Residents Decry Lethal Israeli Airstrikes on Lebanese City of Sidon

A man removes the debris from a destroyed house that was hit Tuesday night in an Israeli airstrike, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (AP)
A man removes the debris from a destroyed house that was hit Tuesday night in an Israeli airstrike, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (AP)
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Residents Decry Lethal Israeli Airstrikes on Lebanese City of Sidon

A man removes the debris from a destroyed house that was hit Tuesday night in an Israeli airstrike, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (AP)
A man removes the debris from a destroyed house that was hit Tuesday night in an Israeli airstrike, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (AP)

The day after airstrikes shook Sidon, the Lebanon coastal city's streets were veiled in dust and rubble. Six people were killed and 37 were wounded, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.

Excavators sifted through the debris, loading trucks with remnants of destroyed homes. Residents cleared shattered glass and plaster from gaping walls. The airstrikes hit two residential buildings opposite Sayyed Shohada, a Hezbollah-linked complex.

Local resident Abdullah Habli called the attack “a massacre against civilians.”

“This building they bombed had no one in it. It housed poor, struggling people. This street is an ordinary residential street with ordinary, civilian residents. There are no weapons here,” Habli added.

Before the strikes, Israel had warned 16 southern villages to evacuate north of the Awwali River — but Sidon received no such warning.

“I haven’t seen any military activity here at all," said Mahmoud Al Ghoul, displaced from Mays al Jabal in the Marjeyoun province.

“(Israel) always claims Hezbollah fighters or weapons are in the area. But many of the areas it strikes have no Hezbollah, no Amal movement, or any other party,” said Ali Al-Amin, who had been displaced from Tyre, another Lebanese city.



Syria and Neighbors Urge Israel to Stop Bombings

Israeli Merkava tanks in the buffer zone between Israel and Syria near the village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, 08 May 2025. (EPA)
Israeli Merkava tanks in the buffer zone between Israel and Syria near the village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, 08 May 2025. (EPA)
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Syria and Neighbors Urge Israel to Stop Bombings

Israeli Merkava tanks in the buffer zone between Israel and Syria near the village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, 08 May 2025. (EPA)
Israeli Merkava tanks in the buffer zone between Israel and Syria near the village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, 08 May 2025. (EPA)

The foreign ministers of Syria, Türkiye and Jordan, meeting Monday in Ankara, called on Israel to cease attacks on Syria and to withdraw troops from the country.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on Syria since longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad was ousted in December, often targeting military sites and killing dozens of people.

Israeli officials have also described Syria's new authorities as extremists and claimed to defend the country's Druze minority with a recent spate of attacks.

Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told a press conference with his Jordanian and Syrian counterparts that "Israel's expansionism poses a significant threat to the security, stability and future of Syria."

"This must come to an end. And we are on the same page about this. Syria needs to be supported to prevent terrorist organizations from settling in this region," Fidan added, noting that Syria shares a 900-kilometer (560-mile) border with Türkiye.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani told the joint press conference that "our borders are constantly violated by Israeli attacks".

The Israeli strikes are "calculated escalations aimed at destabilizing Syria and dragging the region into a new cycle of conflict", Shaibani said, decrying "systematic violations of international law and explicit provocations".

He called on the international community to put Israel under "increased pressure" to halt the bombings.

Jordan's top diplomat, Ayman Safadi, said attacks on Syrian soil "will not bring security to Israel and will bring nothing to Syria except ruin and destruction".