Israel launched an airstrike on a building in the Lebanese capital Beirut on Thursday. Lebanon's health ministry said 22 people were killed in the attack, while 177 were injured. Israel has not yet released a statement on the attack.
According to the Times of Israel, the attack targeted Wafik Safa, a senior member of Hezbollah and head of the coordination unit. However, he managed to escape between the attacks. This is Israel's largest ever air strike in central Beirut.
Hours before the attack, an Israeli tank attacked a UN building in southern Lebanon. Two members of the UN Peacekeeping Force (UNIFIL) were injured in the attack. Both are citizens of Indonesia. UNIFIL members have been stationed in Lebanon since 1978, working to monitor threats and deliver humanitarian aid to people in need.
Israel attacked the base of the UN peacekeeping team with tanks on Thursday.
The UN said – In 24 hours many of our bases were attacked The UN has said that Israel has continuously targeted their positions over the past 24 hours. Israeli soldiers deliberately shot at cameras and lights at 2 more UNIFIL bases. Israel's military has said it warned UN peacekeeping members to move to safety before the tank attack.
After the attack on the UN peace mission team, many countries like Italy, France and Indonesia have demanded an answer from Israel. Earlier in September too, Israel asked UN peacekeepers to withdraw from southern Lebanon. However, he refused to do so.
Currently there are about 10,500 peacekeepers from 48 countries in UN peace missions. 900 Indian peacekeepers are also deployed along the Israel border in southern Lebanon.
Saudi-Qatar are pressuring the US to stop attacks on Iran's oil reserves According to a report by news agency Reuters, several Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE are pressuring the US to prevent an Israeli attack on Iran's oil reserves. These countries have said they will not allow Israel to use their airspace to attack Iran.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman.
In fact, Israeli PM Netanyahu held a meeting with the country's security cabinet on Thursday. CNN claimed that Netanyahu held the meeting to finalize plans to attack Iran.
Earlier, the Prime Minister of Israel spoke on the phone with US President Biden about retaliating against Iran on October 9. Meanwhile, Biden reiterated that Israel has an absolute right to its own security. A day earlier, Biden had said that Israel should refrain from attacking Iran's oil and nuclear sites.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
