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
In pictures: Israel airstrikes hit central Beirut
UPD: Gaza health ministry issues new death toll
At least 42,126 Palestinians have been killed and 98,117 injured in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since 7 October, 2023, the Gaza health ministry has said in an updated statement on Friday.
Over 100 medics and emergency workers killed in Lebanon conflict, UN rights office says
The United Nations human rights office has said that over 100 medics and emergency workers had been killed in Lebanon since a conflict between Israel and Hezbollah began a year ago.
The conflict erupted when the Iran-backed group opened fire in support of Palestinian militant group Hamas at the start of the Gaza war. It has intensified dramatically in recent weeks, with Israel bombing parts of Beirut.
“In all, over 100 medical and emergency workers have been killed across Lebanon since October last year,” spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told a UN briefing, citing figures she said were compiled by the United Nations humanitarian office.
“We’ve had several reports also of air strikes targeting other medical centres and of paramedics as well as firefighters being killed,” she said.
World Health Organization spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said that since 17 Septemeber there had been 18 attacks on health facilities in Lebanon, killing 72 health workers.
Israel says it targets military capabilities in Lebanon and Gaza and takes steps to mitigate the risk of harm to civilians. It accuses Hezbollah, like Hamas, of hiding among civilians, which they deny.
Lebanon's caretaker PM denounces attack on UN peacekeepers as a crime
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has denounced what he said was an attack on the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon on Friday as a crime.
He also said he had discussed efforts to reach a ceasefire in Lebanon with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Israeli forces fired at an observation post belonging to UNIFIL at its main base at Naqoura in southern Lebanon on Friday, wounding two people, a UN source said. Israeli forces also breached the perimeter of another UNIFIL position they had fired at on Thursday, the source said.
Iranian president says Israel, supported by West, is 'killing innocent people'
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said that Israel should “stop killing innocent people”, and that its actions in the Middle East were backed by the United States and the European Union.
Pezeshkian was speaking to a Russian state TV reporter on the sidelines of an international meeting in Turkmenistan.
An Israeli strike late on Thursday in the heart of Beirut killed 22 people and injured more than 100, Lebanese authorities said.
UN's Guterres says all-out war in Lebanon must be avoided
An escalation of conflicts in the Middle East is a serious threat to global security and everything must be done to avoid all-out war in Lebanon, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday.
Guterres, speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of summits of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Laos, also condemned Israeli attacks that wounded UN personnel. He said peacekeepers must be protected.
Blinken says concern in Asia about prospect of Middle East conflicts spreading
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said there are deep concerns in Asia about the plight of people in Gaza and conflict in the Middle East and stressed Washington is doing everything in its power to prevent those from spreading.
Speaking in Laos after the East Asia Summit, Blinken said concerns about the Middle East came up in conversations with other leaders, during which he reiterated Washington was dedicated to diplomacy to control the situation in the face of what he called an Iranian-led axis of resistance.
“The intense focus of the United States, which has been the case going back a year, and doing just that, (is) preventing these conflicts from spreading. And we’re working on that every day,” Blinken told a press conference.
“We’re working very hard through deterrence and through diplomacy to prevent that from happening. There’s also obviously deep concern that we share about the plight of children, women, and men in Gaza, who for now a year have been caught in a terrible crossfire of Hamas’ instigation.”
Blinken also said the United States was directly engaged with Israel to stress how imperative it was that the humanitarian needs of people in Gaza are met.
Israel had the right to defend itself from attacks from Hezbollah, he added, and like the United States, it had a clear and legitimate interest in creating an environment where tens of thousands of displaced people in southern Lebanon can return to their homes.
“It’s also vitally important that in doing that, they focus on making sure that civilians are protected and, again, are not being caught in a terrible crossfire,” he said.
Israel's airstrike warnings terrify and confuse Lebanese civilians
Israel's airstrike warnings terrify and confuse Lebanese civilians
As the war between Israel and Hezbollah intensifies, Lebanese civilians are increasingly paying the price – and this dangerous reality often becomes clear in the middle of the night: That’s when the Israeli military typically warns people to evacuate buildings or neighborhoods to avoid airstrikes
Apartments in ruins after Israeli strikes on Beirut kill at least 22
Apartments in ruins after Israeli strikes on Beirut kill at least 22
An apartment block’s windows were blown out as it was left in ruins following Israel’s airstrikes on central Beirut on Thursday. At least 22 people were killed and more than 100 were wounded in the strike, Lebanon’s health ministry said. The first strike appeared to target an eight-storey apartment block in Ras al-Nabaa, with witnesses reporting continued explosions within the building as a large emergency response rushed to the scene. The second strike, in the area of Burj Abi Haidar, is reported to have collapsed an entire building, which was engulfed in flames.
Israel claims to have killed Hezbollah commander
Israel claims to have killed another Hezbollah commander after reports of fighting this morning in southern Lebanon.
The military wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday morning that they had killed Araeb el Shoga, a commander in the Hezbollah Radwan Forces’ anti-tank missile unit.
They said he was killed in Meiss El Jabal in southern Lebanon, adding that he was responsible for “numerous anti-tank missile attacks in northern Israel”.
Earlier this morning, the Israeli military said they had detected one anti-tank missile fired from southern Lebanon across the border into Kibbutz Yaraon, according to the Jerusalem Post.
The publication said a 27-year-old man from Thailand was killed while two more people were injured.
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.