to justify the escalation. Hezbollah has, however, invariably refuted the claims.

Israel kills 40 in new strikes against Lebanon; targets Beirut in fresh aggression

The Israeli regime kills at least 40 people during new airstrikes against eastern Lebanese areas, besides targeting the country’s capital Beirut with fresh acts of aggression.

Lebanon MPs demand UN protection of heritage sites

Some 100 members of Lebanon's parliament sent Thursday an "urgent message" to UNESCO calling for the protection of the country's heritage from Israel attacks.

"During the destructive war on Lebanon, Israel committed serious violations and atrocities of human rights," said legislator Najat Saliba in the message directed to UNESCO's chief Audrey Azoulay.

She read the statement, signed by more than 100 legislators, in the parliament building in Beirut in the presence of some of her colleagues.

Saliba urged Azoulay to protect historic sites in Lebanon, especially in Baalbek, Tyre and other "valuable areas that are facing major dangers because of the rising atrocities."

The announcement by the legislators came after Israel's warplanes recently struck areas close to archaeological sites in different parts of Lebanon including the northeastern city of Baalbek and the southern port city of Tyre.

On Wednesday, a local official said an Israeli airstrike landed "dangerously close" to Baalbek's UNESCO-listed Roman ruins.

Lebanon’s Baalbek area includes east Lebanon’s largest city and UNESCO-designated Roman ruins.

Israel launched a ground assault and massive air campaign against Lebanon in late September after a year of exchanging fire across the Lebanese border in parallel with the Gaza war.

More than 3,000 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon over the last year, the vast majority in the past six weeks.

A recent UN report said the attacks have claimed the lives of more than 3,000 people, which was “58 percent more than the 1,900 fatalities” that were caused by the regime’s 2006 war against Lebanon.

Hezbollah strikes Tel Aviv, Haifa; unveils new precision missile

Hezbollah strikes the cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa in the occupied Palestinian territories, besides unveiling a new precision missile that it seeks to deploy in its ongoing anti-Israeli struggle.

In response to the aggression, Hezbollah has been staging hundreds of retaliatory strikes against the occupied Palestinian territories and the Israeli forces trying to advance on southern Lebanese areas.

The movement has vowed to sustain its strikes until the regime ends the escalation.

In two separate statements on Thursday, Hezbollah announced a missile attack on the Yiftah military base and an ambush laid for a group of Israeli troops planning to advance to the village of Yaroun. A number of Israeli soldiers were killed or wounded, it said.

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