Israel continues bombardment of Beirut

By Nathan Morley

Monday will mark a year since the Hamas attack on southern Israel, and the violence in the region shows no sign of abating.

On Saturday, large explosions again shook the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Lebanon television reported the blasts as being ‘very violent’, and described a huge reddish fireball rising high into the sky.

Some media speculated that a missile had hit a petrol station.

The explosions came after the Israeli army ordered residents to evacuate the area.

Elsewhere, the Israeli army said 30 rockets launched by Hezbollah overnight fell in mainly evacuated districts of northern Israel.

To date, Israel says it has killed 440 Hezbollah fighters in its ground incursion in southern Lebanon. On Saturday, an air strike in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli reportedly killed a Hamas leader.

As it stands, the United Nations has said that more than 200,000 people have fled Lebanon into neighbouring Syria in recent weeks – that number is expected to continue growing.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said Lebanon was facing a ‘terrible’ refugee crisis, with people “left destitute or displaced by Israeli air strikes".

More than 1.2 million people have been displaced by the ongoing fighting.

Meanwhile, over in Gaza, several people were killed by an Israeli strike on a mosque in Deir al-Balah, the IDF said the building was being used by Hamas.