YEMEN STRIKES
The violence in Lebanon has raised fears of a much wider conflagration in the region.
On Monday, the Israeli army said it “successfully intercepted a suspicious aerial target that crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory”.
Israel said it also carried out strikes on Sunday targeting Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen that the rebels said killed four people and wounded 33.
The raids in Yemen came a day after the Houthis said they launched a missile at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport, trying to hit it as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was returning from New York.
Iran has said Nasrallah’s killing would bring about Israel’s “destruction”, though the foreign ministry said onMonday it would not deploy any fighters to confront Israel.
Lebanon began a three-day national mourning period for Nasrallah on Monday, with flags flying at half-mast.
In Israel, some had mixed feelings about the Hezbollah chief’s killing.
“Nasrallah was responsible for the deaths of many Israelis, so it is good news,” said Matan Sofer, 24, in the northern town of Rosh Pina.
“But do we risk it getting worse, who knows?”
CALLS FOR HALT
World leaders have called for a de-escalation.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot met with the Lebanese premier in Beirut on Monday, and said his government sought “an immediate halt” in the strikes.
He is the first high-level foreign diplomat to visit since the Israeli strikes intensified.
United States President Joe Biden, whose government is Israel’s top arms supplier, said on Sunday a wider war “really has to be avoided”.
In Gaza, AFP journalists said the number of air strikes across the territory has dropped significantly in recent days.
Hamas’s unprecedented Oct 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures that include hostages killed in captivity.
Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 41,615 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to figures provided by the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The UN has described the figures as reliable.
