🇱🇧 Lebanon - Israel Conflict -2024

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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.

 

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We will not be defeated, Hezbollah deputy chief says
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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".

 

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

 

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

 

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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.

 

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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

 

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Lebanon's PM condemns Israeli attack on Nabatieh
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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?"

 

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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

 

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Nowhere in Lebanon seems safe, say people in Beirut​

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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."

 

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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

 

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As Israeli strikes resume, there are no guarantees for people in Beirut​

Nafiseh Kohnavard
Middle East correspondent, BBC World Service, in Beirut

The air strikes on Beirut this morning came less than 24 hours after Lebanese prime minister Najib Mikati told Al Jazeera that the US had given "some kind of a guarantee" that Israel would de-escalate in Beirut and its suburbs.

But in the same hour the interview was being broadcast, here in Beirut, Israeli surveillance drones were flying low across the city, and Israeli jets caused sonic booms that sounded like actual explosions.

There had been days of anonymous quotes from US, Israeli and Lebanese officials regarding "a guarantee to stop attacks on Beirut and its southern suburbs".

Even Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the pause after talking to US President Joe Biden. Although this was denied by Netanyahu himself, some Israeli channels quoted unknown officials that such agreement was in place.

As we reported earlier, Israel says its air force targeted an underground Hezbollah weapons site.

Whatever the target was, the strikes sent a message that there is no guarantee that Beirut and its southern suburb will be excluded from Israeli attacks.

People in Beirut are back to square one - with PM Mikati’s words vanishing in the air.

Image source, Reuters
Displaced people in Beirut, in a school turned shelter

 

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Hezbollah launches rocket barrages towards Israel​

From CNN's Jessie Yeung

Hezbollah said it sent “barrages” of rockets into several areas of northern Israel overnight, while the Israeli military said it had identified dozens of projectiles launched from Lebanon.

About 50 “projectiles” were identified crossing into Israeli territory, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

“Some of the projectiles were intercepted and fallen projectiles were identified in the area,” the IDF said.

The IDF did not report any injuries. The extent of the damage is unclear.

The attack comes a day after Hezbollah’s Deputy Secretary General Naim Qassem called on Israelis to accept a ceasefire in Lebanon or face “pain” as the group changes its strategy to strike harder and deeper into Israel.

Israel is opposed to a “unilateral ceasefire” in its war with Hezbollah in Lebanon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.