Hezbollah strikes Israel during Yom Kippur holiday as fighting continues in Lebanon and Gaza

2024-10-12 19:45:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Hezbollah strikes Israel during Yom Kippur holiday as fighting continues in

Hezbollah announced that it struck an Israeli military base with rockets on Saturday as Israeli forces battled militants in Lebanon and Gaza on the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, the holiday of Yom Kippur. Meanwhile, the speaker of the Iranian parliament is in Beirut, who visited one of the facilities hit by Israeli attacks and pledged continued support for Lebanon.

Due to Yom Kippur, the most important day in the Jewish faith, shops remained closed throughout Israel. While Jewish believers fast, air travel is not allowed and public transport has also been banned.

But as the country continues to be at war with Hezbollah and Hamas, Israeli forces remain engaged in fighting on the northern and southern borders, amid widespread criticism for the wounding of four UN peacekeepers in Lebanon. In the second incident in two days, two Sri Lankan peacekeepers were injured. The Israeli military said it responded to an immediate threat from a location near peacekeeping forces.

Meanwhile, Iran's parliament speaker on Saturday visited the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut that killed and wounded dozens, vowing that Tehran would continue to support the Lebanese and Palestinians in their fight against Israel.

Mohammad Bagher Kalibaf visited the stricken area on Saturday after meeting with interim Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who said Lebanon's priority now was to work towards a ceasefire. His office said Lebanon's government continued to adhere to a 2006 UN Security Council resolution passed at the end of a 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah and was prepared to increase the presence of the Lebanese army along the country's border with Israel.

It was the second visit by an Iranian official to Beirut in recent days after the country's foreign minister visited Lebanon earlier this month.

Iran is the main backer of the Hezbollah organization, which has been declared a terrorist organization by the United States. Hezbollah has suffered major losses in recent weeks, as the main leader Hassan Nasrallah himself and a number of senior leaders were initially killed by Israeli attacks./ Voa