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TRANSCRIPT
Explosions have lit up the skies over Beirut as Israeli strikes hit Hezbollah targets in the Lebanese capital.
Smoke has been seen rising over parts of the city after Israel said it began striking Hezbollah infrastructure.
The escalation follows Hezbollah rocket and drone attacks into northern Israel earlier this week.
Hezbollah says those attacks were launched in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during the initial U-S and Israeli strikes on Iran.
Israel says it is responding to Hezbollah rocket fire across the border.
In a televised address, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Kassem defended the group’s decision to keep fighting.
“As long as the (Israeli) occupation is present, then the resistance and its weapons are a legitimate right."
Sheikh Kassem adds.
“Our concern is to continue with our defence, and to shoot down the Israeli-American enemy’s targets, and to remain steadfast in our position rejecting the enemy’s projects.”
Lebanon has now become another front in the widening regional conflict.
Officials say the war has killed more than one thousand people in Iran, while around a dozen people have died in Israel since the escalation began.
Lebanese authorities say Israeli strikes have also caused heavy casualties inside Lebanon.
Lebanon’s Social Affairs Minister Haneen Sayed gave an update on the latest violence.
“On the security level, 403 hostile incidents have been recorded since Monday. As a result, today there have been 20 martyrs and 283 injured.”
Lebanese officials say more than 70 people have now been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon since the latest escalation began earlier this week.
The violence has forced tens of thousands of people from their homes.
Minister Sayed says the number of displaced people seeking shelter continues to rise.
“The number of displaced people registered in shelters is eighty-three thousand eight hundred and forty-seven individuals, equivalent to eighteen thousand and thirty-three families.”
Lebanon’s prime minister Nawaf Salam says authorities are trying to help those forced to flee.
“It is our collective responsibility, as a state and a society, to stand by our people who are forced to flee, and to provide them with what they need with dignity and in a spirit of brotherhood and solidarity.”
Across Beirut and southern Lebanon, schools and public buildings are being used as emergency shelters.
Some families say they spent days on the road before finding somewhere safe.
One displaced resident, Sami Al-Hajj, says his family searched for shelter after leaving their home.
“Sunday night we packed up a few things, got the car ready, and left. We've been on the road for two days, traffic and traffic, and we kept looking around for two or three days until today we finally found a place to stay here.”
Others say conditions in shelters remain difficult.
Hussein Kraiker, who fled the southern city of Nabatieh, says families are struggling with shortages of basic items.
“The problem was about where could we stay and settle our kids, off the roads. Until we got here to this school, and here we are. But of course, we say thank God we’re not on the street, even though we're still missing necessities and things like mattresses and stuff like that. Right now, we don't sleep properly, we sit on chairs all night. For example, our kids are on the floor. I brought a few blankets so they can sleep on the floor, and that's basically it.”
As the fighting intensifies, many Lebanese families are now trying to leave the country.
At Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport, travellers are waiting with their luggage as flight boards show cancellations and delays.
Many international airlines have suspended flights to Lebanon because of the security situation.
Airport authorities say flights will only operate if conditions are safe.
Captain Mohammed Aziz, the chairman and director general of Beirut’s international airport, says officials are constantly reviewing the risks.
“We won't open the airport, let the plane take off, if there's a risk. This is what we're doing. How do we ensure that? First, we make sure all safety measures are in place, all the information we have about the situation and about neutralizing the airport is available and based on that we make our decisions. If we have even a one percent doubt, we pause the operation and reduce things a bit until we're sure. Then we keep going.”
International concern is also growing.
The United Nations says the conflict risks destabilising the region further.
U-N spokesman Stephane Dujarric says Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is urging all sides to return to diplomacy.
“We, of course, continue to follow developments in the Middle East very closely. You've been asking me about the Secretary General's contacts and what I can share with you at this point is that yesterday afternoon, he accepted a request to meet with the permanent representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani. During the meeting, the Secretary-General reiterated his position as stated during Saturday's Security Council session. He expressed his hope for a swift end to the conflict and a return to dialogue in the interest of regional stability.”
Mr Dujarric says U-N peacekeepers have also observed exchanges of fire across the Blue Line separating Israel and Lebanon.
“In southern Lebanon, our peacekeeping colleagues at UNIFIL tell us that continued exchanges of fire crossed the blue line, including Hezbollah's rocket fire towards Israel and Israel Defence Forces' airstrikes and extensive fire north of the blueline. Peacekeepers have observed Israeli Defence Forces vehicles moving north of the blue line at several locations, reaching up to one kilometre beyond the blue-line and firing towards those surroundings.”
Meanwhile, Israel, where around a dozen citizens were killed since fighting began, says it will continue striking Hezbollah targets.
And Hezbollah says it will keep firing rockets into Israel.
This all comes as diplomats warn the conflict risks spreading further across the Middle East unless negotiations can bring the violence to an end.
Since the U-S and Israel attacked Iran and killed its Supreme Leader, Iran has struck Israeli and American targets in at least 10 countries.
