Israel war: At least 10 killed in Israeli air strike on Lebanon’s healthcare centre as US opposes bombing campaign
An Israeli air strike on a Lebanese health centre has killed 10 people as the US says it opposes Israel’s bombing campaign in Beirut.
At least 10 people have been killed in Israeli bombings of homes and a healthcare centre in the town of Qana, in southern Lebanon.
Five people, including three children, were also killed after Israeli warplanes bombed the town of Riyaq in the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon on Wednesday.
The United States said it opposes the bombing campaign that Israel has carried out in Beirut over the past few weeks and has voiced its concerns particularly over the shocking civilian death toll.
There were 146 Israeli attacks on Lebanon in the past 24 hours alone, with at least 41 people killed and 124 injured in one day alone.
“There are specific strikes that it would be appropriate for Israel to carry out,” US state department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.
“But when it comes to the scope and nature of the bombing campaign that we saw in Beirut for the past few weeks, it’s something that we made clear to the government of Israel we had concerns with and we were opposed to.”
The harsher comments come after Israel said they were reviewing a letter from the US who gave them a 30-day ultimatum to improve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza or face the risk of losing its military aid.
In a letter to Israeli officials, the Biden administration intensified pressure to increase the flow of aid into Gaza after seeing a sharp drop off in food and water to non-combatants in the past two weeks.
“Israel must, starting now and within 30 days, act on the following concrete measures,” read a letter from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to Israeli ministers Yoav Gallant and Ron Dermer. “Failure to demonstrate a sustained commitment to implementing and maintaining these measures may have implications for U.S. policy under NSM-20 and relevant U.S. law.”
In response to the letter, an Israeli official said: “Israel takes this matter seriously and intends to address the concerns raised in this letter with our American counterparts.”
But despite the Biden administration’s threats to withdraw its lethal support, the first wave of American troops arrived in Israel with the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defence system to bolster the Iron Dome.
Israel’s defences are coming under continued pressure from Hezbollah, which vowed to keep attacking Israel in the face of continued strikes against its leadership.
The group’s deputy chief Naim Qassem said in a speech they would “not be defeated” and the only end to the fighting would be a “ceasefire”.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said he would bolster the country’s army by more than double, from 4500 soldiers to 11,000, to impose the country’s sovereignty near the southern border and keep the peace.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told the White House Israel would not strike Iranian nuclear or oil facilities in retaliation for the regime’s ballistic missile barrage.
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Originally published as Israel war: At least 10 killed in Israeli air strike on Lebanon’s healthcare centre as US opposes bombing campaign