‘Hundreds’ killed, wounded in latest wave of Israeli strikes on Lebanon

[0:00] We're going to go to Beirut now, where Israel says Lebanon is not included in the two-week truce between the US and Iran. [0:08] Pakistan had announced that the immediate ceasefire includes Lebanon and an end to fighting on all fronts, [0:14] but Israel has not ceased its attacks on Lebanon. [0:17] Well, the military has just launched an attack on Beirut's southern suburbs. [0:29] The assault targeted densely populated residential areas. [0:32] Lebanese security sources say the latest Israeli strikes have been the heaviest since the start of the war. [0:39] Israel says it is striking Hezbollah's infrastructure. [0:43] Well, southern Lebanon has also come under repeated attacks since early on Wednesday. [0:48] The Israeli military carried out a strike on the southern city of Tyre. [0:51] Well, this comes after it issued forced evacuation threats for people living there. [0:56] Israel's attacks and expanding invasion have forced 1.2 million people across Lebanon from their homes. [1:04] Well, Israeli airstrikes killed at least eight people in the coastal city of Sidon. [1:09] That's also in the south of Lebanon. [1:11] The attack came shortly before Pakistan announced the ceasefire was in effect. [1:15] We're going to go to Malcolm Webb now, who joins us from Beirut. [1:19] And Malcolm, we're seeing some remarkable pictures come out of Beirut, the city there. [1:24] Can you just give us an update on what the Israeli military is saying is the largest strike across the country since the start of the war? [1:32] It was just over an hour ago we could hear a series of enormous, deep, booming explosions coming, [1:43] not just from the southern suburbs, but many other parts of the city. [1:46] It's the enormous plumes of smoke rising up from where we are now. [1:52] Many of the locations were in places where nobody expected strikes to hit. [1:57] It's caused panic and chaos in the streets. [2:00] Children were crying. [2:01] People were shouting. [2:02] Many people injured running through the streets trying to get to hospitals. [2:06] Others abandoned their cars in the traffic. [2:10] And many of the locations where these weapons hit are areas where Hezbollah isn't known to have any significant presence. [2:18] So, in spite of a warning from Israel earlier, a threat of bombing the southern suburbs, [2:24] this attack appears to have included many more locations across the capital. [2:32] Israel's military has said it's the largest strike since its operation began at the beginning of last month. [2:38] It said it targeted approximately 100 sites. [2:42] At the same time, we're hearing from the Israeli military chief saying that they are going to continue striking Hezbollah with determination. [2:53] So, clearly, it doesn't look like this is over any time soon, Malcolm. [3:01] Well, Iran was clear that a ceasefire was conditional on it being applied across the region. [3:08] Pakistan explicitly said that it had to include Lebanon. [3:13] Israel subsequently said that it did not include Lebanon. [3:16] And the defence minister said just a short while ago that they will continue attacking what they call Hezbollah's military infrastructure across Lebanon. [3:26] Just a short while ago, European leaders in Canada put out a statement saying that the ceasefire should be upheld and that it should include Lebanon. [3:35] Now, in October 2024, just before the last ceasefire, Israel launched an unprecedented attack of great intensity just before the ceasefire came in. [3:47] So, we're waiting, of course, to find out if Israel will continue with its military operations and its invasion in Lebanon as it has said it will, [3:57] or if there will be sufficient international pressure to bring this to a pause. [4:03] Malcolm, we're just getting the latest lines from the health ministry there saying that hundreds of people there in Lebanon have been, [4:15] there are hundreds of casualties, included dead and wounded, right across the country, not just in Beirut. [4:22] Beirut. Obviously, the scale of this attack is unprecedented, even in the six weeks of war that has been waged on Hezbollah from the Israeli side of things. [4:33] You mentioned there, obviously, the ceasefire that's come into effect in Iran. [4:39] Obviously, concern for many Lebanese that that wasn't going to be extended to the country. [4:44] And that is bearing up with what we're seeing here in the last couple of hours. [4:54] The Lebanese Red Cross has said they're expecting very high numbers of deaths and injuries, but we don't have any numbers yet. [5:02] I mean, panic and chaos out in the streets. [5:04] What's significant is that so many of the locations that were hit here in the capital, people were not expecting it. [5:10] They were in areas where there haven't been any of Israel's forced evacuation orders, [5:15] not today nor in the previous six weeks of the conflict, areas which are widely not known to be places where Hezbollah operates or has any kind of stronghold. [5:27] So, unlike the very many strikes in the southern suburbs over the last six weeks or so, where often, not always, but often the buildings have previously been evacuated, [5:40] the people, of course, are among those 1.2 million Lebanese who've been forced from their homes by this conflict. [5:46] But in this case, many buildings and many sites, it seems, were hit where people had no idea that it was coming. [5:52] There are sites in commercial areas, residential areas, where Israel says Hezbollah has military infrastructure, but doesn't present evidence of that. [6:04] Thank you. [6:05] Was there any warning before these strikes occurred? [6:08] You mentioned a little earlier that many of the areas that have been hit aren't necessarily Hezbollah's strongholds. [6:15] So, did the Israeli military give the people of Beirut and southern Lebanon any warning before they began this unprecedented strike? [6:26] The Israeli military did issue warnings earlier today for the southern suburbs and also for the city of Tyre in the south. [6:39] These are areas where they frequently issue warnings and they frequently strike, but the warnings didn't include the many other sites, including several sites across the capital, Beirut, [6:51] that haven't been hit previously in this round of the conflict and where nobody was expecting it. [6:57] So, many of these locations, buildings, weren't evacuated. [7:00] People were taken completely by surprise and that's what's prompted these street scenes that we've seen of people running for their lives, people injured, children crying, people screaming, trying to rush the injured to hospital as quickly as they can. [7:16] OK, thank you so much, Malcolm. [7:17] We'll come back to you as we continue to get developments there from Beirut as well as southern Lebanon, where a huge number of strikes, [7:25] we believe 100 strikes in 10 minutes from Israel on what they call Hezbollah sites.