Israeli warplanes hit TV transmission towers yesterday in Lebanon, knocking the nation's leading private network off the air and cutting phone links to some regions.
Fighter bombers fired missiles at transmission stations in the central and northern Lebanese mountains, leaving antennas burning on the ground.
Three missiles hit a transmission station at Fatqa in the Keserwan mountains. Another airstrike crippled a transmission tower at Terbol in northern Lebanon, where relay stations for the Lebanese Broadcasting Corp, Future TV and Hezbollah's al-Manar are located.
The three stations could no longer be seen in parts of the country although their satellite feed was unaffected. The Lebanese Broadcasting Corp is the nation's leading private network.
Hezbollah TV has been targeted previously, during the hostilities that erupted on July 12. It went off the air for less than 10 minutes during the pounding.
The transmission of Radio Free Lebanon, a private station, was also disrupted when airstrikes hit a tower on a mountaintop in Sannine that was also used by the Lebanese Broadcasting Corp.
Israeli warplanes targeting a truck hit a Christian suburb of Beirut earlier this week, but yesterday's attack was the first major airstrike in the Christian area.
Israeli forces urged residents of around 10 villages in southern Lebanon to leave by 6pm yesterday ahead of planned air strikes against suspected Hezbollah guerrillas, military sources said.
"In tackling the terrorists, we have two choices -- either to send in troops or to bomb their infrastructure from the air. Clearly the latter is preferable, but we want to give the civilians time to leave," a military source said.
Israel also opened a maritime and air corridor to allow humanitarian aid shipments into Lebanon, the head of the Israeli army coordination office said yesterday.
"We have authorized a 50-mile-long and five-mile-wide [80km by 8km) safe passage to the Beirut port for ships and aircraft," Major Asahel Avraham said, apparently referring to helicopters.
"We have announced that any nations that wished to support the humanitarian aid efforts for Lebanon could do so in coordination with us," Avraham said.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah guerrillas fired at an Israeli military base near the Lebanese border yesterday, wounding one soldier, the military said.
The attack occurred at the Nurit army base near the Israeli town of Avivim, a spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces said.
Military sources said the attack apparently involved sniper fire from guerrillas on the Lebanese side of the border.
Also see stories:
Refugees forced to take shelter in Beirut parks
Israel weighs up cost of invasion
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
DEFENSE: The first set of three NASAMS that were previously purchased is expected to be delivered by the end of this year and deployed near the capital, sources said Taiwan plans to procure 28 more sets of M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as nine additional sets of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), military sources said yesterday. Taiwan had previously purchased 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and received the first 11 last year. Once the planned purchases are completed and delivered, Taiwan would have 57 sets of HIMARS. The army has also increased the number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) purchased from 64 to 84, the sources added. Each HIMARS launch pod can carry six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, capable of
Tsunami waves were possible in three areas of Kamchatka in Russia’s Far East, the Russian Ministry for Emergency Services said yesterday after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit the nearby Kuril Islands. “The expected wave heights are low, but you must still move away from the shore,” the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app, after the latest seismic activity in the area. However, the Pacific Tsunami Warning System in Hawaii said there was no tsunami warning after the quake. The Russian tsunami alert was later canceled. Overnight, the Krasheninnikov volcano in Kamchatka erupted for the first time in 600 years, Russia’s RIA
CHINA’s BULLYING: The former British prime minister said that he believes ‘Taiwan can and will’ protect its freedom and democracy, as its people are lovers of liberty Former British prime minister Boris Johnson yesterday said Western nations should have the courage to stand with and deepen their economic partnerships with Taiwan in the face of China’s intensified pressure. He made the remarks at the ninth Ketagalan Forum: 2025 Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prospect Foundation in Taipei. Johnson, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time, said he had seen Taiwan’s coastline on a screen on his indoor bicycle, but wanted to learn more about the nation, including its artificial intelligence (AI) development, the key technology of the 21st century. Calling himself an
RSS