Israeli forces ‘conducting Lebanon raids’ ahead of possible full ground invasion – MASHAHER

Israeli special forces are said to be conducting small-group raids into southern Lebanon to gather intelligence on Hezbollah positions, with Israel’s defence minister hinting at a ground invasion.

Yoav Gallant was quoted by Iasraeli media as telling armoured corps troops near the Lebanon border: “To return the resident of the north safely to their homes we will activate all our capabilities – including you.”

It comes as the deputy leader of Hezbollah vowed that militants are ready for an Israeli invasion and will defeat any forces that cross into Lebanon.

In his first speech since Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah over the weekend, the group’s deputy chief Naim Qassem said the militia was confident they could replicate its success during the 2006 war with Israel and fight invading forces back off its territory.

“We are confident the Israeli enemy will not achieve its aims,” Qassem said. “We will confront any possibility and are ready if Israel decides to enter by land.”

Israel intensified its airstrikes on Monday, hitting central Beirut for the first time since 2006, while also killing Hamas’s leader in Lebanon in the southern city of Tyre.

Key Points

• Hezbollah deputy leader speaks for first time since Nasrallah death, vows to defeat Israel

• Israel strikes central Beirut for the first time in almost two decades

• Israeli strikes kill Hamas leader in Lebanon and three Palestinian leaders in Beirut

• Lebanon ‘on verge of catastrophic humanitarian situation’

• More than 1,000 people killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon

Gallant meets troops

12:35 , Chris Stevenson

More from the Israeli defence minister, Yoav Gallant, during his visit to see troops on the Lebanese border.

In a short video, he is seen telling troops that “we will use all the abilities we have and if someone on the other side did not understand what all the abilities mean – it’s all the abilities.

“And you are part of this effort, we trust you to be able to accomplish anything.”

“Everything that needs to be done – will be done,” Mr Gallant adds. “We will use all the forces from the air, sea and land”.

Israel special forces ‘conduct raids’ in Lebanon

12:10 , Chris Stevenson

Israel has been launching small special forces raids into southern Lebanon as part of a potential ground offensive, according to a number of reports.

Israel officials told NBC News and The Telegraph that they are designed to gather intelligence and probe Hezbollah’s positions. The official went on to say that such operations have been going on for months and do not necessarily signal the imminent start of a ground assault.

But when taken with the words of Mr Gallant mentioned in the previous post, it is clear that Israel is preparing for some form of operation.

Israel defence minister hints at ground operation against Hezbollah – media

12:01 , Tom Watling

Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant appeared to hint on Monday at a possible ground operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon, according to reports in the Israeli media.

Gallant was cited by several news outlets as telling armoured corps troops near the Lebanese border: “Nasrallah’s elimination is an important step but it is not the end – to return the resident of the north safely to their homes we will activate all our capabilities – including you.”

Berlin says Nasrallah killing was Israeli self defence

11:29 , Tom Watling

Israel’s killing of Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in a powerful airstrike in Beirut constituted a use of its right to defend itself, a German foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday.

“Hezbollah is of course a terrorist organization and it was obviously a meeting of the top leadership of Hezbollah, from which one can assume, even from a distance, that they were planning their further operations,” the spokesperson said.

“So in this respect, there are also reasons to believe that the right to self-defence was exercised here,” he added.

Asked about the civilian deaths in the incident, the spokesperson said “every civilian victim is one civilian victim too many.”

Strike hits central Beirut as Hezbollah reels from Israel’s elimination of much of its top command

11:03 , Tom Watling

Strike hits central Beirut as Hezbollah reels from Israel’s elimination of much of its top command

Lebanon’s Hezbollah will pick new leader at earliest opportunity, says its deputy chief

10:48 , Tom Watling

Lebanon’s Hezbollah will choose a successor to its slain secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah “at the earliest opportunity” and will continue the fight against Israel, the Iran-backed group’s deputy chief Naim Qassem said on Monday.

He said the group was continuing its operations, working according to plans already laid out, and described its attacks thus far as the “minimum”, adding that the battle could be long.

Hezbollah is ‘ready’ to fight Israel, vows deputy chief

10:31 , Tom Watling

We have some quotes from Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem’s first speech since his superior Hassan Nasrallah was killed over the weekend.

“We are confident the Israeli enemy will not achieve its aims,” Qassem said. “We will confront any possibility and are ready if Israel decides to enter by land.”

More than 100,000 people cross from Lebanon into Syria, UN refugee agency says

10:29 , Tom Watling

More than 100,000 people have crossed into Syria from Lebanon since a conflict between Israeli forces and the Hezbollah militia escalated this month, the United Nations refugee agency chief said on Monday.

Filippo Grandi said on social media platform X that those fleeing included both Lebanese and Syrian nationals. The UN agency is assisting those arriving at four crossing points, he added.

Hezbollah deputy leader speaks for first time since Nasrallah death

10:20 , Tom Watling

Hezbollah’s deputy chief Naim Qassem is giving his first public address since the group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in a series of Israeli strikes over the weekend.

He has vowed that Hezbollah will defeat Israel and that they are ready to go to war.

Sound of explosions heard on outskirts of Damascus, say witnesses

10:10 , Tom Watling

Sounds of explosions were heard on the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus on Monday, witnesses told Reuters.

Iran will not leave Israel’s ‘criminal’ acts unanswered, says foreign ministry

09:58 , Tom Watling

Iran will not leave any of ‘the criminal acts’ of Israel unanswered, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said in a weekly news conference on Monday, referring to the killing of Hezbollah’s chief and Iranian Guard deputy commander in Lebanon.

Israel posts footage of planes refuelling during Houthi attacks

09:45 , Tom Watling

The Israeli military has posted footage of its planes refuelling while on route to attacks on the Houthi militia in Yemen.

Earlier, we reported that dozens of its aircraft struck Houthi targets in Yemen in response to a recent attack on Israel.

The military said it targeted power plants and sea port facilities in the city of Hodeida.

The Houthis launched a ballistic missile attack on Ben Gurion airport on Saturday when prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was arriving.

Hezbollah faces ‘existential moment’ after Nasrallah’s death

09:30 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa programme at Chatham House, said that Israel has been closely monitoring Hezbollah and its leader Hassan Nasrallah since the 2006 war, enabling them to eliminate many key figures within the group.

Vakil described this as a critical junction for Hezbollah. “This is why this is such an existential moment for the group.”

Sources told Middle East Eye that while Hezbollah typically replaces its commanders quickly, Nasrallah’s cousin, Hachem Safieddine, has been groomed for leadership.

“Over the years, Nasrallah put Safieddine on the path to prepare him to take the helm. But this remains to be seen as Safieddine’s name was circulating among those who were killed in Friday’s strike,” the source was quoted as saying.

Deputy chief of Lebanon’s Hezbollah to give speech, first since Nasrallah’s killing

09:15 , Tom Watling

The deputy chief of Lebanon’s armed group Hezbollah is due to give an address imminently, the group’s media office have said.

It is the first address by a Hezbollah official since the killing of the group’s secretary general in an Israeli air attack on Friday.

The media office originally reported the speech would take place at 12 pm local time, 9am GMT.

Kirby says Israeli strikes ‘nearly decimated’ Hezbollah command structure

09:00 , Maroosha Muzaffar

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said that Israel’s airstrikes in Lebanon have “nearly decimated” Hezbollah’s command structure, though he cautioned that the group will likely rebuild it swiftly.

He told ABC: “There’s no question that the Hezbollah of today is not the Hezbollah that was even just a week ago.”

But he warned that “somebody will be anointed” to take Hassan Nasrallah’s place.

Israel confirmed that the Hezbollah leader was killed in a strike on Beirut on Friday.

“We’re watching this very, very closely to see how, if and how, Hezbollah and / or Iran may react as well as the militia groups in Iraq and Syria. We have to be prepared for some sort of response. We have to make sure that we are ready, and we are. We believe we have the force capability we need in the region, but it’s not clear right now, it’s too soon to know how Iran’s going to react to this,” Mr Kirby said.

Israel-Lebanon latest: Israel strikes central Beirut for first time in 18 years as death toll passes 1,000

08:44 , Tom Watling

In photos: Israeli air strike on central Beirut

08:30 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Smoke rises from Beirut’s southern suburbs after suspected strike, witness

08:16 , Tom Watling

Smoke is rising from Beirut’s southern suburbs after a suspected Israeli strike, witness have told Reuters.

Lebanese media have suggsted the smoke this is the result of the collapse of a building, rather than an airstrike.

Israeli strikes kill Hamas leader in Lebanon and three Palestinian leaders in Beirut

08:10 , Tom Watling

Palestinian militant group Hamas said an Israeli strike killed its leader in Lebanon on Monday, while another Palestinian militant group said three of its leaders were killed in a strike on Beirut, the first attack within the city limits.

Hamas said its leader in Lebanon, Fateh Sherif Abu el-Amin was killed, along with his wife, son, and daughter, in a strike that targeted their house in a Palestinian refugee camp in the southern city of Tyre in the early hours of Monday.

As Israel escalates hostilities against Iran’s allies in the region, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) said three of its leaders were killed in a strike that targeted Beirut’s Kola district.

The strike hit the upper floor of an apartment building, Reuters witnesses said.

Who was Hassan Nasrallah? Hezbollah leader of Lebanese militant group killed in Israeli strike

08:00 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Hassan Nasrallah’s death is not only an enormous blow to Hezbollah but also to Iran, whose Revolutionary Guards founded the group in 1982.

Read more here:

Who was Hassan Nasrallah, shrewd strategist of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah?

ICYMI: Pope Francis suggests Israel’s actions in Gaza and Lebanon are disproportionate and immoral

07:30 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Pope Francis suggested Sunday that Israel‘s attacks in Gaza and Lebanon have been “immoral” and disproportionate, saying its military domination has gone beyond the rules of war.

Francis was asked en route home from Belgium about Israel’s targeted killing of one of Hezbollah’s founding members, Hassan Nasrallah. Friday’s strike in Beirut targeted an area greater than a city block and reduced several residential buildings to rubble, and at least six other deaths have been confirmed.

Francis didn’t mention Israel by name and said he was speaking in general terms. But he said that “the defense must always be proportionate to the attack.”

“When there is something disproportionate, there is a dominating tendency that goes beyond morality,” he said. “A country that does these things — and I’m talking about any country — in a superlative way, these are immoral actions.”

He said that even if war itself is immoral, there are rules that “indicate some morality.”

Read the full story here:

Pope Francis suggests Israel’s actions in Gaza and Lebanon are disproportionate and immoral

Israeli forces uncover Gaza Hamas tunnel near homes

07:00 , Jane Dalton

The Israeli military says it has uncovered and dismantled a Hamas tunnel in central Gaza that was over a kilometre (0.6 miles) long.

It said the tunnel ran near homes, and that inside were several rooms and equipment used by militants for prolonged stays.

The military released footage showing the entrance to the tunnel, a long staircase leading down and what appeared to be an iron blast door.

Hamas is believed to have built hundreds of miles of tunnels across Gaza to evade Israeli airstrikes. The militants have also used the tunnels to hold hostages captured in the 7 October attack that triggered the war and to launch ambushes against Israeli forces.

Hamas says its leader in Lebanon was killed in Israeli strike

06:30 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Hamas’s top commander in Lebanon, Fateh Sherif Abu el-Amin, has been killed in an Israeli strike, the militant group confirmed on Monday.

Some of el-Amin’s family members were also killed during the airstrike in the south of the country.

Lebanon ‘on verge of catastrophic humanitarian situation’

06:15 , Maroosha Muzaffar

In just a few hours this weekend, the number of displaced people in Lebanon surged from 300,000 to nearly one million, according to Nasser Yassin, Lebanon’s head of emergency disaster management.

Despite opening hundreds of shelters, Mr Yassin warned that Lebanon is on the brink of a “catastrophic” humanitarian crisis. The country, already hosting 1.5 million Syrian and 250,000 Palestinian refugees, now has one million of its own people internally displaced due to ongoing Israeli strikes.

“We don’t want this to collapse fully, but we are on the verge of coming to a catastrophic humanitarian situation,” he told Sky News.

“We have been taking this on our shoulders, and now we have an additional burden of one million Lebanese people being displaced or affected by the current aggression.”

He criticised Israel’s tactic of announcing attacks on social media, calling it the “professionalisation of genocide”.

US kills dozens of al-Qaeda militants

06:00 , Jane Dalton

The US military says it killed 37 militants linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group in two strikes in Syria this month.

US Central Command said it struck northwestern Syria on Tuesday, targeting a senior militant in charge of military operations for the al-Qaeda-linked Hurras al-Deen group and eight others.

It also said a large-scale airstrike on two weeks ago targeted an IS training camp in a remote location in central Syria. That attack killed 28 militants including “at least four Syrian leaders,” the US said.

There are 900 US forces in Syria, along with an undisclosed number of contractors, mostly trying to prevent any comeback by the extremist IS group, which swept through Iraq and Syria in 2014, taking control of large swaths of territory.

Israeli strike allegedly kills three leaders of Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine

05:32 , Maroosha Muzaffar

A Palestinian militant group, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), alleged that three of its leaders were killed in an Israeli airstrike on central Beirut’s Kola district.

The attack comes as Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon killed over 1,000 people in the last two weeks, according to Lebanon’s health ministry, with a fifth of the population now displaced.

The strikes, previously limited to southern Beirut, have now spread to the city’s centre for the first time since 2006.

The Israeli military has not commented on the latest incident.

Biden says need to avoid ‘all-out’ war in the Middle East

05:04 , Maroosha Muzaffar

US president Joe Biden said that he planned to speak with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu shortly before Israel intensified its military actions in Lebanon.

Israel has launched its first airstrike on central Beirut since 2006. The strike followed a weekend of IDF attacks targeting Hezbollah, including the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Mr Biden said that there is a need to avoid an all-out war in the Middle East, adding that the US is working with international partners to de-escalate the situation. “It has to be. We really have to avoid it.”

“I’ll tell you what I say to him when I talk to him,” he said.

Iranian leader calls for ‘decisive’ response to killings

04:30 , Jane Dalton

Iran’s president has said a “decisive response” is needed following Israel‘s killing of numerous leaders of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

President Masoud Pezeshkian characterised the Israeli attacks on Hezbollah as crimes.

“The Lebanese fighters should not be left alone in this battle,” Pezeshkian said during a Sunday cabinet meeting, his office reported.

Iran, which has armed and trained Hezbollah for decades, also condemned Israeli airstrikes on power plants and port facilities in Yemen that targeted Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

Pezeshkian branded Israel a “brutal” regime and urged all Islamic countries not to be indifferent.

He won Iran’s presidential race in July, and is thought to be a reformist politician within Iran’s Shia theocracy:

Moderate reformist politician Masoud Pezeshkian wins Iran’s presidential race

Israel strikes central Beirut for the first time in almost two decades

04:06 , Maroosha Muzaffar

Israel intensified its military campaign across the Middle East on Monday, striking central Beirut for the first time since 2006.

A drone attack also reportedly killed three senior leaders of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a militant group involved in the ongoing conflict with Israel. The airstrike hit a residential building near the Kola intersection, causing significant damage and killing at least two others on the scene, the group said.

The attack comes as Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon have killed over 1,000 people in the last two weeks, according to Lebanon’s health ministry, with a fifth of the population now displaced.

Meanwhile, Israel launched a wave of airstrikes against Houthi forces in Yemen, targeting infrastructure in the port city of Hodeidah. The strikes, which hit fuel facilities and power plants, were reportedly in response to Houthi missile attacks on Israel. At least four people were killed and 33 wounded in the Yemeni strikes.

Hezbollah leadership ‘wiped out’ by Israel

03:00 , Jane Dalton

Bombing has forced a fifth of Lebanese to flee, a minister says. Full report:

Israel ‘wipes out’ Hezbollah leadership as bombing ‘forces one million’ to flee homes

Netanyahu puts former rival in war cabinet

01:30 , Jane Dalton

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appointed a former rival, Gideon Saar, to his cabinet. The move expands Netanyahu’s governing coalition and helps entrench the Israeli leader in office.

Under their agreement, Mr Netanyahu said Mr Saar would be given a spot in the Security Cabinet, the body that oversees management of the war.

Mr Saar had hoped to replace defence minister Yoav Gallant, another rival of Mr Netanyahu’s. But a deal for the job fell through after fighting intensified with Hezbollah.

Israel’s prime minister appoints a former rival to strengthen his hold on office

Curbs eased in northern Israel

Monday 30 September 2024 00:05 , Jane Dalton

The Israeli army has eased restrictions in parts of the country’s north – a move that appears to reflect a determination that the threat of incoming rocket fire has slightly diminished, although restrictions in the north still remain much stricter than other parts of the country.

The changes applied to parts of the Haifa Bay area and several adjacent towns. Schools will be allowed to operate if they have quickly-accessible shelters and restrictions on gatherings will ease.

Shortly after the announcement, sirens warned of incoming rockets throughout the Haifa area and Israel’s northern coast. The army said some 35 rockets were launched from Lebanon at northern Israel and two drones that crossed from Lebanon into the territorial waters of Israel were intercepted.

Thousands of Israeli children have been kept home from schools for the past week across the country’s north as fighting between Israel and Hezbollah escalated.

Anti-America protesters in Pakistan clash with police

Sunday 29 September 2024 23:10 , Jane Dalton

Stone-throwing protesters in Pakistan’s southern city of Karachi clashed with police who stopped them from reaching the US consulate during demonstrations over Israel’s killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Protesters chanted “Death to America” while carrying posters of Nasrallah.

Police said seven officers were being treated in hospital for injuries from stones thrown by protesters.

“Police had to resort to baton-charging and tear gas against those who breached the cordons in a bid to disperse the crowd,” said Police Deputy Inspector General Asad Raza, adding that protesters had tried to reach areas beyond cordons agreed upon with organisers in advance.

Netanyahu wants to avoid regional war, US aide says

Sunday 29 September 2024 22:30 , Jane Dalton

Biden national security spokesman claims Netanyahu wants to avoid wider regional war

Watch: We have lost everything, say family arriving in UK

Sunday 29 September 2024 21:50 , Jane Dalton

In case you missed it:

‘We have lost everything’: Britons fleeing Lebanon say family was killed by airstrike

Israeli strike allegedly kills three leaders of Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine

05:30 , Maroosha Muzaffar

A Palestinian militant group, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), alleged that three of its leaders were killed in an Israeli airstrike on central Beirut’s Kola district.

The attack comes as Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon killed over 1,000 people in the last two weeks, according to Lebanon’s health ministry, with a fifth of the population now displaced.

The strikes, previously limited to southern Beirut, have now spread to the city’s centre for the first time since 2006.

The Israeli military has not commented on the latest incident.

More than 211,000 people forced to flee homes, says UN

Sunday 29 September 2024 20:40 , Jane Dalton

The number of people displaced by the conflict from southern Lebanon now stands at more than 211,000, according to the United Nations.

The United Nations’ refugee agency says 70,000 people have crossed from Lebanon into Syria to escape Israeli bombardment.

The total includes both Lebanese citizens and Syrians who had moved to Lebanon but are now returning.

Sarah Haj Hassan, who fled Shmustar near Lebanon’s eastern city of Baalbek, said: “I lost my house, and my parents’ house was damaged.”

She is one of 7,500 people who have registered in the Sayyida Zeinab suburb of Damascus.

Biden vows to talk to Netanyahu, saying war must be avoided

Sunday 29 September 2024 20:00 , Jane Dalton

US president Joe Biden has said an all-out war “has to be avoided” in the Middle East and he aims to speak to Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu, but he did not say when.

“I’ll tell you what I say to him when I talk to him,” he told reporters. Asked whether all-out war in the Middle East could be avoided, he replied: “It has to be. We really have to avoid it.”

US warplanes, ships and troops ready for wider conflict

Sunday 29 September 2024 19:45 , Jane Dalton

A recap:

Syrians in shock during three days of mourning

Sunday 29 September 2024 19:00 , Jane Dalton

Flags have been flying at half-mast in Damascus and residents said they were still shocked after the killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, whose fighters helped Syria’s army reclaim large parts of the country during its brutal civil war.

Syria announced three days of national mourning for Nasrallah, after president Bashar al-Assad said Nasrallah would “remain in the memory of Syrians”.

In Damascus, residents expressed disbelief over the killing.

“He can’t die. He always dreamed of martyrdom, and while this is fitting, it’s still so hard to accept,” said Marwa Barkouka. “He remains alive, not just as a martyr but because he lives inside us. We grew up with him here.”

Syria’s conflict erupted in 2011 with protests against Assad. Nasrallah in 2012 called for reform in the country, but by the next year said that Hezbollah would fight alongside Assad to prevent Syria falling to Sunni jihadi radicals, the United States and Israel.

Many credit Hezbollah’s intervention with key victories.

“For us, this man was like an entire nation. We had dignity, and now it’s gone,” said Ibrahim Al-Ahmad, another resident of Damascus.

Hezbollah will try to quickly rebuild itself, US warns

Sunday 29 September 2024 18:01 , Jane Dalton

A top White House official says Israel has “wiped out” Hezbollah’s command structure with a barrage of airstrikes, but warned that the militant group will work to quickly rebuild.

National security spokesman John Kirby said: “They will try to recover. We’re watching to see what they do to try to fill this leadership vacuum.”

Referring to the strike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Mr Kirby said: “I think people are safer without him walking around.”

But, speaking on CNN, he sidestepped questions about whether the administration agreed with how the Israelis are going about targeting Hezbollah leaders.

The White House continues to call on Israel and Hezbollah to agree to a 21-day temporary ceasefire that was floated by the US, France and other countries last week.

Pope suggests Israel’s actions ‘disproportionate and immoral’

Sunday 29 September 2024 17:05 , Jane Dalton

Pope Francis suggests Israel’s actions in Gaza and Lebanon are disproportionate and immoral

New Israeli attack ‘kills 24 people’

Sunday 29 September 2024 16:26 , Jane Dalton

An Israeli attack on the city of Ain Deleb in southern Lebanon has killed 24 people and wounded 29 others, according to a preliminary toll, Lebanon‘s Health Ministry says.

Israel claims mass attack on Houthi sites in Yemen

Sunday 29 September 2024 16:21 , Jane Dalton

The Israeli military says dozens of its aircraft have struck Houthi targets in Yemen in response to a recent attack on Israel.

The military said it targeted power plants and sea port facilities in the city of Hodeida.

The Houthis launched a ballistic missile attack on Ben Gurion airport on Saturday when prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was arriving.

Israeli airstrike on northeast Lebanon kills 11

Sunday 29 September 2024 15:58 , Jane Dalton

Israel-Hamas war latest: Israeli airstrike on northeast Lebanon kills 11

US campuses prepare for anniversary of Hamas attack on Israel

Sunday 29 September 2024 15:21 , Jane Dalton

College officials are trying to avoid a repeat of scenes when thousands of students were arrested and learning was disrupted after Israel began its retaliation for the 7 October Hamas attack:

Here’s how college campuses are prepping for October 7 anniversary

Seventh Hezbollah chief killed

Sunday 29 September 2024 14:29 , Jane Dalton

The militant group Hezbollah has confirmed another of its senior leaders has been killed in an Israeli airstrike – the seventh senior leader of the Lebanese militant group to be killed in eight days, including Hassan Nasrallah.

Nabil Kaouk was killed on Saturday, the Israeli military said.

Hezbollah also confirmed on Sunday that Ali Karaki died in the same attack as Nasrallah in Beirut on Friday.

Top Islamist group member ‘killed in Israeli strike’

Sunday 29 September 2024 14:15 , Jane Dalton

An Israeli strike on Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley has killed a senior figure in the Sunni Jama’a Islamiya group, Mohammad Dahrouj, two security sources claim.

The Sunni Islamist political group has fired rockets on Israel over the past year and Israel has previously conducted strikes targeting other leading figures from the group.

Residents flock to site of destruction

Sunday 29 September 2024 13:58 , Jane Dalton

More than two days after a massive Israeli airstrike that killed the leader of the Hezbollah militant group, smoke is still rising from the smoldering wreckage.

People flocked to the site, some to check on what was left of their homes, others to pay respects and pray, and others simply to see the destruction.

Residents of Beirut heard up to 10 explosions following the Friday strike that targeted an area greater than a city block, reducing several residential buildings to a jumble of pancaked concrete and twisted steel. The buildings sank into the ground, leaving a cleared-out area nearly the size of a football field.

Weapons experts said the blasts and destruction left behind were consistent with the 2,000lb-class bombs (900kg).

Onlookers at the site today clambered over slabs of concrete, surrounded by piles of twisted metal and wreckage. Several craters, likely to be used by rescuers to penetrate under the site of the explosion were visible, some of them apparently up to 30m (100ft) deep.

A few Hezbollah workers were using a bulldozer to excavate around one of the craters. State security and investigators were nowhere to be seen.

Tory leadership contender says immigrants who see Israel as enemy ‘not welcome’ in UK

Sunday 29 September 2024 13:36 , Andy Gregory

Supporters of Nasrallah mourn loss of slain leader

Sunday 29 September 2024 13:20 , Andy Gregory

Supporters of Hezbollah and other Lebanese people who hailed the group’s role fighting Israel mourned the death of its leader Hassan Nasrallah.

“We lost the leader who gave us all the strength and faith that we, this small country that we love, could turn it into a paradise,” Sophia Blanche Rouillard, a Lebanese Christian who carried a black flag to work in Beirut on Sunday, told Reuters.

An Arab Barometer poll in Lebanon earlier this year found that just 30 per cent trusted Hezbollah, whereas 55 per cent said they did not trust the group at all.

Those who said they trust the group rose to 85 per cent among Shia Muslims, but was just 9 per cent of Sunnis and Druze, and 6 per cent of Christians.

Editorial | The killing of Hezbollah’s leader will make Israel no safer

Sunday 29 September 2024 13:02 , Andy Gregory

Here is a snippet from The Independent’s editorial on the killing of Hassan Nasrallah:

In the short term, of course, it will demoralise Hezbollah and its allies in Hamas and Iran. If the assassination is a substitute for the “all-out war” that was feared in southern Lebanon, that may be no bad thing. But it will not defeat Hezbollah, nor will it kill the aim that it espouses of wiping Israel off the map.

It has to be remembered that Hezbollah was formed in the first place to fight the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982. Israel invaded to try to stop the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), originally a secular nationalist movement, from launching attacks from there. The PLO was thus supplanted by an Islamist state within a state in Lebanon.

A decade later, Israel assassinated Abbas al-Musawi, Hezbollah’s leader, only for him to be replaced by Nasrallah who was, if anything, more extreme and more dangerous. This is the hydra principle in action: assassinating the leaders of militant organisations tends to lead to their replacement by harder-line commanders.

As Jonathan Powell, Tony Blair’s former chief of staff who played a key role in the Northern Ireland peace talks, has said: “Unintended consequences tend to prevail.” Mr Powell has argued that “terrorists” almost always have to be negotiated with in the end. A policy of decapitation makes that harder because the new leaders will be more extreme and less likely to be worn down by years of fighting.

The killing of Hezbollah’s leader will make Israel no safer

Hezbollah confirms Karaki killed in strike alongside Nasrallah

Sunday 29 September 2024 12:47 , Andy Gregory

Hezbollah has now confirmed that its senior leader Ali Karaki was killed in the Israeli strike that killed the group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Israeli military says it has dismantled a Hamas tunnel in Gaza

Sunday 29 September 2024 12:30 , Andy Gregory

The Israeli military claims to have uncovered and dismantled a Hamas tunnel in central Gaza that was more than a kilometre long.

The tunnel ran near residential buildings, and inside were several rooms and equipment used by militants for prolonged stays, the military said, releasing footage showing a long staircase leading underground and what appeared to be an iron blast door.

Hamas is believed to have built hundreds of kilometeres of tunnels across Gaza to evade Israeli airstrikes. The militants have also used the tunnels to hold hostages captured in the 7 October attack that triggered the war.

Nasrallah’s body recovered from site of Israeli airstrike, sources say

Sunday 29 September 2024 12:09 , Andy Gregory

The body of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has been recovered from the site of an Israeli airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs and is intact, a medical source and a security source has told Reuters.

While Hezbollah’s statement on Saturday confirming Nasrallah’s death did not say how exactly he was killed nor when his funeral would be, the two sources said his body had no direct wounds and that it appeared the cause of death was blunt trauma from the force of the blast.

‘No place in Middle East that Israel’s long arm cannot reach,’ warns Netanyahu

Sunday 29 September 2024 11:50 , Andy Gregory

In his first public remarks since the killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu said: “He wasn’t another terrorist. He was the terrorist.”

He said Nasrallah’s killing would help bring displaced Israelis back to their homes in the north and would pressure Hamas to free Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

But with the threat of retaliation high, he said the coming days will bring “significant challenges” and warned Iran against trying to strike.

“There is no place in Iran or in the Middle East that Israel’s long arm cannot reach,” he said. “Today you know how much that is true.”

Hundreds of thousands displaced in Lebanon

Sunday 29 September 2024 11:37 , Andy Gregory

Hundreds of thousands of people in Lebanon have been displaced by the ongoing conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, a Lebanese cabinet minister spearheading the country’s emergency response said.

Environment minister Nasser Yassin said the government estimates that about 250,000 people have left their homes and taken refuge in government-run shelters and informal ones. However, he told the Associated Press the total number is about “four times as many directly affected and/or displaced outside the shelters.”

The United Nations said that, as of Friday, 211,319 people were forced to relocate – even prior to the intensive Israeli airstrikes over Beirut’s southern suburbs over the past two days.

The Lebanese government has converted schools and other facilities into temporary shelters. But still many are sleeping on the streets or in public squares, as the government and non-governmental organisations try to find them places to stay.

Lebanon has ‘no option but the diplomatic option’ in response to Israel

Sunday 29 September 2024 11:11 , Andy Gregory

Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati said said that his country has “no option but the diplomatic option” in response to Israel’s attacks.

Mr Mikati gave the response during a televised speech, when asked about diplomatic efforts to end Israel’s escalation against Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

Killing of Revolutionary Guards chief will not go unanswered, Iran warns

Sunday 29 September 2024 10:57 , Andy Gregory

Israel’s killing of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards deputy commander Abbas Nilforoushan in Lebanon “will not go unanswered”, Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araqchi has warned.

‘This is our country and we’re staying,’ Beirut resident says

Sunday 29 September 2024 10:46 , Reuters

In Beirut, some displaced families spent the night on the benches at Zaitunay Bay, a string of restaurants and cafes on Beirut’s waterfront. On Sunday morning, families with nothing more than a duffle bag of clothes had rolled out mats to sleep on and made tea for themselves.

“You won’t be able to destroy us, whatever you do, however much you bomb, however much you displace people – we will stay here. We won’t leave. This is our country and we’re staying,” said Francoise Azori, a Beirut resident jogging through the area.

Four killed in strikes in Gaza

Sunday 29 September 2024 10:33 , Andy Gregory

Israeli strikes have killed at least four people in the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian officials.

Two people were killed in separate strikes early on Sunday in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, according to the nearby Awda Hospital, which received the bodies. It said another six people were wounded.

In northern Gaza, first responders recovered two bodies after a strike on a house early on Sunday, according to Gaza’s civil defence authority, which operates under the Hamas-run government.

Tory leadership hopeful Badenoch praises Netanyahu for ‘extraordinary’ killing of Hezbollah chief

Sunday 29 September 2024 10:08 , Andy Gregory

Diplomatic efforts for ceasefire with Israel ‘under way’, Lebanon minister says

Sunday 29 September 2024 09:59 , Andy Gregory

Lebanon’s information minister said during a cabinet session on Sunday that diplomatic efforts for a ceasefire with Israel were still “under way”.

Senior Hezbollah figure killed in attack, Israel says

Sunday 29 September 2024 09:47 , Andy Gregory

The Israeli military has said that it killed senior Hezbollah figure Nabil Kaouk amid an ongoing exchange of strikes between the two sides.

Hezbollah has not yet commented on Kaouk’s fate, but supporters have been posting mourning messages for him since Saturday.

A former commander who led Hezbollah’s forces in southern Lebanon during Israel’s 18-year occupation, Kaouk then held positions on Hezbollah’s executive council.

Iran’s speaker vows Tehran-backed groups will continue confronting Israel

Sunday 29 September 2024 09:40 , Andy Gregory

Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf has said that militant groups will keep confronting Israel with Tehran’s help following the killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, state media reported.

“We will not hesitate to go to any level in order to help the resistance,” said Mr Qalibaf, referring to the alliance known as the Axis of Resistance, built over decades with Iranian support, which includes Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.

He also issued a warning to the United States, saying: “The US is complicit in all of these crimes and … has to accept the repercussions,” he said.

Also commenting on Nasrallah’s killing, Iranian Foreign minister Abbas Araqchi said Israel “will not rest” and the action would not go unanswered, state media reported on Sunday. He said the region was in a dangerous situation.

Iran Revolutionary Guards’ deputy commander Abbas Nilforoushan was also killed in the Israeli strikes on Beirut on Friday, Iranian media reported on Saturday.

Israeli strikes ‘killed five members of my family’, says British woman

Sunday 29 September 2024 09:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

A British woman returning to the UK from Lebanon said Israeli air strikes have killed five members of her family, including a cousin 10 days away from her wedding day.

Sana Chamseddin clutched her son in her arms at Heathrow Airport on Saturday and spoke of her guilt at escaping besieged Lebanon and leaving behind loved ones in “unsafe places”.

Her uncle, his wife, and his three daughters who were all in their twenties, were killed when their home in the Lebanese city of Tyre was bombed by the Israel Defence Forces, she told the PA news agency.

More here.

Israeli strikes killed five members of my family, says mother returning to UK

Israeli strikes continue in Lebanon despite killing Hezbollah chief

Sunday 29 September 2024 09:15 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Israeli military continued its airstrikes today despite killing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Friday.

The military said it struck dozens of Hezbollah “terror” targets in Lebanon in the past dozen hours, including launchers aimed toward Israel.

At least six people have been killed in the south of the country and nine others in the Hezbollah stronghold of Bekaa Valley, Lebanese media reported.

Why is Lebanon being attacked and will there be a ceasefire?

Sunday 29 September 2024 09:00 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Tensions in the Middle East continue to escalate as Israel ramps up its assault on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

Beginning with a major bombardment on 23 September, Lebanon has now experienced its deadliest attack since the end of the 1975 – 1990 Civil War, with over 90,000 civilians displaced from their homes.

Since the 7 October Hamas attack where over 240 Israeli hostages were taken, Hezbollah has been striking Israel from Lebanon on the country’s northern border in support of Hamas.

Israeli forces have continued to respond with strikes on the paramilitary group which regularly fired missiles and rockets to intercept military technology like drones or tanks.

More here.

Israel-Hezbollah: Why is Lebanon being attacked and will there be a ceasefire?