[🇱🇧] Lebanon - Israel Conflict -2024

[Ghazi52]

Israeli police report heavy damage in northern Israel following Hezbollah rocket barrage​

From CNN’s Tamar Michaelis and Eyad Kourdi


Israeli police reported heavy damage in northern Israel following a Hezbollah rocket barrage on Friday.

Earlier on Friday, the Israeli military said nearly two dozen projectiles were identified crossing into Israeli territory from Lebanon.

Police officials said they had received reports about several areas impacted by rocket fire across Kiryat Shmona and the Lower Galilee, with heavy damage reported.

Fire and rescue teams attend to a fire in Kiryat Shmona

Northern District Fire & Rescue/Northern District Fire & Rescue
Several fires broke out but no injuries were reported.

Police officers and bomb disposal teams were at the scenes of the strikes.

Firefighting teams were working to extinguish a fire that broke out after a direct hit on a garage in Kiryat Shmona, according to a statement from the Fire and Rescue Services.

 

[Ghazi52]

Iran says any Lebanon ceasefire should be simultaneous with Gaza​

Reuters
October 4, 2024

BEIRUT: Tehran backs efforts for a ceasefire in Lebanon on the condition it would be backed by Hezbollah and simultaneous with a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araqchi said in Beirut on Friday.

“We support efforts for a ceasefire on the condition that it would be acceptable to the Lebanese people, acceptable to the resistance, and thirdly, it would be synchronized with a ceasefire in Gaza,” he said.

Iran’s most senior diplomat also said his presence in Beirut “in these difficult circumstances” was the best evidence that Iran stood by Lebanon and supported the Shias.

 

[Ghazi52]

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden on Friday advised Israel against striking Iran’s oil facilities, saying he was trying to rally the world to avoid the escalating prospect of all-out war in the Middle East.

But his predecessor Donald Trump, currently campaigning for another term in power, went so far as to suggest Israel should “hit” the Islamic republic’s nuclear sites.

Making a surprise first appearance in the White House briefing room, Biden said that Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu “should remember” US support for Israel when deciding on next steps.

“If I were in their shoes, I’d be thinking about other alternatives than striking oil fields,” Biden told reporters when asked about his comments a day earlier that Washington was discussing the possibility of such strikes with its ally.

Biden added that the Israelis “have not concluded how they’re, what they’re going to do” in retaliation for a huge ballistic missile attack by Iran on Israel on Tuesday.

The price of oil had jumped after Biden’s remarks Thursday.

Any long-term rise could be damaging for US Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democrat confronts Republican Trump in a November 5 election where the cost of living is a major issue.

 

[Ghazi52]

Large explosion seen in Beirut
​

Live images show a large explosion in Beirut, after what appears to be a fresh Israeli attack on the city.

Little is known about exactly what was hit and the Israeli military is yet to comment. We'll bring you more as we have it.

 

[Ghazi52]

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.

 

[Ghazi52]

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.

 

[Ghazi52]

 

[Ghazi52]

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.