Israel's strongest air strikes on Lebanon for two decades
Israel's strongest air strikes on Lebanon for two decades
In the course of less than three weeks,Israel has carried out an unprecedented air raid campaign against Lebanon, which cost over 1,400 people and injured almost 7,500 more. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, more than a million people were driven out of their houses.
intensive air strikes and objectives
The bombing that Israel justifies as attacks on Hezbollah bastions in Lebanon, according to the Airwars conflict observation group, represent the "most intensive air raids" outside of Gaza in the past 20 years. Emily Tripp, director of the organization based in Great Britain, told CNN that the intensity and level of this attack were Israel's own allies would not have been accepted in the past 20 years. She referred to the military campaign against ISIS in 2017, in which 500 ammunition attacks were carried out in a single day during the maximum point of the struggle for Raqqa, the factual capital of the terrorist group.
comparison with previous conflicts
In comparison, the US military carried out fewer than 3,000 attacks a year during the majority of the 20th War in Afghanistan, except for the first year of the invasion in which around 6,500 attacks were recorded. Tripp emphasized: "This is not normal." While the air campaign of Israel is considered extremely "unusual", the offensive against Gaza last year - in which estimated 60 % of the buildings were damaged by Israeli attacks - has normalized such massive attacks.The effects on civilians
Israel claims to take measures to minimize civilian victims by making calls and sending text messages to the residents of the attacked buildings. However, human rights organizations such as Amnesty International point out that such warnings do not remedy Israel from his responsibility under the international humanitarian law to reduce civilian victims. CNN has already reported on Israel's devastating use of 2,000 pound bombs that blame experts for the high number of deaths in Gaza and which were apparently also used in the air strikes that killed the leading officer of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah.
Current situation in Lebanon
The CNN teams in Beirut reported that many Israeli attacks took place without prior warning. Israel also spends evacuation commands in the middle of the night by text message when most people sleep. As a result, the number of dead in Lebanon continues to increase and a fifth of the population has now been sold. Since October 8, the day after the attack on Israel led by Hamas, there has been a constant exchange of fire between Hezbollah and Israel, with more than 1,200 people being killed and 250 being taken hostage.
escalation of the attacks
The majority of attacks between Israel and Hezbollah have been in the form of Israeli air strikes, drones, artillery shot and rockets on Lebanese territory since the beginning of the war. According to the data from ACLED (Armed Conflict Location and Event Data), Israel has carried out almost 9,000 attacks on Lebanon since October 8, while Hezbollah started 1,500 attacks in the same period.
The deadliest day in Lebanon
On September 25th, Israel escalated its air campaign with an intensive series of attacks in Lebanon and thus started the deadliest day for the country since the war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006 - a turning point in the current conflict. While most attacks have been aimed at the Libanon in recent months, Israel has also reinforced the attacks on the capital Beirut in recent weeks, with several air strikes destroying buildings in densely populated residential areas.
The consequences for the civilian population
The rapid sequence of air strikes has killed at least seven high -hezbollah commanders and officers in the past few weeks, which has given the group the hardest blow since it was founded in the early 1980s. The attacks mainly focused on the southern Dahiyeh district of the city, a densely populated residential area and a stronghold of Hezbollah. There the leader of the militant group was killed in an air raid on his underground bunker on September 27. But while Israel's campaign continues to disarm Hezbollah, the civilians pay the highest prize, including 127 children who were killed in less than three weeks, according to the Ministry of Health.
evacuation and uncertainty for the residents
At least 558 people - including 50 children and 94 women - were killed on September 23 alone. Women and girls are particularly affected by the displacement caused by air strikes. According to Michael Adams, the Care International Care Director in Lebanon, almost half of the people are in emergency accommodation for displaced children, and the facilities work above their capacity. Now Israel is targeting the central Beirut with air strikes for the first time in almost 20 years.
In the meantime, a quarter of the Lebanese territory is now under evacuation commands by the Israeli military, since Israel intensifies its soil surgery in the south. The residents have been expelled from their houses more than 30 miles north. Over 100 villages in the south of Lebanon have now received evacuation arrangements, which stirs up fears from a more comprehensive ground invasion. The residents have no idea when they could return or what remains of their home.
The reporting was contributed by CNN reporters Allegra Goodwin, Eyad Kourd and Soph.
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