Israel renews airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs

BEIRUT, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) — Israeli warplanes renewed on Wednesday their raids on Beirut’s southern suburbs after days of cautious calm, launching three consecutive airstrikes on Haret Hreik, according to the official Lebanese National News Agency.
The raids were preceded by an Israeli warning to evacuate several buildings in Haret Hreik in the Dahieh suburbs.
Israeli army spokesman claimed that the Israeli aircraft “raided weapons for Hezbollah stored underground in a warehouse in the southern suburb, with precise intelligence guidance from the Military Intelligence Service.”
Beirut’s southern suburbs have been spared from Israeli airstrikes in the past five days, while Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said on Tuesday that Lebanon had obtained “a kind of a guarantee” from the United States to reduce the Israeli escalation in Beirut and its southern suburbs.
Since Sept. 23, the Israeli army has been launching an unprecedented, intensive air attack on Lebanon, dubbed “Arrows of the North,” in a dangerous escalation with Hezbollah.
The death toll from Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon since the beginning of the Hezbollah-Israeli conflict on Oct. 8, 2023, reached 2,350, while injuries went up to 10,906. ■