People gather at the site of an Israeli strike in Ain Yaacoub, Akkar, North Lebanon, Nov. 11, 2024. (Credit: Sent by local sources to our correspondent Michel Hallak)
Lebanon came under heavy Israeli fire Monday, with a particularly deadly and unprecedented strike on the village of Ain Yaakoub in Akkar, northern Lebanon. This attack killed at least eight people and wounded 14, according to an initial toll announced by the Lebanese Health Ministry, which is likely to rise.
Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz ruled out the possibility of a cease-fire with Hezbollah, insisting it would only occur once the group “surrenders,” AFP reported in the evening.
“There will be no cease-fire, and there will be no pause in the strikes against Hezbollah,” said Katz, addressing the Israeli army for the first time since taking office. However, if there is a proposal for a cease-fire agreement "signifying the surrender of Hezbollah [and] meeting all our conditions ..., we will certainly consider it very seriously," he added.
Unprecedented strike in Akkar
On Monday evening, an Israeli strike targeted Ain Yaakoub, a village in Akkar, northern Lebanon, for the first time, killing eight people and injuring 14, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. Our correspondent in the region, Michel Hallak, reports that a house was targeted and that 33 people were living there: 24 Lebanese from Arab Salim (a village in the Nabatieh district in southern Lebanon) and nine Syrians.
Civil Defense and Lebanese Red Cross teams were deployed on site to help evacuate the injured and remove the rubble. The Union of Jouma Municipalities helped rescue workers gain access to the building leveled by the strike, and the Halba government hospital launched an appeal for blood donations.
According to our correspondent, eight of the people injured in the strike are from the Shrarah family. Three others are from the Harb family and two from the Choukeir family. Another wounded is from the Makhour family and another from the Kanaan family.
Several killed in southern Lebanon
The Israeli army heavily shelled southern Lebanon after reiterating its call for the evacuation of several villages, including those in the districts of Sour, Bint Jbeil and Marjayoun. In the morning, Israeli airstrikes targeted Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil district) as well as the town of Nabatieh, the neighboring village of Kfar Roummane, and Srifa (Sour district), reported our correspondent Mountasser Abdallah. At least three people were killed in the strike on Srifa, according to the National News Agency (NNA).
Another Israeli strike on a house in Saksakieh (Saida district), killed 11 people and injured five others, mostly women and children, reported the Directorate General of Civil Defense on Monday night. Search operations remain ongoing, as some people are still missing. The Israeli air force also carried out a series of attacks on Shaqra and Burj Qalawieh, in the Bint Jbeil district, reported NNA. Three people were killed in the attack on Burj Qalawieh.
An Israeli airstrike completely destroyed a house in Yater, in southern Lebanon's Sour district, killing two people. Israel also targeted Wadi Hujair, between Qantara and Qseir, with artillery shells and cluster bombs. The village of Kfar Shuba (Hasbaya) was also shelled by artillery. Another artillery strike targeted Siddiqine, in the Sour district.
The Bekaa was not spared either, with an Israeli strike on Meydoun killing three people, according to our correspondent Sarah Abdallah.
Hezbollah targets Acre and Haifa
Hezbollah claimed responsibility for several attacks on Israel, some of them targeting areas deep inside Israeli territory. In the afternoon, the group launched a squadron of explosive drones toward the Regavim base, a “Golani Brigade training base” located south of Haifa, “more than 65 km from the Lebanese border.” This attack is part of Hezbollah’s "Khaybar" operations, which were launched in response to Hassan Nasrallah’s assassination by Israel on Sept. 27.
In the morning, the party attacked Israeli soldiers stationed at the "Abad" site, located across from the Lebanese village of Houla (Marjayoun). It targeted the Israeli towns of Safed, Ma'alot-Tarshiha and Karmiel with a "large missile salvo."
Hezbollah also announced two new operations against Israeli soldiers on the outskirts of Maroun al-Ras, in southern Lebanon. The first attack, on the eastern outskirts of this Lebanese border village, was carried out with drones, and the second with artillery fire.
Avivim and Goren, in northern Israel, were also hit during the day. In the afternoon, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for an attack on the Shraga base, north of Acre, as well as on the Krayot region and the Zvulun base, north of Haifa. The party launched “a large salvo of rockets” toward the Amiad base, south of Safed, which is part of the Israeli army's Northern Command.
Hezbollah also fired a guided missile toward a house containing Israeli soldiers in the Sari heights, in the northwestern outskirts of Kfar Kila (Marjayoun district). It targeted Hatzor-Haglilit in northern Israel, as well as Katzrin in the occupied Golan Heights. Another attack was carried out on Rosh Pina, a neighboring town of Hatzor-Haglilit.
For its part, Haaretz reported that a woman was "seriously injured" by shrapnel in Bi'ina, near Karmiel, in the morning. Three people were also injured following the launch of a rocket barrage toward northern Israel, including a 52-year-old man who sustained moderate shrapnel wounds to his back, according to the Magen David Adom emergency service, quoted by the Israeli newspaper. A 17-year-old teenager was slightly injured by shards of glass and a 55-year-old man was also seriously injured as he made his way to a shelter, it added.
This article was translated from L'Orient-Le Jour.
