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Israeli jets hit financial institutions as they pound Beirut and southern Lebanon

US envoy arrives in Beirut to try and negotiate resolution to violence in Lebanon
An overnight Israeli air strike targeted a branch of the Al-Qard Al-Hassan finance group in Beirut’s southern suburbs on 21 October 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah (Ibrahim Amro/AFP)

Israel has continued pounding Lebanon, including striking a number of financial institutions it claims are linked to Hezbollah.

According to Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA), Israeli strikes hit branches of Al-Qard Al-Hassan in the cities of Nabatieh and Tyre.

Israel and the US have accused the company of being a front for Hezbollah's financial transactions.

The Israeli military said on Monday it had targeted "dozens of facilities and sites" across Lebanon.

The National News Agency said the Israeli army blew up houses in a south Lebanon border village on Monday.

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"The enemy army blew up houses in the village of Aita al-Shaab," the NNA said.

It added that fighting was taking place between Hezbollah and the Israeli army, "which is trying to advance on the ground" in the area.

US envoy in Beirut

US special envoy Amos Hochstein arrived in Beirut on Monday to meet Lebanon's Prime Minister and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in an attempt to end the conflict in the country.

Berri, who is tasked with negotiating on behalf of Hezbollah, met with Hochstein in his residence.

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Although the envoy, who served in the Israeli army as a young man, said he wanted to see an end to the violence as soon as possible, he added that UN resolution 1701 - established to end a previous round of fighting in 2006 - was good, but not "good enough".

UN resolution 1701 states that only UN peacekeepers and the Lebanese army should be deployed between the Israeli border and the Litani River, 30 kilometres north of the border.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) was established in 1978.

Since Israel's ground invasion into southern Lebanon on 1 October, Unifil's positions have come under Israeli fire, with at least five peacekeepers wounded.

The forced expulsions of Lebanese people by the Israeli military have now affected a quarter of the country, according to the UN refugee agency. 

Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed at least 2,350 people since October last year and wounded around 11,000 others, according to Lebanon's health ministry. Over 1.2 million people have been displaced. 

Meanwhile, around 50 Israelis have been killed over the same period. 

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