"In Some Areas, No City, Village Spared": Lebanese Witness On Israel Strikes

No city or village in certain areas has been spared in the Israeli strikes on Lebanon in which over 500 civilians, including 50 children have been killed, a resident of Beirut has told NDTV, claiming that citizens of the country are standing resolutely with Hezbollah. 

Syed Ali Bakir said several areas have seen continuous bombing and structures have been reduced to ruins. 

"There were pager attacks initially, followed by walkie-talkie explosions and then missiles in which many from Hezbollah lost their lives. On Monday, Israel began a fresh wave of attacks in which civilians are dying. Approximately 600 common people have been killed and between 1,800 and 2,000 have been injured. In certain areas, no city or village has been spared. No supermarket, medical store or hospital has been spared," he said in Hindi. 

To a question on whether the people were supporting Hezbollah or just wanted peace, Mr Bakir said the entire civilian population is standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the group. 

"There are queues to donate blood. Some people are even saying that they have two eyes and are willing to donate one or they have two kidneys and are willing to donate one. That is the kind of spirit we are seeing. There is a passion and enthusiasm in this community. Such a people can never lose to any enemy," he claimed. 

Speaking to NDTV on Tuesday, Israeli envoy to India Reuven Azar said most of the 1,700 military targets that Israel targeted in southern Lebanon in the past 48 hours were "embedded" in the homes of civilians and the families did not evacuate on time. 

"(This was) despite the fact that we called them over the phone, we intercepted radio communications... we tried every way possible to take them out of harm's way. Despite that,  yes, there were some civilians that were killed as well. But when you look at the magnitude of this - 1,700 military targets in 48 hours - you will see that, actually, this has been very successful; because at the end of the day, when you compare the damage that would be caused from these missiles to Israeli civilians to the price that the people have to pay, it's a relatively low price," he said. 

Mr Azar said every loss of life is tragic and claimed that Israel does whatever is possible to take civilians out of harm's way.

23 More Killed

Lebanon said 23 people were killed and several injured on Wednesday, the third day of major Israeli strikes. Hezbollah has said it fired a ballistic missile that reached the key Israeli city of Tel Aviv for the first time, before being intercepted, news agency AFP reported.

The Israeli military also said it is calling up two reserve brigades to its northern border. "The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) is calling up two reserve brigades for operational missions in the northern arena... to enable the continuation of combat against the Hezbollah terrorist organisation," it said in a statement.