[🇱🇧] Lebanon - Israel Conflict -2024

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Protesters call for hostage deal in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv​

Jon Donnison
Reporting from Jerusalem

Image source, Getty Images

In Jerusalem tonight, as in Tel Aviv, there have been more mass protests from Israelis calling for a ceasefire and a hostage release deal in Gaza.

The families of some of those who are still being held, as well as those who’ve been killed, were invited to address the crowd. “Bring them home," they chanted, waving placards bearing the faces of hostages.

Those demonstrating are furious at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and believe he is putting his own political ambitions ahead of the lives of Israeli hostages.

A year ago, Israel was united in its revulsion at what Hamas did on 7 October.

Twelve months on, its public, politicians and military are very much divided over the strategy in Gaza.

 

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IDF says more than 400 Hezbollah fighters killed during ground invasion​

Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari says 440 Hezbollah fighters have been killed since the start of Israel's ground invasion into southern Lebanon on Monday night.

He says that includes 30 commanders.

Hezbollah has not said how many of its members have been killed.

 

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Anger and grief in south Lebanon city almost deserted after Israeli strikes​

Orla Guerin - Reporting fromTyre, southern Lebanon

Goktay Koraltan

An elderly Lebanese man walks in front of a building brought down by a recent Israeli air strike
Conversations in Tyre in southern Lebanon happen in a hurry now. It’s not wise to linger on the streets, and there are fewer and fewer people to talk to.

Chats can be cut short by the rumble of Israeli bombing, or the sound of outgoing rocket fire by Hezbollah – which can attract incoming fire.

Israeli drones buzz overhead.

You drive fast, but don’t speed, knowing there are eyes in the sky. Mostly you are the only car on an empty road – which can make you a target.

That knowledge is always with us, like the body armour we now wear.

But civilians here have no armour plating to shield them, and many Lebanese no longer have a roof over their heads. More than one million have been forced to flee, according to the Prime Minister, Najib Mikati.

Goktay Koraltan

A vehicle crushed under rubble after Israeli air strikes in Tyre
War has created a vacuum here – sucking the life out of this ancient city proud of its Roman ruins, and golden sandy beach.

Streets are empty, and shops shuttered. The seashore is deserted. Windows rattle with Israeli air strikes.

The local civil defence headquarters lies abandoned – rescue teams were forced to evacuate – to save themselves after they got a telephone warning from Israel.

Israeli strikes are getting louder and closer to our hotel – in recent days several strikes on the hills opposite us appear to involve some of Israel’s most destructive bombs, weighing in at 1000lb.

And then there is the Hezbollah factor. Even as the armed group is trying to hold off invading Israeli troops on Lebanese soil, it is controlling the international media in the city of Tyre. It limits our movements, though it has no control over what we write or broadcast.

In hospitals, doctors look weary and overwhelmed. Many no longer go home because it is too dangerous to travel.

Instead, they tend to patients like nine-year-old Mariam, whose left leg is in a cast, and whose arm is heavily bandaged. She lies sleeping in a bed in Hiram Hospital, dark hair framing her face.

Goktay Koraltan

Nine-year-old Mariam lies asleep in a hospital bed with a her left leg in a cast and arm heavily bandaged

“She came in as part of a family of nine,” said Dr Salman Aidibi, the hospital CEO.

“Five of them were also treated. We operated on Mariam, and she is doing much better. We hope to send her home today. Most casualties are given first aid here and stabilised before being sent to other centres, because this hospital is on the front line.”

He says the hospital receives about 30-35 injured women and children a day, and it is taking its toll on staff.

“We need to be positive while we’re working,” he said. “It’s when we stop and contemplate, remember, that’s when we get emotional.”

Asked about what may lie ahead his response comes with a sigh. “We are in a war,” he says. “A destructive war on Lebanon. We hope for peace, but we are prepared for all eventualities.”

Also prepared for the worst is Hassan Manna. He’s staying put in Tyre as war tightens its grip. And he is staying open for business at the small coffee shop he has run for the past 14 years. Locals still pass by for a chat and some reassurance in the form of small plastic cups of sweet coffee.

 

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“I'm not leaving my country,” Hassan told me. “I'm not leaving my house. I’m staying in my place, with my children. I’m not afraid of them (the Israelis).

"The whole world is out on the streets. We don’t want to be humiliated like that.

"Let me die in my house.”

Five of his neighbours were killed in their home by an Israeli air strike last weekend. Hassan saw it happen and was thrown in the air by two incoming Israeli missiles.

He managed to walk away with just an injured arm.

Goktay Koraltan

Five of Hassan Manna's neighbours were killed in their home by an Israeli air strike last weekend

Was there a Hezbollah target there? We don’t know. Hassan says the dead were all civilians and members of one family, including two women and a baby.

Israel says its targets are Hezbollah fighters and their facilities, and not the people of Lebanon. Many here say otherwise – including doctors, and witnesses like Hassan.

Israel says it is taking steps to minimise the risk of harming civilians – accusing Hezbollah of hiding its infrastructure among civilian populations.

“There was nothing (no weapons) there,” Hassan insisted. “If there was, we would have left the area. There was nothing to be bombed. The woman was 75.”

After the strike he dug in the rubble for survivors until he collapsed and was taken to hospital himself.

When he speaks of his neighbours his voice breaks with anger and grief - and his eyes fill with tears.

“It’s unjust,” he said, “totally unjust. We know the people. They were born here. I swear I wish I had died with them.”

Ten days ago, we got the view in a Christian area, close to the border.

One local woman – who asked not to be named - told me everyone was living on their nerves.

“The phone is constantly beeping,” she said. “We can never know when (Israeli) attacks are coming. It’s always tense. Many nights we can’t sleep.”

We were interrupted by the sound of an Israeli air strike, which sent smoke rising from distant hills.

She reeled off a list of villages nearer the border - now deserted and destroyed after the past year of tit for tat exchanges between Hezbollah and Israel.

She said the damage in these areas was already far greater than in the five-week war of 2006. “If people want to come back later", she said, “there are no houses left to come back to.

"And there is no house that did not lose relatives,” she said, “either close or distant. All the men are Hezbollah.”

Before the war the armed group was always “bragging about its weapons, and saying it would fight Israel forever,” she told me. “Privately, even their followers are now shocked at the quality and quantity of attacks by Israel.”

Few here would dare to guess at the future. “We have entered a tunnel,” she said, “and until now we cannot see the light."

From Tel Aviv, to Tehran, to Washington no one can be sure what is coming next, and what the Middle East will look like the day after.

Additional reporting by Mohamed Madi

 

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Sirens blare as Israel intercepts Hezbollah​

In northern Israel rocket barrages from Lebanon are continuing to trigger sirens and interception systems.

Overnight, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it stopped around 30 rockets which had been fired into northern Israel.

Sirens have also been heard throughout the day along Israel's western coast from as far north as Haifa and as far south as Hadera, the IDF said on X.

 

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Woman killed and several injured in Israel bus station​

Image source,MDA

Several people have been injured and a 25-year-old woman has been killed in a shooting attack at a bus station in Israel.

Police say a "suspected terror attack" was carried out in Beersheba in southern Israel in the last hour.

Israel's ambulance service says medics are treating ten casualties, some of whom suffered gunshot wounds.

Police say the attacker has been killed.

Details are still emerging and we will bring you more as we get it.

 

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Iran-backed group in Iraq says it launched drones at Israel​

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq group says it launched drones at three targets in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in the early hours, according to a statement shared by Hezbollah.

The group is allied to Hezbollah and other Iran-backed groups opposed to Israel in the region. They sometimes refer to themselves as the Axis of Resistance.

The IDF has not commented on the report and it is not clear if it caused any damage.

 

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Hezbollah rocket attack hurts at least 6 people in northern Israeli city of Haifa, hospital says​

From Tamar Michaelis and Kareem El Damanhoury

Israeli rescue force members inspect the site where a projectile fell in Haifa, northern Israel, on Sunday.
Shir Torem/Reuters


At least six people have been injured after Hezbollah fired a barrage of rockets into the city of Haifa in northern Israel late Sunday.

The Iran-backed militant group said in a statement that it had launched the rockets at Israel’s Carmel military base, while Israeli authorities reported rockets and shrapnel dropping around the city.

Haifa’s Rambam Hospital said it was treating six people who were injured in the barrage. It described one of them as “lightly to moderately injured” and four of them as “lightly injured” due to shrapnel. Another person was suffering anxiety, it said, adding that all the injured were conscious.

Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency services said separately that it had treated two people at the scene — a 13-year-old boy with a head injury caused by shrapnel and a 22-year-old man who was hit by a window that fell due to the blast.

This appears to be the first time rockets have actually struck Haifa during the latest conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

Debris and shrapnel have been reported by police and bomb disposal experts in two primary areas, according to the police.

The Israel Defense Forces said earlier that it had spotted five projectiles fired toward the city and tried to intercept them, but several of the rockets landed.

Israeli officials say Hezbollah fired more than 100 rockets across the border Sunday. Israel continued with its extensive bombing campaign on southern Beirut and surrounding areas in Lebanon, which has killed more than 1,400 people over the past two weeks, according to Lebanese authorities.

CNN’s Jeremy Diamond contributed to this report.

 

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Israel vows retaliation against Iran as it strikes southern Lebanon and Gaza. Here's the latest​

From CNN staff

Flames and smoke rise from a destroyed building at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, on Sunday.

Bilal Hussein/AP

The Israeli military called for more evacuations in southern Lebanon late Sunday after pounding southern Beirut and surrounding areas with some of its most intense bombing of the current campaign against Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group.

The announcement echoed a series of previous warnings, now affecting a total of 124 villages, as Israel says it is striking Hezbollah targets embedded in civilian areas. That has forced hundreds of thousands of Lebanese people to flee the onslaught, and more than 1,400 have been killed so far, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

Meanwhile, Israeli officials have vowed retaliation for Iran’s largest-ever attack on the country — a missile barrage launched last Tuesday — and have begun a new military operation in northern Gaza, where the Israel Defense Forces says it saw signs of Hamas regrouping.

 

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Here are the latest developments in the region:

• Israel’s retaliation against Iran: Israel is closely coordinating with the United States as it prepares to strike back at Iran but will make its own, independent decisions about how to retaliate, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told CNN. Even as the US has made clear it opposes a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, Gallant said Israel has not ruled out any of its options. “Everything is on the table,” Gallant said.
• The latest from Gaza: Israel’s military says it has encircled Jabalya in northern Gaza and launched a new ground operation after seeing signs of Hamas rebuilding there, despite nearly a year of fighting in the territory. Elsewhere, Israeli airstrikes targeted a school and mosque that were converted into shelters in central Gaza, killing at least 25 people and overwhelming nearby Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital with casualties. The IDF claimed Hamas was operating at the complex.
• October 7 anniversary: The Israeli military has reinforced soldiers near the Gaza Strip ahead of the ceremonial events that will mark one year since the Hamas attacks. Additional troops have been deployed at border communities for both “defensive and offensive scenarios,” according to a statement by the IDF. Meanwhile, there have been more demonstrations, marches and memorials across the world ahead of the anniversary — both mourning the attacks’ victims and demanding an end to the ensuing war.
• Iran cancels flights: Flights at Iran’s airports will be canceled overnight Sunday into Monday, and a portion of the country’s airspace will be closed down due to “military exercises” nightly until at least October 9, according to Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization. The Iranian government did not elaborate on the decision, but it comes ahead of the anniversary of the Hamas attacks and as Israel mulls its retaliation.
• Lebanon delays start of school year: Lebanon has postponed the start of the school year until November 2 as a protective measure amid the escalating fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. Some 400,000 students and 40,000 teachers have been displaced from their homes across the country following the fighting, Lebanese education minister Abbas Halabi said.

 

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Strike near historic Roman ruins in Lebanon prompts warning from local governor​

From CNN’s Charbel Mallo

Smoke billows following an Israeli airstrike near the ruins of the ancient Roman Temple of Bacchus in Baalbek, Lebanon, on October 6.

Nidal Solh/AFP/Getty Images

An Israeli strike landed close to Roman ruins in the Lebanese city of Baalbek, raising warnings from local officials on the structural integrity of the site.

The Israeli attack did not target the historic complex, Baalbek-Hermel Governor Bachir Khodr said — but it struck nearby.

“It is 500 to 700 meters away from it, but raids near it will have negative repercussions on it,” Khodr said in a post on X Sunday.

Khodr shared an image showing smoke rising behind what appears to be the monoliths of the ancient complex. It is unclear what the Israeli military was targeting in the area. CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces.

More on the historic significance of site:
The ancient complex — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — contains the ruins of some of the largest and best-preserved Roman temples. It has survived many natural disasters and conflicts over centuries, most recently the 2006 Israeli-Hezbollah conflict and a 15-year civil war that started in 1975.

The city of Baalbek has a Hezbollah presence and is located northeast of Lebanon. It has been targeted by Israel several times over the past year.

The Israeli military has been carrying out its current bombing campaign in Lebanon at an unprecedented intensity. The Lebanese government says strikes have killed more than 1,400 people and forced hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee residential areas, where the IDF says the militant group is operating.

 

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Hezbollah rockets hit northern Israeli city of Haifa​

David Gritten
BBC News

Getty Images

One rocket hit a roundabout near a supermarket and several apartment blocks in eastern Haifa

The northern Israeli port city of Haifa was hit by about five rockets fired by the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah late on Sunday, causing damage and injuring eight people, Israeli authorities say.

A spokesman for Haifa's municipality said it was the first time the city had been targeted since the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.

The Israeli military said it was investigating how its air defences failed to intercept the rockets. Hezbollah said it targeted a military base south of Haifa.

Another person was injured when a barrage of rockets hit the town of Tiberias, which is located to the east on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes carried out a new round of air strikes in the Lebanese capital. Beirut, hitting what the military said were Hezbollah targets.

The military also said a third division had joined its invasion of southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah said its fighters were targeting Israeli troops in and around border villages.

Israel’s government has pledged to make it safe for tens of thousands of displaced residents to return to their homes near the Lebanese border after a year of cross-border fighting sparked by the Gaza war.

The hostilities have escalated steadily since Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel in support of Palestinians on 8 October 2023, the day after its ally Hamas’s deadly attack on southern Israel.

Hezbollah has remained defiant despite suffering a series of devastating blows in recent weeks, insisting on Monday that it was confident in its ability to “repel the [Israeli] aggression”.


According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Hezbollah fired more than 135 rockets into northern Israel on Sunday.

Approximately five projectiles crossed from Lebanon after air raid sirens sounded in the Carmel and Bay areas of Haifa at 23:22 local time (20:22 GMT), an IDF statement said.

“Interceptors were fired. Fallen projectiles were identified in the area. The incident is under review,” it added.

Eliran Tal, spokesman for the Haifa municipality, told the BBC that two neighbourhoods were hit.

BBC Verify geolocated CCTV footage showing the moment that one of the rockets hit a roundabout near a supermarket and several apartment blocks in the west of the city.

In another video, emergency services and bystanders are seen inspecting a crater and piles of rubble and earth at the scene.

Tal Rosen, a member of the emergency services, told Reuters news agency that he had been inside his home about 500m (1,640ft) away when he heard an explosion.

“In the beginning, we didn't find any injuries and then I saw in this building,” he said, pointing to damaged windows on the side of a nearby apartment block.

“There were shards of glass in this building. I went inside and I found four people [with] minor to moderate [injuries]."

Israel’s Magen David Adom (MDA) ambulance service said it treated a 13-year-old boy in a moderate condition with shrapnel injuries to his head, as well as a 22-year-old man in a moderate condition with both a blast injury and a head injury from falling through a window.

Hezbollah said it launched "a salvo of Fadi 1 rockets at the Carmel base south of Haifa” late on Sunday in retaliation for the Israeli air strike that killed its leader Hassan Nasrallah last month.

Mr Tal dismissed Hezbollah's claim, saying it was "an attack on civilian population".

He estimated that 95% of Haifa's population of 280,000 was staying put.

"With missile threats from the north, it is not an easy period of time. But we are strong," he said.

"We went through a lot of tragedy like this - and I hope the IDF and the leadership will do their best to push the enemy far from the border."

The MDA also reported that a man in his 20s was in a serious but stable condition and suffering from shrapnel injuries to his chest and abdomen following a separate rocket attack on the town of Tiberias, about 50km (30 miles) to the east.

The IDF said approximately 15 projectiles were identified as crossing from Lebanon at the same time as the Haifa attack. Some were intercepted while others fell in the area, it added.

The Israeli police said some buildings and properties were damaged.

 

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Israeli forces proximity to Irish troops in Lebanon 'concerning'​

EPA

The IDF are a few hundred metres from camp UN-652

Israeli Defence Forces' (IDF) proximity to an outpost where a number of Irish troops are stationed is "concerning", said the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

Andrea Tenenti from UNIFL has said that the IDF are currently a few hundred metres from camp UN-652, she said to Irish Broadcaster RTÉ.

The proximity of the IDF to Irish UN troops has caused high levels of concern within United Nations Headquarters as fighting continues between Israel and Hezbollah.

President Michael D Higgins said it is "outrageous" that the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has "threatened" UNIFIL peacekeepers and attempted to have them evacuated from the villages they are defending in Lebanon.

A convoy is set to de-escaluate the situation​

Mr Tenenti, who is in Beirut, told RTÉ that efforts are being made in New York to deal with the Israeli permanent mission to the UN in order to get IDF soldiers to move away from the area as their presence compromises the safety of UNIFIL troops.

If the IDF refuse to leave the area, the [UN] Security Council will decide how to move forward, Mr Tenenti added.

Mr Tenenti explained that troops at the outpost have supplies for a couple of weeks and a convoy is heading to the area and de-escalate the situation.

He said there is also concern for troops from other countries as there are 29 other positions that are based near the "blue line".

Drawn by the United Nations, the Blue Line is the 120km demarcation line where Israeli pulled back to when they left south Lebanon in 2000.

 

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'Ireland's position is clear'​

Also condemning the attack on the 7 October is Tánaiste Micheál Martin who says that the violence must end and a political process needs to begin.

He said: "I think today of the hostages still in Gaza and their families who desperately want them home. I call again for their immediate release,

"I recognise the hurt and sorrow of the Israeli people, and of the Jewish and Israeli communities here in Ireland and throughout the world.

"I express our profound sympathy to all who are mourning loved ones brutally murdered, and think especially of the family and friends of Kim Damti."

Martin added: "It is not possible to view this anniversary in isolation from the justifiable outrage at the death and destruction suffered by ordinary Palestinians in Gaza over the past 12 months.

"Ireland's position is clear and on the record. The violence must stop.

"There must be an immediate ceasefire and hostage release deal, and a massive scaling up of humanitarian assistance into Gaza."