By VOA News
Women react in front of their destroyed apartment at the site an Israeli airstrike in Beirut, Lebanon, Oct. 11, 2024.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday urged Israel to take measures to protect civilians and ensure they are not caught "in a terrible crossfire," as Washington continues its efforts to prevent a broader conflict in the Middle East and seek a diplomatic solution in Lebanon.
This comes as Israeli strikes in Gaza and Beirut resulted in numerous casualties. The Israeli military said it was targeting terrorist operatives.
Blinken said Lebanon’s future is for the Lebanese people to decide, not for any external actor.
"It's clear that the people of Lebanon have an interest, a strong interest, in the state asserting itself and taking responsibility for the country and its future. The presidency has been vacant for two years now, and for the Lebanese people having a head of state would be very important, but that's for the Lebanese to decide, and no one else," Blinken told reporters during a news conference in Vientiane, Laos.
U.S. officials have reiterated that Israel has the right to defend itself against terror attacks from Hamas and Iran-backed Hezbollah, as Israel expands its ground incursion into Lebanon.
On Thursday, an Israeli airstrike on a school in Gaza sheltering displaced people killed at least 27 people, according to Palestinian medical officials.
Israel said the strike targeted militants in a command center that was embedded inside the school.
In the Lebanese capital, an Israeli airstrike hit a building in the central part of the city — far from the Hezbollah stronghold south of Beirut that Israel has bombarded nightly for the past two weeks.
The Lebanese Health Ministry put the death toll at 22 and 117 injured, but it was expected to rise as rescuers sifted through the rubble.
Israeli and Lebanese media speculated that the likely target was Wafiq Safa, the longtime head of Hezbollah's Liaison and Coordination Unit. There was no immediate confirmation that he was the target or if he was killed.
The Israel Defense Forces, or IDF, said Thursday that Hezbollah fired approximately 190 projectiles into Israel during the preceding 24 hours.
The IDF has warned residents in about 100 villages and neighborhoods, mostly in south Lebanon, to evacuate "until further notice."
Separately, the U.N. peacekeeping force in south Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, said its headquarters in the town of Naqoura came under Israeli tank fire early Thursday. An observation tower was hit, causing two Indonesian peacekeepers to fall to the ground, sustaining injuries that required hospitalization.
Israel's military said it is looking into the incident.
VOA News
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