Sunday, March 23

Israel has launched several airstrikes on Lebanon yesterday, marking the first time they have launched missiles at the Middle Eastern nation since a ceasefire went into effect several months ago.

Just days after resuming attacks on Hamas in Gaza, Israel has launched airstrikes into Lebanon, where Hezbollah maintains their operations centers. Hezbollah, similar to Hamas, is backed by Iran and has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the United Nations, and Israel has taken major action against the group since the beginning of their war with Hamas.

Israel stated that the latest round of attacks were in retaliation after several strikes from Lebanon were launched towards Israel recently. They confirmed that three missiles had been intercepted by their defense systems near the town of Metula, but there were no injuries or fatalities.

However, neither Hezbollah nor have any other Palestinian forces taken responsibility for the strikes, leaving the culprit unknown.

Nevertheless, as a response, Israel sent rockets towards numerous rocket launchers across Lebanon, which Hezbollah had been using to launch rockets into Israel prior to the ceasefire. They also targeted several Hezbollah command centers, which are the centers of operation for the group. Then, later in the night, they sent another round of missiles towards more operations centers, in addition to hitting a major warehouse meant for storing weapons. Lebanon confirmed that seven people were killed in the attacks, while 40 others were injured.

While Hezbollah has strongly denied any participation in the initial strikes, Israel has continued to strike back, as they have been doing over the past few months. After months of effort from both sides and external powers, Israel and Hezbollah finally agreed to a ceasefire in November, and that agreement, though fragile, has managed to hold until now.

However, according to Lebanon, Israel has been and still is in violation of the ceasefire, as they maintain a significant presence in the southern portion of the country and continue to bombard Hezbollah sites with occasional airstrikes and bombs. They claim that they have been attempting to stop Hezbollah from regaining their composure and launching straight back into attacks, but the conflict has slowly been rising as the strikes continue.

Nevertheless, Hezbollah has established that they are still set on preserving the current ceasefire instead of fighting back-- but that could change if Israel takes more drastic measures against Lebanon.

Fact of the Day (Reader's Digest): Alcohol doesn't actually kill brain cells-- it just damages them. However, this does not mean that alcohol does not have an effect on the brain. Instead, it damages brain cells so badly that overconsumption of alcohol can lead to irreparable brain damage, among other issues.

Quote of the Day (Gracious Quotes): Insight without action is worthless. (Marie Forleo)

Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Neologism (noun, nee-AH-luh-jiz-um) - Neologism can refer either to a new word or expression or to a new meaning of an existing word.

In a Sentence: I love seeing all the slangy neologisms that pop up on social media every year.