US-Iran war: Families among those killed in escalating conflict in Lebanon as Israel vows to seize land
A three-year-old girl and her parents are among the victims in southern Lebanon of Israeli strikes on the region as it plans to annex territory in what some say is the next Gaza event.
7NEWS has witnessed the devastation of the new battleground between Lebanon and Israel amid its annexation plans.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: US troops deploy as Israel vows to seize Lebanon
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It marks the first prolonged occupation of the south of the country since the near 20-year period that began in the 1980s, which gave birth to the Hezbollah terror group.
Tyre in Lebanon’s south, where Christians believe Jesus once walked, has been bombed with Israel’s aerial assault on alleged Hezbollah targets leaving nowhere in the country safe.
In Bchamoun, an apartment was completely destroyed with a three-year-old girl and her parents killed, with five others injured.
The rest of the block was untouched – it was a precision missile – but there has been no explanation from Israel on why.
7NEWS chief correspondent Chris Reason said the feeling on the ground is that whatever is negotiated between the United States and Iran, the conflict here in Lebanon will continue regardless
Just hours later came confirmation from Israel’s defence minister, on record, who declared they intend to take 10 per cent of Lebanese territory up to the Litani River in a new security zone.
Every bridge across the river has already been systematically destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of residents may never get their homes back.
Into the middle of this chaos has landed Australia’s new ambassador to Lebanon, Tom Wilson, meeting with aid agencies at a refugee camp in his first week.
“I’m not here to speak to the media, but thank you very much,” he said.
But one Australian was proud to talk, Ajaj Slaibi from Penrith, who is staying a little longer than he’d hoped.
“I’m stuck in here,” he said, but added he wasn’t scared, keeping the Australian flag flying high.
Iran strikes ‘existential threat’, Gulf states tell UN
Meanwhile, Gulf Arab states face an existential threat from Iran, their representatives have told the UN Human Rights Council as they condemned Iranian attacks on their infrastructure, which the UN rights chief says might constitute war crimes.
The nearly month-long US-Israeli war on Iran has sparked large-scale Iranian retaliation in the form of drone and missile strikes on energy and civilian infrastructure in Gulf countries, killing civilians and driving up oil prices.
“We are seeing an existential threat to international and regional security. This aggressive approach is undermining international law and sovereignty,” Kuwait’s ambassador Naser Abdullah HM Alhayen told the Geneva-based council on Wednesday.
Other Gulf states also denounced Iran’s actions, which they said were designed to spread terror.
Countries at the 47-member council will vote on a motion condemning Iran’s strikes, asking Iran for reparation and asking the UN rights chief to monitor the situation.
Iran defended its actions, saying more than 1500 civilians had been killed in the US-Israeli strikes so far.
“We fight on behalf of all of you against an enemy that, if not restrained today, will be beyond containment tomorrow,” said Iran’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Ali Bahreini, referring to Israel.
Iran has called for its own emergency session on a fatal strike on a primary school, which will take place on Friday.
The United Nations’ top rights official, Volker Turk, on Wednesday urged states to end the Iran conflict, describing the situation as extremely dangerous and unpredictable.
“This conflict has an unprecedented power to ensnare countries across borders and around the world,” he said.
“Attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure must end. If they are deliberate, such attacks may constitute war crimes.”
– With AAP.