UN urges calm after Israel, Hezbollah trade strikes
UN Secretary General António Guterres has said he is “deeply concerned” after Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement mounted their biggest round of cross-border strikes since the war in Gaza began.
On Sunday, Israeli jets hit dozens of sites across southern Lebanon in what it said were pre-emptive strikes to prevent a much wider attack, and Hezbollah launched hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel.
Mr Guterres warned that their actions put civilians at risk, as well as threatening regional security and stability.
The US said it was working to avoid a further escalation in hostilities, and both sides suggested they were not interested in one.
There have been almost daily exchanges of fire across the Israel-Lebanon border since the day after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza on October 7.
Hezbollah has said it is acting in support of the Palestinian group. Both are backed by Iran and proscribed as terrorist organisations by Israel, the UK and other countries.
Since October, more than 560 people have been reported killed by Lebanon’s health ministry, the vast majority of them Hezbollah fighters, while 26 civilians and 24 soldiers have been killed in Israel, according to authorities.
Almost 200,000 people have also been displaced on both sides of the border.
The Israeli attack on Hezbollah began before dawn Sunday, when the military said about 100 jets bombed thousands rocket launchers at more than 40 sites in southern Lebanon.
The strikes were launched after “extensive preparation” for a large-scale aerial attack by Hezbollah were detected, according to the military.
Hezbollah said two of its fighters were killed in the strikes along with another fighter from the allied Amal movement.
—BBC
