Israel-Lebanon latest: 19 dead and thousands trapped as Israeli forces strike Jabalia refugee camps

At least 19 people were killed by Israeli airstrikes in the Jabalia city and refugee camp in northern Gaza, the Hamas-run civil defence agency told the AFP news agency.

A spokesperson said that a strike occurred before 9:40pm local time and had left “12 dead, including women and children”, adding that 14 people were still missing and likely trapped under the rubble

In southern Lebanon, children are among eight people killed in villages as Israel intensifies airstrikes in its fight against militant groupHezbollah.

According to the Lebanese Health Ministry, a strike on Baysarieh, a village in Sidon province, killed three people, including a 2-year-old and a 16-year-old, while another strike in the Bekaa Valley killed five more people.

It comes as Israeli forces faced international condemnation for an attack on UN peacekeepers operating in the region.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) said an Israeli tank fired on its headquarters in the town of Naqoura in southern Lebanon on Thursday, hitting an observation tower and wounding two peacekeepers.

The force said its headquarters was affected by further explosions on Friday which injured two more peacekeepers.

“We were appalled to hear those reports and it is vital that peacekeepers and civilians are protected,” a No 10 spokesperson said.

Key Points

• ‘At least 30 dead’ in Israeli strikes on Jabalia refugee camp

• Starmer ‘appalled’ by reports of UN workers’ targeting

• Israel strikes kill 22 in deadliest attack on central Beirut

• UNIFL says Israeli soldiers ‘deliberately’ fired at UN positions

• Over 100 medics and emergency workers killed in Lebanon conflict, UN rights office says

UK among 40 nations ‘strongly’ condemning attacks on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon

08:07 , Holly Evans

The UK is among 40 nations “strongly” condemning attacks on United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon.

Earlier this week, Israeli troops fired on UN headquarters in southern Lebanon, injuring two peacekeepers for the second time in as many days.

On Saturday, it was reported by the United Nations that another peacekeeper was injured by gunfire in the country’s south.

A joint statement, co-signed by the UK and posted to the X account of the Polish UN mission on Saturday, said attacks on peacekeepers “must stop immediately”.

The statement said: “As the countries contributors to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) we reaffirm our full support for Unifil’s mission and activities, whose principal aim is to bring stabilisation and lasting peace in South Lebanon as well as in the Middle East, in line with relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council.

“We consider Unifil’s role as particularly crucial in light of the escalating situation in the region.

“We therefore strongly condemn recent attacks on the Unifil peacekeepers. Such actions must stop immediately and should be adequately investigated.”

The statement continued: “We urge the parties of the conflict to respect Unifil’s presence, which entails the obligation to guarantee the safety and security of its personnel at all times so that they can continue to implement its mandate and continue their work of mediation and support for peace and stability in Lebanon and the entire region.

“We reiterate our commitment to multilateral cooperation with the UN at its core. We call for respect for the international law, in particular the Charter of the United Nations as well as the relevant resolutions of the Security Council.”

Israeli forces and Hezbollah clash in southern Lebanon

07:28 , Holly Evans

Hezbollah said on Sunday it was fighting Israeli forces trying to infiltrate Ramya village in southern Lebanon, as a third UN peacekeeper was wounded in Israel’s escalating conflict with the Iran-backed Lebanese group.

Israeli strikes have shook the peacekeepers’ main base in southern Lebanon, prompting UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Western countries to condemn the attacks. The UNIFIL force called it a “serious development” and said the security of UN personnel and property must be guaranteed.

France summoned Israel’s ambassador and issued a statement with Italy and Spain calling such attacks “unjustifiable”. US President Joe Biden said he was asking Israel not to hit the UNIFIL forces. Russia said it was “outraged” and demanded Israel refrain from “hostile actions” against peacekeepers.

As Hezbollah and Israel battle on the border, Lebanon's army watches from the sidelines

07:00 , Holly Evans

Since Israel launched its ground invasion of Lebanon, Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants have clashed along the border while the Lebanese army has largely stood on the sidelines.

It’s not the first time the national army has found itself watching war at home from the discomfiting position of bystander.

Lebanon’s widely beloved army is one of the few institutions that bridge the country’s sectarian and political divides. Several army commanders have become president, and the current commander, Gen. Joseph Aoun, is widely regarded as one of the front-runners to step in when the deadlocked parliament fills a two-year vacuum and names a president.

Read the full article here:

As Hezbollah and Israel battle on the border, Lebanon's army watches from the sidelines

The Trump Organization wants to open a luxury hotel in the heart of Israel

06:00 , Holly Evans

Donald Trump’s family business tried to open a luxury hotel in Jerusalem, Israel, according to a report.

The Trump Organization sought a deal last year to open a Trump-branded hotel on the former site of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The New York Times reported.

The former president’s company also looked into transforming a developing skyscraper — near the Israel Defense Forces headquarters — in Tel Aviv into another hotel. Once completed, that building will house the most hotel rooms in the country, the outlet noted.

Read the full article here:

The Trump Organization wants to open a luxury hotel in the heart of Israel

The UN says that aid entering Gaza is at its lowest level in months

05:00 , Holly Evans

UN humanitarian officials say aid entering Gaza is at its lowest level in months and warn that critical lifelines in the territory’s north, where Israel has renewed its military offensive, have been cut off.

UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq delivered the grim news Friday, saying the main crossings into northern Gaza have been closed and no food or other essential supplies have entered since Oct. 1. More than 400,000 people who remain in the north are under increasing pressure to move south, he said.

“The situation is terrible” across northern Gaza, Haq said, adding that the entire territory faces insecurity.

Read the full article here:

The UN says that aid entering Gaza is at its lowest level in months

Israeli soldier urges UK to be Churchill not Chamberlain in standing against ‘evil’ Iran

04:00 , Holly Evans

A wounded Israeli soldier urged the UK not to forget the mistake of Neville Chamberlain by being more like Churchill and standing up against “the evil of Iran”.

Barak Deri, an Israeli Defence Force reservist, has been hailed as a hero in his country and is visiting London this week as part of a mission to win support for Israel’s struggle in the ongoing war on multiple fronts in the Middle East.

The 32-year-old, who was wounded and is likely to be disabled for the rest of his life, arrived in the UK with a simple warning that “Israel’s war is the West’s war” and the demand: “We cannot be quiet, we must send a clear message that another Holocaust is not an option.”

Read the full article here:

Israeli soldier urges UK to be Churchill not Chamberlain in standing against Iran

Activists risk their lives to rescue animals in areas of Lebanon hit by Israeli airstrikes

03:00 , Holly Evans

Hours after an Israeli strike destroyed a three-story building in Beirut, killing at least 10 people, Maggie Sharawi received a telephone call from a person living nearby saying that the attack had killed a cat that had several kittens.

While civil defense members were combing through the rubble for human victims or survivors, Sharawi and other members of Animals Lebanon, an animal protection organization, also rushed to the scene in Beirut’s central Burj Abi Haidar neighborhood Friday.

They began climbing through rubble, twisted metal and collapsed walls to reach the kittens. The animals, just a few days old, were pulled out, put in a plastic carrier and taken away as the rescuers continued searching for other cats whose cries could be heard emerging from under the debris.

Read the full article here:

Activists risk their lives to rescue animals in areas of Lebanon hit by Israeli airstrikes

Germany’s Nazi history has left it in turmoil over how to treat Israel

02:00 , Holly Evans

Rwo events took place last weekend in Germany. At a conference in Berlin called The Big Chill, a group of thinkers and activists denounced what they called “anticipatory obedience” in which Germans, including Jews, had been “muted, de-platformed and stigmatised” for criticising Israel’s response to the atrocities of 7 October 2023.

At the same time, in a small town called Zeitz in eastern Germany, 10 “stumbling stones”, small memorial brass plates denoting the homes of Jews taken to be exterminated in concentration camps, were ripped up. “Whoever did this wants to tear the Holocaust out of our memory,” a leading local politician, Götz Ulrich, declared.

The sad fact is both sets of assertions are largely true. And yet, it was a weekend like any other and neither event received particular coverage.

Read the full article here:

Germany’s Nazi history has left it in turmoil over how to treat Israel

Women and children killed in strikes on refugee camp

01:00 , Holly Evans

Israeli airstrikes flattened a residential area and killed at least 22 people including women and children in an urban refugee camp in northern Gaza, Palestinian medical officials said Saturday.

In an area where Israel’s military launched a major ground operation last week, one of the strikes late Friday destroyed an entire building, killing at least 20 people and severely damaging several nearby buildings in the center of Jabaliya camp, according to the Health Ministry’s Ambulance and Emergency service.

A different strike killed a mother, father and injured their baby in another part of Jabaliya, medical officials said.

First responders who rushed to the area before the strikes had ceased found a 20-meter (65-foot) deep hole within a house in the area.

At least 20 bodies had been recovered from the area as of Saturday morning, with many others said to be missing under the rubble, emergency service officials said, adding that at least six women and seven children were killed.

Gaza’s health ministry on Saturday said hospitals across Gaza received the bodies of 49 people killed over the past 24 hours. Hospitals also received 219 wounded. The deaths brought the death tally to 42,175 since the war began on Oct. 7 last year, with 98,339 wounded, according to the ministry.

Irish peacekeepers stood their ground in the face of an Israeli invasion of Lebanon. It’s not the first time

Sunday 13 October 2024 00:00 , Holly Evans

The 30 Irish peacekeepers carried only rifles and small arms. The Israeli force was preparing to advance with all the tools of a military superpower: tanks, aircraft, drones, heavy artillery and thousands of troops.

But when the Israelis ordered the Irish soldiers to vacate their observation post on the Lebanon-Israel border last week to clear the way for their invasion, they refused.

The incident, which sparked a tense stand-off and diplomatic spat, was just the latest in a long history of confrontations between the Israeli army and the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL.

Read the full article here:

How Irish peacekeepers stood their ground in the face of an Israeli invasion

Leaders of Jordan and southern Europe want Lebanon's army to reassert itself in the country's south

Saturday 12 October 2024 23:00 , Holly Evans

The leaders of nine southern European Union countries on Friday pledged support for Lebanon’s armed forces to reassert control over the country’s southern territory in hopes of bringing peace to an area plagued by fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

In a joint declaration, the leaders of the so-called MED9 — Italy, Spain, France, Greece, Malta, Cyprus, Slovenia, Portugal and Croatia — said they would “continue advocating for further support to Lebanon and its people, including to the Lebanese Armed Forces which are called to play a critical stabilizing role.”

“The unfolding situation in the Middle East is gravely alarming,” the declaration said. “In light of the reverberations of the Gaza conflict on the wider region, we express our extreme concern with the escalation of the military confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah.”

Read the full article here:

Leaders of Jordan and southern Europe want Lebanon's army to reassert itself in the country's south

Activists risk their lives to rescue animals in areas of Lebanon hit by Israeli airstrikes

Saturday 12 October 2024 22:00 , Holly Evans

Hours after an Israeli strike destroyed a three-story building in Beirut, killing at least 10 people, Maggie Sharawi received a telephone call from a person living nearby saying that the attack had killed a cat that had several kittens.

While civil defense members were combing through the rubble for human victims or survivors, Sharawi and other members of Animals Lebanon, an animal protection organization, also rushed to the scene in Beirut’s central Burj Abi Haidar neighborhood Friday.

They began climbing through rubble, twisted metal and collapsed walls to reach the kittens. The animals, just a few days old, were pulled out, put in a plastic carrier and taken away as the rescuers continued searching for other cats whose cries could be heard emerging from under the debris.

Read the full article here:

Activists risk their lives to rescue animals in areas of Lebanon hit by Israeli airstrikes

In pictures: Palestinians flee refugee camps in northern Gaza

Saturday 12 October 2024 21:00 , Holly Evans

As Hezbollah and Israel battle on the border, Lebanon's army watches from the sidelines

Saturday 12 October 2024 20:00 , Holly Evans

Since Israel launched its ground invasion of Lebanon, Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants have clashed along the border while the Lebanese army has largely stood on the sidelines.

It’s not the first time the national army has found itself watching war at home from the discomfiting position of bystander.

Lebanon’s widely beloved army is one of the few institutions that bridge the country’s sectarian and political divides. Several army commanders have become president, and the current commander, Gen. Joseph Aoun, is widely regarded as one of the front-runners to step in when the deadlocked parliament fills a two-year vacuum and names a president.

Read the full article here:

As Hezbollah and Israel battle on the border, Lebanon's army watches from the sidelines

Israel's airstrike warnings terrify and confuse Lebanese civilians

Saturday 12 October 2024 19:00 , Holly Evans

As the war between Israel and Hezbollah intensifies, Lebanese civilians are increasingly paying the price – and this dangerous reality often becomes clear in the middle of the night: That’s when the Israeli military typically warns people to evacuate buildings or neighborhoods to avoid airstrikes.

Moein Shreif was recently awakened at 3 a.m. by a neighbor calling to alert him that Israel planned to strike a nearby building in his middle-class suburb south of Beirut where Hezbollah has a strong presence.

Shreif, his wife and their three children quickly fled their multi-story apartment building and drove away. Within minutes, explosions rang out, he said later that day upon returning to see the smoldering ruins of his building and the one next door.

Read the full article here:

Israel's airstrike warnings terrify and confuse Lebanese civilians

The Trump Organization wants to open a luxury hotel in the heart of Israel

Saturday 12 October 2024 18:00 , Holly Evans

Donald Trump’s family business tried to open a luxury hotel in Jerusalem, Israel, according to a report.

The Trump Organization sought a deal last year to open a Trump-branded hotel on the former site of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The New York Times reported.

The former president’s company also looked into transforming a developing skyscraper — near the Israel Defense Forces headquarters — in Tel Aviv into another hotel. Once completed, that building will house the most hotel rooms in the country, the outlet noted.

Read the full article here:

The Trump Organization wants to open a luxury hotel in the heart of Israel

The UN says that aid entering Gaza is at its lowest level in months

Saturday 12 October 2024 17:00 , Holly Evans

UN humanitarian officials say aid entering Gaza is at its lowest level in months and warn that critical lifelines in the territory’s north, where Israel has renewed its military offensive, have been cut off.

UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq delivered the grim news Friday, saying the main crossings into northern Gaza have been closed and no food or other essential supplies have entered since Oct. 1. More than 400,000 people who remain in the north are under increasing pressure to move south, he said.

“The situation is terrible” across northern Gaza, Haq said, adding that the entire territory faces insecurity.

Read the full article here:

The UN says that aid entering Gaza is at its lowest level in months

Saturday 12 October 2024 16:00 , Holly Evans

The European Union has said it is deeply concerned about draft Israeli legislation that would ban the UN agency for Palestinian refugees from operating in Israel and likely scale back aid distribution across war-ravaged Gaza.

Earlier this week, an Israeli parliamentary committee approved a pair of bills this week that would ban UNRWA from operating in Israeli territory and end all contact between the government and the U.N. agency. The bill needs final approval from the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.

“If adopted, (the bill) would have disastrous consequences, preventing the U.N. agency from continuing to provide its services and protection to Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank, including east Jerusalem, and Gaza,” the EU said in an online statement.

Israel has alleged that some of UNRWA’s thousands of staff members participated in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack that sparked the Israel-Hamas war.

The UN has since fired more than a dozen staffers after internal investigations found they may have taken part in the attack that killed 1,200 people in southern Israel.

The UN agency has been the main supplier of food, water and shelter to Palestinian civilians during the 12 month conflict in Gaza.

Israel orders evacuation of more southern Lebanese towns

Saturday 12 October 2024 15:41 , Holly Evans

Israel’s military ordered residents of 23 southern Lebanese villages on Saturday to evacuate to areas north of the Awali River, which flows from the western Bekaa Valley into the Mediterranean.

The order, communicated via a military statement, mentions villages in southern Lebanon that have been recent targets of Israeli attacks, many of which are already almost empty.

The Israeli military stated that evacuations were necessary for the safety of residents due to increased Hezbollah activities, claiming the group is using sites to conceal weapons and launch attacks on Israel.

Hezbollah denies concealing weapons among civilians.

Another member of the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, UNIFIL, was struck by gunfire on Friday, it said in a statement on Saturday, adding that the man was now stable after undergoing surgery to remove the bullet.

Hamas attacked Israeli forces in Jabalia with anti-tank rockets

Saturday 12 October 2024 15:30 , Holly Evans

In a statement on Saturday, Hamas said Israel’s “massacre against the civilians” aimed to punish the residents of Jabalia for refusing to leave their homes. It also said it was a sign of Israel’s military failure to defeat the group.

Israel has denied it targets civilians.

The armed wings of Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, and smaller other factions said their fighters attacked Israeli forces in Jabalia and nearby areas with anti-tank rockets, and mortar fire.

Irish peacekeepers stood their ground in the face of an Israeli invasion of Lebanon. It’s not the first time

Saturday 12 October 2024 15:00 , Holly Evans

The 30 Irish peacekeepers carried only rifles and small arms. The Israeli force was preparing to advance with all the tools of a military superpower: tanks, aircraft, drones, heavy artillery and thousands of troops.

But when the Israelis ordered the Irish soldiers to vacate their observation post on the Lebanon-Israel border last week to clear the way for their invasion, they refused.

The incident, which sparked a tense stand-off and diplomatic spat, was just the latest in a long history of confrontations between the Israeli army and the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL.

Read the full article here:

How Irish peacekeepers stood their ground in the face of an Israeli invasion

Saturday 12 October 2024 14:20 , Holly Evans

United Nations officials said on Friday an Israeli offensive and evacuation orders in northern Gaza might affect the second phase of its polio vaccination campaign set to start next week.

The territory’s health ministry announced on Saturday that the campaign would begin on Monday in central Gaza Strip areas and would last three days before moving to other territories.

Aid groups carried out an initial round of vaccinations last month after a baby was partially paralysed by the type 2 poliovirus in August, the first such case in the territory in 25 years.

As in the first phase, humanitarian pauses in the fighting in Gaza are planned, in order to reach hundreds of thousands of children.

Germany’s Nazi history has left it in turmoil over how to treat Israel

Saturday 12 October 2024 13:55 , Holly Evans

Two events took place last weekend in Germany. At a conference in Berlin called The Big Chill, a group of thinkers and activists denounced what they called “anticipatory obedience” in which Germans, including Jews, had been “muted, de-platformed and stigmatised” for criticising Israel’s response to the atrocities of 7 October 2023.

At the same time, in a small town called Zeitz in eastern Germany, 10 “stumbling stones”, small memorial brass plates denoting the homes of Jews taken to be exterminated in concentration camps, were ripped up. “Whoever did this wants to tear the Holocaust out of our memory,” a leading local politician, Götz Ulrich, declared.

The sad fact is both sets of assertions are largely true. And yet, it was a weekend like any other and neither event received particular coverage.

Read the full article here:

Germany’s Nazi history has left it in turmoil over how to treat Israel

Thousands of people trapped as Iraeli forces strike Jabalia refugee camps

Saturday 12 October 2024 13:26 , Holly Evans

Israeli military strikes on Gaza overnight killed at least 19 Palestinians, medics said on Saturday, while forces continued to push deeper into the Jabalia area, where international relief agencies say thousands of people are trapped.

Residents said Israeli forces continued to pound Jabalia, which is in the north of the enclave and is the largest of the enclave’s historic refugee camps, from the air and ground.

There has been no fresh Israeli comment but the military said in past days that forces operating in Jabalia and nearby areas killed dozens of militants, located weapons and dismantled military infrastructure.

The operation in this area began a week ago and the military said then it aimed to fight against Hamas militants waging attacks and to prevent Hamas from regrouping.

Palestinian health officials put the number of people killed in Jabalia over the past week at around 150.

No food aid has entered Gaza in October, says UN food agency

Saturday 12 October 2024 12:46 , Holly Evans

The United Nations food agency said on Saturday that no food aid had entered northern Gaza since 1 October.

The World Food Program said that the primary border crossing into the war-ravaged area had been closed for about two weeks, warning that Israel’s ongoing ground operation has a disastrous impact on food security for thousands of Palestinians families there.

“The north is basically cut off and we’re not able to operate there,” said Antoine Renard, the WFP country director of Palestinian territories.

Concerns of a hunger crisis have risen in Gaza roughly a month after the U.N.’s independent investigator on the right to food accused Israel of carrying out a “starvation campaign” against Palestinians.

Israel has denied such allegations and insisted that it has allowed food and other aid into Gaza in significant quantities.

Irish PM tells Israel to ‘stop firing on UN peacekeepers’

Saturday 12 October 2024 12:26 , Holly Evans

Simon Harris, the Irish prime minister, has urged Israel to heed “the concerns of the international community” and “stop firing on UN peacekeepers”.

Israel said its forces fired at a threat near a United Nations position in Lebanon Friday, acknowledging that a “hit” was responsible for wounding two Blue Helmets.

The two Sri Lankan peacekeepers were injured at Unifil’s main base in Naqura, southern Lebanon, according to the mission. It followed two Indonesian soldiers suffering injuries when tank fire hit a watchtower the previous day.

Iranian official tours scene of Israeli airstrike in Beirut

Saturday 12 October 2024 11:41 , Holly Evans

The speaker of Iran’s parliament on Saturday toured the scene of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut that killed and wounded dozens, vowing that Tehran would keep supporting Lebanese and Palestinians in fighting against Israel.

Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf visited the bombed area after holding talks with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who said that Lebanon’s priority now was working toward a cease-fire.

His office said that Lebanon’s government still abides by a 2006 UN Security Council Resolution approved at the end of a 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah and was prepared to boost Lebanese army presence along the country’s border with Israel.

“We will keep standing with the Lebanese people during these difficult circumstances and also with the Palestinian people,” Qalibaf said during the tour, during which he was escorted by several Hezbollah officials.

Qalibaf added that Iran will aid the Lebanese people and “we hope that they will be victorious.”

‘At least 30 dead’ in Israeli strikes on Jabalia refugee camp

Saturday 12 October 2024 10:58 , Holly Evans

At least 30 people were killed in Israeli strikes throughout Friday in the Jabalia city and refugee camp, Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defence agency was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying.

The agency’s spokesman says that a strike had left “12 dead, including women and children” in the town, adding that 14 people were still missing and likely trapped under the rubble.

Israel issues evacuation order for 22 villages in Lebanon

Saturday 12 October 2024 10:43 , Holly Evans

The Israeli military has ordered residents of 22 southern Lebanese villages to evacuate to areas north of the Awali River, according to a statement released on Saturday.

It read: “To the residents of the following villages: Aita al-Shaab, Ramyeh, Yater, Qawzah, Beit Lif, Hanin, Rshaf, Ainta, Qlaila, Al-Hawsh, Nabaa, Tulin, Al-Tamriya, Al-Khiyam, Al-Kharba, Kfar Hamam, Arab Al-Luwaizeh, Abu Zebla Bridge, Jabal Al-Adas, Dahr Bariyeh Jaber, Kafra, Ramadiyeh, Zebqin. Hezbollah’s activity forces the IDF to take action against it.

“The IDF does not seek to harm you. For your own safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately.

“Anyone who is near Hezbollah elements, facilities or weapons is putting his life at risk. Residents, you are requested to leave your homes and move immediately to the north of the Awali River.

“To ensure your safety, you must evacuate without delay. Warning: You are prohibited from heading south, as any movement towards the south poses a danger to your life.”

Israeli army calls for evacuation of 'D5' area in Gaza City

Saturday 12 October 2024 09:53 , Holly Evans

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has called on Palestinians in the “D5” area in Gaza City in the northern Gaza Strip to evacuate “immediately”.

Spokesperson Avichay Adraee said it is considered a “dangerous combat zone”.

In a post on X, he wrote: “The IDF is operating with great force against the terrorist organizations and will continue to do so for a long time. The designated area, including the shelters located there, is considered a dangerous combat zone.

“The area must be evacuated immediately via Salah El-Din Street to the humanitarian area.”

At least 42,175 Palestinians killed since 7 October last year

Saturday 12 October 2024 09:18 , Holly Evans

At least 42,175 Palestinians have been killed and 98,336 others injured in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since 7 October, 2023, Gaza’s health ministry said on Saturday.

Thousands of people are trapped in Gaza’s Jabalia camp as Israeli forces attack the area, Medecins Sans Frontires (Doctors Without Borders) said on Friday, a week after Israel launched an offensive there which it says is aimed at stopping Hamas regrouping.

At least 20 Palestinians were killed and dozens more were wounded late on Friday by Israeli strikes in Jabalia, which also damaged four nearby homes, medics told Reuters. The death toll is likely to rise, they added.

Nine EU states call for immediate ceasefire in Middle East

Saturday 12 October 2024 08:45 , Holly Evans

Leaders of nine European Union member states in the Mediterranean on Friday called for an immediate ceasefire after a sharp escalation in conflict between Israel and forces of Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“Amid the backdrop of the conflict in Gaza in the broader region, we express our deep concern at the escalation of a military confrontation between Israel and Hezbollah,” a statement from EU leaders attending a summit, known as MED9, read after meeting in Cyprus.

At least 8 killed in airstrikes on southern Lebanon, health ministry says

Saturday 12 October 2024 07:56 , Holly Evans

At least eight people were killed in intensified airstrikes across villages in southern and eastern Lebanon on Friday evening, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

An Israeli airstrike on Baysarieh, a village in Sidon province, killed three people, including a 2-year-old and a 16-year-old, and injured three others, the health ministry said.

In Baalbeck-Hermel province, located in the Bekaa Valley, five more people were killed and five others wounded in additional airstrikes. On Thursday, 22 people were killed and 117 wounded in two Israeli strikes on two locations in central Beirut.

The strike caused the collapse of two residential buildings housing families and displaced individuals. Critical aid routes into northern Gaza have been cut off, United Nations officials say.

It’s time to get tough on Iran – and help the people overthrow their despotic leaders

Saturday 12 October 2024 07:30 , Alexander Butler

Israel claims to have killed Hezbollah commander

Saturday 12 October 2024 05:30 , Alexander Butler

Israel claims to have killed another Hezbollah commander after reports of fighting this morning in southern Lebanon.

The military wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday morning that they had killed Araeb el Shoga, a commander in the Hezbollah Radwan Forces’ anti-tank missile unit.

They said he was killed in Meiss El Jabal in southern Lebanon, adding that he was responsible for “numerous anti-tank missile attacks in northern Israel”.

Earlier this morning, the Israeli military said they had detected one anti-tank missile fired from southern Lebanon across the border into Kibbutz Yaraon, according to the Jerusalem Post.

The publication said a 27-year-old man from Thailand was killed while two more people were injured.

At least 8 killed in airstrikes on southern Lebanon, health ministry says

Saturday 12 October 2024 04:40 , Adam Withnall

At least eight people were killed in intensified airstrikes across villages in southern and eastern Lebanon on Friday evening, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

An Israeli airstrike on Baysarieh, a village in Sidon province, killed three people, including a 2-year-old and a 16-year-old, and injured three others, the health ministry said.

In Baalbeck-Hermel province, located in the Bekaa Valley, five more people were killed and five others wounded in additional airstrikes.

On Thursday, 22 people were killed and 117 wounded in two Israeli strikes on two locations in central Beirut. The strike caused the collapse of two residential buildings housing families and displaced individuals.

Iranian president says Israel, supported by West, is 'killing innocent people'

Saturday 12 October 2024 04:30 , Alexander Butler

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said that Israel should “stop killing innocent people”, and that its actions in the Middle East were backed by the United States and the European Union.

Pezeshkian was speaking to a Russian state TV reporter on the sidelines of an international meeting in Turkmenistan.

An Israeli strike late on Thursday in the heart of Beirut killed 22 people and injured more than 100, Lebanese authorities said.

UK slams Israeli attack on UN peacekeepers

Saturday 12 October 2024 03:30 , Alexander Butler

An Israeli attack on UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon has been condemned as appalling by the UK government.

A Downing Street spokesperson said it was vital peacekeepers were protected and called for an immediate ceasefire across the Middle East.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) said an Israeli tank fired on its headquarters in the town of Naqoura in southern Lebanon on Thursday, hitting an observation tower and wounding two peacekeepers.

The force said its headquarters was affected by further explosions on Friday which injured two more peacekeepers.

“We were appalled to hear those reports and it is vital that peacekeepers and civilians are protected,” a No.10 spokesperson said.

Watch: Rescuers search through rubble after Israel's strike on central Beirut kills 22

Saturday 12 October 2024 02:30 , Alexander Butler

Taliban profit as flights diverted around Middle East crisis fill up Afghan airspace

Saturday 12 October 2024 00:30 , Alexander Butler

How Taliban is profiting off the Middle East crisis

Full story: UK government condemns ‘appalling’ Israeli fire on UN peacekeeping HQ in Lebanon

Friday 11 October 2024 23:33 , Athena Stavrou

Downing Street has condemned “appalling” Israeli strikes which rocked the UN peacekeeping headquarters in Lebanon twice in 48 hours, sparking fury among Israel’s allies.

As Israel continues its assault on Hezbollah, which has so far displaced more than 1.2 million people, Beirut reeled from two fresh air raids on Thursday night – Israel’s deadliest so far – which claimed at least 22 lives and wounded a further 139 people in areas dense with those who have led their homes.

The first strike hit an eight-storey apartment in Ras al-Nabaa, with witnesses reporting continued explosions throughout the building. The second strike, in the area of Burj Abi Haidar, was reported to have collapsed an entire building as it went up in flames.

UK government condemns ‘appalling’ Israeli fire on UN peacekeeping HQ in Lebanon

When their ambulance was hit, I had to salvage my colleagues’ bodies

Friday 11 October 2024 23:30 , Alexander Butler

Could the unremitting fury over October 7 be the end of Israel?

Thousands trapped in Jabalia camp as Israel escalates deadly attacks in northern Gaza

Friday 11 October 2024 23:01 , Athena Stavrou

Thousands of people are trapped in Gaza’s Jabalia camp as Israeli forces attack the area, MSF (Doctors Without Borders) said on Friday, a week after Israel launched an offensive there which it says is aimed at stopping Hamas regrouping.

At least 20 Palestinians were killed and dozens more were wounded late on Friday by Israeli strikes in Jabalia, which also damaged four nearby homes, medics told Reuters. The death toll is likely to rise, they added.

Israeli military strikes killed at least 61 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Friday, the medics added. Nearly half of the fatalities, including the 20 killed at the home, occurred in Jabalia, the northern district which is the largest of Gaza’s historic refugee camps.

The Israeli military says it has killed dozens of militants in Jabalia, though it remains unclear how many of the dead were civilians rather than fighters.

“Nobody is allowed to get in or out; anyone who tries is getting shot,” MSF project coordinator Sarah Vuylsteke said on X.

Five MSF staff were trapped in Jabalia, she said.

“I don’t know what to do; at any moment we could die. People are starving. I am afraid to stay, and I am also afraid to leave,” she quoted Haydar, an MSF driver, as saying.

At least 15 of the fatalities in Jabalia since dawn were due to Israeli strikes targeting various areas, including a school sheltering displaced individuals, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa said, citing medical sources.

Gaza’s Civil Defence said dozens were wounded by Israeli quadcopter drone fire at the same school.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has previously said Gaza’s militants use such shelters for cover. Hamas has denied this.

US expands sanctions on Iran’s ‘Ghost Fleet'

Friday 11 October 2024 22:50 , Andy Gregory

The United States has expanded sanctions against Iran’s petroleum and petrochemical sectors in response to an Iranian missile attack on Israel.

The US move adds petroleum and petrochemicals to an executive order that targets key sectors of Iran’s economy with the aim of denying the government funds to support its nuclear and missile programs.

“The new designations today also include measures against the ‘Ghost Fleet’ that carries Iran’s illicit oil to buyers around the world,” White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement.

“These measures will help further deny Iran financial resources used to support its missile programs and provide support for terrorist groups that threaten the United States, its allies, and partners.”

Gaza hostage families blast air raid siren outside Netanyahu’s home as wake up call to agree release deal

Friday 11 October 2024 22:30 , Alexander Butler

Hostage families blast air raid siren outside Netanyahu’s home as wake up call

Lebanese army says two of its soldiers killed in south

Friday 11 October 2024 22:16 , Andy Gregory

Lebanon’s army said on Friday that two of its soldiers had been killed and three wounded when Israeli forces attacked one of its military posts in Kafra in the south.

Israel says two drones detected crossing Lebanese border

Friday 11 October 2024 22:10 , Andy Gregory

Israel’s military said two drones from Lebanon were detected late on Friday following sirens that sounded in central Israel, adding that no casualties had been reported.

The military successfully intercepted one drone as both “UAVs were monitored from the moment when they crossed the Lebanese border,” the army added in a statement.

However, one building in Herzliya sustained some damage, the Israeli military and police said in separate statements.

There was no immediate comment from the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah on the drone attack.

Air raid sirens were heard in central Israel.

Nine European nations say Lebanese army has ‘critical stabilising role’ in conflict

Friday 11 October 2024 21:52 , Andy Gregory

Amid alarm over the risk of a wider Middle East war, nine southern European countries issued a statement on Friday expressing their “extreme concern” over Israel’s military operations in Lebanon.

In a joint declaration, the leaders of the MED9 — Italy, Spain, France, Greece, Malta, Cyprus, Slovenia, Portugal and Croatia — said they would “continue advocating for further support to Lebanon and its people, including to the Lebanese Armed Forces which are called to play a critical stabilising role.”

French president Emmanuel Macron told reporters that the return of the Lebanese armed forces to South Lebanon and the restoration of Lebanese sovereignty “are essential to its peace and stability.”

NHS medics volunteering in Gaza warn of catastrophic collapse of healthcare system

Friday 11 October 2024 21:30 , Alexander Butler

NHS medics volunteering in Gaza warn of catastrophic collapse of healthcare system

It’s time to get tough on Iran – and help the people overthrow their despotic leaders

Friday 11 October 2024 20:30 , Alexander Butler

It’s time to get tough on Iran – and help the people overthrow their despotic leaders

What are Israel and Iran’s attack and defence capabilities?

Friday 11 October 2024 19:30 , Alexander Butler

What are Israel and Iran’s attack and defence capabilities?

Israel's airstrike warnings terrify and confuse Lebanese civilians

Friday 11 October 2024 18:30 , Alexander Butler

Israel's airstrike warnings terrify and confuse Lebanese civilians

Rescuers search through rubble after Israel’s strike on central Beirut kills 22

Friday 11 October 2024 17:30 , Alexander Butler

Rescuers search through rubble after Israel’s strike on central Beirut kills 22

UNRWA chief says many Palestinians camps in Lebanon empty after Israeli strikes

Friday 11 October 2024 16:19 , Alexander Butler

Most Palestinian refugees living in camps in southern Lebanon or near Beirut have fled following escalating Israeli strikes, the head of the United Nations agency on Palestine refugees said.

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said the agency continued to provide services to the most vulnerable left behind - and that repeatedly fleeing was sadly “part of the history” of Palestinians.

“Now, that’s part, unfortunately, of the plight, but if you compare with what happened also in Gaza recently, you might have heard me describing how people are constantly being moved like pinballs.

“And one of the fears is that we replicate a situation similar to the one we have seen until now in Gaza,” he said.

UK slams Israeli attack on UN peacekeepers

Friday 11 October 2024 15:26 , Alexander Butler

An Israeli attack on UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon has been condemned as appalling by the UK government.

A Downing Street spokesperson said it was vital peacekeepers were protected and called for an immediate ceasefire across the Middle East.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) said an Israeli tank fired on its headquarters in the town of Naqoura in southern Lebanon on Thursday, hitting an observation tower and wounding two peacekeepers.

The force said its headquarters was affected by further explosions on Friday which injured two more peacekeepers.

“We were appalled to hear those reports and it is vital that peacekeepers and civilians are protected,” a No.10 spokesperson said.

Watch: Rescuers search through rubble after Israel's strike on central Beirut kills 22

Friday 11 October 2024 14:15 , Alexander Butler

Israeli military chief held security assessment in south Lebanon, army says

Friday 11 October 2024 14:08 , Alexander Butler

Israel’s military chief and the head of its Shin Ben security agency held a security assessment inside southern Lebanon on Thursday, the military said on Friday.

“We continue to operate against the enemy and will not stop until we ensure that we can safely return the residents (evacuated from the north), not just now, but with a future outlook,” said Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi in a video of the gathering released by the military.

“If anyone considers rebuilding these villages again, they will know that it’s not worth constructing terrorist infrastructure because the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) will neutralize them again.”

Starmer ‘appalled’ by reports of UN workers’ targeting

Friday 11 October 2024 13:01 , Tom Watling

Sir Keir Starmer was “appalled” to hear reports that Israel deliberately fired on peacekeepers in Lebanon.

Asked about reports that Israeli forces fired at the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil), a Downing Street spokeswoman said: “We were appalled to hear those reports and it is vital that peacekeepers and civilians are protected.

“As you know, we continue to call for an immediate ceasefire and an end to suffering and bloodshed. This is a reminder of the importance of us all renewing our diplomatic efforts.”

Asked if the prime minister agrees with Irish leaders that this is a breach of international law, the spokeswoman said: “All parties must always do everything possible to protect civilians and comply with international law. But we continue to reiterate that and call for an immediate ceasefire.”

In pictures: Israel airstrikes hit central Beirut

Friday 11 October 2024 12:46 , Tom Watling

UPD: Gaza health ministry issues new death toll

Friday 11 October 2024 12:28 , Tom Watling

At least 42,126 Palestinians have been killed and 98,117 injured in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since 7 October, 2023, the Gaza health ministry has said in an updated statement on Friday.

Over 100 medics and emergency workers killed in Lebanon conflict, UN rights office says

Friday 11 October 2024 12:01 , Tom Watling

The United Nations human rights office has said that over 100 medics and emergency workers had been killed in Lebanon since a conflict between Israel and Hezbollah began a year ago.

The conflict erupted when the Iran-backed group opened fire in support of Palestinian militant group Hamas at the start of the Gaza war. It has intensified dramatically in recent weeks, with Israel bombing parts of Beirut.

“In all, over 100 medical and emergency workers have been killed across Lebanon since October last year,” spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told a UN briefing, citing figures she said were compiled by the United Nations humanitarian office.

“We’ve had several reports also of air strikes targeting other medical centres and of paramedics as well as firefighters being killed,” she said.

World Health Organization spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said that since 17 Septemeber there had been 18 attacks on health facilities in Lebanon, killing 72 health workers.

Israel says it targets military capabilities in Lebanon and Gaza and takes steps to mitigate the risk of harm to civilians. It accuses Hezbollah, like Hamas, of hiding among civilians, which they deny.

Lebanon's caretaker PM denounces attack on UN peacekeepers as a crime

Friday 11 October 2024 11:31 , Tom Watling

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has denounced what he said was an attack on the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon on Friday as a crime.

He also said he had discussed efforts to reach a ceasefire in Lebanon with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Israeli forces fired at an observation post belonging to UNIFIL at its main base at Naqoura in southern Lebanon on Friday, wounding two people, a UN source said. Israeli forces also breached the perimeter of another UNIFIL position they had fired at on Thursday, the source said.

Iranian president says Israel, supported by West, is 'killing innocent people'

Friday 11 October 2024 11:07 , Tom Watling

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said that Israel should “stop killing innocent people”, and that its actions in the Middle East were backed by the United States and the European Union.

Pezeshkian was speaking to a Russian state TV reporter on the sidelines of an international meeting in Turkmenistan.

An Israeli strike late on Thursday in the heart of Beirut killed 22 people and injured more than 100, Lebanese authorities said.

UN's Guterres says all-out war in Lebanon must be avoided

Friday 11 October 2024 10:48 , Tom Watling

An escalation of conflicts in the Middle East is a serious threat to global security and everything must be done to avoid all-out war in Lebanon, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday.

Guterres, speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of summits of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Laos, also condemned Israeli attacks that wounded UN personnel. He said peacekeepers must be protected.

Blinken says concern in Asia about prospect of Middle East conflicts spreading

Friday 11 October 2024 10:24 , Tom Watling

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said there are deep concerns in Asia about the plight of people in Gaza and conflict in the Middle East and stressed Washington is doing everything in its power to prevent those from spreading.

Speaking in Laos after the East Asia Summit, Blinken said concerns about the Middle East came up in conversations with other leaders, during which he reiterated Washington was dedicated to diplomacy to control the situation in the face of what he called an Iranian-led axis of resistance.

“The intense focus of the United States, which has been the case going back a year, and doing just that, (is) preventing these conflicts from spreading. And we’re working on that every day,” Blinken told a press conference.

“We’re working very hard through deterrence and through diplomacy to prevent that from happening. There’s also obviously deep concern that we share about the plight of children, women, and men in Gaza, who for now a year have been caught in a terrible crossfire of Hamas’ instigation.”

Blinken also said the United States was directly engaged with Israel to stress how imperative it was that the humanitarian needs of people in Gaza are met.

Israel had the right to defend itself from attacks from Hezbollah, he added, and like the United States, it had a clear and legitimate interest in creating an environment where tens of thousands of displaced people in southern Lebanon can return to their homes.

“It’s also vitally important that in doing that, they focus on making sure that civilians are protected and, again, are not being caught in a terrible crossfire,” he said.

Israel's airstrike warnings terrify and confuse Lebanese civilians

Friday 11 October 2024 10:01 , Tom Watling

Israel's airstrike warnings terrify and confuse Lebanese civilians

Apartments in ruins after Israeli strikes on Beirut kill at least 22

Friday 11 October 2024 09:46 , Tom Watling

Apartments in ruins after Israeli strikes on Beirut kill at least 22

Israel claims to have killed Hezbollah commander

Friday 11 October 2024 09:22 , Tom Watling

Israel claims to have killed another Hezbollah commander after reports of fighting this morning in southern Lebanon.

The military wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday morning that they had killed Araeb el Shoga, a commander in the Hezbollah Radwan Forces’ anti-tank missile unit.

They said he was killed in Meiss El Jabal in southern Lebanon, adding that he was responsible for “numerous anti-tank missile attacks in northern Israel”.

Earlier this morning, the Israeli military said they had detected one anti-tank missile fired from southern Lebanon across the border into Kibbutz Yaraon, according to the Jerusalem Post.

The publication said a 27-year-old man from Thailand was killed while two more people were injured.

US ‘still believes' Iran has not decided to build a nuclear weapon

Friday 11 October 2024 09:00 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

The US still believes that Iran has not decided to build a nuclear weapon despite Tehran’s recent strategic setbacks, two US officials told Reuters.

The comments from a senior Joe Biden administration official and a spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) added to public remarks earlier this week by CIA Director William Burns, who said the United States had not seen any evidence Iran’s leader had reversed his 2003 decision to suspend the weaponization program.

“We assess that the Supreme Leader has not made a decision to resume the nuclear weapons program that Iran suspended in 2003,” said the ODNI spokesperson, referring to Iran’s leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

US officials have long acknowledged that an attempt to destroy Iran’s nuclear weapons program might only delay the country’s efforts to develop a nuclear bomb and could even strengthen Tehran’s resolve to do so.

“We’re all watching this space very carefully,” the Biden administration official said.

In pics: Destruction and misery in the aftermath of Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon

Friday 11 October 2024 08:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

US and France leading ceasefire charge, Lebanon PM says

Friday 11 October 2024 08:00 , Alex Croft

Lebanese prime minister Najib Mikati said on Thursday that the United States and France are trying to revive a ceasefire deal for the Middle East.

“There are contacts taking place between the United States and France with the aim of reviving a ceasefire declaration for a specific period in order to resume the search for political solutions,” he is quoted as saying, according to Reuters.

Lebanese militant group Hezbollah yesterday supported calls for a ceasefire, and dropped a Gaza truce from their ceasefire conditions.

“We support the political efforts led by (Parliament Speaker Nabih) Berri under the banner of achieving a ceasefire. Once the ceasefire is firmly established and diplomacy can reach it, all other details will be discussed and decisions will be made collaboratively,” Deputy Secretery General Naim Qassem said.

But Israel’s invasion of Lebanon continues, and Netanyahu told the people of Hezbollah to throw out Hezbollah if they want to avoid the “destruction and suffering like we see in Gaza”.

Nelson Mandela’s grandson ‘prevented’ from entering UK to address pro-Palestine events

Friday 11 October 2024 07:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Nelson Mandela’s grandson, who has been supportive of the Hamas militant group, claimed he was “prevented” from entering the UK, where he was due to address a series of pro-Patestine events.

Zwelivelile Mandla Mandela said he was forced to cancel his flight after he did not receive a UK visa in time for his departure.“It seems that there are those who are intent on preventing me from being physically with you [in Britain],” he said yesterday, according to Middle East Eye.

The “struggle against Apartheid and against colonisation cannot be stopped or silenced”, he added.

A group called Sheffield Palestine Coalition against Israeli Apartheid said Mr Mandela was “prevented from traveling to the UK”.

British officials initially told Mr Mandela that his South African government passport did not require a visa to enter the UK, according to the group.

However, on Monday, he was informed that he did require a visa, it added.

Despite high level approaches from senior figures, the British embassy has not relented or issued a visa, the group claimed.

More than 42,000 Palestinians killed since October 7, Gaza health ministry says

Friday 11 October 2024 07:02 , Alex Croft

More than 42,065 Palestinians have been killed and 97,886 injured in Israel’s bombardment and invasion of Gaza since October 7, when Hamas carried out attacks in souther Israel, Gaza’s health ministry said on Thursday.

On Thursday, 28 people were killed and 54 injured in a major airstrike on a school in Gaza, which Israel says was targeting Hamas militants.

Iran’s military commander under probe for suspicion of spying

Friday 11 October 2024 06:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

The commander of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards is under investigation for allegedly spying for Israel, according to reports.

Esmail Qaani has not been seen in public since 4 October when Israeli forces struck a bunker in Beirut where he was believed to be meeting Hezbollah members.

Qaani suffered a heart attack during his interrogation and was hospitalised, Middle East Eye reported, citing sources.

Israel needs to address ‘catastrophic conditions’ in Gaza, US says

Friday 11 October 2024 06:01 , Alex Croft

The US has called on Israel to urgently address the “catastrophic conditions” in Gaza and stop “intensifying suffering” by limiting the delivery of aid.

Speaking to the UN security council, US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said: “These catastrophic conditions were predicted months ago, and yet, have still not been addressed. That must change, and now.”

Ms Thomas-Greenfield added that there must be “no demographic or territorial change” in the Gaza strip, The Guardian reported.

Israeli tanks attacked northern Gaza with force this week, stating they were preventing Hamas from regrouping.

Israel strike on Gaza school kills 28, injures 54

Friday 11 October 2024 05:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

An Israeli strike on a school where displaced people were sheltering in Gaza killed 28 people, including women and children, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.

Dozens were injured in the strike on Rufaida School in western Deir Al-Balah, where more than one million displaced people are sheltering after fleeing a year of war.

The Israeli military said it was targeting militants, claiming it took “numerous steps” to mitigate harm to civilians.

Alex Croft has more.

Israel strike on Gaza school kills 28, injures 54, including children

Hezbollah claims to push back advancing Israeli troops in border clashes

Friday 11 October 2024 05:00 , Alex Croft

Hezbollah claimed on Monday its fighters have managed to push Israeli troops back near the border village of Labbouneh, having fired several rocket salvoes.

Further east, the Lebanese militant group said it had attacked Israeli soldiers in the village of Maroun el-Ras and unleashed missile barrages at Israeli forces advancing towards the twin border villages of Mays al-Jabal and Mouhaybib.

Video footage posted on social media and geolocated by Reuters had shown three Israeli soldiers raising their country’s flag in Maroun el-Ras, marking the first time for decades they are known to have done so on Lebanese territory Israel occupied from 1982-2000.

UN peacekeeping mission says Israel tanks ‘directly’ fired at its tower

Friday 11 October 2024 04:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

The UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, said in a statement that its headquarters and positions “have been repeatedly hit” by Israeli forces.

It said an Israeli tank “directly” fired on an observation tower at the force’s headquarters in the town of Naqoura, Lebanon, and that soldiers had attacked a bunker near where peacekeepers were sheltering. The attack damaged vehicles and a communication system, it said.

The two UNIFIL troops wounded in the attacks and hospitalised were Indonesian.

The Israeli military acknowledged opening fire at a UN base in southern Lebanon yesterday and said it had ordered the peacekeepers to “remain in protected spaces”.

The UN peacekeeping chief said 300 peacekeepers in frontline positions on southern Lebanon’s border have been temporarily moved to larger bases, and plans to move another 200 will depend on security conditions as the conflict escalates.

Israel strikes kill 22 in deadliest attack on central Beirut

Friday 11 October 2024 03:59 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Israeli airstrikes on central Beirut killed 22 people and wounded dozens, Lebanon’s health ministry said.

The air raid on central Beirut — the deadliest in over a year of war — apparently targeted two residential buildings in separate neighborhoods simultaneously.

The bombing brought down one eight-story building and wiped out the lower floors of the other.

Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV reported that an attempt to kill Wafiq Safa, a top security official with the group, had failed. It said that Safa had not been inside of either of the targeted buildings.

Israeli soldiers demand hostage deal

Friday 11 October 2024 03:59 , Alex Croft

Over 100 Israeli soldiers have threatened to stop fighting if Netanyahu’s government does not secure a hostage release deal.

In a letter addressed to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence minister Yoav Gallant, 130 soldiers said: “If the government does not change course immediately and work towards securing a deal to bring the hostages home, we will not be able to continue serving.

“For some of us, the red line has already been crossed, and for others, it is rapidly approaching: the day when, with broken hearts, we will stop reporting for service.”

The group includes both reserve and regular soldiers, some of whom have served in Gaza and on Israel’s northern border since last year’s 7 October Hamas attacks.