[🇱🇧] Lebanon - Israel Conflict -2024

[Ghazi52]

Hezbollah says it's attacking Israeli troops along the border​

As we've been reporting, as well as the rockets being fired into northern Israel and continued air strikes in southern Lebanon, there's also on-the-ground fighting along the border in Lebanon.

Israel expanded its ground invasion earlier this week, attacking in western as well as eastern areas.

Hezbollah says it fired a missile at Israeli troops trying to push into the Labbouneh area, in the west.

And much further east, it says it also fired a rocket barrage at Israeli soldiers heading towards the twin border villages of Mays al-Jabal and Mouhaybib.

 

[Ghazi52]

What's the latest?​

Getty Images

An ambulance lies destroyed in the rubble of an air strike in Kafra, Lebanon

• Hezbollah rocket attack: Two Israelis were killed during a rocket attack on the border town of Kiryat Shmona - Hezbollah said it fired rockets at the area
• On-the-ground: Fighting has been reported by Israel and Hezbollah along the border. Hezbollah says it pushed back the IDF in western Lebanon
• Air strikes: The IDF said this morning it's hit 185 Hezbollah sites in the last 24 hours. Explosions have been seen near Tyre and in the Khiam area
• Displaced people: The UN says a quarter of Lebanese territory is under evacuation order, with displaced people living on the streets and beaches of Beirut
• Biden-Netanyahu phone call: US President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are expected to speak to later today.

 

[Ghazi52]

Hezbollah says it fired 'rocket salvo' at border town​

Reuters
A photo sent to us in the last hour shows smoke rising above Kiryat Shmona
We just reported that two people have been killed in Kiryat Shmona, a border town in the north-east of Israel.

Hezbollah has released a statement confirming they targeted "a gathering of Israeli enemy forces" in the same area with "a rocket salvo" at 14:00 local time (12:00 BST).

 

[Ghazi52]

More rockets fired at Haifa, says Israel​

Image source, MDA
A photo shared by Israel's emergency medical service of the scene after people were hit by shrapnel
Israel says the Haifa area has been hit by rockets again today, marking the third consecutive day of attacks on Israel's third-largest city.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says that about 40 "projectiles" - which usually means rockets - have crossed from Lebanon into Israel, targeting areas around Upper Galilee and Haifa Bay. While some were intercepted, several landed in the region, the IDF says.

According to Israel’s emergency services Magen David Adom (MDA), six people are injured. Five have been injured by shrapnel, including a 16-year-old boy, and a motorcyclist suffered minor injuries in a traffic accident during the alarm.

Haifa has a population of about a quarter of a million. It was hit on Monday for the first time in 18 years, and was hit again yesterday.

 

[Ghazi52]

Israel can weaken Hezbollah - but its ideology will persist​

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent, in Beirut

Reute

Benjamin Netanyahu, pictured last month

Last night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video with a message to the Lebanese people: "Free your country from Hezbollah," he said.

But here, his words are unlikely to have any resonance.

There is a long history of Israeli violence in Lebanon, and resentment and suspicion run deep. And, no matter the scale of the damage that Israel manages to inflict on Hezbollah, the group will not be entirely destroyed.

In Lebanon, Hezbollah is more than a militia, it is a political party with representation in parliament, and a social movement with significant support.

Israel may be able to weaken the group, but its ideology will persist – as it did after the wars of the past.

Now, because this is a country full of divisions, Hezbollah opponents will not be disappointed to see a degraded Hezbollah.

This is a group often described as a state with a state, powerful and influential. Critics say it is acts to defend its own interests – and those of Iran, its main supporter.

Long term, there is the real risk that Hezbollah supporters, feeling humiliated, may become more radicalised and isolated. This could exacerbate tensions in this country, which endured a civil war between 1975-1990.

This is something that people are starting to talk about - the future of this country and what may happen after the war is over.

 

[Ghazi52]

Six injured in stabbing attack in Israel
​

Image source,MDA

A stabbing attack in the city of Hadera, northern Israel, has injured six people, with at least two in a serious condition.

Israeli police call the incident a "terrorist attack".

According to Israeli media, the suspect was on a scooter when he stabbed passers-by in four different locations. He was later shot dead by the police.

Among the six victims, one is in critical condition, one in serious condition, and another four in moderate condition, KAN reports.

Hadera is about 40km (25 miles) north of Tel Aviv.

At the weekend, an Israeli policewoman was killed and 10 others injured in a shooting in Beersheba, in what police called a suspected terror attack.

On 1 October, seven people were killed a shooting and knife attack in Tel Aviv - Hamas said it was behind the attack.

 

[Ghazi52]

Israel says it's hit 185 Hezbollah sites in past 24 hours​

The Israeli army this morning gave an update on fighting in the past 24 hours, saying it hit approximately 185 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces says its soldiers engaged in "close-quarter encounters" with Hezbollah fighters on the ground in southern Lebanon, as well as carrying out more air strikes.

During the on-the-ground fighting, an Israeli commander was killed in an exchange of fire, the IDF says.

As a reminder, Hezbollah earlier claimed it has repelled Israeli incursions in eastern and western parts of the Lebanese border.

The IDF also says it targeted 45 Hamas sites in the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours.

Reuters
Rubble from a damaged building in Beirut's southern suburbs, as seen on Tuesday

 

[Ghazi52]

More blasts seen in southern Lebanon this morning​

We've been seeing pictures of some of the explosions being reported this morning in southern Lebanon, including in the town of Khiam and a village near Tyre, Lebanon's fourth-largest city.

The town of Tayr Debba near Tyre was hit in a strike, resulting in six injuries, reports Lebanese state news agency NNA.

EPA
Smoke rises in Khiam near the Lebanese-Israeli border, an area which has been targeted by Israeli raids in recent days

AFP
Plumes of smoke erupt following an Israeli air strike on a village near Lebanon's southern city of Tyre

 

[PakistanProud]

 

[Ghazi52]

Netanyahu calls for 'immediate' removal of UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon​

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called on the UN chief Antonio Guterres to remove peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon "immediately".

"Mr Secretary General, get the UNIFIL forces out of harm's way. It should be done right now, immediately," Netanyahu said in a video statement issued by his office.

Earlier this month, Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz declared Guterres persona non grata following Iran's attack on Israel.

 

[Ghazi52]

40 nations 'strongly condemn' attacks on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon
​

The UK is among 40 nations to "strongly condemn" attacks on United Nations (UN) peacekeepers in Lebanon.

On Thursday, two Indonesian peacekeepers were injured falling from an observation tower after Israeli tanks fired towards it.

On Friday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) acknowledged that its troops were responsible for an incident in which two Sri Lankan soldiers, in Naqoura, were injured and that it would be investigated.

And the United Nations, on Saturday, said another peacekeeper was injured by gunfire in the south on Friday, though added it did not know the origin of the fire.

In a joint statement posted on X, external by the Polish UN mission, the countries say attacks on the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) "must stop immediately and should be adequately investigated".

"We consider Unifil's role as particularly crucial in light of the escalating situation in the region," the statement adds.

 

[Ghazi52]

Fighting in southern Lebanon intensifies​

Sebastian Usher
Middle East editor

Hezbollah says that its fighters have been involved in combat at point-blank range with Israeli troops in a village near the border with Israel.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says that in addition to two severely wounded soldiers, many others have been evacuated to hospital with light and moderate injuries.

The fighting in south Lebanon is intensifying, as Lebanese officials say that Israel has widened its target area in the country.

The IDF says that it's carried out airstrikes on around two-hundred Hezbollah targets in the past twenty-four hours.

In one incident, the Lebanese Red Cross says its volunteers suffered injuries as an Israeli strike hit a building they were searching for casualties in south Lebanon.

The IDF has accused Hezbollah of using ambulances to transport weapons and fighters, without providing any evidence.

Image source, Getty Images
Smoke rising from the site of an Israeli air strike that targeted the Kfar Tibnit in Lebanon on Sunday

 

[Ghazi52]

Israeli media reports US considering sending THAAD air defence system to Israel
​

Wyre Davies
Reporting from Jerusalem

Several reports in Israeli media today suggest the United States is considering transferring an advanced missile defence system, known as THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defence), to Israel.

The system, specifically designed to intercept high altitude ballistic missiles, would add to Israel’s already sophisticated multi-layered missile defence capability. That has been repeatedly deployed with a high level of success against rockets, projectiles and missiles fired from Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.

It is the prospect of conflict with Iran escalating into a wider regional war that has prompted more talk of THAAD being deployed.

Israel is soon expected to respond to Iran’s unprecedented launch of 180 missiles against Israel earlier this month. Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has promised a strike against Iran will be "lethal, precise and surprising".

If president Biden were to approve sending the mobile THAAD system to Israel, from one of the US military bases in the region, it would reportedly require numerous American military personnel to operate the system.

Although the US is already deeply involved in this conflict, supplying much of Israel’s heavy and sophisticated weaponry, the prospect of American military “boots on the ground” would underline just how reliant Israel has become on US military support.

 

[Ghazi52]

How Israeli strikes changed Lebanon's capital​

Nafiseh Kohnavard
Reporting from Beirut

The face of the Beirut has completely changed.

Streets are packed with cars, some parked in the middle of boulevards.

Hundreds fleeing Israeli operations in the south of the country have fled to the capital’s suburbs, sheltering in schools in “safer” neighbourhoods. Many have found themselves sleeping on the streets.

On the motorway towards the airport and the south, billboards show Hassan Nasrallah’s face. Both pro- and anti-Hezbollah people tell me these feel surreal.

In other areas, posters that previously read “Lebanon doesn’t want war” now say “Pray for Lebanon”.

The city’s iconic Martyrs’ Square - usually host to protests and huge Christmas celebrations - has turned into a tent city.

Makeshift homes stretch from the square all the way down to the sea.

Most of the families here are Syrian refugees, who’ve found themselves displaced again and barred from shelters which are limited to Lebanese nationals. Many Lebanese families have found themselves homeless too.

Just over a kilometre away, 26-year-old Nadine is trying to take her mind off everything for a few hours. She’s one of very few customers at Aaliya’s Books, a bookshop-bar in Beirut’s Gemmayze neighbourhood.

“I don’t feel safe any more,” she tells me. “We keep hearing explosions all night.

 

[Ghazi52]

Lebanon condemns call for removal of peacekeepers
​

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati has condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call to remove UN peacekeepers from the border.

Netanyahu made the demands earlier on Sunday, adding that it should be done "immediately".

Mikati described the call as a “new chapter in the enemy’s approach of not complying with international norms”.

Clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli forces have intensified in recent days with a number of UN peacekeepers injured. Some 40 countries have strongly condemned the attacks on peacekeepers in Lebanon.

 

[Ghazi52]

Ex-Israeli spy chief says he expects Israel to strike Iran's nuclear sites​

A former Israeli military intelligence chief has told the BBC that he expects Israel to strike Iranian nuclear sites in one of its "rounds" of attacks against Iran.

"Not only do I expect that, but I expect the international community to support us," Yossi Kuperwasser tells the BBC.

"Look how dangerous Iran is without nuclear weapons," says Kuperwasser, a former director general of the Israel Ministry of Strategic Affairs and Israel Defense Forces intelligence head.

It comes as reports suggest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has assured US President Joe Biden that Israel will only target Iranian military infrastructure in response to the missile attacks earlier this month.

"I believe this is true," Kuperwasser tells the BBC, "because everybody has to understand this is not going to be a one-time attack by Israel."

Given Israel will be launching multiple rounds of attacks against Iran, "we have to make sure the Americans know we are attentive to their concerns about wide-scale regional war".

"The nuclear sites will have to be dealt with in the next round, if it's not going to be dealt with this round," Kuperwasser says.

 

[Ghazi52]

We will not be defeated, Hezbollah deputy chief says
​

Image source,Reuters

People watch Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem delivering a televised address in Beirut
Back to Lebanon, Hezbollah's deputy secretary general Sheikh Naim Qassem warns Israelis that the only solution to the current war is a ceasefire.

He says that since Israel targeted Lebanon, Hezbollah "have the right from a defensive position to target any place".

He adds that Israelis in northern Israel will be under constant threat if Israel keeps attacking Lebanon and Gaza, and says "the solution is a ceasefire... the resistance [Hezbollah] will not be defeated because this is its land".

 

[Ghazi52]

Israel condemns 'terrorist incitement' after police officer killed in shooting
​

We now have more on the police officer who was killed in a shooting in Israel earlier today.

The Israeli police say the officer was killed on Route 4, a main road in Israel, when the gunman, who they called a "terrorist", fired at a police car, then continued shooting at other passing cars, injuring four more people.

An Israeli government spokesperson says there have been "almost daily attacks" relating to "terror" in the recent weeks, adding: "We know that this terrorist incitement seeks to kill Israelis, within Israel - make no mistake. Our security forces are on extremely high alert."

Earlier this month, an Israeli policewoman was also killed in a shooting in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba.

"This incessant incitement comes from Hamas and Iran," the spokesperson says, "they will not succeed.

 

[Ghazi52]

US anti-missile system operational in Israel in near future, Pentagon says
​

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Each Thaad system - like this one seen in an archive photo - costs about $1bn (£766m)
An advance team of US military personnel, along with Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) battery components, have arrived in Israel, the Pentagon says.

More US personnel are expected to arrive in the coming days to operate the system to protect Israel from missile attack.

US President Joe Biden has said it is meant "to defend Israel", which is still expected to retaliate against an Iranian strike involving more than 180 ballistic missiles fired at Israel on 1 October.

Pentagon press secretary Maj Gen Pat Ryder says the deployment of the Thaad battery to Israel "underscores the United States’ commitment to the defence of Israel and to defend Americans in Israel from any ballistic missile attacks by Iran".

Ryder adds the battery will be fully operational "in the near future".

 

[Ghazi52]

Here's the latest:

"Desperate situation" in Gaza: The UN has delivered food aid to northern Gaza for the first time in two weeks, calling the situation there "desperate". Fighting between Israel and Hamas continues in the area, and there have been many civilian casualties in recent days, according to the UN.

Cameron considered sanctions on Israeli ministers: Former Foreign Secretary David Cameron says he had been planning to sanction two Israeli ministers, describing them "extremist". He also urged the current Labour government to consider doing so. The UK Foreign Office declined to comment.

Peacekeepers to stay in Lebanon: The UN said its peacekeepers in southern Lebanon will hold their positions, despite repeated demands from Israel that they move.

Israel to continue striking Hezbollah: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said late on Monday that Israel would continue strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon “without mercy”, including targeting Beirut.

Policeman killed in Israel shooting: A policeman has been killed and four people wounded in a shooting in Israel, Israeli police says. The identity or motive of the gunman is not yet clear.

 

[Ghazi52]

In pictures: Aftermath of strikes in southern Lebanon​

We're seeing images now of the aftermath of Israeli strikes on Qana, near Tyre in south Lebanon, as rescuers search the rubble.

Image source, EPA
Rescue operations are under way amid the damaged buildings

Image source, EPA
One person was killed and 30 others wounded in the town, the Lebanese health ministry says

Image source, EPA
The state run news agency earlier said the death toll could be as high as 10

 

[Ghazi52]

Lebanon's PM condemns Israeli attack on Nabatieh
​

Lebanon's prime minister has condemned the Israeli strikes on Nabatieh - which his office say "intentionally targeted a meeting of the municipal council".

Prime Minister Najib Mikati says "this new aggression, coupled with all the crimes committed by the Israeli enemy against civilians, is a design of the world that is deliberately silent about the crimes of the occupation, which encourages it to persist in its transgression and crimes".

He also questions the use of demanding a ceasefire from the UN, "if all the countries of the world are unable to deter a blatant aggression against the Lebanese people.

"What can deter the enemy from its crimes that have reached the point of targeting peacekeeping forces in the south? What solution can be hoped for in light of this reality?"

 

[Ghazi52]

Israeli strikes on Beirut seemed to defy US pressure​

Joel Gunter
Reporting from Beirut

Image source, Reuters
The scene in southern Beirut on Wednesday, after the Israeli strikes

The Israeli air strikes on Beirut this morning – after five days of respite for the Lebanese capital – came just hours after the US said it opposed the "scope and nature" of Israel’s bombing campaign on the city.

State department spokesman Matthew Miller told a briefing on Tuesday that the US had expressed its concerns to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying they were "made clear to the government of Israel".



As my colleagues covered earlier, there had been reports that the unexpected pause in air strikes against Beirut was the result of a US intervention.

The strikes on Wednesday morning came shortly after Netanyahu rejected the idea of a ceasefire that would leave Hezbollah close to the northern Israeli border.

He told the French president Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday he was "opposed to a unilateral ceasefire which does not change the security situation in Lebanon, and which would return the country to its previous state" according to a read-out from his office.

Also on Tuesday, in a televised address, Hezbollah's deputy leader Naim Qassem said the only solution to the recent escalation was a ceasefire - while also threatening to continue targeting Israel with missiles.

Image source, Reuters

Before the recent pause, Israel had hit southern Beirut on a near-daily basis

 

[Ghazi52]

Nowhere in Lebanon seems safe, say people in Beirut​

​

Image source, Reuters
Mohamed Gradi warns the 'situation is only getting worse' 15 days into Israel's ground operation in Lebanon

We just brought you pictures from Beirut - now we can bring you quotes from some of the people there.

Mohamed Gradi, 57, says there is no part of Lebanon where people feel safe.

"You see displacement, people not finding places to stay," he tells Reuters.

"[People] got displaced from the south, from Dahieh [Beirut’s southern suburbs], from Bekaa, and even from areas of our fellow Christians, they as well got displaced."

Meanwhile, displaced Mostafa Saleh, 48, says Israel's air strikes could increase support for Hezbollah.

"If they think that they can scare the supporting environment [of Hezbollah] this way - on the contrary...look at us... we are living not like human beings, we are homeless."

 

[Ghazi52]

In pictures: Displaced people start the day on Beirut streets​

More than 1.2 million people have been displaced in Lebanon since Israel stepped up its air strikes last month, according to the Lebanese government.

Many have fled southern towns and villages and moved north to the nation's capital.

These images from this morning show displaced people who have been sleeping on rolled-out rugs or in makeshift shelters on the streets of central Beirut.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters