Israeli strike kills Christian party official in Lebanon, sharpening divides over Hezbollah
An Israeli strike on an apartment east of Beirut late on Sunday killed a local official from a Christian political party, sharpening internal divides over Hezbollah as Israel’s strikes expand to new parts of the country.
Israel’s air and ground campaign in Lebanon over the past month has deepened fractures between supporters of Hezbollah and those who blame the Iran-backed group for igniting a new conflict with Israel just 15 months after the last one.
On Sunday, an Israeli strike hit an apartment in Ain Saadeh, a predominantly Christian town in the hills east of Beirut, killing a man and two women, Lebanon’s health ministry said.
The Lebanese Forces Party, a fiercely anti-Hezbollah Christian party, identified two of the dead as Pierre Moawad, a local party official, and his wife Flavia.
“We are paying a heavy price for a war into which we have been dragged by the lawless organisation Hezbollah,” Lebanese Forces parliamentarian Razi El Hage told Lebanese broadcaster MTV.
The full-scale Israeli campaign, launched in retaliation for Hezbollah firing into Israel on March 2 in solidarity with Iran, has killed nearly 1,500 people, according to Lebanese authorities.
They include 130 children, 101 women and 57 medics. On Monday, the Lebanese health ministry said three medics had been killed in two separate Israeli attacks within 12 hours of each other.
Read more: Reuters