The ongoing Israel-Hezbollah conflict has left 2,593 people killed and another 12,119 injured in Lebanon, the Lebanese authorities said on Thursday.
Lebanon has suffered 10,950 attacks from Israel since Oct 8 last year, according to a report released by Lebanese Environment Minister Nasser Yassin, also coordinator of the government's emergency committee.
The Lebanese government has set up 1,097 shelters to accommodate displaced people, with 928 of them already running in full capacity. Currently, 191,692 displaced individuals are staying in the officially established shelters.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Thursday that the Israeli air force hit dozens of Hezbollah targets on the day, including rocket launchers, weapons storage facilities and other infrastructure. Israeli forces also killed a Hezbollah fighter who was firing a drone into Israel.
According to the IDF statistics, Hezbollah had fired about 120 rockets into northern Israel on the same day, including attacks in the Western Galilee region that wounded at least four people.
The IDF also launched a fierce air attack on the southern part of the Lebanese capital Beirut on Wednesday night, while Hezbollah used precision guided missiles to strike targets in Lebanon for the first time.
On Wednesday morning local time, thick smoke rose again over Lebanon's southern city of Tyre. According to the IDF report, the Israeli army hit a number of Lebanese Hezbollah command and control centers in Tyre on Wednesday, including the commanding office of Hezbollah's Southern Front.
The IDF also said that the Israeli army attacked Dahieh, where the Hezbollah stronghold in southern Beirut is located, on Wednesday night, hitting a number of the organization's weapons production facilities. The IDF added that all weapon factories are located under and inside civilian buildings in the heart of civilian areas.
Israeli army launched 17 air strikes Wednesday night on the Dahieh area, destroying 6 buildings and triggering a fire, which is the "most violent" attack on the Dahieh area since the outbreak of the conflict, the official National News Agency (NNA) reported.
A house in the northern Israeli city of Nahariya was hit by a rocket on Thursday as about 50 rockets were fired at the area, said the IDF, adding that about 30 rockets were fired from Lebanon at the northern Israeli city of Safed on the day, with most of them being intercepted.
The Nahariya Galilee Medical Center said it was treating four injured people who were attacked by rockets in the northern city and surrounding areas.
According to The Times of Israel, the Israeli army said that four missiles were fired from Lebanon to Tel Aviv, Israel, on Wednesday night, and some were intercepted. The Lebanon's Hezbollah said it carried out an attack on an arms factory in the outskirts of Tel Aviv.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah on Wednesday continued to hit the assembly points of Israeli soldiers and other targets in many places. In a statement, Hezbollah said it had "for the first time used" precision-guided missiles against targets in Israel and launched a new type of drone into the country, adding that it had recently destroyed 28 Merkava tanks and four military bulldozers.
Lebanese death toll from Israeli attacks rises to 2,593
Lebanese death toll from Israeli attacks rises to 2,593
Experts from various countries lauded Chinese President Xi Jinping's speeches at the 16th BRICS Summit for injecting strong impetus into the high-quality development of greater BRICS cooperation to build a community with a shared future for mankind.
Xi attended the 16th BRICS Summit from Tuesday to Thursday in Kazan, the capital of Russia's Republic of Tatarstan, where he delivered important speeches to call for high-quality development of greater BRICS cooperation and combined strength of the Global South to build together a community with a shared future for mankind.
"President Xi Jinping's speech was well-crafted, very clear, brief and straight to the point. I think he makes quite an impressive statement in terms of coming with the practical way of making BRICS plus work. I think President Xi Jinping's quality development speaks to something that China's doing at home, the new [quality] productive forces. And I've no doubt that the rest of the BRICS countries and the Global South will welcome these initiatives," said David Monyae, director of the Center for Africa-China Studies at the University of Johannesburg.
"In particular, he talked about creating competency centers in the fields of industrial technology and the digital economy, as well as artificial intelligence. I think the initiatives put forward by the Chinese leader take into account more the interests of many BRICS countries. To promote greater BRICS cooperation is essentially building a new type of international relations," said Kirill Babaev, director of the Institute of China and Modern Asia at the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Experts said Xi's speeches demonstrate China's determination to implement the concept of win-win cooperation, which will bring more development opportunities to the Global South and the world.
"I think the BRICS mechanism is very important, in line with the global development trend and visionary. Just as President Xi stressed in his speech, which has widely attracted attention among Western people, that the core of the high-quality development of greater BRICS cooperation is openness, win-win cooperation and inclusiveness. To implement these principles in the future will serve as a practical basis for cooperation among different countries around the world, and for us to work together to solve the complex challenges we all face," said Guntram Kaiser, a senior German media professional.
"I think this is genuine, it's a very genuine attempt. I think BRICS will have great prospects and it's up to China," said Jasper Roctus, an associate fellow on Modern Politics and Philosophy of China at Belgian Royal Institute for International Relations (Egmont Institute) based in Brussels, Belgium.
Scholars said Xi's speeches will build consensus among countries and strongly promote the building of a more just and equitable international order.
"Each concept the President proposes has its own, you know, forward outlook. That means it has its own forward implications, at the same time, each concept has its own specific significance. If you see the first concept, peace BRICS, the significance for this concept is if there is peace, there is stability; if there is stability, there is economic development," said Balew Demissie, a researcher at the Ethiopian Policy Studies Institute and an associate professor with Addis Ababa University.
"President Xi Jinping's speech at the BRICS summit reflects China's vision for a more stable and peaceful world order. It focuses on the importance of economic exchange and mutual understanding among the countries, members. It seeks to enhance understanding and cooperation among the South countries, promoting the idea that these countries can coexist harmoniously, and contribute to an integrated global community with a shared future," said Kheir Diabat, a full professor in International Affairs Department at Qatar University.
Experts laud Xi's speech for greater BRICS cooperation
