Israel pushed into new parts of southern Lebanon on Monday, deploying troops to target Hezbollah positions as it intensified its campaign against the Iran-backed militant group. In a briefing, Israeli military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told reporters that soldiers were in “new locations that our troops were not operating yesterday”.
Israel’s widening ground assault in southern Lebanon has heightened fears among Lebanese living in border villages that they will not be able to return home soon.
“The idea that we might not return to our homes, to the people of the village, feels like a part of my identity is being taken away from me,” said Iman Ibrahim, 30, who fled her village, Blida, when the war between Hezbollah and Israel escalated this month.
Like many others from the border area, Ibrahim fears that the Israeli military is laying the groundwork for occupying parts of southern Lebanon, much like it did after invading in 1982. The Israeli military has issued sweeping evacuation orders for much of the south, stretching as far as 40km from the border, and Israel Katz, the Israeli defence minister, has warned that Lebanon could face territorial losses unless Hezbollah is disarmed.
“I feel like this is preparation for an occupation, and I’m afraid history will repeat itself,” Ibrahim said.
Israel intends to continue attacking Hezbollah in Lebanon but is open to eventual talks with the Lebanese government to stop the fighting, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said in a news briefing on Monday. There have been efforts to mediate between Israel and Lebanon but, Danon said: "You can achieve talks and make them effective when you degrade the capabilities of your enemy."
Jerusalem damage
In Israel, air raid sirens warned of Iranian missiles fired at the country. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement that Tehran had launched attacks on areas in Tel Aviv, including air refueling support centres.
Shrapnel from ballistic missiles fired by Iran and debris from the Israeli interceptors that shot them down fell on Monday around Jerusalem’s walled Old City and some of its most sacred Christian, Muslim and Jewish sites, Israeli police said.
There were no casualties or major damage reported at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre or the nearby hilltop plateau known to Muslims as Al-Aqsa compound and to Jews as Temple Mount, a flashpoint site that is holy to both faiths.
A large fragment fell near the country’s parliament building, Israeli media reported.
‘No interceptor dearth’
The Israeli military has denied reports that it is running out of missile interceptors more than two weeks into the war with Iran, saying it had “prepared for prolonged combat”.
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, a military spokesman, told reporters on Monday that Iran was firing far fewer missiles at Israel than the military had contended with at other times in the past two years of regional wars. He added that he was not aware of any “urgent problem” with the stock of interceptors, adding that Israel had prepared for a “larger threat”.
Mojtaba statement
Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei issued a second statement on Monday saying he would retain all the officials appointed by his slain father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran attack
Iran’s Mehr news agency reported five people were killed and seven wounded in overnight strikes hitting Markazi province in central Iran. The news agency said a residential area on the outskirts of Arak city was attacked as well as a residential building in the Mahallat county.
In Khomeyn city, also in Markazi province, a boys’ school was targeted, causing some damage to the surrounding area. No casualties were reported.
The Israeli military said on Monday it was carrying out air strikes on Tehran, Shiraz and Tabriz against what it described as infrastructure of the “Iranian terror regime”.
US assets hit
The US al-Dhafra air base in Abu Dhabi, the US naval base in Bahrain and Bahrain’s Sheikh Issa air base, were also attacked, it said. Energy markets faced further disruption with oil loading operations suspended following an Iranian drone strike at the UAE port of Fujairah.
Dubai airport halt
Flights at Dubai International Airport, normally one of the world’s busiest, were suspended for several hours after a drone strike on a nearby fuel storage facility that sent plumes of black smoke into the sky. Dubai authorities said they had contained a fire.
Cuba grid collapse
Cuba's national electric grid collapsed on Monday, the country's grid operator said, leaving around 10 million people without power amid a US-imposed oil blockade that has crippled the island's already ailing generation system.