New York (The Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Talking to reporters the EU’s foreign policy chief expressed that no power could ‘stop’ Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu.
Borrell’s caution came on the same evening as Israel undertook massive air strikes on Hezbollah’s headquarters in the Lebanese capital Beirut. Speaking to reporters in New York following a UN Security Council session on Gaza, Borrell stated he regretted that no power seemed able to “stop” Benjamin Netanyahu, adding that Israel’s prime minister seemed to be determined to destroy militants in Lebanon and Gaza at all costs.
“If the interpretation of being destroyed is the same as with Hamas, then we are going to go for a long war,” he was cited by the news agency as saying. Those remarks came after the Israeli military reported that it had struck Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut in a series of huge explosions that targeted the leader of the militant group and levelled numerous high-rise apartment buildings.
What is the casualty toll from Israel’s airstrikes in Lebanon?
At least six people were extinguished and 91 were wounded, Lebanon’s health ministry said. It was the largest blast to hit the Lebanese capital in the past year and seemed likely to push the escalating battle closer to full-fledged war. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was the target of the strikes. The casualty toll is likely to rise especially as teams comb through the rubble of six buildings. Israel undertook a series of strikes on other areas of the southern suburbs following the initial blast.
Why did Netanyahu cut short his us visit after strikes?
After the strikes, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suddenly cut short a visit to the United States to return home. Hours earlier, he preached the United Nations, against Hezbollah over the past two weeks would continue — further dimming hopes for an internationally backed cease-fire.
Israeli army spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari expressed the strikes targeted the major Hezbollah headquarters, stating it was located underground beneath residential buildings.
The series of blasts at around nightfall declined six apartment towers to rubble in Haret Hreik, a densely populated, mostly Shiite district of Beirut’s Dahiyeh suburbs, according to Lebanon’s national news agency. A division of billowing black and orange smoke climbed into the sky as windows were intimidated and houses shook some 30 kilometres north of Beirut.
Footage depicted rescue workers clambering over large slabs of concrete, covered by high piles of twisted metal and wreckage. Several craters were observable, one with a car toppled into it. A stream of locals carrying their belongings was witnessed fleeing along a main road out of the district.
