UN Calls for Investigation, Impact of the Strike on Aitou, Escalation of Conflict in Lebanon
The UN’s humanitarian office has called for an investigation into an Israeli air strike that killed 23 people in northern Lebanon on Monday. Spokesman Jeremy Laurence said the strike, which hit the Christian-majority village of Aitou, raised “real concerns” regarding international humanitarian law.
Laurence reported that 12 women and two children were among those killed when the bombing destroyed a residential building. The building had been recently rented out to a family displaced from the south. Rescue workers were still pulling bodies from the rubble in Aitou on Tuesday. The village lies far from the main conflict zones in the south of Lebanon, Beqaa Valley, and parts of Beirut.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has not yet commented on the strike.
Impact of the Strike on Aitou
Elie Alwan, the owner of the house in Aitou, told reporters that it had been rented to a family of about 10 people. Later, the family was joined by 10 more people. Alwan said there had been no issues with the tenants until a car arrived at the house on Monday, with the driver apparently delivering cash. It was at that point the air strike occurred.
Israeli air strikes on Hezbollah members in areas where the group typically operates have pushed its members into other parts of Lebanon. This has created fears across the country that Israeli targets could be anywhere. An Aitou resident, Sarkis Alwan, told AFP that the village “maybe… won’t welcome” displaced people anymore. “And villagers who have taken in displaced people, I think they will ask them to leave,” he added.
Escalation of Conflict in Lebanon
Israel has shown a willingness to strike residential buildings without warning as it tries to weaken Hezbollah. The group has been sporadically firing rockets into Israel for a year since the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023. On Thursday night, an Israeli strike hit a residential building in central Beirut, killing 22 people, according to figures from the Lebanese health ministry.
Unconfirmed reports suggested that the strike targeted Wafiq Safa, a senior Hezbollah member. Although the strike failed to kill him, it wounded 117 people. Hezbollah has not commented on his status. Israel claims that targeting Hezbollah is necessary to allow residents in northern Israel to return to their homes.
A drone attack by Hezbollah on a military base in northern Israel killed four Israeli soldiers and severely wounded seven others on Sunday. It marked the deadliest strike by the group since Israel launched a ground invasion of Lebanon two weeks ago.
Humanitarian Crisis and Displacement
On Tuesday, the UN refugee agency reported that more than a quarter of Lebanon is now under Israeli military evacuation orders. “People are heeding these calls to evacuate, and they’re fleeing with almost nothing,” said Rema Jamous Imseis, the agency’s Middle East director.
The evacuation orders, combined with Israel’s ground invasion and bombing campaign, have led to a massive exodus from affected areas. More than 1.2 million people have been displaced, according to the Lebanese government. Displaced residents fled from southern villages and major cities, moving north to Beirut, Tripoli, and other areas.
Many have ended up in unsafe and unsanitary shelters in and around the capital. Schools and shops have been closed to house displaced people, overwhelming welfare services. The mayor’s office told the BBC that thousands are now living on the streets. Mayor Abdallah Darwich said last week that preparations had been made for only 10% of the actual number of displaced people. “We did not imagine it could be this huge,” he said. “Every day our calculations have become larger and larger.”
The Israeli strikes on Beirut, concentrated on the southern suburb of Dahieh, had become a daily occurrence over the past three weeks. However, the capital had not been targeted for nearly five days. Unconfirmed reports said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had paused attacks on Beirut at the urging of the US government.
Following Hezbollah’s drone strike on Sunday, Netanyahu threatened on Monday night to continue striking the group in Lebanon “without mercy,” including in Beirut. On Tuesday, Hezbollah’s deputy leader, Naim Qassem, responded by issuing his own threat to Israel. He said the group had “a new calculation” to inflict pain on its enemy. However, Qassem also called for a ceasefire, stating that it was the only solution. “If the Israelis do not want that, we will continue,” he added.
Casualties and Continued Tensions
Israeli strikes have killed at least 2,309 people over the past year, according to the Lebanese government, which does not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants. Israel reports that around 50 Israelis, both soldiers and civilians, have died during the conflict.
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