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The Israeli military said on Monday that its troops had begun ”limited ground operations” against Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon in recent days to bolster forward defences as the death toll from Israeli airstrikes in the country climbs.
Massive explosions were heard in Beirut as Israel launched new attacks on the Lebanese capital before dawn, saying it was striking infrastructure related to the Iran-linked Hezbollah militia group.
The Israeli army has issued evacuation orders for many neighbourhoods in Beirut as well as southern Lebanon.
In southern Lebanon, seven people were killed in Israeli airstrikes, according to authorities and news reports. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said two of them were paramedics responding to an earlier strike.
More than 800,000 people have been forced out of their homes by Israel’s campaign in Lebanon since March 2, when Lebanon got sucked into the regional war that began with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.
At least 850 people have been killed by Israeli strikes so far, including 107 children and 66 women, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.
At least 12 medical personnel were killed in Israeli airstrikes on a medical complex Friday in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. The World Health Organization (WHO) has verified 27 Israeli airstrikes targeting Lebanon’s health care system and says over 30 medical workers have been killed and 35 wounded since the war began. Dr. Abdinasir Abubakar, WHO’s representative in Lebanon, says medical personnel must be protected as Israel’s war on Lebanon continues to escalate.
The ministry said 12 medical personnel were killed in one of the latest Israeli airstrikes, that hit a medical complex Friday in southern Lebanon.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has verified 27 Israeli airstrikes targeting Lebanon’s health care system and says over 30 medical workers have been killed and 35 wounded since the war began.
Not long after Israel’s military announced it had launched new strikes on Tehran, targeting infrastructure, explosions were heard in the Iranian capital and outlying areas on Monday.
More details were not immediately available with information coming out of Iran severely limited by internet outages, round-the-clock airstrikes and tight restrictions on journalists.
More than 1,300 people have been killed in Iran so far, according to the Iranian Red Crescent.
Israel has carried out some 7,600 strikes on Iran so far, knocking out 85 per cent of its air defences, military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani told reporters Monday. It has also destroyed 70 per cent of Iran’s missile launchers, but Shoshani said Israel still has thousands of targets to hit and would continue attacks “for as long as needed.”
In Israel, 12 people have been killed by Iranian missile fire. At least 13 U.S. military members have been killed, officials said.
Talks expected
Israel and Lebanon are expected to hold talks in the coming days aimed at securing a durable ceasefire that would see Hezbollah disarmed, two Israeli officials said on Sunday, though the timing and terms have yet to be agreed.
Beirut is forming a delegation for talks but no date has been set. Lebanon needed clarity on whether Israel would abide by President Joseph Aoun’s first point — a demand for a full ceasefire to allow negotiations to take place, three Lebanese officials said on Saturday.
Netanyahu’s office did not respond to a request for comment. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar earlier on Sunday denied any talks with Lebanon were being held.
After widening strikes across Lebanon, Israel’s military dropped leaflets warning people to disarm Hezbollah or face the consequences. Lebanon says the fighting has now killed more than 600 people, and displaced 800,000 others.
Iran-backed Hezbollah opened fire at Israel on March 2, saying it was retaliating for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader at the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
Aoun has expressed the state’s willingness for direct talks with Israel, seeking to secure an end to the war.
The Lebanese state’s readiness for talks with Israel has come at a time of sharpening tensions within Lebanon over Hezbollah’s status as an armed group. The Beirut government this month banned Hezbollah’s military activities. The group rejected the move and fought on, firing hundreds of rockets at Israel.
An Israeli official told Reuters on Friday that the campaign against Hezbollah would likely be intensified and continue even after strikes on Iran die down.