LEBANESE DEATHS
Nasrallah’s body was recovered intact from the site of Friday’s strike, a medical source and a security source told Reuters. Hezbollah has not said when his funeral will be held.
Nasrallah made Hezbollah into a powerful domestic force in Lebanon and helped turn it into the linchpin of Iran’s network of allied groups in the Arab world.
Some Lebanese mourned him on Sunday.
“We lost the leader who gave us all the strength and faith that we, this small country that we love, could turn it into a paradise,” said Lebanese Christian woman Sophia Blanche Rouillard, carrying a black flag to work in Beirut.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said more than 1,000 Lebanese have been killed and 6,000 wounded in the past two weeks, without saying how many were civilians. The government said a million people – a fifth of the population – have fled their homes.
In Beirut, some displaced families spent the night on the benches at Zaitunay Bay, a string of restaurants and cafes on Beirut’s waterfront. On Sunday morning, families with nothing more than a duffle bag of clothes had rolled out mats to sleep on and made tea for themselves.
“You won’t be able to destroy us, whatever you do, however much you bomb, however much you displace people – we will stay here. We won’t leave. This is our country and we’re staying,” said Francoise Azori, a Beirut resident jogging through the area.
The UN World Food Programme began an emergency operation to provide food for those affected by the conflict.
Saudi Arabia and France said they were sending medical aid.
ISRAEL MILITARY ACTION
Israel’s military said it struck dozens of targets in Lebanon including launchers and weapons stores and had intercepted eight projectiles coming from the direction of Lebanon and one from the Red Sea.
It also said dozens of Israeli aircraft had attacked power plants and Ras Issa and Hodeidah ports in Yemen, accusing the Houthis of operating under Iran’s direction and in cooperation with Iraqi militias.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said: “Our message is clear – for us, no place is too far.”
Nasrallah’s death capped a traumatic fortnight for Hezbollah, starting with the detonation of thousands of communications devices used by its members. Israel was widely assumed to have carried out that action.
Hezbollah’s arsenal has long been a point of contention in Lebanon, a country with a history of civil conflict. Hezbollah’s Lebanese critics say the group has unilaterally pulled the country into conflicts and undermined the state.
However, Lebanon’s top Christian cleric, Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al Rai, said Nasrallah’s killing had “opened a wound in the heart of the Lebanese”. Rai has previously voiced criticism of the militia.
Georgetown University’s Hashemi said recent gains viewed as victories for Israel are short-term, as they do not resolve the underlying issues that have spurred decades of conflict.
“Israel’s fundamental problem in the Middle East remains the same. The refusal by Israel to breach some sort of just settlement on the Israel-Palestinian conflict will keep this conflict going in the Middle East. That’s not going away,” he said.
