Women mourn the coffin of slain Lebanese Hezbollah member Hussein Amhaz during his funeral in Baalbek, in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, on September 19, 2024. | Photo credit: AFP
The Israeli army said on Thursday (September 19, 2024) that it had struck six Hezbollah “terrorist infrastructure sites” and an arms depot in southern Lebanon overnight, as fears grew of outright war.
The air force “attacked Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure sites in the areas of Chihine, Tayibe, Blida, Meiss El Jabal, Aitaroun and Kfarkela in southern Lebanon, as well as a Hezbollah weapons depot in the Khiam area in southern Lebanon.” statement said.
Turkey accused Israel on Thursday (September 19, 2024) of trying to expand the war in Gaza into Lebanon with the “alarming” wave of deadly explosions that ripped through Hezbollah strongholds.
“The escalation in the region is alarming,” Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told state media. “We see Israel stepping up its attacks on Lebanon step by step.”
Meanwhile, the Lebanese Hezbollah group said 20 of its members have been killed, a source close to the group said AFP on Thursday (September 19, 2024) that they had been killed in walkie-talkie explosions blamed on Israel the day before.
The group sent out separate obituary notices for each member from Wednesday evening to Thursday morning, saying they had been killed “on the road to Jerusalem” – the phrase Hezbollah used to refer to fighters killed by Israel.
Published – Sep 19, 2024 3:43 PM IST
