Israel Kills Hundreds after Airstrikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon
Noriko Watanabe, Sawako Utsumi, and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
The armed forces of Israel have killed approximately 500 people after launching intensive airstrikes against Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon.
Israel seeks to safeguard the people of Northern Israel from persistent attacks by Hezbollah. Hence, Israeli airstrikes are heavily focused on Southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley – while seeking to assassinate senior Hezbollah figures in parts of Beirut (and other areas).
The BBC reports, “In its most recent update on yesterday’s air strikes, the Israeli military has said that throughout the day on Monday, it hit around 1,600 sites across Lebanon.”
Airstrikes by Israel targeted command centers, rocket launchers, and various Hezbollah military structures in Southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel pleaded to Lebanese civilians to heed the warnings by evacuating from targeted areas (Hezbollah is known to place weapons – similar to Hamas – in areas where civilians reside).
Netanyahu said (before the air strikes), “Please get out of harm’s way now… Once our operation is finished, you can come back safely to your homes.”
Hezbollah responded by firing rockets in Northern Israel. However, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the rockets by Hezbollah either were destroyed or fell mainly in open areas.
Daniel Hagari (Rear Admiral of Israel – military spokesperson) repeated that Israel will do “whatever is necessary” to drive out Hezbollah from the border area between Israel and Lebanon.
Concerning the Bekaa Valley – AP News reports, “Israel said it was expanding the airstrikes to include areas of the valley along Lebanon’s eastern border with Syria. Hezbollah has long had an established presence in the valley, where the group was founded in 1982 with the help of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in the wake of Israel’s invasion and occupation of Lebanon.”
Yoav Gallant (Israeli Defense Minister) recently said, “We are at the start of a new phase in the war — it requires courage, determination, and perseverance.”
Gallant also indicated that Israel was shifting its focus on Hezbollah and Northern Israel. He said, “…the center of gravity is shifting to the north by diverting resources and forces.”
The latest airstrikes come after Israel attacked Hezbollah concerning exploding pagers and walkie-talkies. This led to many deaths and vast numbers of injuries that killed and wounded people in Lebanon and Syria (to a lesser extent).
Lebanon is being dragged into the crisis because of the Hezbollah (pro-Iran and utilized by Tehran) state-within-a-state that is detrimental to this nation.
Israel is intent on tackling the Iran threat posed by its various proxies – along with dismantling the military angle of Hamas after the pogrom that killed approximately 1,200 Jews.
Modern Tokyo News is part of the Modern Tokyo Times group
http://moderntokyotimes.com Modern Tokyo Times – International News and Japan News
http://sawakoart.com – Sawako Utsumi and her website – Modern Tokyo Times artist
https://moderntokyonews.com Modern Tokyo News – Tokyo News and International News
PLEASE JOIN ON TWITTER
https://twitter.com/MTT_News Modern Tokyo Times
PLEASE JOIN ON FACEBOOK
http://facebook.com/moderntokyotimes