Rocket Hits East of Lebanon's Byblos in Area Previously Not Targeted

An Israeli jet flies, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, as seen from northern Israel, September 23, 2024. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart
An Israeli jet flies, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, as seen from northern Israel, September 23, 2024. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart
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Rocket Hits East of Lebanon's Byblos in Area Previously Not Targeted

An Israeli jet flies, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, as seen from northern Israel, September 23, 2024. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart
An Israeli jet flies, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, as seen from northern Israel, September 23, 2024. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart

A rocket hit an uninhabited mountainside east of the Lebanese port city of Byblos on Monday, Lebanon's state media and a resident there said.
The area has not been previously hit by airstrikes but falls between Christian and Shi'ite villages there, the resident said, declining to be identified. Israel on Monday carried out intensified airstrikes across a wider geographical region, targeting the armed group Hezbollah.



US Wants to See Israel Scale Back Some of Beirut Strikes as it Targets Hezbollah Stronghold

A cloud of smoke erupts following an Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs on October 19, 2024. (AFP)
A cloud of smoke erupts following an Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs on October 19, 2024. (AFP)
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US Wants to See Israel Scale Back Some of Beirut Strikes as it Targets Hezbollah Stronghold

A cloud of smoke erupts following an Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs on October 19, 2024. (AFP)
A cloud of smoke erupts following an Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs on October 19, 2024. (AFP)

The United States would like to see Israel scale back some of its strikes in and around the Lebanese capital of Beirut, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Saturday.

"The number of civilian casualties have been far too high," he told reporters at a G7 defense gathering in the Italian city of Naples.  

"We’d like to see Israel scale back on some of the strikes it’s taking, especially in and around Beirut, and we’d like to see things transition to some sort of negotiation that will allow civilians on both sides of the border to return to their homes."

Tens of thousands of people have fled Beirut's southern suburbs - once a densely populated zone that also housed Hezbollah offices and underground installations - since Israel began regularly targeting the zone approximately three weeks ago.

On Saturday afternoon, Israel carried out heavy strikes on several locations in the city's southern suburbs, leaving thick plumes of smoke wafting over the city horizon throughout the evening.

The strikes came as Hezbollah fired salvos of rockets at northern Israel, with one drone directed at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's holiday home, his spokesman said.  

Austin added that he has raised issue about the security of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) with Israeli counterpart.  

Israel informed him it has no intent to target the peacekeepers, who are deployed in the South.