Israel's continuing air strikes may have already forced as many as one million people from their homes across Lebanon, the country's prime minister has said.

"It is the largest displacement movement that may have happened," Najib Mikati said.

Lebanon's health ministry reported more than 50 people killed in Sunday's strikes - two days after Israel assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut. Meanwhile, Hezbollah fired more rockets into northern Israel. 

In a separate development, Israel said it had carried out "large-scale" air strikes on military targets of the Iran-backed Houthi movement in Yemen.

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Hezbollah confirmed on Sunday that top military commander Ali Karaki and a senior cleric, Sheikh Nabil Qaouk, had also been killed in the Israeli air strikes.

"We need to keep hitting Hezbollah hard," Israel's military chief of staff Herzi Halevi said.

Another Israeli strike in the central Beirut neighbourhood of Kola early on Monday killed three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the group said in a statement. 

The PFLP is a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization, a coalition recognised at the UN as the official representative of the Palestinians. The group is also considered a terrorist organisation by both the US and EU. 

The statement named those killed as military security chief Mohammad Abdel-Aal, military commander Imad Odeh, and fighter Abdel Rahman Abdel-Aal.

Lebanon's Prime Minister Mikati said the wave of air strikes had forced people to flee from Beirut and other parts of the country, including the southern border areas.

The local authorities are struggling to assist everyone in need, with shelters and hospitals under growing pressure, BBC correspondents in Lebanon report.

Aya Ayoub, aged 25, told the BBC she had to flee her house in Beirut’s southern Tahweetet al-Ghadir suburb with her family of six as it was too dangerous to stay.

Around her house, she said, "all the buildings are completely destroyed", and she was currently staying with another 16 people in a house in Beirut.

"We left on Friday and had no place to go. We stayed until 02:00 in the streets until a group of people helped us get into a residential building that was under construction. We are living on candles at night, and have to get water and food from outside”.

Sara Tohmaz, a 34-year-old journalist, told the BBC she had left her house near Beirut with her mother and two siblings last Friday.

It took them almost 10 hours to reach Jordan through Syria by car, she said.

“I think we are lucky enough to have a place to stay in Jordan, where my mother’s relatives are based. We don’t know what will happen next, and don’t know when we will be back," Tohmaz added.

The previously sporadic cross-border fighting escalated on 8 October 2023 - the day after the unprecedented attack on Israel by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip - when Hezbollah fired at Israeli positions, in solidarity with the Palestinians.

Since then hundreds of people, including many Hezbollah fighters, have been killed, while tens of thousands have also been displaced on both sides of the border.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgveeyrl47o

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On Friday, dozens of UN diplomats walked out of the hall ahead of a speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The imagery of Netanyahu giving a speech to a mostly empty room was striking but has not had any appreciable effect on Israel’s military campaigns.

Even more than Israel itself, the United States and most of the world have been unmasked by their support or indifference to the Israeli genocide in Palestine and their aggression in Lebanon and Yemen.

“That’s kind of the least any state can officially do. Walk out of a speech, it’s a symbolic measure, yes,” argued Esteban Carrillo, a Lebanese-based journalist and editor for The Cradle on Sputnik’s Fault Lines. “It doesn’t really change anything. It doesn’t change any realities. And the bombs that have been dropped in Lebanon, they are US-made.”

As Netanyahu gave his speech to the UN, which he called a “cesspit of antisemitism,” US-made bombs continued to drop on the Lebanese capital of Beirut.

“These are USA bombs that are destroying the capital of a UN member state,” exclaimed Carrillo. “When they killed the late leader of [Lebanese Shia movement] Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah, they dropped about 82 bunker-buster bombs in a heavily populated area of south Beirut.”

Israel has defended its actions in Lebanon by repeating their justifications for Gaza only substituting Hezbollah for Hamas. They have justified attacks on schools and civilian areas by claiming, often without evidence, that militants were using the area as a headquarters.

“We really need to put this into perspective, right? There needs to be a response from the rest of the world, because if they sat on their hands while [Israel] killed so many Palestinians, can we expect them to do the same for the Lebanese?” Asked Carrillo. 

On Monday, Israel announced that it had started cross-border raids into Lebanon with special forces ahead of an expected full ground invasion. Meanwhile, the Pentagon announced that the United States will send a “few thousand” more troops to the Middle East if Israel needs assistance.

“The Israeli leadership… They are not shy. They are very straightforward about what they want,” argued Carrillo. “The US government, I think, more than Israel, the one that has been unmasked over the past year because they are so good at putting out statements, of suppressing their anger, of calling Netanyahu names, or just saying things, right? They are very good with the words. With actions, they are nowhere to be found. And it’s the same for the EU.”

“And it’s the same for many other powers, let’s be honest. Even here in the region, Turkiye, who is constantly calling Netanyahu a Nazi and comparing him to Hitler, [Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan] does that often,” Carrillo recalled. “But then, Turkiye could at any point just cut off the gas flow, for example, to Israel if they really wanted to, but they don’t want to. They don’t want to. It’s the same for the Gulf countries. It seems that countries like Palestine, or Lebanon, or Syria, or now even Yemen, they struck that yesterday… They’re just ‘do what you want with them. We don’t care about them so much. What we care about is keeping up relations with Israel.’ Why? Because [Israel is] an extension of the United States.”

Even countries like Iran, which have been directly hit by Israel, have declined to strike back in any significant way. However, Carrillo argues that Iran deserves credit for being at the head of the resistance to American imperialism and the Zionist state.

“Iran has been behind most of these movements for most of the existence of the Islamic Revolution. Iran is a country that has been under sanctions for 50 years or more at this point. Why? Because they stand against the US imperial project and because they stand against the Zionist state and what they have done to the Palestinians,” Carrillo continued. “So, if Iran has been paying a price, do they want to pay another price now? Maybe not.”

While Carrillo said he does feel some sense of abandonment from the Lebanese people, the stakes couldn’t be higher for Iran. “If you see Iran stepping into this particular conflict, you’re going to see the US step [up] as well. And then you’re going to see things go really sideways, not just for us in Lebanon or the people in Palestine or the people in Syria or Iraq or Yemen, but absolutely everyone.

“So would I like Iran to have stepped in already? Yes, I would have. 100 percent I would have because I would not like to see this country destroyed like the way that it has. But also, I don’t want to see a third world war.”

Which is the choice the US has thrust on the world with its steadfast support of Israel. Either look away from genocide and unfettered military aggression or kick off World War III.

“And sadly, there’s no one to stop them besides these groups, such as Hezbollah, such as Hamas, such as Ansar Allah [aka Houthi] in Yemen,” concluded Carrillo. “[Those] are really the only ones standing up to this genocidal regime.”

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240930/un-walkout-does-not-absolve-world-for-failure-to-confront-israel-1120366883.html

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REPEAT:

GUS NOTE: DESPITE PROTESTS BY THE "US ADMINISTRATION", THIS IS PART OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE "DEEP STATE".... THIS IS WHY THE WESTERN MEDIA IS GOING SOFT ON ISRAHELL....

Innocent citizens in Gaza (80 % of whom are refugees), the West Bank, Lebanon and Yemen are being blown to bits in horrific numbers. But it is Palestinian refugees across the region who have been the principal target of this horrific American-Israeli war machine for over 76 years.

As the genocidal war on Gaza enters its second year, the American – Israeli war across the Middle East is killing and maiming thousands of innocent people, destroying infrastructure and the environment, and taking the region closer to an even greater catastrophe.

Israel continues with its unquenchable thirst for land to satisfy it’s messianic, theocratic dream. Innocent citizens in Gaza (80% of whom are refugees) the West Bank, Lebanon and Yemen are being blown to bits in horrific numbers. But it is Palestinian refugees across the region who have been the principal target of this horrific war machine for over 76 years.

This American – Israeli war machine is now impacting Palestinians on three battleground fronts; in Gaza, the West Bank and now in Lebanon. Over the last few days we have seen extensive bombing across Lebanon, in the south, Beirut, the north, and east in the Bekaa Valley. This war machine that is American- Israeli aggression in Lebanon is not new. And this time, as in Gaza and the West Bank, we are seeing live feeds through social media recording the many war crimes that this alliance is now committing in Lebanon.

We can’t let Australia off the hook either, as each of those F35 jets carrying such death and carnage is supported by Australian spare parts which, in spite of all the evidence available, the government continues to deny.

The Palestinian camps across the region and in Lebanon were formally established in early 1950 following the forced expulsion, often at gunpoint of over 700,000 Palestinians off Palestinian land in 1948 by the Israeli military after the establishment of the state of Israel. The first, but not the last Israeli-Palestinian war. Around 100,000 Palestinians refugees found their way to Lebanon. They now live under the auspices of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). UNRWA which was established by the United Nations General Assembly General Assembly resolution 302 (1V) of 8 December 1949, is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions from UN Member States. Australia, happy enough to quickly withdraw our contribution in response to Israel’s highly disputed charge of UNRWA staff involved in the October 7th events, has since re-established our contribution. America however, the largest contributor, continues to withhold funds reportedly until 2025.

Israel has long been determined to destroy UNRWA and has repeatedly bombed it’s schools in Gaza, where thousands are taking shelter. Israel has also attacked and killed 220 of its staff, the most UN staff killed in any conflict since the UN was established. The UNRWA staff and infrastructure in the West Bank has also been repeatedly attacked by Israel, doing its best to trash, not only UNRWA but also the United Nations.

In Lebanon, UNRWA now cares for nearly half a million Palestinian refugees and an additional 31,400 Palestinian refugees from Syria. It provides education in 64 schools across the country and provides preventative health care, relief and social services and emergency assistance. Over half of the refugees live very often in great poverty. In 12 camps across Lebanon refugees remain stateless as well as being denied opportunity to earn a living in many occupational areas. Four refugee camps exist in Beirut, two in the north in Tripoli, one in the Bekaa Valley in Baalbeka and five across the south of Lebanon; the latter being El Buss, Ein El Hilweh, Burj al-Shemali, Rashidieh and Mieh Mieh. All of these are now very close to the American Israeli bombing. Many from the camps are near the Israeli Lebanese border such as those in Tyre, would have fled fearing a ground invasion. One of the largest camps in the south, Ein el Helweh in Sidon would be undertaking emergency preparations as would be the camps in Beirut and in the Bekaa Valley.

The people of Lebanon, and perhaps even more so the Palestinian refugees there, are tragically too well accustomed to to this killing and destruction. Borj el Barajneh refugee camp in Beirut is located on the edge of the Dahiyah area that has been heavily bombed, killing many, among them the Hezbollah leader Sayyid Hassan Nasallah and several other leaders over this last weekend. This massive bombing campaign, and those that continue, now have killed one thousand civilians and created nearly a million displaced persons. Palestinian refugees living on the edge of the camp have been killed and many living just outside the camp have lost housing, with possible loss of life also. Those who have moved with family and friends close to the centre of Beirut, many living in now crowded small flats. Even there they will not be safe as Israel has now bombed the Cola area, a Lebanese Sunni area and general transport hub in central Beirut. The targeted strike in that area has killed, it is reported, three members of the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestinian (PFLP). The PFLP are part of the PLO and in Palestine part of the Palestinian Authority based in Ramallah. The head of Hamas in Tyre has also been killed in a targeted attack.

In all the wars that Israel has wrought in Lebanon, Palestinians have been directly affected. In the 1978 and 1982 invasions of Lebanon Israel specifically targeted the refugees camps, home to the Palestinian Liberation Organisation. Hundreds of thousands were killed across Lebanon and in the camps. In September 1982, after the PLO left Lebanon, Israel facilitated Christian militia to slaughter around 3,000 old men, women and children both Palestinian and Lebanese in the Shatila camp and adjacent Sabra area. After this horrific war Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia militia, emerged and fought Israel in several wars in 1993 and 1996 when Israel was finally driven from all of Lebanese lands. Although the Shebaa Farm areas, on the Lebanese Syrian border occupied by Israel, remains contested. The bombing of the southern suburbs around the Dahiyah area in 2006, so close to the camps near by, also affected the Palestinian refugees and in 2023 Hezbollah fired missiles from the south of the country to Israel in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

In 1982, people were surviving in much the same way they are now, in schools, mosques, churches, bombed out buildings, or just in the street, relying on humanitarian assistance from Non Government Organisations (NGO’s) and the Palestinians from UNRWA. The camps in Beirut and in the south were totally destroyed with Ein El Hilweh located in Sidon completely flattened, with not a trace of human habitation or infrastructure left. In time that camp and others were rebuilt and refugees returned, having nowhere else to go, but not without considerable loss of life and livelihood.

Now people across the country, and millions of relatives of Lebanese and Palestinians across the globe are terrified of what is to come next. Diplomats at the UNGA meeting in New York are warning of a full scale invasion of Lebanon, in the Bekaa Valley, in the capital and in the south similar to that of 1982. And Netanyahu has threatened to “bomb Lebanon back to the stone age”, a threat tragically carried out in Gaza. Plans are underway for a massive humanitarian response, much needed immediately with an estimated one million people displaced. Lebanon only has a caretaker government, is generally believed to be bankrupt and government services almost non existent. Poverty is widespread as it is among the Palestinian refugee population. In just a few days of American-Israeli massive bombing across the country Lebanese and Palestinians alike are rapidly facing a tragic, horrific catastrophe while the world again watches in silence and Israel proceeds with absolutely impunity to main and kill at will.

Palestinians in Lebanon, many now for the fourth or fifth generation, remain stateless. Trapped in 75 years of limbo and denied the Right of Return. They continue to be subjected to war and displacement while Australia and other western nations refuse to implement international court rulings.

https://johnmenadue.com/palestinians-refugees-in-lebanon-bombed-to-oblivion-yet-again/

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