Israel-Iran latest: Nine killed in Beirut strike as Israel vows ‘very strong’ response to Iran missile attack
The Israeli military have issued fresh evacuation warnings to Lebanese citizens in 25 areas
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At least nine people have been killed after Israeli launched an airstrike in Beirut, targeting a building near the parliament, making it the closest an air assault has come to the central downtown district.
Lebanese health officials said seven people were wounded, while a photo circulated online showed a heavily damaged building with the first floor on fire.
The Israeli military have also issued fresh evacutation warnings for residents in 25 towns in the southern regions, telling them to leave immediately to “save your lives”.
It comes after Israel suffered its first military casualties in its ground invasion of southern Lebanon, with eight Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers killed in intense clashes against Hezbollah.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to defeat Iran’s “Axis of Evil”, saying: “We are at the height of a difficult war... we will stand together and with God’s help, we will win together.”
Hezbollah confirmed it was engaged in clashes with Israeli forces, claiming to have destroyed three Israeli Merkava tanks.
Meanwhile, US president Joe Biden stated that the US will not support an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear sites, saying, “the answer is no” following Iran’s missile attacks on Israel after its invasion of Lebanon.
Israeli airstrike in Damascus kills three, Syrian state-run outlet says
An Israeli airstrike hit a residential building in the Mezzeh area of Damascus Wednesday evening, killing three people and wounding at least three more, Syria's state-run SANA news agency reported.
An Associated Press journalist at the scene says the missile appeared to have targeted the bottom floor of a four-story apartment building.
There has been no comment from Israel, which frequently strikes targets linked to Iran or allied groups in Syria but rarely claims responsibility.
The strike comes amid a multi-front escalation in the ongoing war in the Middle East. Israel has launched a heavy aerial bombardment and what it describes as a limited ground incursion in Lebanon. It says that incursion aims to push the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah back from the border after nearly a year of low-level clashes.
On Tuesday, Iran fired a barrage of ballistic missiles into Israel, which it said was in retaliation for attacks that killed the leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas — both backed by Iran — in Beirut and Tehran.
Hamas' military wing claims responsibility in Jaffa shooting
Hamas' military wing has claimed responsibility for a mass shooting in Tel Aviv that left seven people dead and wounded 16 more.
It said the two attackers, Mohammed Mesek and Ahmed Himouni, were its militants who hailed from the southern West Bank city of Hebron.
Israeli police said the two opened fire Tuesday evening in the Jaffa neighborhood of Tel Aviv, including shooting directly into a light rail carriage crowded with passengers that was stopped at a station. Police said the pair were shot and killed by security guards and armed pedestrians.
The attack came moments before Iran launched a massive barrage of rockets towards Israel, sending people into bomb shelters across the country.
It remains unclear how the two men entered Israel from the West Bank. Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, is active in various cities and refugee camps in the West Bank.
On Wednesday, locals left flowers and candles at the train stop, where bullet holes peppered the signs and benches.
Maya Brandwine said she was at a coffee shop on the street when the shooting broke out. During the subsequent Iranian missile attack, she took cover in a bomb shelter as police swept for suspects.
"It's a nightmare, and we're starting to get used to it," she said, blaming the policies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir for the violence.
Thousands flee southern Lebanon for Syria seeking respite from Israeli strikes
Thousands of Syrians and Lebanese continue to pour into Syria to escape Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon.
On Wednesday, an Associated Press team saw hundreds crowding the Jousieh border crossing, one of several points of entry into Syria. The crossing is around 30 kilometers (18 miles) from Syria's central city of Homs, where many said they were headed.
Most of those waiting to enter Syria were from eastern Lebanon's city of Baalbek and surrounding areas, which have been hard hit by Israeli airstrikes in recent days. The militant group Hezbollah has a strong presence in that region, but many of those killed and wounded have been civilians.
Some came from as far as the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Ola Hallaq, her husband and two kids were among those waiting to be processed. Originally from Homs, she fled Syria at the start of the civil war in 2011 and settled in Baalbek. Now, as Israel pounds eastern Lebanon, the family is returning home despite the uncertainty and lack of income.
"I'm returning to my country because of the war — there was so much destruction all around," she said.
Dabbah Mashaal, an official at the crossing, said 10,000 displaced Syrians and 7,700 Lebanese have crossed the border in recent days.
Six dead in Beirut after Israeli strike
An Israeli strike in central Beirut killed six people early on Thursday, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
The agency said that an additional seven people were injured and are being treated in local hospitals.
The recent strikes on Beirut are the first time Israel has targeted the center of Lebanon’s capital since the nations went to war in 2006.
Around 100 American citizens and family members leave Lebanon
The State Department says about 100 American citizens and family members have left Lebanon on a flight contracted with a commercial airline.
Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Wednesday that the flight to Istanbul was not a charter flight but also was not on the Lebanese national carrier Middle East Airlines, which is the only commercial airline flying scheduled flights in and out of Beirut.
Since 28 September, MEA has made about 800 seats on its flights out of Beirut available for American citizens, but Miller could not say how many had taken those MEA flights.
He said some 6,000 American citizens have now asked for information from the US Embassy in Beirut on how they might be able to leave the country, although only a small fraction of those have asked for actual assistance.
UN ponders how to calm the conflict as Israel battles militants on two fronts
The United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting Wednesday to address the spiralling conflict in the Middle East.
Iran's ambassador to the UN said his country launched nearly 200 missiles at Israel on Tuesday as a deterrent to further Israeli violence, while his Israeli counterpart called the barrage an "unprecedented act of aggression."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed late Tuesday to retaliate, and an Iranian commander threatened wider strikes on infrastructure if Israel did so. US President Biden said on Wednesday that he would not support an Israeli attack targeting Iran's nuclear program.
Israel further ruffled feathers Wednesday when its foreign minister declared the UN secretary-general "persona non-grata" in the country, doubling down on decades of accusations of antisemitism against the organization.
Israel was meanwhile battling militants on two fronts, pursuing a ground incursion into Lebanon against Hezbollah and conducting strikes in Gaza that killed dozens, including children. The Israeli military said eight soldiers have died in the conflict in southern Lebanon.
Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire across the Lebanon border almost daily since the day after Hamas' cross-border attack on 7 October, 2023, which killed 1,200 Israelis and took 250 others hostage. Israel declared war on the militant group in the Gaza Strip in response. More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory, and just over half the dead have been women and children, according to local health officials.
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