Hezbollah leadership ‘wiped out’ by Israel as bombing forces ‘one-fifth of Lebanese’ to flee

[Pelican Press 0]

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Hezbollah leadership ‘wiped out’ by ******* as ******** forces ‘one-fifth of Lebanese’ to flee

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has claimed to have wiped out much of

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’s leadership in recent airstrikes, as

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said the ******** campaign has now forced a fifth of the country’s population to flee their homes.

The Lebanese militant group has now

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slain by ******* in just over a week, including its leader of 32 years,

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, in a strike ******* claimed also ******* 20 other Hezbollah members in southern Beirut on Friday.

Those include founding members of the group first established by

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’s Revolutionary Guard in 1982, who had previously evaded ****** or detention at *******’s hands for decades until *******’s decision this month to launch its heaviest ******** campaign against Lebanon since the 2006 war.

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A Hezbollah flag was hung at the site of the ************** of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in the southern suburbs of Beirut (AP)

After Hezbollah confirmed the ****** of Nabil Kaouk – who led the group’s forces in southern Lebanon during the 2006 war – in another strike on Saturday, the ******* States warned its ally ******* that “an all-out war with Hezbollah, certainly with Iran, is not the way” to make *******’s own citizens safer.

As Iran vowed to retaliate and warned that the US is “complicit in all of these *******”, spokesperson John Kirby said the

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was watching to see what Hezbollah would do to try and fill its leadership vacuum, adding: “It’s going to be tough – much of their command structure has now been wiped out.”

While ******* and Hezbollah had been trading frequent cross-border ***** since ******’s ******* on ******* on 7 October last year sparked the war in Gaza, ******* said this month that it was shifting its focus from Gaza to Lebanon, after

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in which it remotely detonated walkie-talkies and pagers used by Hezbollah.

According to Lebanon’s health ministry, more than 1,000 people – including 87 children and 14 medics – have been ******* in the ensuing bombardment, and a further 6,000 wounded, as Unicef warned that the pre-existing humanitarian crisis in Lebanon is “rapidly escalating into a catastrophe”.

Environment minister Nasser Yassin said that around a million people – amounting to a fifth of the population – have fled their homes, with some 250,000 now living in shelters and three to four times as many staying with friends and relatives or camping in the streets.

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Rescuers at the scene of an ******** airstrike in Beirut’s suburb of Ghobeiri on Sunday (AP)

******* said on Sunday that it had hit dozens more targets in Lebanon, including key weapons-manufacturing sites. State media in Lebanon reported that at least 17 people from the same family had been ******* in ******** strikes in the Bekka Valley, with at least four others ******* when two homes were hit.

The health ministry said 24 people had also been ******* and dozens more injured in a strike on Ain al-Delb, near to Lebanon’s third-largest city Sidon.

And a day after the Houthis claimed to have fired a missile at Tel Aviv, the ******** military said it had used dozens of aircraft, including fighter jets, to ******* power plants and a sea port in Yemen, which it claimed were being used to transport Iranian weapons.

Hostilities have continued in Gaza, where health authorities said at least 11 Palestinians were ******* in strikes, including at a school sheltering displaced people in the northern city of Beit Lahia. ******* said it had hit ****** militants, whom it accused of exploiting civilian facilities.

*******’s escalation of the conflict has been met with alarm and condemnation elsewhere in the region, with Iraq accusing ******* of crossing “all red lines” in Lebanon.

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Smoke rises from ******** airstrike locations on Sunday in Beirut’s southern suburbs (Getty)

*******’s allies, including the US, Britain, Germany and other ********* nations, all repeated their pleas on Sunday for a diplomatic solution and ultimately a ceasefire with Hezbollah, with France urging restraint following a report that ******** military leaders were pushing to launch a limited ground offensive.

Wreckage

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and levelled six buildings in Beirut on Friday was still smouldering more than two days later, with smoke hanging over the rubble as people flocked to the site, some to check on what was left of their homes and others to pay their respects.

Nasrallah’s body was recovered intact from the site, and it appeared he had been ******* by blunt trauma from the force of the blast, a medical source and a security source told reporters on Sunday.

Iranian military commander Abbas Nilforoushan was also ******* in the blast, and Tehran insisted on Sunday that this “horrible ******” would not go unanswered.

“We will not hesitate to go to any level in order to help the resistance,” said Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, referring to the groups the country supports, including ******, the Houthis, Hezbollah and various Shia groups in Iraq and Syria.

Mr Araghchi also warned that “the US is complicit in all of these ******* and … has to accept the repercussions”.

The Pentagon said US defence secretary Lloyd Austin had authorised the military to reinforce its presence in the Middle East with “defensive” air-support capabilities, and to put other forces on a heightened readiness status.

The US is “determined to prevent Iran and Iranian-backed partners and proxies from exploiting the situation or expanding the conflict”, spokesperson Patrick Ryder said, warning those groups against targeting ********* personnel or interests in the region.

Britain has urged its 5,000 or so citizens in Lebanon to leave the country. Cabinet minister Pat McFadden said on Sunday that the government has prepared plans for “every contingency” and will evacuate British nationals if necessary.

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#Hezbollah #leadership #wiped #******* #******** #forces #onefifth #Lebanese #flee

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