Israeli airstrikes rock southern suburbs of Beirut

Meanwhile, Hezbollah launched about 100 rockets into Israel on Friday, the Israel military said.

Thursday’s strike along the Lebanon-Syria border, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) east of Beirut, led to the closure of the road near the busy Masnaa Border Crossing — the first time it has been cut off since Hezbollah and Israel began trading fire almost a year ago.

Israel said it targeted the crossing because it was being used by Hezbollah to transport military equipment across the border. It said fighter jets had struck a tunnel used to smuggle weapons from Iran and other proxies into Lebanon.

Hezbollah is believed to have received much of its weaponry through Syria from Iran, its main backer.

Associated Press video footage showed two huge craters on each side of the road. People got out of cars, unable to pass, carrying bags of their possessions as they crossed on foot. More than 250,000 Syrians and 82,000 Lebanese have fled across the border into Syria during the escalation of the past two weeks. There are a half-dozen crossings between the two countries, and most remain open.

The Albanese government has urged Australians in Lebanon not to delay in leaving the country, as Israel intensifies its airstrikes and ground assault.

The US election

US Central Command, which oversees American forces in the Middle East, said it had carried out strikes tied to Houthi offensive military capabilities, but did not detail whether that included missile, drone or radar capabilities.

Israel launched its ground escalation in Lebanon on Tuesday, and its forces have been clashing with Hezbollah militants in a narrow strip along the border.

Israel has vowed to put an end to Hezbollah fire into northern Israel, after nearly a year of exchanges between the two sides that drove tens of thousands of people from their homes on both sides of the border.

In the US, President Joe Biden said he didn’t know whether Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu was holding up a Mideast peace deal in order to influence the outcome of the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

“No administration has helped Israel more than I have. None. None. None. And I think Bibi should remember that,” he said, referring to the Israeli leader by his nickname. “And whether he’s trying to influence the election, I don’t know, but I’m not counting on that.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who was in Beirut on Friday to meet Lebanese officials, warned that if Israel carries out an attack on Iran, Tehran would retaliate more powerfully than it did this week when it launched at least 180 missiles into Israel in retaliation for Israeli strikes on Hezbollah.

“If the Israeli entity takes any step or measure against us, our retaliation will be stronger than the previous one,” Araghchi said after meeting Lebanon’s parliament speaker, Nabih Berri.

In the Iranian capital, Tehran, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led Friday prayers and delivered a speech in which he praised the country’s missile strikes on Israel and said Iran was prepared to conduct more strikes if needed.

“It will be done in the future again if it becomes necessary,” he said.

Hezbollah began firing into Israel the day after Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

Meanwhile, Israel carried out its deadliest strike in the occupied West Bank since the Gaza war began, hitting a cafe in the Tulkarem refugee camp. At least 18 Palestinians were killed, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

Separately Saeed Atallah, a leader of Hamas’ armed wing, al-Qassam brigades, was killed with three family members in an Israeli strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, Hamas-affiliated media reported on Saturday.

AP, Reuters

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