Beirut, Lebanon:
Lebanese militant group Hezbollah on Sunday aired an audio recording of its slain chief Hassan Nasrallah simply over two weeks after an Israeli air strike killed him in southern Beirut.
“We depend on you… to defend your folks, your households, your nation, your values and your dignity, and to defend this holy and blessed land and this honourable folks,” mentioned Nasrallah, who was killed on September 27, in a recording it mentioned was made as he addressed the Iran-backed group’s fighters throughout a army manoeuvre.
Many different senior commanders of the motion have additionally been killed.
The Israeli army mentioned about 115 projectiles fired by Hezbollah had crossed into Israeli territory by Sunday afternoon.
A Hezbollah fighter was captured rising from a tunnel in south Lebanon on Sunday, Israel’s army mentioned, the primary such announcement because the begin of the bottom offensive.
‘Surprising violations’
United Nations peacekeepers on Sunday accused Israeli troops of breaking by means of a gate and getting into one among their positions in south Lebanon.
It’s the newest of a number of incidents the UNIFIL mission has reported since Thursday, leaving 5 Blue Helmets beforehand injured.
“At round 4:30 am, whereas peacekeepers had been in shelters, two IDF (Israeli army) Merkava tanks destroyed the place’s principal gate and forcibly entered the place” within the Ramia space, earlier than leaving 45 minutes later, mentioned the peacekeeping pressure (UNIFIL).
On Saturday, a number of kilometres (miles) to the northeast, Israeli “troopers stopped a vital UNIFIL logistical motion close to Mais al-Jabal, denying it passage”, it added.
“We’ve requested an evidence from the IDF for these surprising violations,” UNIFIL mentioned.
The Israeli army later mentioned a tank “backed a number of meters right into a UNIFIL put up” whereas “below hearth” and making an attempt to evacuate injured troopers.
Netanyahu had earlier on Sunday known as on the UN chief to take away peacekeepers in southern Lebanon out of hurt’s approach, after the mission rejected requests to desert their positions.
He mentioned that the peacekeepers’ presence had “the impact of offering Hezbollah terrorists with human shields”.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned Netanyahu’s name, saying it “represents a brand new chapter within the enemy’s strategy of not complying with worldwide” norms.
UNIFIL, with about 9,500 troops, is in southern Lebanon below the longstanding UN Safety Council Decision 1701, which stipulated that solely the Lebanese military and UN peacekeepers must be deployed in south Lebanon.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday known as it “completely unacceptable” that UN troops are “intentionally focused by the Israeli armed forces”.
Lebanon requires ceasefire
Earlier Sunday Israeli warplanes additionally hit a 100-year-old mosque within the village of Kfar Tibnit close to the border, NNA mentioned.
“It was a big place as a result of households used to collect within the sq. proper subsequent to it (the mosque) on particular events,” Mayor Fuad Yassin instructed AFP.
Hamas sparked the continued warfare in Gaza with the deadliest-ever assault on Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted within the deaths of 1,206 folks, largely civilians, in response to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.
The quantity contains hostages killed in captivity.
The well being ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says 42,227 folks, the bulk civilians, have been killed since Israel’s army marketing campaign started there. The UN acknowledges these figures to be dependable.
In assist of Hamas, Hezbollah began firing into northern Israel in October final yr, triggering a near-daily trade of fireplace till the warfare escalated in late September.
Netanyahu vowed to battle Hezbollah till Israelis displaced by the violence may return to their houses.
Since then, greater than 1,200 folks have been killed in Lebanon and one million others have been displaced, in response to Lebanese officers.
Mikati mentioned his authorities would ask the UN Safety Council to difficulty a brand new decision calling for a “full and speedy ceasefire”.
In a go to to Baghdad forward of Israel’s anticipated retaliation for Iran’s October 1 missile assault on Israel, Iran’s prime diplomat Abbas Araghchi on Sunday mentioned Tehran was “totally ready for a warfare scenario”.
He added: “We are not looking for warfare.”
The Pentagon later mentioned it could deploy a high-altitude anti-missile system and its US army crew to Israel to assist the ally defend itself from potential Iranian assault.
In north Gaza, Israeli forces have for days primarily besieged an round Jabalia, with the UN company for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, saying the preventing was inflicting extra struggling for lots of of hundreds of individuals trapped there.
“For over per week there was no hope, no water and no technique of life,” mentioned native resident Muhammad Abu Halima, 40.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)