ALBAWABA - Hours after Trump and Netanyahu discussed the "Iranian threat" over the phone, Israel ramped up its attacks on Lebanon and launched a fresh wave of attacks on various parts of the country.
Online footage showed blazing plumes of smoke clouding the southern suburbs of Beirut as Israeli air forces launched a series of intense areal strikes, claiming that it had released evacuation orders for residents of the stricken areas.
Following four nighttime Israeli assaults on the southern suburbs of Beirut, a "huge fireball" was reported, as well as damage to the international airport. Hezbollah also reported that late Nasrallah's uncle was also killed in the strikes.
Earlier on Wednesday, Israeli strikes on eastern Lebanon killed at least 40 people and injured scores more in attacks on Baalbek and Bekaa Valley. The toll includes 11 deaths in Baalbek, nine of which occurred in the Shikan neighborhood.
According to reports, the city's historic Palmyra hotel was also destroyed in nearby strikes, with the health ministry claiming two deaths there.
Lebanon's civil defense teams also recovered 30 bodies from the wreckage of collapsed apartment complexes targeted by Israeli attacks on Tuesday.
Hezbollah stated late on Wednesday that it had struck a military facility south of Tel Aviv "for the first time" and a navy base near the Israeli city of Haifa with drones and missiles, marking the fourth strike in as many weeks.
Hezbollah's new Secretary-General Naim Qassem said in a speech on Wednesday that thousands of fighters are "ready to fight Israel".
"We have tens of thousands of trained resistance combatants" ready to fight, he said, adding that nowhere in Israel was "off-limits" to the Hezbollah attacks.
