Israel yesterday carried out four major airstrikes on the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut, as well as a series of strikes on bridges and other infrastructure on the Lebanese-Syrian border. Coming as the Zionist regime continues to starve Gaza and the US military has once again struck targets in Yemen, the attacks show that efforts by Washington’s attack dog to redraw the map of the Middle East are not do not stop.

The four strikes targeted the suburbs of Haret Hreik and Burj al-Barajneh. The strikes razed six residential buildings, but no official casualty figures were initially released. After at least 78 people were killed in Israeli Defense Force (IDF) raids on Tuesday, the official death toll in Lebanon since October 8 stands at 3,365, with 14,344 injured.

Defense Minister Israel Katz, who replaced Yoav Gallant after he was fired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week, has vowed to continue escalating the conflict in Lebanon. During a visit to the IDF Northern Command, Katz said: “We will not obtain any ceasefire, we will not take our foot off the gas, and we will not allow any arrangement that does not include achieving the objectives of the war. »

These include disarming Hezbollah, moving its forces north of the Litani River and returning residents to towns and villages on Israel’s northern border, he added. The defense minister affirmed that Israel would retain “the right to enforce” any ceasefire agreement, that is, the “right” to launch attacks inside Lebanon at will after the conclusion of a ceasefire.

On the ground, the IDF reported six casualties following a shootout with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. The clash reportedly took place as Israeli forces sought to advance towards the second line of villages inside the border.

Syria’s official SANA news agency reported that airstrikes near the border caused “significant damage” to infrastructure. According to the IDF, the attacks were aimed at smuggling routes used by Iran to transfer weapons to Hezbollah. They come less than three weeks after Israeli airstrikes on Iran on October 26, which targeted military sites and were described by the World Socialist Website as a “dress rehearsal” for a regional-scale war.