An Israeli airstrike on Dahieh, a southern suburb of Beirut, resulted in at least two fatalities and 76 injuries, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health reported on Friday.
The attack on Friday afternoon caused the largest explosion in over a year in the southern suburbs of Beirut, with the blast being felt up to 10 kilometers away.
"This is the seventh time the southern suburbs of Beirut have been targeted by Israeli airstrikes in the past year. From my observation, this is the largest incident. It produced a mushroom cloud effect when the explosion happened. In the previous six attacks, Hezbollah reported losing two leaders, several commanders, and many important members," said China Media Group (CMG) reporter Ci Xiaoning after observing the scene.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Spokesman Daniel Hagari confirmed the strikes, stating that they targeted Hezbollah's main headquarters located beneath residential buildings in the Dahieh neighborhood, known as a stronghold for the militant group. He did not clarify whether Hezbollah's secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah, was the intended target or present during the attack.
The airstrikes shook Beirut shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Netanyahu's office stated that the Israeli prime minister approved the airstrike earlier on Friday from his hotel and decided to return to Israel sooner than scheduled after delivering his address to the UN.
During Friday's General Assembly, Netanyahu ruled out an immediate truce in the escalating conflict with Lebanon. He also warned of growing threats from Iran, suggesting that Israel faces multiple fronts of conflict organized by Tehran.
Israel launched extensive airstrikes across Lebanon on Monday, marking the most significant military action since 2006. According to Lebanon's health ministry, these strikes have caused nearly 700 deaths in the country this week.
The International Organization for Migration estimated on Thursday that over 200,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon since last October when Hezbollah began launching rockets into northern Israel in support of Hamas.
At least 8 dead, 91 injured in Israeli airstrike on southern Beirut
China expects to see about two billion cross-regional trips during the upcoming seven-day National Day holiday as residents take the opportunity to reunite with families and travel to domestic or international tourism destinations, according to an official of the Ministry of Transport.
Li Yang, China's vice minister of transportation, released the related figures at a press briefing in Beijing Friday.
China's National Day falls on Oct 1 and the National Day holiday lasts from Oct 1 to 7. The seven-day holiday typically sees travel rush across the country as tourists take advantage of the long break to reunite with families or travel to see beautiful sceneries.
"According to our analysis and estimations, during the National Day holiday, the number of the trips taking place between cities and between the rural and the urban regions will reach 1.94 billion, a daily average of 227 million, marking a 0.7-percent daily increase over the same period last year," said Li.
In terms of the means of transportation, the vice minister said the choices will be various but driving by themselves will be a mainstream choice for holiday travelers.
"The percentage of self-drive trips will be very high. The estimated percentage of the tourists choosing to travel by driving cars on their own during the National Day holiday will surpass 80 percent, with 1,526 million passenger trips being carried out. The rest 20 percent of the tourists will travel by trains, flights, vessels, and the commercial passenger services provided by buses," Li added.
For National Day holiday travelers, their destinations are both within and out of China, said Li, adding that touring among provinces will be a mainstream choice in domestic travels, and for those who travel abroad they are more likely to head for nearby regions like the Southeast Asian countries.
"Our estimation also suggested that family trips will be a major force in the domestic travels and the cross-provincial travels will be a mainstream choice, with Beijing, Shanxi, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Chongqing, and Xinjiang being the potential hot destinations. Nearby countries like the Southeast Asian countries will be the popular destinations for outbound travelers," said Li.
China expects nearly 2 bln cross-regional trips during National Day holiday
