It took Israel only 10 minutes to carry out one of the worst mass-killings in Lebanon since the end of the country’s civil war in 1990.
Omar Rakha heard the war planes but did not feel the explosions; it was only when he woke up face down on the street, bleeding, that he understood what had happened: the building next to his in the Barbour neighbourhood of central Beirut had been destroyed by two Israeli bombs. He then ran through the flaming wreckage to find his sister, screaming.
Source: Reuters, AP
Israeli artillery and airstrikes hit southern Lebanon after Israel said it had intercepted rockets fired from across the border, endangering a shaky truce that ended a year-long war between Israel and Hezbollah. The Lebanese armed group denied responsibility and said it had 'no link' to the rocket launches. The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, known as Unifil, said in a written statement that it was 'alarmed' by the border violence and that a further escalation could have 'serious consequences for the region'.
William Christou
Amid Israeli airstrikes on Beirut on Monday night, one hit just in front of the entrance of the Rafik Hariri University Hospital, the largest public hospital in Lebanon. At least four were killed, including a child, 24 were injured in the strike, and the hospital suffered “major damage” from the blast.
Despite the strike, the hospital continued operating and is currently receiving the injured from the nearby strikes, a source at the hospital told the Guardian.
Israel reverts to its wartime playbook as it manufactures consent for all-out war on Lebanon.
Israel stands accused of killing Saleh al-Arouri by drone strike in Hezbollah’s stronghold in the Lebanese capital.
More than a dozen banks have been raided in Lebanon this year by customers demanding to take out their own money.
On Tuesday, even a member of parliament and a retired diplomat staged sit-ins at their bank branches.
Lebanon is facing a devastating financial crisis and banks have enforced tight withdrawing restrictions.
The number of children going hungry and being sent out to work continues to surge in Lebanon, as the country battles one of the worst economic crises in modern history.
More than 80% of the population is now estimated to be living in poverty, with charities warning of the severe impact on the next generation.
In the northern province of Akkar, a children's shelter has seen double the number of children left by their parents, who can no longer afford to feed them.
Why has Lebanese discourse on the investigation into the Beirut blast become so polarised? And the Russian law branding journalists as foreign agents.
At least six people have died in Beirut’s worst street violence in 13 years, as hundreds of armed militia men took to the streets and much of the city was forced into lockdown by heavy fighting.
The bloody violence took on a sectarian tone that invoked images of the Lebanese civil war and alarmed residents who had long feared that the multiple crises ravaging the country could spark a deadly conflagration.
The trigger for the clashes in neighbourhoods near the justice courts, which left dozens more injured, was a protest by members of Amal and Hezbollah, two predominantly Shia political parties, against a judicial probe into the massive blast in the city’s port last year.
This is the second time that the judge appointed to investigate the port explosion has been pressured to resign. It would seem that those opposed to the investigation have the most exposure for being blamed over their failure to rectify the situation.
