Houthi video shows the Yemeni militia planted bombs on tanker now threatening Red Sea oil spill

Explosions take place on the deck of the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion on the Red Sea, in this handout picture released August 29, 2024. (Houthi Military Media/Handout via REUTERS)
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Explosions take place on the deck of the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion on the Red Sea, in this handout picture released August 29, 2024. (Houthi Military Media/Handout via REUTERS)
Houthi video shows the Yemeni militia planted bombs on tanker now threatening Red Sea oil spill
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A Yemen Houthi militant walks on the deck of the Sounion oil tanker on the Red Sea, in this screen grab picture released on August 29, 2024. (Houthi Military Media/Handout via REUTERS)
Houthi video shows the Yemeni militia planted bombs on tanker now threatening Red Sea oil spill
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A Yemen Houthi militant walks on the deck of the Sounion oil tanker on the Red Sea, in this screen grab picture released on August 29, 2024. (Houthi Military Media/Handout via REUTERS)
Houthi video shows the Yemeni militia planted bombs on tanker now threatening Red Sea oil spill
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Flames and smoke rise from Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion on the Red Sea, in this handout picture released August 29, 2024. (Houthi Military Media/Handout via REUTERS)
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Updated 30 August 2024
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Houthi video shows the Yemeni militia planted bombs on tanker now threatening Red Sea oil spill

Houthi video shows the Yemeni militia planted bombs on tanker now threatening Red Sea oil spill
  • In the video, the Iran-backed Houthis chant their motto as the bombs detonated aboard the oil tanker Sounion
  • The European Union’s Operation Aspides is tryinhg to secure the abandoned ship to prevent and oil spill

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: Yemen’s Houthi rebels released footage on Thursday showing their fighters boarded and placed explosives on a Greek-flagged tanker, setting off blasts that put the Red Sea at risk of a major oil spill. The vessel was abandoned earlier, after the Houthis repeatedly attacked it.
In the video, the Iran-backed Houthis chant their motto as the bombs detonated aboard the oil tanker Sounion: “God is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse the Jews; victory to Islam.”
The blasts capped the most-serious attack in weeks by the Houthis in their campaign disrupting the $1 trillion in goods that pass through the Red Sea each year over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, as well as halting some aid shipments to conflict-ravaged Sudan and Yemen.




Flames and smoke rise from Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion on the Red Sea, in this handout picture released August 29, 2024. (Houthi Military Media/Handout via REUTERS)

The Sounion carried some 1 million barrels of oil when the Houthis initially attacked it on Aug. 21 with small arms fire, projectiles and a drone boat. A French destroyer operating as part of the European Union’s Operation Aspides rescued the Sounion’s crew of 25 Filipinos and Russians, as well as four private security personnel, after they abandoned the vessel and took them to nearby Djibouti.
The footage released Thursday shows masked Houthi fighters carrying Kalashnikov-style rifles boarding the Sounion after it was abandoned. The bridge appeared ransacked. Fighters then rigged explosives over hatches on its deck leading to the oil tankers below. At least six simultaneous blasts could be seen in the footage.
The footage, as well as comments by the Houthi’s mysterious leader Abdul Malik Al-Houthi, confirmed an earlier analysis by The Associated Press that the Houthis boarded and planted explosives on the Sounion. The Houthi-controlled SABA news agency described Al-Houthi as saying the Sounion attack shows America “is lying in its claims regarding any deterrence of Yemeni operations supporting Palestine.”
“The effectiveness of our operations and their control of the situation is acknowledged by the enemies,” Al-Houthi said.
Western countries and the United Nations have warned any oil spill from the Sounion could devastate the coral reefs and wildlife around the Red Sea. However, the EU’s naval force in the region says it has yet to see any oil spill from the Sounion.
Operation Aspides “is preparing to facilitate any courses of action, in coordination with European authorities and neighboring countries, to avert a catastrophic environmental crisis,” the EU mission said. “Together, we can protect the environment and maintain stability in the region.”
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric commended the efforts by the international community and the UN special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, “to secure the immediate access to the vessel and avert an environmental catastrophe.” The Houthis have agreed to allow the operation to proceed safely, he said.




A Yemen Houthi militant walks on the deck of the Sounion oil tanker on the Red Sea, in this screen grab picture released on August 29, 2024. (Houthi Military Media/Handout via REUTERS)

Dujarric did not offer any indication when it might start but added that the reports that “the salvage operations for the tanker can proceed with tugboats and rescue ships to access the incident area” are encouraging.
On Wednesday, the Houthis suggested they may allow the Sounion to be salvaged, though the rebels already once blocked crews trying to reach the abandoned vessel, the US military said.
The US State Department declined to directly comment on the video Thursday. It referred to earlier remarks in which spokesperson Matthew Miller warned “the Houthis’ continued attacks threaten to spill a million barrels of oil into the Red Sea, an amount four times the size of the Exxon Valdez disaster” in 1989 off Alaska.
This isn’t the first time the Houthis have used the threat of an oil spill to their advantage. It took years of negotiations before the rebels allowed the UN in 2023 to remove 1 million barrels from the oil tanker Safer off the coast of Yemen, which had been used as a floating storage and offloading facility.
“Experience has shown that the group is willing to interfere with salvage efforts if they can turn the situation into a political bargaining chip,” warned Noam Raydan, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near-East Policy who has studied the ongoing Houthi attacks.
The Houthis have targeted more than 80 vessels with missiles and drones since the war in Gaza started in October. They seized one vessel and sank two in the campaign that also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by a US-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets.
The rebels maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the US or the UK to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.
Meanwhile Thursday, the US military’s Central Command said its forces destroyed a Houthi missile system and drone.
 


Lebanon’s rescuers struggle to respond to Israeli offensive while under fire and using old equipment

Lebanon’s rescuers struggle to respond to Israeli offensive while under fire and using old equipment
Updated 16 sec ago
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Lebanon’s rescuers struggle to respond to Israeli offensive while under fire and using old equipment

Lebanon’s rescuers struggle to respond to Israeli offensive while under fire and using old equipment
  • An economic crisis that began in 2019 and a massive 2020 port explosion have left Lebanon struggling to provide basic services such as electricity and medical care
  • “We have zero capabilities, zero logistics. We have no gloves, no personal protection gear,” says Mohamed Arkadan, head of a local emergency response team

An economic crisis that began in 2019 and a massive 2020 port explosion have left Lebanon struggling to provide basic services such as electricity and medical care

“We have zero capabilities, zero logistics. We have no gloves, no personal protection gear,” says Mohamed Arkadan, head of a local emergency response team

BEIRUT: When Israel bombed buildings outside the southern Lebanese city of Sidon, Mohamed Arkadan and his team rushed to an emergency unlike anything they had ever seen.
About a dozen apartments had collapsed onto the hillside they once overlooked, burying more than 100 people. Even after 17 years with the civil defense forces of one of the world’s most war-torn nations, Arkadan was shocked at the destruction. By Monday afternoon — about 24 hours after the bombing — his team had pulled more than 40 bodies, including children’s, from the rubble, along with 60 survivors.
The children’s bodies broke his heart, said Arkadan, 38, but his team of over 30 first responders’ inability to help further pained him more. Firetrucks and ambulances haven’t been replaced in years. Rescue tools and equipment are in short supply. His team has to buy their uniforms out of pocket.
An economic crisis that began in 2019 and a massive 2020 port explosion have left Lebanon struggling to provide basic services such as electricity and medical care. Political divisions have left the country of 6 million without a president or functioning government for more than two years, deepening a national sense of abandonment reaching down to the people the country depends on in emergencies.
“We have zero capabilities, zero logistics,” Arkadan said. “We have no gloves, no personal protection gear.”
War has upended Lebanon again
Israel’s intensified air campaign against Hezbollah has upended the country. Over 1,000 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since Sept. 17, nearly a quarter of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry.
On Wednesday, two Israeli strikes hit an Islamic rescue center, affiliated with Hezbollah, in Lebanon’s south, killing six medics and destroying the building, according to Lebanon’s National News agency. Before those deaths were reported, the ministry said it had documented the deaths of over 40 medics and rescuers.
Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes, sleeping on beaches and streets.
The World Health Organization said over 30 primary health care centers around Lebanon’s affected areas have been closed.
On Tuesday, Israel said it began a limited ground operation against Hezbollah and warned people to evacuate several southern communities, promising further escalation.
Lebanon is “grappling with multiple crises, which have overwhelmed the country’s capacity to cope,” said Imran Riza, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon, who said the UN had allocated $24 million in emergency funding for people affected by the fighting.
Exhausted medical staff are struggling to cope with the daily influx of new patients. Under government emergency plans, hospitals and medical workers have halted non-urgent operations.
Government shelters are full
In the southern province of Tyre, many doctors have fled along with residents. In Nabatiyeh, the largest province in southern Lebanon, first responders say they have been working around the clock since last week to reach hundreds of people wounded in bombings that hit dozens of villages and towns, often many on the same day.
After the bombing in Sidon nearly 250 first responders joined Arkadan’s team, including a specialized search-and-rescue unit from Beirut, some 45 kilometers (28 miles) to the north. His team didn’t have the modern equipment needed to pull people from a disaster.
“We used traditional tools, like scissors, cables, shovels,” Arkadan said.
“Anyone here?” rescuers shouted through the gaps in mounds of rubble, searching for survivors buried deeper underground. One excavator removed the debris slowly, to avoid shaking the heaps of bricks and mangled steel.
Many sought refuge in the ancient city of Tyre, 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of the border with Israel, thinking it was likely to be spared bombardment. More than 8,000 people arrived, said Hassan Dbouk, the head of its disaster management unit.
He said that there were no pre-positioned supplies, such as food parcels, hygiene kits and mattresses, and moving trucks now is fraught with danger. Farmers have been denied access to their land because of the bombings and the municipality is struggling to pay salaries.
The humanitarian situation is catastrophic
Meanwhile, garbage is piling up on the streets. The number of municipal workers has shrunk from 160 to 10.
“The humanitarian situation is catastrophic,” Dbouk said.
Wissam Ghazal, the health ministry official in Tyre, said in one hospital, only five of 35 doctors have remained. In Tyre province, eight medics, including three with a medical organization affiliated with Hezbollah, were killed over two days, he said.
Over the weekend, the city itself became a focus of attacks.
Israeli warplanes struck near the port city’s famed ruins, along its beaches and in residential and commercial areas, forcing thousands of residents to flee. At least 15 civilians were killed Saturday and Sunday, including two municipal workers, a soldier and several children, all but one from two families.
It took rescuers two days to comb through the rubble of a home in the Kharab neighborhood in the city’s center, where a bomb had killed nine members of the Al-Samra family.
Six premature babies in incubators around the city were moved to Beirut. The city’s only doctor, who looked after them, couldn’t move between hospitals under fire, Ghazal said.
One of the district’s four hospitals shut after sustaining damage from a strike that affected its electricity supply and damaged the operations room. In two other hospitals, glass windows were broken. For now, the city’s hospitals are receiving more killed than wounded.
“But you don’t know what will happen when the intensity of attacks increases. We will definitely need more.”
Making do with what they have
Hosein Faqih, head of civil defense in the Nabatiyeh province, said that “we are working in very difficult and critical circumstances because the strikes are random. We have no protection. We have no shields, no helmets, no extra hoses. The newest vehicle is 25 years old. We are still working despite all that.”
At least three of his firefighters’ team were killed in early September. Ten have been injured since then. Of 45 vehicles, six were hit and are now out of service.
Faqih said he is limiting his team’s search-and-rescue missions to residential areas, keeping them away from forests or open areas where they used to put out fires.
“These days, there is something difficult every day. Body parts are everywhere, children, civilians and bodies under rubble,” Faqih said. Still, he said, he considers his job to be the safety net for the people.
“We serve the people, and we will work with what we have.”


Lebanese factions revive bid to fill presidency as Israel attacks

Lebanese factions revive bid to fill presidency as Israel attacks
Updated 03 October 2024
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Lebanese factions revive bid to fill presidency as Israel attacks

Lebanese factions revive bid to fill presidency as Israel attacks
  • Israel is waging a major offensive against Hezbollah which has killed more than 1,000 people in Lebanon since Sept. 16 and uprooted one million

BEIRUT: Israel’s offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon has prompted a renewed bid by some leading Lebanese politicians to fill a two-year-long presidential vacuum, an effort to revive the paralyzed state as it grapples with an escalating conflict.
Lebanon has not had a president or a fully empowered cabinet since October 2022 due to a power struggle in which Hezbollah has played a big part. Along with its allies, the heavily armed Shiite Muslim group has insisted the post, reserved for a Maronite Christian, go to their Christian ally Suleiman Frangieh.
With Hezbollah reeling from the killing of its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the presidency came into renewed focus this week when Shiite Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a key Hezbollah ally, indicated flexibility on the matter, telling Prime Minister Najib Mikati he supported the election of a president who doesn’t represent “a challenge” to anyone.
A Hezbollah official told Reuters the group had delegated Berri to negotiate on its behalf over the presidency.
The presidency is decided by a vote in Lebanon’s 128-seat parliament. No single political alliance has enough seats to impose its choice, meaning an understanding among rival blocs is needed to secure the election of a candidate.
Following a meeting on Wednesday with Berri and Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, Mikati — a Sunni Muslim — read a joint statement calling for the election of a “consensus president who will reassure everyone and dispel their concerns.”
The statement did not name any candidates.
Israel is waging a major offensive against Hezbollah which has killed more than 1,000 people in Lebanon since Sept. 16 and uprooted one million.
Wael Abu Faour, a senior lawmaker from Jumblatt’s faction, told Reuters the election of a consensus president would send “a message to the outside world that there is a strong government in the country ready to negotiate” over a ceasefire.
He said the meeting of the three leaders did not represent the formation of a new alliance and that factions including Christian parties were being engaged in discussions on the presidency.
The Lebanese Forces party, a major Christian faction and fierce Hezbollah opponent, on Monday called for the election of a president, saying this was the only way for “the state to assume its responsibilities on its own” — implicit criticism of Hezbollah over its possession of a massive arsenal of weapons.
Lebanon’s last president, Michel Aoun, was a former army commander and a political ally of Hezbollah.
A senior Western diplomat who did not wish to be named said Western and Arab nations had been urging Lebanon’s politicians to elect a president, adding that it was also in the interest of Hezbollah for the political conundrum to be resolved so the state could take more of the “weight” of the Israel crisis.
Abu Faour said the three leaders also discussed avoiding internal tensions in Lebanon as a result of the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people from Hezbollah-controlled areas into other parts of the country.


In music and dance, Sudanese performers transport refugee audiences back home

In music and dance, Sudanese performers transport refugee audiences back home
Updated 02 October 2024
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In music and dance, Sudanese performers transport refugee audiences back home

In music and dance, Sudanese performers transport refugee audiences back home
  • A band with 12 Sudanese members now lives with thousands of refugees in Egypt
  • The troupe, called “Camirata,” includes researchers, singers and poets who are determined to preserve the knowledge of traditional Sudanese folk music and dance

CAIRO: As the performers took the stage and the traditional drum beat gained momentum, Sudanese refugees sitting in the audience were moved to tears. Hadia Moussa said the melody reminded her of the country’s Nuba Mountains, her family’s ancestral home.

“Performances like this help people mentally affected by the war. It reminds us of the Sudanese folklore and our culture,” she said.

Sudan has been engulfed by violence since April 2023, when war between the Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces broke out across the country. 

The conflict has turned the capital, Khartoum, into an urban battlefield and displaced 4.6 million people, according to the UN migration agency, including more than 419,000 people who fled to Egypt.

A band with 12 Sudanese members now lives with thousands of refugees in Egypt. The troupe, called “Camirata,” includes researchers, singers and poets who are determined to preserve the knowledge of traditional Sudanese folk music and dance to keep it from being lost in the ruinous war.

Founded in 1997, the band rose to popularity in Khartoum before it began traveling to different states, enlisting diverse musicians, dancers and styles. 

They sing in 25 different Sudanese languages. Founder Dafallah El-Hag said the band’s members started relocating to Egypt in recently, as Sudan struggled through a difficult economic and political transition after a 2019 popular uprising unseated longtime ruler Omar Bashir. Others followed after the violence began. El-Hag arrived late last year.

The band uses a variety of local musical instruments on stage. El-Hag says audiences are often surprised to see instruments such as the tanbour, a stringed instrument, being played with the nuggara drums, combined with tunes of the banimbo, a wooden xylophone.


Biden won’t support a strike on Iran nuclear sites as Israel weighs response to Iran missile attack

Biden won’t support a strike on Iran nuclear sites as Israel weighs response to Iran missile attack
Updated 02 October 2024
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Biden won’t support a strike on Iran nuclear sites as Israel weighs response to Iran missile attack

Biden won’t support a strike on Iran nuclear sites as Israel weighs response to Iran missile attack
  • “The answer is no,” Biden told reporters when asked if he would support such retaliation
  • The US and allies are urging Israel to show restraint as it weighs retaliation against Iran for Tuesday’s attack

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden said Wednesday he will not support an Israeli strike on sites related to Tehran’s nuclear program in response to Iran’s missile attack on Israel.
“The answer is no,” Biden told reporters when asked if he would support such retaliation after Iran fired about 180 missiles at Israel on Tuesday.
Biden’s comments came after he and fellow Group of Seven leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom spoke by telephone about coordinating new sanctions against Iran.
The US and allies are scrambling to keep the Mideast conflict — sparked by Iran-backed Hamas militants’ in Gaza’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel— from spreading further. They are urging Israel to show restraint as it weighs retaliation against Iran for Tuesday’s attack.
Israel is now carrying out what it has described as limited ground operations across its northern border with Lebanon to dig out Hezbollah, another Iran-backed group, after carrying out a series of massive air strikes that killed the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and decimated its leadership.
Last month, thousands of explosives hidden in pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah detonated, killing dozens of people and maiming thousands, including many civilians. Israel is widely believed to be behind the attack
Biden stated his opposition to Israel hitting Iranian nuclear facilities as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu weighed a range of options in how to respond to Tuesday’s attack. It was the second such attack by Iran on Israel in less than six months.
Israel’s choices range from a largely symbolic strike— similar to how Israel responded after Iran launched a barrage of missiles and attack drones in April— to hitting oil facilities and other infrastructure.
Targeting Iran’s controversial nuclear program is seen as perhaps the most provocative action that Israel could take. It’s one that the Democratic president believes could further enflame a Mideast conflict that he already worries could develop into a broader regional conflict.
The White House said in a statement that G7 leaders “unequivocally condemned Iran’s attack against Israel” and that Biden reaffirmed America’s “full solidarity and support to Israel and its people.”
Biden added that he supports Israel’s right to defend itself and “there are things that have to be done” in response to the Iranian barrage. He said he expected sanctions from the G7 nations to be announced soon.
“We will be discussing with the Israelis what they are going to do,” Biden told reporters before heading to the Carolinas to see the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene. “All seven of us agree that they have a right to respond.”
The office of Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni said in a statement that the leaders expressed “strong concern for the escalation of these last hours” and emphasized that “a conflict on a regional scale is in no one’s interest.” Italy holds the rotating presidency of the G7 group of industrialized democracies.
Biden said that he planned to speak with Netanyahu “relatively soon.”
Biden’s administration has signaled that it is urging Israel to display restraint in how it responds to Iran’s missile attack, which Biden said was “ineffective and defeated.”
The US military helped Israel defend against the attack that Iran carried out in retaliation for the killing of Tehran-backed leaders of Lebanese Hezbollah.
Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said there “must be a return message” to Iran. He said the US and Israel officials continue to discuss their response.
“At the same time, I think we recognize as important as the response of some kind should be, there is a recognition that the region is really balancing on a knife’s edge,” Campbell said at forum hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington think tank.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke on Wednesday with his counterparts Britain, France, Germany, and Italy to discuss the situation in the Middle East.


Israeli army crosses into Lebanon, clashes with Hezbollah

Israeli army crosses into Lebanon, clashes with Hezbollah
Updated 02 October 2024
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Israeli army crosses into Lebanon, clashes with Hezbollah

Israeli army crosses into Lebanon, clashes with Hezbollah
  • Hezbollah says it destroyed three Israeli Merkava tanks with rockets near border town of Maroun El Ras
  • Losses are deadliest suffered by Israeli military on Lebanon front in the past year of border-area clashes

BEIRUT: The Lebanese Army Command confirmed on Wednesday that “an Israeli enemy force breached the Blue Line for approximately 400 meters inside Lebanese territory in the areas of Khirbet Yaroun and Bab Al-Adaisseh, and withdrew after a short period.”

The incursion, justified by the aim of eliminating Hezbollah, resulted in three confrontations with the group — along the road to Adaisseh, in the town of Maroun Al-Ras, and on the road to Yaroun.

Videos documented the process of transferring the injured from the site in Adaisseh to Rambam Hospital in Haifa and Ziv Hospital in Safed.

Israeli Army Radio reported that “the rescue operation was extremely complex and took place under difficult conditions and amidst gunfire.”

According to Hezbollah’s account, “an Israeli infantry unit infiltrated the Adaisseh road three days ago, where Hezbollah members merely observed their movements. The Israeli force subsequently retreated, only to attempt another incursion into the same area on Wednesday, mistakenly believing it to be secure.”

The group added: “Unbeknownst to the Israeli soldiers, they had fallen into a well-planned ambush, as Hezbollah operatives opened fire with both machine guns and rockets, resulting in the deaths of four Israeli soldiers and injuries to 20 others.”

Hezbollah said in a press release that its operatives “targeted a large infantry force in the settlement of Misgav Am, opposite the town of Adaisseh, using rocket and artillery fire, resulting in a direct and precise hit.”

The group said that “another clash occurred with a force from the Israeli army that was infiltrating the town of Maroun Al-Ras from the eastern side,” adding that it inflicted “several casualties among the force. The Israeli army acknowledged the death of a division commander, while Israeli media reported that 35 soldiers were injured.”

In an attempt by an Israeli force to encircle the town of Yaroun, Hezbollah reported that its members “detonated an explosive device, resulting in casualties among all members of the force, both dead and injured.”

The Israeli army reported that “commando forces, including fighters from the Egoz unit, successfully located and destroyed a combat center belonging to Hezbollah, which housed a rocket launch platform, a stockpile of explosives, and other combat equipment.”

It said that “to date, more than 150 terrorist infrastructures have been destroyed through airstrikes, including the headquarters of the Hezbollah terrorist organization, weapon depots, and rocket launch sites.”

According to the Israeli army, “additional armored forces joined the units involved in a limited ground operation in Lebanon.”

The Israeli army targeted Lebanese border towns, most largely uninhabited, with airstrikes, as well as towns in northern Bekaa.

An airstrike destroyed a house in the town of Debel in the Bint Jbeil district, resulting in the deaths of three people.

Another strike hit a residence in Alma Al-Shaab, leading to the destruction of a home and injuries to a Syrian family of seven.

Additionally, a military drone attacked a vehicle belonging to the Civil Defense team affiliated with Hezbollah while they were assisting the injured, resulting in the deaths of four paramedics.

An airstrike targeting the town of Borj Qalaouiye resulted in two deaths and one injury.

The Lebanese army was engaged in efforts to clear the road connecting Kawkaba and Marjeyoun, which had been obstructed by Israeli shelling.

During this operation, an Israeli drone launched two missiles at the army, one of which detonated, causing minor injuries to a soldier.

The Israeli army repeated its evacuation request to the residents of the southern suburbs of Beirut on Tuesday night before launching airstrikes.

Residents surrounding the southern suburbs woke to the smell of smoke and the sight of flames rising from the buildings that had been reduced to rubble by the intense airstrikes.

Israeli warnings disseminated through social media gave residents about 20 minutes to evacuate before the targeted site was bombed.

A tour organized by Hezbollah on Wednesday for journalists revealed the extent of the destruction caused by 17 Israeli airstrikes from Tuesday night to Wednesday, spanning an area from Chiyah to Choueifat.

Hezbollah media official Mohammed Afif, who accompanied about 200 journalists, said: “The targeted buildings are inhabited by civilians. The objective of the Israeli attacks is to destroy landmarks in the suburbs and incite supporters of Hezbollah against it.”

The influx of displaced individuals into Beirut from the southern suburbs continued.

Evacuation operations expanded to include neighborhoods adjacent to the southern suburbs due to the damage inflicted on their homes by the force of the explosions caused by the missiles.

During a tour of neighborhoods in Beirut, one could witness a number of people seeking refuge at the entrances of buildings, accompanied by their children and possessing only a few belongings.

Dozens of displaced people took refuge in the unoccupied offices of the Azarieh building. They made use of the storefronts that had sustained damage from the port explosion four years ago.

Hundreds of men fled their homes along the sidewalks up to Bechara Al-Khoury Street. They watched the news on screens in the storefronts, in cafes, and on cell phones.

“I am an electrician and now I am out of work. I learned that my house was hit by an Israeli raid. I lost everything I had in the blink of an eye. I don’t know where this war is taking us next,” said Al-Majed, from Khirbet Silm. He only gave his surname.

“My family and I took refuge in the public school nearby. Men are staying on the streets to give more space to women. My house in the town that I never left before was destroyed. There is no roof to protect me and my family. Was this war really necessary? Why did we do this to ourselves?” Al-Bazzi, another displaced man, said.

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati informed the Cabinet that the number of shelters has increased to 874.

This announcement was made after the Cabinet meeting to address the unprecedented displacement of nearly 1 million refugees which, according to Mikati, is “the largest displacement movement that may have happened” in Lebanon.

The Forum de Beirut exhibition center also opened its doors to displaced people.

“The majority of the people in the streets are non-Lebanese,” said Mikati. “We are cooperating with UNHCR to take care of them in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Affairs. The fact that people are staying in the streets is not acceptable.”

Mikati directed the security forces to protect private properties. These directives were issued after displaced people walked into empty residential buildings and occupied apartments.

“The limited violations that have been committed were addressed,” Mikati said.

Based on its estimations, the Lebanese government needs $427 million to cover the shelter and relief operations for the coming three months.

“We received the immediate approval of international organizations to grant us about $200 million, a sum that must be delivered through the UN via a clear and transparent mechanism,” Mikati said.

Nasser Yassin, head of the government’s emergency committee, said that most schools in Beirut and Mount Lebanon reached maximum capacity, and that “we are trying to direct the displaced people toward the north.”