Israel continues to bombard Lebanon, killing at least 25 people so far today, including a family of nine in the border town of Shebaa. Israel has killed over 700 people in Lebanon since Monday.
In an apparent flip-flop, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday evening he does support a U.S.-led temporary ceasefire effort, though he’s done nothing to slow down Israel’s assault and Israeli officials have threatened to launch a ground invasion. Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib addressed the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday.
Abdallah Bou Habib: “Lebanon is living through a crisis that threatens its very existence. The future of our people and our prosperity are in peril, and this is a situation that requires international intervention on an urgent basis before the situation spirals out of control with a domino effect, making the crisis impossible to contain.”
The U.N. says some 30,000 people have fled Lebanon for Syria in recent days. Meanwhile, Syrian media says an Israeli airstrike from the occupied Golan Heights earlier today killed five Syrian soldiers on its border with Lebanon.