Israeli strikes hit Beirut targets, Lebanese gov't bans Hezbollah military activities

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said early Tuesday morning that the Israeli Air Force was striking Hezbollah's command center and weapons storage facilities in Beirut, and attacked Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV in Beirut's southern suburb the same morning.

The Israeli military launched airstrikes Monday on Beirut's southern suburbs and villages in southern Lebanon, displacing thousands of civilians, local broadcaster Al Jadeed TV reported.

The attacks followed evacuation warnings issued by Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee.

Israeli strikes across Lebanon killed at least 52 people and wounded 154 on Monday, the Lebanese government said. The bombardment of southern and eastern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs displaced more than 28,500 people, the government's disaster management unit reported.

Israel's military said Monday it struck more than 70 sites in Lebanon over the past day, targeting Hezbollah weapons storage facilities, launch sites, and missile launchers.

Tensions escalated after Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel, prompting retaliatory strikes.

"Hezbollah launched a volley of missiles and a swarm of drones toward Israel shortly before 1 a.m. (on Monday), in response to the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Saturday. After Hezbollah claimed responsibility for firing rockets on Haifa and other places in Israel, the Israeli army launched a series of intense strikes on Lebanon at around 2:40 a.m., targeting southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley, and the southern suburbs of Beirut, causing thousands of people to flee these areas, with the Israeli army announcing an intensification of strikes and several days of fighting," said Christian, a China Media Group (CMG) reporter in Beirut.

The Lebanese government declared on Monday that all military and security activities outside state authority are illegal, demanding that Hezbollah disarm and surrender its weapons to state institutions.

"The Lebanese state declares its absolute refusal of any military or security actions taking place on Lebanese soil outside the framework of its legitimate institutions and affirms that the decision of war and peace rests in the hands of the Lebanese state alone," the Council of Ministers said in a statement issued after a Cabinet meeting, according to local television channel al-Jadeed.

The Cabinet said that Hezbollah's armed activities violate state authority and ordered security agencies to prevent the launch of rockets or drones from Lebanese territory and apprehend violators.

The Cabinet reaffirmed Lebanon's dissociation from regional conflicts and called for intensified diplomacy to secure a ceasefire and a clear Israeli commitment to halt attacks on Lebanese territory.

Hezbollah lawmaker Mohammed Raad, who heads the group's Loyalty to the Resistance bloc, criticized the government decision, noting that the move targets groups confronting Israeli attacks while failing to halt what he described as ongoing aggression.

Israeli strikes hit Beirut targets, Lebanese gov't bans Hezbollah military activities

Israeli strikes hit Beirut targets, Lebanese gov't bans Hezbollah military activities

Israeli strikes hit Beirut targets, Lebanese gov't bans Hezbollah military activities

Nicaragua's co-foreign minister Valdrack Jaentschke has warned that militarism must never be allowed to rise again, as Japan's recent moves to lift its arms export ban and revise the pacifist Constitution continue to draw international concern.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Tokyo Trials, where Japan's Class-A war criminals from World War II were brought to justice.

In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Valdrack Jaentschke voiced his concern that today's world order is being undermined by interventionism and other challenges.

"It is necessary for us to remember that after the end of World War II, countries worked hard to build a new international order based on international law. However, regrettably, more than 80 years later, we are seeing that this once explored and attempted order is being challenged by interventionism, a confrontational mindset, and tendencies like 'might makes right.' These are precisely the conditions that gave rise to fascism and militarism in the past, which ultimately led to the tragedy of World War II," he said.

He said the international community has a responsibility to pursue a new international order -- one fundamentally grounded in peace.

"Looking back at the history more than eight decades ago and comparing it with today's reality, it is our responsibility to recognize that the world should, and must, build a new international order that is more just, fairer, rooted in international law, based on a logic of mutual benefit and shared success, and fundamentally grounded in peace," said the minister.

"Today, as we revisit the Tokyo Trials, it is meant to remind the world that such a tragedy must never be repeated -- and that we must do everything in our power to prevent it from happening again. We must stop that dark world -- born from militarism, interventionism, and fascism -- from ever returning," he said.

Nicaraguan FM warns of militarism revival