As Israel intensifies its assault in Lebanon, the US considers potential Israeli strikes on Iranian energy assets.

October 3, BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - As the Israeli military continues to hit Beirut with fresh airstrikes in its fight against the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, President Joe Biden announced on Thursday that the United States is considering strikes on Iran's oil facilities in retribution for Tehran's missile attack on Israel.

Biden was questioned about whether he would back Israel hitting Iran's oil facilities as the country considers its choices following the country's fiercest enemy, Iran, launching its biggest-ever attack on Tuesday.

"We're talking about that," Biden said to the press.

His remarks fuelled an increase in the price of oil globally, and growing tensions in the Middle East have traders concerned about possible disruptions to supply.

"Today will not bring about any significant events," stated Biden. The president declared on Wednesday that he would oppose any Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.

Israel's ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, told CNN on Thursday that his nation would "soon" demonstrate its might to Tehran and had "a lot of options" for response.

According to a U.S. official, Washington does not think Israel has chosen its course of action on Iran yet.

Israel ordered inhabitants of areas of the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiye, home to the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah, to evacuate their houses, and as a result, fresh attacks broke out in the area about midnight on Thursday, according to locals and security sources.

According to three Israeli authorities and an article by Axios writer Barak Ravid on X, the airstrikes were directed against an underground bunker believed to house Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine, who is believed to be the heir to the late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. He added that Safieddine's future was uncertain.

The Israeli military remained silent.

Iran will pay for Tuesday's missile attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged, while Washington warned it will cooperate with its longstanding ally to make sure Iran faces "severe consequences."

Masoud Pezeshkian, the president of Iran, stated on Thursday in a speech in Doha that Tehran will be prepared to reply.

"Any type of military attack, terrorist act or crossing our red lines will be met with a decisive response by our armed forces," stated the president. 

G7 DEMANDS RESTRAINT

As it continued its cross-border incursion, the Israeli military ordered the residents of more than 20 towns in south Lebanon to leave their homes on Thursday.

With the most recent warnings, there are now 70 southern communities that have been ordered to evacuate, including the province seat of Nabatieh. This indicates that another Israeli military action against Hezbollah may be on the horizon.

More than a dozen Israeli airstrikes were reported to have struck Dahiye, a suburb of Beirut in the south, on Thursday, according to locals and security officials in Lebanon.

Israeli bombs have pounded Dahiye, including the rockets that destroyed an entire block and murdered Nasrallah a week ago. According to a Reuters witness, several of the strikes on Thursday night occurred near Beirut's international airport, which is adjacent to Dahiye.

Hezbollah also launched fresh attacks, launching a salvo of rockets at what it referred to as Israel's "Sakhnin base" for military industry at Haifa Bay on the northern Mediterranean coast of Israel.

Ten rockets entered Israel from Lebanon late on Thursday, according to the Israeli military, and warning sirens were activated there and in the Galilee region of northern Israel. Either they were stopped or they fell into open spaces.

Hezbollah claimed late on Thursday that it had also fired a salvo of Fadi 2 rockets into Israel's "Nesher base" near Haifa.

Israel, which has been battling Hamas in Gaza for nearly a year, moved troops into southern Lebanon on Tuesday in response to two weeks of heavy airstrikes in an increasingly dangerous battle that has involved Iran and the United States.

Along with reiterating their commitment to Israel's security, the Group of Seven nations—which includes the United States, Britain, and allies—condemned Iran's missile attack on Thursday.

However, the organisation also demanded moderation, an end to hostilities in Lebanon, and a truce in Gaza.

"A dangerous cycle of attacks and retaliation risks fuelling uncontrollable escalation in the Middle East, which is in no one's interest," the organisation stated in a statement.

In an effort to halt what he described as Israel's assault, Qatar's Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, also called for serious peace measures.

IT KILLED 17 ISRAELI TROOPS, SAYS HEZBOLLAH

According to Israel, the goal of its operations in Lebanon is to enable tens of thousands of its residents to go back home after being forced to flee northern Israel during the Gaza War as a result of Hezbollah bombardment.

Israeli attacks have resulted in the displacement of over 1.2 million Lebanese, and since the attacks began a year ago, approximately 2,000 people have died in Lebanon, the majority of them in the previous two weeks, according to Lebanese authorities.

Early on Friday morning, Lebanon's health ministry said that over the previous day, 151 people had been injured and 27 people had died.

According to Hezbollah, it has repelled multiple Israeli military field assaults, including ambushes and direct confrontations.

Citing its field and security sources, the organisation claimed to have killed 17 Israeli military troops on Thursday during action in southern Lebanon. The assertion was not addressed by Israeli military.

The Israeli military announced one soldier's death on Thursday. It declared on Wednesday that it had been the worst day in a year of fighting with Hezbollah, with eight soldiers lost.

After Hezbollah fired missiles at Israel a year ago in support of Hamas in its conflict with Israel in Gaza, the Lebanese border front opened. The Houthis of Yemen and armed organisations in Iraq, Iran's other regional allies, have also supported Hamas with regional attacks.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, an Israeli strike in the Tulkarm refugee camp in the occupied West Bank killed at least eighteen individuals. Israel also claimed to have killed a Hamas official in the same camp.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/hills of steel/middle-east/israel-strikes-heart-beirut-killing-six-2024-10-02/