Has Israel just started an all-out war against Hezbollah in Lebanon?
Bombing of Beirut suggests so, though no further airstrikes have followed. In the meantime Erdogan doubles down.
As reported by Al Mayadeen in their Short News and in this article, this evening an Israeli airstrike targeted a residential building in Haret Hreik, a densely populated suburb in the south of Beirut (the capital of Lebanon), causing its partial collapse, as you can see from the photo above.
The Times of Israel has reported that the Israel “Defense” Forces (IDF) were targeting Fuad Shukr, also known as Hajj Mohsin, a senior Hezbollah commander allegedly responsible for the deadly rocket attack on Majdal Shams (according to the IDF) and wanted by the Outlaw US Empire for his role in the 1983 bombing of US Marines barracks in Beirut… you can bet that the US provided some intelligence to the IDF.
There are conflicting reports on his fate: according to Al Jazeera, quoting Hezbollah sources, Fuad Shukr survived the attack, whereas another article of the Times of Israel, citing Saudi-owned news outlets, reports that Fuad Shukr was killed.
In any case, what we know for sure from the Lebanese Ministry of Health, quoted by Al Mayadeen, is that at least one woman died and 68 people were injured, 5 of which in critical conditions (at the time of writing this article).
Fearing immediate retaliation, the Israeli military has declared a state of alert and instructed settlers near the Lebanese border to remain in shelters, with heightened alert in air defense systems, as reported by Al Mayadeen, citing Israeli media.
In the meantime, a flurry of reactions followed:
the US State Department issuing a statement saying that they “continue to focus on diplomacy and seek to avoid any kind of escalation between Israel and Hezbollah”, as reported by Al Mayadeen;
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was quoted in this Al Maydeen article as saying:
While we've seen a lot of activity on Israel's northern border, we remain concerned about the potential of this escalating into a full-blown fight. And I don't believe that a fight is inevitable.
We'd like to see things resolved in a diplomatic fashion
It sounds wishful thinking to me, especially considering that most likely they provided intelligence to the IDF, as I mentioned earlier.
the Lebanese Foreign Minister condemned the Israeli strike and said that he plans to file a complaint to the United Nations Security Council tomorrow, while hoping for a proportionate response by Hezbollah “so that this wave of killing will stop” (source: Al Mayadeen);
the head of the Lebanese caretaker government, Najib Mikat, was quoted by Al Mayadeen as saying:
We reserve our full right to take all measures necessary that deters Israeli aggression.
the Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani issued the following statements, as reported by Al Mayadeen:
This [Israeli] aggression is a blatant violation of Lebanon's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and all international laws.
Lebanon's government, army, and resistance have the right to respond to the Zionist aggression.
The fake Zionist entity bears responsibility for expanding the scope of the crisis and tension in the region.
the Political Bureau of the Yemeni Ansar Allah movement issued the following statements, as reported by Al Mayadeen:
We strongly condemn and denounce the Zionist aggression on the Southern Suburb of Beirut.
This serious transgression comes after war criminal Netanyahu's recent visit to the White House.
We affirm our solidarity with Lebanon and its resistance in facing Zionist arrogance.
It is clear from these reactions that, while the Outlaw US Empire is trying to downplay the event and solve the problem with some sort of diplomacy (but I doubt it!), Lebanon, Yemen and Iran have made quite clear that Hezbollah has a right to respond, as per international law and following the precedent of the Israeli attack against the Iranian embassy in Damascus (Syria) and the subsequent Iranian retaliation in April this year. After all, as mentioned by Al Jazeera…
Hezbollah has long said it will abandon its current rules of engagement with Israel if Israel were to deepen its war beyond the border area of southern Lebanon […] Hezbollah has said that strikes deeper into the territory would mean “all rules of war” are off.
As far as I know, Hezbollah has neither retaliated yet, nor it has released any official statement yet, following the airstrike in Beirut. So, we will have to wait and see if and how it will respond, but, based on the aforementioned precedent, I suspect that first Lebanon will file a complaint at the UNSC, then they will wait for a response that most likely will not come (since the Zionist Outlaw US Empire and its vassals have power of veto) and finally Hezbollah will retaliate against Israel, probably way deeper than usual (maybe hitting a military centre in Tel Aviv? Surely they will avoid hitting civilian infrastructure, not to get to the same level as the Zionists!).
And earlier today Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan doubled down, after his statements and the “war of words” between Israeli and Turkish officials yesterday - see my previous article in the link below:
As reported by Al Mayadeen in this article, today Erdogan…
said that “Israel” has carried out an atrocity that will “outshine Hitler” as Gaza has become the “world’s largest extermination camp”.
Erdogan was quoted by Al Mayadeen as saying:
Western leaders and organizations whose duty is to ensure international security have only watched this brutality from afar for almost 300 days.
How many more children need to die to see that Israel's invasive policies endanger the entire region? Look, this is not a path that can continue.
The lawless Israeli state is a threat not only to Palestine and Lebanon but to humanity as a whole, to the entire world at this point.
Israel is warned: if it keeps escalating, it will have to face: Hamas in Palestine, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Kata’ib Hezbollah in Iraq, the Houthis in Yemen, as well as Iran and Turkey… not to mention the Russians in Syira. Good luck with that!
Yes!