Middle Eastern Headlines at 1:02 a.m. GMT
Israel begins ground offensive against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon
Israel begins ground offensive against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon
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.
Two United Nations (UN) peacekeepers in southern Lebanon have been wounded after an Israeli tank directly hit a UN observation tower, prompting outrage from troop-contributing nations.
BEIRUT (Reuters) -Hezbollah is preparing for a long war of attrition in south Lebanon, after Israel wiped out its top leadership, with a new military command directing rocket fire and the ground conflict, two sources familiar with its operations said. Hezbollah has been diminished by three weeks of devastating Israeli blows - most notably the killing of its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. Friends and foes alike are now watching how effectively it resists Israeli troops that have crossed into Lebanon with the stated aim of driving it away from the border.
Conflicting reports include house arrest of Esmail Ghaani, who was in Beirut at time of Hassan Nasrallah’s killing
Hezbollah critics and supporters alike are voicing frustration over what many view as the group's miscalculations.
Ukraine said it has caused damage at a key Russian ammunition depot, a drone storage facility, and now an airfield over the past two days.
The fragile truce between rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia could unravel if Gulf states allow Israel to use their airspace to strike Iran.
Putin casualties reach more than 600,000 in Ukraine since the war began in 2022, says US
Wafiq Safa is a close ally of the armed group’s assassinated leader Hassan Nasrallah
A series of U.S. airstrikes targeted several camps run by the Islamic State group in Syria in an operation the U.S. military said will disrupt the extremists from conducting attacks in the region and beyond. The U.S. Central Command said the airstrikes were conducted Friday, without specifying in which parts of Syria. About 900 U.S. troops have been deployed in eastern Syria alongside the U.S.-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces that were instrumental in the fight against IS militants.
Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged almost daily cross-border fire since the war in Gaza started last October but recent weeks have seen that violence significantly ramp up turning southern Lebanon into a flashpoint.View on euronews
Two incidents in Lebanon prompt growing concern over Israel’s escalating campaign and the spreading Middle East conflict
The Israeli military on Saturday renewed its orders for Palestinian in the northern Gaza Strip to leave their homes and shelters as troops press on a weeklong offensive against militants. Most of the fighting in the past week was centered in and around Jabaliya that was pounded by Israeli war jets and artillery. In Lebanon, authorities said Friday that 60 people were killed and 168 wounded in the past 24 hours, raising the total toll over the past year of conflict between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah to 2,229 dead and 10,380 wounded.
BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Two U.N. peacekeepers were wounded by an Israeli strike near their watchtower in south Lebanon on Friday, Israel's military said, while blasts shook the peacekeepers' main base in the area for the second time in 48 hours as Israeli forces battled Hezbollah. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Western countries condemned the attacks. The UNIFIL force called it a "serious development" and said the security of U.N. personnel and property must be guaranteed.
UN peacekeepers in Lebanon have reported two separate attacks within 48 hours.
STORY: In Beirut's Geitaoui Hospital, burns victims lie in bed, after recent Israeli strikes in Lebanon.Their bodies wrapped in bandages, they are battling physical and emotional trauma.Mahmoud Dhaiwi is a soldier in the Lebanese army.He says since the strike hit him, he has been unable to sleep.“This war is very tough, they are bombing wherever they want, civilians, ambulances or soldiers, hitting anyone. They affected me, made me anxious, I couldn’t sleep ever since the strike, but thank God we are now better. God willing this war ends, so these feelings of fear and terror end.”Another patient with severe burns said she was sitting in a café with her family, and that they were 'minding our own business' when an attack came.The hospital’s burns unit has opened its doors to victims of strikes from different parts of Lebanon.According to plastic surgeon Ziad Slieman, many have burns so severe that they are unlikely to survive."We can't perform miracles. We can treat, we can push our strength to the maximum but we can't perform miracles.”More than a million Lebanese have fled their homes since Israel intensified its airstrikes and launched a ground campaign in southern Lebanon against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.In solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza, Hezbollah has been striking Israel.“We don’t like to live through this sorrow. We don’t like to live through this sadness and pain. Our children die, our families die, and we die. We just want to live and nothing more. I wish peace for this country. And from my side, if the country stays like this, I would choose to flee now before tomorrow.”
Twenty coal miners were shot dead in an overnight attack by a group of heavily armed men who laid siege to their lodgings in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, police said Friday.Separatist militant groups in Balochistan regularly target natural resource extraction projects dotted across the mineral-rich province, the poorest in Pakistan.
(Reuters) -Thousands of people are trapped in Gaza's Jabalia camp as Israeli forces attack the area, Médecins Sans Frontières (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. Israeli military strikes killed at least 61 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Friday, the medics added.
Loud bangs sounded, thick columns of smoke rose and ambulance sirens rang throughout the night as deadly Israeli strikes hit residential areas of central Beirut on Thursday evening.Two other strikes have hit central Beirut in the past few weeks.
Simon Harris urged that any firing at United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) positions ceases.