Hezbollah attack drones target Tel Aviv army base as Israel pounds Lebanon
Hezbollah fighters launched a “squadron of attack drones at the Bilu base south of Tel Aviv, for the first time”, late on Wednesday, the group said in a statement.
Israeli authorities have not yet reported any casualties or property damage.
Hezbollah also earlier launched a string of attacks, including two that targeted naval installations close to Tel Aviv’s main international airport and the Israeli port city of Haifa.
According to the Israel Airports Authority, the attack did not have an impact on airport operations.
Israeli warplanes dusted several areas south of Beirut early on Thursday morning following Hezbollah’s attacks.
As reporters in the Lebanese capital reported hearing loud explosions, two large plumes of smoke erupted above southern Beirut in photos of the strikes. At least four strikes reportedly hit southern areas of the capital, according to Lebanon’s Al Jadeed television.
The attacks followed after Israeli military Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, warned residents in four Beirut neighbourhoods to evacuate immediately, including from a location near Beirut’s international airport, as attacks were imminent.
On Wednesday, at least 40 people were killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley and the city of Baalbek, according to the latest updates from the country’s Ministry of Health. According to the ministry, the strike claimed the injuries of at least 53 others.
The attacks took place shortly after Hezbollah’s new secretary-general, Naim Qassem, said he did not believe that political action would bring an end to Israel’s attacks. He said there could be a road to indirect negotiations, however, if Israel stopped its bombardment of Lebanon.
“When the enemy decides to stop the aggression, there is a path for negotiations that we have clearly defined – indirect negotiations through the Lebanese state and speaker]of parliament, Nabih] Berri”, Qassem said.
Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut, said that despite the Lebanese government’s renewed call for a ceasefire and the implementation of UN Resolution 1701 in a bid to end the fighting, a ceasefire deal with Israel is unlikely anytime soon.
“The feeling in Lebanon is there won’t be any new initiative, at least not until Trump takes office in late January”, Khodr said.
“During his campaign, Trump promised to end the conflict in the Middle East. But he didn’t say how. There’s concern that the coming weeks will witness an escalation”, she said.
Source: Aljazeera
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