Above photo: Aziz Taher/Reuters.
As Tel Aviv Widens Attack On Lebanon.
Civilians continue to fall victim to brutal Israeli attacks across Lebanon, as displaced families are making their way toward Beirut and Syria.
Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq warned in a joint statement on 25 September that Israel is “pushing” the region into a state of all-out war.
The joint statement was made on the sidelines of the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
“Israel is pushing the region into a comprehensive war,” the foreign ministers of the three Arab states said, condemning the ongoing Israeli attacks across Lebanon and calling on “the international community and the Security Council to assume their relevant responsibilities to stop the war.”
Stopping this “dangerous escalation underway in the region” must begin “by halting Israel’s aggression in Gaza,” they added.
Iraqi and Jordanian aid recently arrived in Lebanon following Tel Aviv’s pager terror attack, with Baghdad even announcing plans to establish a land bridge for humanitarian support to the country following Israel’s massive escalation and nationwide aerial assault, which began on Sunday.
Israel has continued to escalate against Lebanon with each passing day. The Israeli army has attacked the Lebanese capital three times in less than a week and is expanding its strikes toward the Mount Lebanon and Keserwan areas surrounding Beirut.
Several people were killed on 25 September, including three in the southern Lebanese village of Ain Qana and another three killed in the Keserwan area. The Lebanese Health Ministry also reported at least four deaths due to an Israeli strike on the Chouf mountain area in the Mount Lebanon region.
Displaced families from south Lebanon and the country’s eastern Bekaa region, which also remains under heavy bombing, continued on Wednesday to make their way towards the capital and towards Syria, which has been welcoming those fleeing the Israeli assault.
Over 550 people have been killed and nearly 2,000 injured since Monday. Scores were killed in Lebanon on Tuesday, including women, children, paramedics, and two UNHCR staff members.
Hezbollah has repeatedly affirmed that no amount of military or political pressure can succeed in swaying the Lebanese resistance against continuing its operations in support of Gaza and the Palestinians.
Security sources told Israel’s Channel 13 on Tuesday, “We will force Nasrallah to cease fire by force, no matter the cost, regardless of the situation in Gaza. We continue to follow the strategy of gradual escalation, and each time we go up one step after another.”
Other Hebrew reports suggested that the Israeli strategy for Lebanon is not as clear.
“Netanyahu formed a team headed by Ron Dermer [Minister of Strategic Affairs] to prepare a mechanism to end the operation in the north. It includes senior officials from the army and the security establishment,” Hebrew news outlet Channel 12 reported on Tuesday, citing sources.
Officials presented their vision to the security cabinet earlier this week, which “indicates that there is currently no plan for a solution in the northern arena without a ceasefire in the south [Gaza].”
“Even after the series of measures taken by Israel, Nasrallah is committed to continuing the war of attrition as long as the fire in Gaza does not stop. Therefore, only moves that will at least temporarily stop the war in Gaza will allow the transformation of military achievements in Lebanon into a strategic political achievement in the north,” the report added.
The expanded attacks on Lebanon on 25 September came hours after Hezbollah targeted a Mossad headquarters in the Tel Aviv outskirts, using a ballistic missile for the first time in the war.
World leaders express ‘concern’ as Israel escalates Lebanon attacks
Arab and world leaders reacted to Israel’s ongoing aggression in southern Lebanon on 24 September, issuing statements warning against further escalation of the conflict.
“The continuing Israeli aggression on Lebanon is a war of extermination in every sense of the word and a destructive plan that aims to destroy Lebanese villages and towns,” Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati stated.
He urged “the United Nations and the general assembly and influential countries … to deter the [Israeli] aggression.”
Israel began its wide-scale bombing campaign in southern Lebanon early Sunday morning. Israeli strikes have so far killed 558 people, including 50 children and 94 women, and injured 1,835 more, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
“This development is potentially extremely dangerous,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, warning of the “widening area of conflict and a complete destabilization of the region.”
The Foreign Ministry of Saudi Arabia warned of the “danger of the expansion of violence in the region and the serious repercussions of the escalation on the security and stability of the region.”
The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the attacks from Israel “mark a new phase in its efforts to drag the entire region into chaos.”
“The countries that unconditionally support Israel are helping Netanyahu shed blood for his political interests.”
“The State of Qatar condemns, in the strongest terms, the Israeli aggression on Lebanon,” Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said while cautioning “against expanding the circle of violence in the region.”
“This reality exacerbates crises, puts the region on the brink of the abyss, and exposes it to more tensions that will have a profound impact regionally and internationally,” the ministry said.
Egypt expressed its solidarity with Lebanon and affirmed its “categorical rejection” of any violations of Lebanon’s sovereignty and its territories.
“Egypt has previously warned of the gravity of the continued Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip, and the danger of its expansion, which puts the region at risk of sliding into a full-fledged regional war,” its statement said.
Spain was the only western government to issue a statement condemning the Israeli assault.
“The Spanish government expresses its deep dismay and condemnation of the Israeli bombardment of southern and eastern Lebanon today, which has left hundreds dead, in response to Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel over the weekend,” the Foreign Ministry in Madrid said on Monday evening. “The spiral of violence must stop,” the ministry added.