Rescuers work at the site of destroyed buildings following an Israeli military strike on a commercial market in Nabatieh, southern Lebanon, on Sunday. Photo by EPA-EFE
Oct. 13 (UPI) — The Lebanon Ministry of Public Health said Sunday that 51 people were killed and 174 people were wounded from the attacks by Israeli fighters. More than 2,300 people have been killed and nearly 11,000 people have been injured since Israel began its attacks.
“Near a school and a U.N. building — these are locations where Hezbollah chose to launch rockets,” Israel alleged in a statement. “The IDF must operate in southern Lebanon to eliminate the threat posed to our civilians and our troops — like any other army would.”
Hezbollah, which is a major political party in Lebanon with an armed branch, is considered a terrorist organization by the United States.
The political party was borne from Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982 and seeks to defend Lebanon from what it views as continued Israeli aggression. Over the years, it has carried out defensive and offensive strikes against Israel that its allies consider to be terrorism.
The news came after the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Gaza said Sunday that Israel targeted refugee camps and killed 14 people, including an entire family of eight.
Meanwhile, the United States announced Sunday that it would be sending a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system to Israel to assist in its aerial defense as Israel stretches itself thin with regional warfare, Lloyd Austin confirmed Sunday.
The defense secretary was instructed by President Joe Biden to give the Lockheed Martin-designed battery to Israel along with troops to help operate it.