BEIRUT (AP) – Hezbollah fired 250 rockets and other projectiles into Israel on Sunday, wounding seven people in one of the militant group’s deadliest attacks in months, responding to Israel’s worst carnage in Beirut as negotiators continued to try to end the shooting. to stop all war.
Some of the rockets landed in the Tel Aviv area in central Israel.
Meanwhile, an Israeli strike on a military base killed a Lebanese soldier and wounded 18 others in the southwest between Tire and Naqoura, the Lebanese army said. The Israeli army expressed its regret, saying the strike took place in an anti-Hezbollah area and that the forces only targeted the militants.
Reliable and interesting news every day, in your inbox
See for yourself – The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and interesting stories.
Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 40 Lebanese soldiers since the start of the war between Israel and Hezbollah, although the Lebanese army has been on the sidelines.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the latest strike as a blow to US-led efforts to end the fighting, calling it a “direct, bloody message that rejects all efforts and cooperation” to end the war.
Hezbollah fires rockets after attack on Beirut
Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and drones into Israel after Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack from the Gaza Strip started the war there. Hezbollah portrayed the attack as an act of solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas. Iran supports two armed groups.
Israel launched retaliatory airstrikes against Hezbollah, and in September the low-level fighting began an all-out war as Israel launched airstrikes in large areas of Lebanon and killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and several senior officials.
The Israeli army said about 250 projectiles were fired on Sunday, while others were captured.
Israel’s Magen David Adom service said it has arrested seven people, including a 60-year-old man in critical condition from a rocket fire in northern Israel, a 23-year-old man who was slightly injured by an explosion in the center of the city of Petah Tikva. , near Tel Aviv, and a 70-year-old woman who suffered from smoke inhalation from a car that caught fire there. In Haifa, a rocket hit a residential building that police said was in danger of collapsing.
The Palestine Red Crescent reported 13 injuries which it said were caused by an interceptor weapon that hit several houses in Tulkarem in the West Bank. It is unclear whether the injuries and other damage were caused by the rockets or the interceptors.
Sirens wailed again in central and northern Israel hours later.
Israeli airstrikes without warning on Saturday hit central Beirut, killing at least 22 people and injuring 67, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Health.
Smoke billowed over Beirut again Sunday with a new blow. The Israeli army said it targeted Hezbollah command centers south of Dahiyeh, where there is a strong military base.
The Israeli attack killed more than 3,700 people in Lebanon, according to the Health Ministry. The war displaced about 1.2 million people, or a quarter of Lebanon’s population.
On the Israeli side, about 90 soldiers and about 50 civilians were killed in bombings in northern Israel and in the fighting following the invasion of Israel in early October. About 60,000 Israelis were expelled from the north of the country.
The EU representative calls for pressure to reach an agreement
The Biden administration has spent months trying to stop the shooting, and US Ambassador Amos Hochstein was in the region last week.
The representative of the European Union called on Sunday to increase the pressure on Israel and Hezbollah to reach an agreement, saying that one “waits for a final agreement from the Israeli government.”
Josep Borrell spoke after meeting with Mikati and Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, an ally of Hezbollah who has been mediating with this group.
Borrell said the EU is ready to allocate 200 million dollars ($200 million) to help the Lebanese army, which will send more troops to the south.
The emerging agreement would pave the way for the withdrawal of Hezbollah fighters and Israeli forces from southern Lebanon below the Litani River in accordance with a UN Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 war. The Lebanese army was moving around with the presence of UN peacekeepers.
The Lebanese army reflects the country’s religious diversity and is respected as a national organization, but it does not have the military power to impose its will on Hezbollah or resist Israeli incursions.
One year from hold-release deal
With the cease-fire talks and the release of refugees in Gaza stalled, freed captives and the families of those who are still being held have marked a year since the agreement on the release of captives from that war.
“For a whole year, we have been waiting for another agreement to bring everyone back,” said Yifat Zailer, the nephew of Shiri Bibas, who is still a captive along with her husband and two young sons. “It’s hard to stay positive; indeed after a long time and like another winter is about to start.
About 100 captives remain inside Gaza, with about a third believed to be dead. Most of the other 250 kidnapped in the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas were released late last year.
Negotiations for a new deal have recently hit several obstacles, including the firing of Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who had pushed for the deal, and Qatar’s decision to suspend mediation.
The effort has been stalled for months, largely over Hamas’ demands that Israel end the war and withdraw all troops from Gaza as part of the exile deal. Israel has only committed to stopping its offensive.
___
Goldenberg reported from Tel Aviv, Israel.
___
Find more of AP’s war coverage at pjh