Israel War Update: Mass Exodus as Families Flee Southern Lebanon
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Roshan Amiri
- . September 25, 2024
- . Update: September 26, 2024 8:10 pm
Families from southern Lebanon are fleeing the increasing bloodshed between Israel and Hezbollah to Beirut and the beach city of Sidon. Many displaced people sleep in parks, cars, even next to the sea; schools have become havens. Severe traffic congestion at the Syria border results from some Lebanese residents seeking to completely leave their country in order to escape the slaughter.
Israeli Attacks and Tensions towards Hezbollah
Tuesday night Israel escalated its military response, launching fighter planes “extensive strikes” on sites connected to Hezbollah in the Bekaa area and southern Lebanon. Targeting Hezbollah’s armament stockpiles, including rocket launchers aiming into northern Israel, the strikes seek Israel have not promised a land invasion, hence the airstrikes have no obvious purpose in sight.
Over almost a year, the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has been increasingly more fierce with Hezbollah’s support of Palestinian factions in Gaza fueling tensions. Supported by Iran, Hezbollah has showered missiles, drones, and rockets into Israel in a show of solidarity with Palestinians; Israel has reacted with several airstrikes and intentional assassination of Hezbollah commanders.
UN Security Council Investigating Crisis in Lebanon
France has asked the UN Security Council to call an emergency meeting to discuss Lebanon in view of the developing situation. After almost a year of sporadic combat between Hezbollah and Israel, which has uprooted tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border, this follows after
Israel has promised to continue until the northern part of the country is safe for its residents to return; Hezbollah has agreed to keep up its missile assaults until there is a ceasefire in Gaza. The violence does not show any signs of abating, hence the likelihood of such a truce is still unknown.
Effects on Civilians of Israel Regarding Rocket Fire
Hezbollah’s rocket onslaught over a week has fundamentally changed northern Israel’s way of life. Closed schools and limited public events have daily life disturbed for over a million people. Big seaside city Haifa has had companies closed and astonishingly quiet streets now reflect this. Several Israeli Israelis who escaped the border areas to the south have found themselves in threat once more as rocket fire permeates farther into Israeli territory.
Israel has reallocated thousands of former Gaza-based personnel and increased military presence along the northern border. Attacks across borders have become increasingly common recently, hence the state of affairs at the border remains very unpredictable.
Hezbollah responded to the escalated Israeli attacks on Sunday by launching about 150 rockets, missiles, and drones into northern Israel. Responding by striking 1,600 Hezbollah sites the next day, Israeli aircraft destroyed military depots including attack drones and cruise missiles. Among the most severe since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah conflict, these strikes have resulted in significant losses in Lebanon.
Among the killed in the strikes was high-ranking Hezbollah leader Ibrahim Kobeisi, active in rocket and missile operations for his group. Israel linked Kobeisi to a 2000 incident involving kidnapped and dead Israeli troops and claimed him responsible for current missile launches. Hezbollah declared his death, therefore seriously compromising its leadership.
Humanitarian Result: Civilian Deaths and Displacement
Common people are suffering much from the strife. The Health Ministry of Lebanon reports that, since the beginning of the week, 50 children and 94 women among 564 people have been killed in Israeli strikes. More than 1,800 have been injured, adding to the suffering of a country already dealing with the aftermath of explosions from last week killing 39 people and wounding around 3,000.
Apart from Hezbollah militants, the dead toll in Lebanon consists of civilians including a UN employee and her little child killed in the Bekaa area. A UN cleaner also died in the south. Concerned about the mounting civilian casualties, the UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees has pushed for a rapid war’s end.
Constant Rocket Attacks of Hezbollah
Hezbollah fired three hundred rockets into Israel on Tuesday, injuring six soldiers and civilians even though most of the injuries were said to be minor. Hezbollah has not shown any sign of withdrawing as the war wears on, continuing its cross-border strikes in face of mounting losses.
Israel, for its part, is still committed to destroying Hezbollah’s military might with both sides trapped in a deadly cycle of attack and revenge.
The Constant Difficulties of Lebanon Inside the Crisis
Lebanon is facing a humanitarian calamity while the confrontation with Israel gets increasingly heated. Apart from years of political and financial turmoil, the country is still healing from the harm the recent bombings inflicted. Military strikes, displacement, and civilian losses taken all together are pushing Lebanon to the verge even if a definite end to the war is not visible.
Israel and Hezbollah are deeply ingrained in their beliefs, but even if the next UN Security Council gathering offers some hope for a diplomatic response, the road to peace is still challenging.
