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The US warned Israeli troops, fighting Hezbollah, of not to attack Beirut airport and roads leading to it after IDF launched an wave of air raids on southern Lebanon with 100 aircrafts targeting about 120 sites in the space of an hour read more
 "US warns Israel not to hit Beirut airport after it strikes 120 sites in Lebanon, Hezbollah fires 190 rockets")
Smoke billows over Beirut southern suburbs after a strike, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Sin El Fil, Lebanon October 7, 2024. Source: REUTERS.
The United States has warned Israel not to attack Beirut airport or roads leading to it so that American citizens and those of other countries, who want to leave Lebanon, can get out.
The warning by the US to Benjamin Netanyahu’s troops was given following Israel’s air force strike near the international airport, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, on Monday (October 7).
According to the Israeli military, they launched an intense wave of air raids on southern Lebanon, on Monday, with 100 aircrafts targeting about 120 sites in the space of an hour.
“We think it’s very important that not only the airport be open, but that the roads to the airport be open, so that American citizens who want to leave can get out, but also citizens of other countries,” the US state department spokesperson, Matthew Miller, said.
Last week, the US announced arranging of flights to bring back stranded Americans and their immediate relatives out of Lebanon as fighting between Israel and Iran-back terrorist group, Hezbollah, escalated.
On Monday, the State Department informed that nearly 900 American citizens, green card holders and their families have left Lebanon on US-contracted flights since late September.
Another 150 Americans, legal permanent residents and immediate family left Beirut on Monday on a flight to Istanbul, Turkey, Miller said.
He further said Miller said that about 8,500 Americans citizens, many of them dual US-Lebanese nationals, have reached out to the US embassy in Beirut for information about how to leave the country.
New Israeli strikes in southern Beirut
On the night of Monday, October 7, when Israel marked one year in war with Hamas, new Israeli strikes were reported in South Beirut.
As per reports in Lebanese state media, two strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs.
The airstrikes in the capital of Lebanon were reported shortly after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued a fresh warning for civilians to immediately vacate the area near specific buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
In the evacuation order, IDF Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee shared maps of the specific buildings in the Burj al-Barajneh and Hadath neighbourhoods, warning residents to evacuate and stay away from the buildings for a distance of no less than 500 metres.
Also, Lebanese civilians were warned to avoid being on the beach or on boats on the coast from the Awali River southward until further notice.
Hezbollah launches 190 rockets at Israel
Meanwhile, air raid alerts were activated across the centre of Israel late on Monday as Hezbollah launched around 190 rockets at the country, most of which were targeted to the north.
The IDF said “about five launches were detected that crossed from Lebanon, some of them were intercepted by the Air Force and the rest fell in an open area.”
Later in the day, Hezbollah also confirmed that it had launched a “barrage” of rockets at a military intelligence base on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.
With inputs from agencies.
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English (US) ·