Israel-Lebanon live: Netanyahu urges ‘immediate’ removal of UN peacekeepers in Lebanon after Israeli fire
An Israeli tank fired on UN headquarters in southern Lebanon on Thursday, the organisation said
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
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.
It comes as 40 nations, including the UK, “strongly” condemn the attacks on peacekeepers, after three were injured by gunfire.
In Gaza, an Israeli strike has killed a family of eight in the Nuseirat refugee camp, Palestinian medical officials said.
It killed the parents and their six children, who ranged in age from eight to 23, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in nearby Deir al-Balah, where the bodies were taken.
On Saturday, at least 19 people were killed by Israeli airstrikes in the Jabalia city and refugee camp in northern Gaza, the Hamas-run civil defence agency told the AFP news agency.
Israel strike on Gaza school kills 28, injures 54, including children
Firing on peacekeepers ‘can never be tolerated’, says Irish premier after IDF reports
UN-backed experts say Israel is destroying Gaza's health sector and both sides have tortured people
Airline bans two items from luggage amid conflict in the Middle East
Taliban profit as flights diverted around Middle East crisis fill up Afghan airspace
How Taliban is profiting off the Middle East crisis
Flying through Afghan airspace is proving to be the safest option for international airlines, with Iran’s missile bombardment of Israel causing a noticeable shift in flight patterns
Full story: UK government condemns ‘appalling’ Israeli fire on UN peacekeeping HQ in Lebanon
Downing Street has condemned “appalling” Israeli strikes which rocked the UN peacekeeping headquarters in Lebanon twice in 48 hours, sparking fury among Israel’s allies.
As Israel continues its assault on Hezbollah, which has so far displaced more than 1.2 million people, Beirut reeled from two fresh air raids on Thursday night – Israel’s deadliest so far – which claimed at least 22 lives and wounded a further 139 people in areas dense with those who have led their homes.
The first strike hit an eight-storey apartment in Ras al-Nabaa, with witnesses reporting continued explosions throughout the building. The second strike, in the area of Burj Abi Haidar, was reported to have collapsed an entire building as it went up in flames.
UK government condemns ‘appalling’ Israeli fire on UN peacekeeping HQ in Lebanon
France, Italy and Spain say Israel’s ‘unjustifiable targeting’ of UN base is a ‘serious violation’ of international law
When their ambulance was hit, I had to salvage my colleagues’ bodies
Could the unremitting fury over October 7 be the end of Israel?
A year after the atrocious terrorist attacks by Hamas, Israel’s vengeance, far from stabilising its future, has returned it to a besieged state on the brink of an existential crisis, says Mark Almond
Thousands trapped in Jabalia camp as Israel escalates deadly attacks in northern Gaza
Thousands of people are trapped in Gaza’s Jabalia camp as Israeli forces attack the area, MSF (Doctors Without Borders) said on Friday, a week after Israel launched an offensive there which it says is aimed at stopping Hamas regrouping.
At least 20 Palestinians were killed and dozens more were wounded late on Friday by Israeli strikes in Jabalia, which also damaged four nearby homes, medics told Reuters. The death toll is likely to rise, they added.
Israeli military strikes killed at least 61 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Friday, the medics added. Nearly half of the fatalities, including the 20 killed at the home, occurred in Jabalia, the northern district which is the largest of Gaza’s historic refugee camps.
The Israeli military says it has killed dozens of militants in Jabalia, though it remains unclear how many of the dead were civilians rather than fighters.
“Nobody is allowed to get in or out; anyone who tries is getting shot,” MSF project coordinator Sarah Vuylsteke said on X.
Five MSF staff were trapped in Jabalia, she said.
“I don’t know what to do; at any moment we could die. People are starving. I am afraid to stay, and I am also afraid to leave,” she quoted Haydar, an MSF driver, as saying.
At least 15 of the fatalities in Jabalia since dawn were due to Israeli strikes targeting various areas, including a school sheltering displaced individuals, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa said, citing medical sources.
Gaza’s Civil Defence said dozens were wounded by Israeli quadcopter drone fire at the same school.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has previously said Gaza’s militants use such shelters for cover. Hamas has denied this.
US expands sanctions on Iran’s ‘Ghost Fleet'
The United States has expanded sanctions against Iran’s petroleum and petrochemical sectors in response to an Iranian missile attack on Israel.
The US move adds petroleum and petrochemicals to an executive order that targets key sectors of Iran’s economy with the aim of denying the government funds to support its nuclear and missile programs.
“The new designations today also include measures against the ‘Ghost Fleet’ that carries Iran’s illicit oil to buyers around the world,” White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement.
“These measures will help further deny Iran financial resources used to support its missile programs and provide support for terrorist groups that threaten the United States, its allies, and partners.”
Gaza hostage families blast air raid siren outside Netanyahu’s home as wake up call to agree release deal
Hostage families blast air raid siren outside Netanyahu’s home as wake up call
Relatives march in Jerusalem on anniversary of Hamas attack in which their loved ones were taken to urge Israeli PM to bring them home, writes Bel Trew, while airstrikes continue in both Gaza and Lebanon
Lebanese army says two of its soldiers killed in south
Lebanon’s army said on Friday that two of its soldiers had been killed and three wounded when Israeli forces attacked one of its military posts in Kafra in the south.
Israel says two drones detected crossing Lebanese border
Israel’s military said two drones from Lebanon were detected late on Friday following sirens that sounded in central Israel, adding that no casualties had been reported.
The military successfully intercepted one drone as both “UAVs were monitored from the moment when they crossed the Lebanese border,” the army added in a statement.
However, one building in Herzliya sustained some damage, the Israeli military and police said in separate statements.
There was no immediate comment from the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah on the drone attack.
Air raid sirens were heard in central Israel.
Nine European nations say Lebanese army has ‘critical stabilising role’ in conflict
Amid alarm over the risk of a wider Middle East war, nine southern European countries issued a statement on Friday expressing their “extreme concern” over Israel’s military operations in Lebanon.
In a joint declaration, the leaders of the MED9 — Italy, Spain, France, Greece, Malta, Cyprus, Slovenia, Portugal and Croatia — said they would “continue advocating for further support to Lebanon and its people, including to the Lebanese Armed Forces which are called to play a critical stabilising role.”
French president Emmanuel Macron told reporters that the return of the Lebanese armed forces to South Lebanon and the restoration of Lebanese sovereignty “are essential to its peace and stability.”
NHS medics volunteering in Gaza warn of catastrophic collapse of healthcare system
NHS medics volunteering in Gaza warn of catastrophic collapse of healthcare system
‘The situation is extremely desperate... humanitarian access and supplies remain severely restricted,’ the medics tell Bel Trew
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.