Live blog: Israel and Hezbollah trade missiles, rockets amid Gaza war
Israel's genocidal war on Gaza, now in its 350th day, has killed at least 41,300 Palestinians and wounded over 95,550 others — a conservative estimate — with 10,000+ believed to be buried under rubble of annihilated homes.
Israel's military evacuate wounded Israelis by helicopter after an anti-tank missile was fired into Israel from Lebanon, amid Hezbollah-Israel clashes. / Photo: Reuters
Friday, September 20, 2024
2030 GMT — Israel has heavily bombed several towns in southern Lebanon while Hezbollah group fired rockets on northern Israel in return as fears grow over a wider war in the Middle East.
The Lebanese National News Agency reported that Israeli warplanes "conducted a series of strikes on Mahmoudiyeh area near Aaichiyeh village and Kasarat al-Aroosh in the Jezzine area."
"Israeli enemy aircraft launched ten missiles toward the Birket Jabbour area," it said.
In a separate incident, four people were wounded in an Israeli air strike targeting the town of Hanniyeh in the Tyre district of southern Lebanon, according to the Health Ministry.
Israeli military claimed its fighter jets struck some100 rocket launchers consisting of about 1,000 barrels.
Hezbollah said in a statement that it targeted the Israeli military site of Metula in northern Israel with a barrage of Falaq rockets.
Following the attack, the mayor of Metula said the rockets launched from southern Lebanon resulted in several fires and caused significant damage to homes, according to Yedioth Ahronoth.
In another statement, the Lebanese group said it also struck the command headquarters of the Shomera Battalion in northern Israel with a salvo of Katyusha rockets.
Israel has ramped up its bombardment on Lebanon, striking the southern part of the country dozens of times in what Lebanese security sources say is some of the most intense bombing since October 2023 pic.twitter.com/5vdUVYaWNO
— TRT World (@trtworld) September 19, 2024
2100 GMT — France, US urge all parties to avoid 'escalatory actions'
France and the US have called on all parties in the Middle East to avoid escalatory actions.
"France and the United States are united in calling for restraint, and urging de-escalation when it comes to the Middle East in general, and when it comes to Lebanon in particular," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a joint news conference after a meeting with his French counterpart Stephane Sejourne in Paris.
"We continue to work to get a cease-fire for Gaza over the finish line … We believe that remains both possible and necessary, but meanwhile, we do not want to see any escalatory actions by any party that makes that more difficult," Blinken added.
Outgoing French Foreign Minister Sejourne said, for his part, that they were "much worried" by the current situation in the Middle East, and reiterated the call for all parties to de-escalate tensions.
"Lebanon matters to France. Lebanon would not recover from a total war," Sejourne stressed, expressing support for the Lebanese people.
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