The intense fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has amplified tensions in the Middle East as both sides launched a fresh round of strikes on Wednesday. Israel rained down bombs on villages in south Lebanon while it said that it intercepted a missile fired after sirens sounded early morning in Tel Aviv.
At least 560 people have been killed in Lebanon in the relentless airstrikes by Israel for the consecutive third day. Among the deceased are 50 children and 94 women, reported Al Jazeera.
Thousands of civilians have fled their homes in the region since the fighting started between Hezbollah and Israel on September 23.
Israeli warplanes launched fresh raids on Wednesday morning at 5 am on multiple towns in south Lebanon, said the country’s official National News Agency. “Casualties were reported” from other strikes overnight, it said.
On Wednesday, Israel’s military said it intercepted a missile fired from Lebanon after sirens sounded in Tel Aviv. “Following the sirens that sounded in the Tel Aviv and Netanya areas, one surface-to-surface missile was identified crossing from Lebanon and was intercepted,” a military spokesman said, reported AFP.
Later, Hezbollah said that it fired a ballistic missile targeting Mossad headquarters near Tel Aviv. The armed group has accused the Israeli intelligence agency of assassinating its leader and blowing up pagers and walkie-talkies in attacks in Lebanon in recent weeks.
The United Nations Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday in New York as US Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the situation was critical.
“Lebanon is at the brink. The people of Lebanon – the people of Israel – and the people of the world – cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza,” said the UN chief.
Only The US Can Make A Difference: Lebanon
The United States President Joe Biden, speaking at the UN General Assembly this week urged for calm saying “full-scale war is not in anyone’s interest,” reported Reuters.
Even if a situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible,” he said.
Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, however, criticized Biden as “not strong, not promising”. He said the US was the only country “that can really make a difference in the Middle East and with regard to Lebanon.”
Washington is Israel’s longtime ally and biggest arms supplier, Habib remarked. The US “is the key … to our salvation,” he added.