Israel-Iran latest: Biden says Israeli strikes on Iranian oil being discussed as 9 killed in hit on Beirut
Multiple blasts heard across Lebanese capital today as Israeli forces clash with Hezbollah
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Joe Biden has said Israeli strikes on Iranian oil are being discussed.
When reporters asked the US president whether he would support Israel striking Iran’s oil facilities as he left the White House on Thursday, Biden said, “We are discussing that,” reportedly causing a spike in the price of oil.
Biden previously stated the US would not support an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear sites, following Tehran’s missile attack on Israel.
Meanwhile, at least nine people were killed after Israel launched an airstrike on Beirut, targeting a building near the parliament, in what was the closest an air assault has come to the central downtown district.
Lebanese health officials said 14 people were also wounded, while multiple blasts have been heard across the southern suburbs on Thursday.
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 fighting against Hezbollah.
Hezbollah confirmed it was engaged in clashes with Israeli forces, claiming to have destroyed three Israeli Merkava tanks.
The Israeli military fired at a Lebanese army post in southern Lebanon on Thursday, killing a Lebanese soldier, with the Lebanese army reportedly firing back for the first time since last October because the post was hit.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to defeat Iran’s “Axis of Evil”.
UK government warns citizens to leave Lebanon as violence intensifies
In a post to X, foreign secretary David Lammy reiterated calls for British citizens in Lebanon to leave while commercial flights are still available.
The Defence Secretary John Healey also met military personnel preparing for a potential evacuation of Britons from Lebanon, as he thanked RAF personnel involved in the operation to defend Israel from Iranian missiles.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Office has said that any further flights in the coming days will depend on demand and the security situation on the ground. Vulnerable British nationals and their spouse or partner, and children under the age of 18, will be prioritised.
Two Typhoon fighter jets, supported by a tanker aircraft, were involved in the operation although the Ministry of Defence said because of the nature of the attack “they did not engage any targets”.
Mr Healey told Sky News in Cyprus: “They were part of the wider effort to prevent further escalation and to show the UK’s steadfast support for Israel’s right to self defence and to security.
“They did not engage, but they were ready to do so, and nevertheless, they were playing a part in the wider efforts to deter the further conflict, and they will continue to do so.”
Ireland cannot unilaterally withdraw from Lebanon peacekeeping duties – Martin
Ireland cannot unilaterally withdraw from peacekeeping duties in Lebanon, the Tanaiste has insisted.
There are currently 379 Irish Defence Forces personnel serving with the UN’s Unifil mission in south Lebanon.
Micheal Martin said the troops were currently bunkered down in camps amid the intensification of hostilities after incursions across the border by Israeli forces.
Report:
Ireland cannot unilaterally withdraw from Lebanon peacekeeping duties – Martin
There are currently 379 Irish Defence Forces personnel serving with the UN’s Unifil mission in south Lebanon.
Plane evacuating Britons from Lebanon lands in UK as blasts heard in Beirut
More British nationals are expected to be airlifted out of Lebanon on Thursday as further blasts hit Beirut.
An apparent Israeli airstrike hit an apartment building near the centre of the Lebanese capital on Wednesday, marking the second time Israel has struck the city this week.
The airstrike hit not far from the United Nations headquarters, the prime minister’s office and parliament and no warning was issued ahead of the blast, with the number of casualties unclear.
Report:
Plane evacuating Britons from Lebanon lands in UK as blasts heard in Beirut
The Foreign Office has said that further flights in the coming days will depend on demand and the security situation on the ground.
Israel's PM pledges to defeat 'Iran's axis of evil' amid escalating conflict
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged victory in the country’s conflict with Hezbollah, following the deaths of eight soldiers in Lebanon.
“I would like to send my heartfelt condolences to the families of our heroes who fell today in Lebanon, may God avenge them, and may their memories be a blessing,” Mr Netanyahu said, paying tribute to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers.
Mr Netanyahu emphasised that Israel is engaged in a “tough war against Iran’s axis of evil.” He reassured the nation, saying, “this will not happen. Because we will stand together, and with God’s help, we will win together.”
His remarks come as tensions between Israel and Hezbollah continue to escalate, with the Lebanese-based militant group posing a significant challenge to regional stability.
China urges UN Security Council to de-escalate Middle East crisis
China called on the United Nations Security Council to take “urgent actions” to de-escalate the situation in the Middle East as Israel launched fresh air strikes in Lebanon.
China’s permanent representative to the UN, Fu Cong, said during a Security Council briefing on Wednesday, that it needed to make clear and unequivocal demands to stop the cycle of violence over the Israeli-Lebanon conflict.
“The Security Council bears the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security,” the official Xinhua news agency reported Mr Fu as saying, noting that all parties concerned “must return to the track of political and diplomatic solutions”.
Israel’s latest missile strikes in central Beirut come after Iran fired more than 180 missiles into Israel on Tuesday. Israel has also sent infantry and armoured units into Lebanon with reports of fighting with the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah.
Iran said on Wednesday its missile volley - its biggest ever assault on Israel - was over barring further provocation, but Israel and the United States promised to hit back hard.
Iran’s missile attack and Israel’s pledge of retaliation have raised concerns that the oil-producing Middle East could be caught up in a wider conflict.
Warning that the current situation is “hanging by a thread,” Xinhua cited Mr Fu as saying that any “passive procrastination would be irresponsible, and any rhetoric of condoning further military adventurism would send a wrong message”.
Mr Fu said the spreading Middle East conflict had already caused an unprecedented humanitarian disaster, with Gaza having become a “hell on earth,” and over 1.2 million people displaced in Lebanon.
Hezbollah says it fired surface-to-air missiles at an Israeli helicopter
Hezbollah says it fired surface-to-air missiles at an Israeli military helicopter flying over Beit Hillel in northern Israel, forcing it to retreat.
The Lebanese militant group didn't say if the helicopter was hit in the attack Wednesday, and there was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. It is the first time the group has said it fired a missile at a helicopter since hostilities between the two sides escalated two weeks ago.
Hezbollah and the Israeli military have clashed in southern Lebanese border towns since Israel launched its ground operation against Hezbollah.
Hezbollah earlier said it destroyed three Israeli Merkava tanks heading towards Maroun al-Ras, and detonated an explosive device hidden in an abandoned building on the outskirts of Kfar Kila after Israeli soldiers entered.
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.
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