BEIRUT: Fears of an escalation in southern Lebanon grew on Friday as two Hezbollah members and two Hamas members were killed in separate Israeli attacks.
One of the Hamas members was Samer Al-Hajj, the group's security guard in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain Al-Hilweh. He was killed when his car was hit by a missile fired from an Israeli drone. The incident occurred in Sidon, 44 kilometers from Beirut, and was the first time that this city was targeted by attacks.
In an earlier attack on Naquora, two Hezbollah members were killed.
Hostilities continued on Friday as the Lebanese government – which includes Hezbollah – welcomed a joint statement by the leaders of Egypt, Qatar and the United States.
The statement stressed the “need to immediately end the suffering of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, achieve a ceasefire and conclude an agreement for the release of hostages and prisoners.”
FASTFACT
Fears of an escalation of the conflict in the Middle East have led to more airlines canceling flights to Lebanon.
The agreement also called on the two parties to the conflict to “resume urgent talks to overcome the remaining obstacles to the desired agreement.”
The Lebanese Foreign Ministry said: “The trilateral declaration embodies Lebanon's vision to reduce tensions in the region and avoid a full-scale regional war. The fundamental first step is the immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2735, which was initiated by US President Joe Biden.”
It was stressed that “maximum pressure must be exerted on Israel to force it to sit down at the negotiating table and immediately implement UN Security Council Resolution 2735”.
The Lebanese statement came as the Israel Broadcasting Authority announced that “residents of towns bordering Lebanon are urged to stay near safe areas until further notice.”
Also on Friday, Israeli drones were seen flying over border villages such as Yahoun, Kounine and Bint Jbeil, using loudspeakers to broadcast provocative messages in Arabic against Hezbollah and its Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, prompting gunmen to respond by firing machine guns at them.
The government in Cyprus said it was ready to “assist in the evacuation of European civilians from Lebanon.”
The U.S. Embassy in Beirut reiterated in a statement on Friday that it “encourages anyone wishing to leave Lebanon to book any ticket available to them, even if the flight does not depart immediately or does not follow their preferred route.”
It recommends that “US citizens who choose not to leave Lebanon should prepare emergency contingency plans and be prepared to seek shelter in place for an extended period of time.”
Fearing an escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, other airlines have suspended flights to Lebanon, including Air Algerie and Air India.
Royal Jordanian resumed flights to Beirut after they were suspended since July 29.
Britain advised British airlines “not to enter Lebanese airspace from 8 August to 4 November”, citing “a potential threat to aviation from military activities”.
On the first day of the 11-month war, more Israeli assassinations of Hezbollah field cadres were reported, following further Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace and the infiltration of landline and mobile phone calls as well as the Internet.
Hezbollah announced the deaths of Mehdi Mahmoud Ksaibani (30) from Harouf and Hadi Jihad Deeb (27) from Bafliyeh in southern Lebanon, who were killed in an Israeli attack on Naqoura on Friday morning.
Israel attacked Aita Al-Shaab and a house in Hanaouay on the night of Thursday to Friday. The house was empty, but five civilians in the surrounding houses were injured, according to the Health Ministry.
Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee said Israel's target was “Hezbollah's command headquarters in Hanaouay and the infrastructure in Aita Al-Shaab.”
A Lebanese security source said Hezbollah responded with a series of attacks that were “limited to Israeli military, strategic and logistical bases and avoided civilian targets in response to specific Israeli attacks.”
The Israeli army radio station reported “several attacks on the settlement (Kiryat Shmona),” adding that “the last salvo included ten rockets fired from Lebanon at the settlement.”
Israeli media reported that five explosions were heard and a rocket hit Kiryat Shmona.
Hezbollah said it had “bombarded the 769th Brigade command headquarters in the Kiryat Shmona barracks with a volley of Katyusha rockets in response to the Israeli attacks on Hanaouay” and had “attacked a gathering of Israeli soldiers near Metula with rocket weapons.”
In response to the attack on Naqoura, Hezbollah sent a squadron of precision drones to the command headquarters of the coastal battalion of the newly formed Western Brigade in Liman, targeting “the positions and concentrations of its officers and soldiers.”
The group stated that it had “hit its targets precisely and had demonstrably claimed victims.”
Hezbollah used rocket weapons to attack “the Al-Sammaqa site in the occupied Lebanese Kfarchouba hills” and “a building used by soldiers in the Manara settlement.”
Israeli air strikes hit the town of Tallouseh in the Marjeyoun district and coincided with artillery shelling of the town.
