• Israel has killed 700 in Lebanon and launched strikes on Beirut, while hundreds walked out of the UN Assembly ahead of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech.
• Netanyahu addresses the UN, saying, “There is no place in Iran that the long arm of Israel cannot reach, and that’s true for the entire Middle East.”
Israel’s relentless and ruthless genocide continues in Lebanon, with over 700 Lebanese people killed at the hands of the Israeli regime since Monday.
Lebanon’s Health Minister, Firass Abiad, reported that Israel’s attacks at around 3 a.m. on Friday killed 25 people. One strike in the border town of Shebaa killed nine members of a single family, including four children, according to Mayor Mohammad Saab.
“The shops behind us were hit. The young boy who was with me was martyred [killed], and I’m still alive,” 13-year-old Syrian Abdallah Tawfik Al-Hamid said speaking from his hospital bed in southern Lebanon after an airstrike.
Prior to the latest wave of airstrikes that began on Monday, approximately 110,000 people had already been displaced from southern Lebanon. As of 24 September, around 200,000 people have been displaced according to IOM, with 70,000 now residing in official shelters. Others have fled to neighbouring Syria or are staying with family or in hotels.
Israel attacks Beirut
Earlier today, just two hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed during his United Nations speech to intensify Israel’s onslaught against Lebanon, Israeli forces launched an attack on Beirut. The attack killed two and injuring 76.
Al-Manar television reported that four buildings were destroyed and there were many casualties in the multiple attacks.
Netanyahu’s Address to the United Nations
The U.N.’s condemnations of Israel and its treatment of Palestinians and beyond have been unequivocal.
This month, the General Assembly passed a resolution with an overwhelming majority, demanding that Israel withdraw from the Palestinian territories within a year. In an emergency session in December, it called for an “immediate humanitarian cease-fire” and the release of all hostages, passing the resolution with a large majority. However, like all General Assembly resolutions, these measures are nonbinding and were disregarded by Israel.
In May, the International court of Justice ordered Israel to stop its assault on Rafah, which followed a January directive for Israel to take all necessary actions to prevent genocidal acts in Gaza. However, the ICJ has no powers to enforce its rulings.
Today, during Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech at the UN general assembly, he said:
'It's always been about Israel, about Israel's very existence and I say to, until Israel, until the Jewish state, is treated like other nations, until this anti-semitic swamp is drained, the UN will be viewed by fair-minded people everywhere as nothing more than a contemptuous farce.'
Israel’s genocide in Gaza has killed more than 41,500 Palestinians and wounded more than 96,000 others, according to the Health Ministry. However, in July, the leading medical journal The Lancet published a report asserting the reported figures for Palestinian fatalities are likely a severe underestimation of the true number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza since October 7th. The report concluded that the death toll could exceed 186,000.
“There’s a Missile in every Kitchen in Lebanon”-Netanyahu
During his speech, Netanyahu said that rockets are placed just about everywhere in Lebanon. Many online have interpreted his remarks as a justification for indiscriminately massacring everyone in the country.
Netanyahu threatens the whole of the Middle East
"If you strike us we will strike you. There is no place in Iran that the long arm of Israel cannot reach, and that's true for the entire Middle East,” he said.
Interesting to note, prior to commencing his speech, several attendees exited the Assembly hall:
