Hezbollah on Saturday said it launched a salvo of missiles at an Israeli military base south of the coastal city of Haifa as Israelis marked the Yom Kippur holiday. Israeli warplanes pounded the south and other parts of Lebanon all day long.
22:50 The Lebanese Health Ministry said Israeli air strikes on two villages located near the capital Beirut killed nine people.
Official media later reported an Israeli strike targeted a market in Nabatiyeh, an important southern city.
Israel had earlier told residents of south Lebanon not to return home, as its warplanes continued pummeling various towns and villages in thea area.
More than 6,000 Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon have destroyed hundreds of residential buildings and homes, killed more than 1,400 people and wounded thousands of others since mid-September, and forced more than a million others to flee their homes, according to Lebanese authorities.
22:00 34 UNIFIL-contributing countries have signed a joint statement reaffirming the protection of UNIFIL peacekeepers in Lebanon and condemning the latest attacks against them.
The letter, which was initiated by Poland, comes after five peacekeepers in Lebanon were wounded in recent days by Israeli gunfire.
It comes amid intense Israel’s airstrikes on the south of the country and demands by Tel Aviv on UNIFIL peacekeapers to step aside to allow an Israeli ground invasion of the country.
“We consider UNIFIL’s role as particularly crucial in light of the escalating situation in the region. We therefore strongly condemn recent attacks on UNIFIL peacekeepers. Such actions must stop immediately and should be adequately investigated,” the letter said.