Israel-Hezbollah latest: Iran vows to carry on fighting after Hezbollah successor ‘targeted in Beirut blast’
Israeli strike lands just outside perimeter of Beirut airport as Lebanon offensive continues
Your support helps us to tell the story
My recent work focusing on Latino voters in Arizona has shown me how crucial independent journalism is in giving voice to underrepresented communities.
Your support is what allows us to tell these stories, bringing attention to the issues that are often overlooked. Without your contributions, these voices might not be heard.
Every dollar you give helps us continue to shine a light on these critical issues in the run up to the election and beyond
Eric Garcia
Washington Bureau Chief
Iran has warned it will not back down from Israel after the Jewish state reportedly targeted the successor of Tehran-backed Hezbollah’s leader Nasrallah Hassan in Lebanon.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said his country, and his regional proxies across the Middle East, would carry on fighting Israel as tensions escalate across the region.
“The brilliant action of our armed forces a couple of nights ago was completely legal and legitimate”, Khamenei said of a massive missile barrage which saw over 100 rockets launched at Israel earlier in the week.
It comes after Beirut was rocked by huge explosions amid reports senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine, regarded as the militia’s next leader, was targeted in Israeli strikes.
Civilians were fleeing the series of massive blasts in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Thursday night, with state media reporting there were more than 10 consecutive airstrikes.
Iran’s “axis of resistance” comprises a group of violent proxies across Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon and Palestine, coordinated by Iran’s Quds Force, the foreign arm of the IRGC.
The Quds Force’s aim is to export Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution abroad and is opposed to any US or Israeli influence in the Middle East.
UAE flight delays: How is the unfolding Middle East conflict affecting international flights?
Israeli strikes on Beirut kill at least nine as military calls for more Lebanon evacuations
Girl, 9, calls for end to violence from hospital bed in Lebanon
What are Israel and Iran’s attack and defence capabilities?
Israeli military conducts strike on Tulkarm in Occupied West Bank, statement says
The Israeli military said in a statement on Thursday that it has conducted a strike on the West Bank city of Tulkarm.
G7 leaders warn of ‘dangerous cycle of attacks’ leading to ‘uncontrollable escalation’ in Middle East
G7 leaders warned of a "dangerous cycle of attacks" leading to "uncontrollable escalation" in the Middle East as conflict spirals in the region.
In a joint statement released on Thursday, they expressed "deep concern" about the deteriorating situation and called for a cessation of hostilities in Lebanon.
"We, the leaders of the G7, express deep concern over the deteriorating situation in the Middle East and condemn in the strongest terms Iran's direct military attack against Israel, which constitutes a serious threat to regional stability," it said.
"We unequivocally reiterate our commitment to the security of Israel. Iran's seriously destabilising actions throughout the Middle East through terrorist proxies and armed groups - including the Houthis, Hezbollah, and Hamas - as well as Iran-aligned militia groups in Iraq, must stop. Yesterday we discussed co-ordinated efforts and actions to avoid escalation in the area.
"A dangerous cycle of attacks and retaliation risks fuelling uncontrollable escalation in the Middle East, which is in no-one's interest. Therefore, we call on all regional players to act responsibly and with restraint. We encourage all parties to engage constructively to de-escalate the current tensions. International humanitarian law must be respected."
As he pursues a fight on five fronts, does Netanyahu even want peace?
One year on from the invasion led by Hamas terrorists that has been called the greatest trauma in Israel’s history, in which 1,200 Israelis were killed and more than 200 taken hostage, Benjamin Netanyahu’s government claims sudden success.
For much of the past year, it has been accused by Israelis of failing to defeat Hamas, capture its leaders or return the hostages. The 7 October attacks left the reputation of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the intelligence agencies in tatters. Israel’s subsequent assault on Gaza, which has led to the deaths of more than 40,000 Palestinians, has shredded its international reputation.
In just two weeks, Israel has killed the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, destroyed the communications network of the group, and now, sent forces into southern Lebanon. Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate for Iran’s missile strikes on 1 October (which were, in turn, retaliation for the assassination of Nasrallah).
Bronwen Maddox writes:
As he pursues a fight on five fronts, does Netanyahu even want peace?
It certainly doesn’t seem to look that way, writes Bronwen Maddox, who wonders whether Israel – for all its tactical victories – has any long-term strategy at all
Israel orders evacuation of Lebanese communities north of UN buffer zone
The Israeli military has ordered the evacuation of villages and towns in southern Lebanon that are north of a United Nations-declared buffer zone established after the 2006 war.
The warnings issued on Thursday signalled a possible broadening of Israel's incursion into southern Lebanon, which until now has been confined to areas close to the border.
Israel has told people to leave Nabatieh, a provincial capital, and other communities north of the Litani River, which formed the northern edge of the border zone established by the UN Security Council after the 2006 war in a resolution that both sides accuse the other of violating.
Just after the warning, the Lebanese Red Cross said an Israeli strike wounded four of its paramedics and killed a Lebanese army soldier as they were evacuating wounded people from the south.
It says the convoy near the village of Taybeh, which was accompanied by Lebanese troops, was targeted on Thursday despite co-ordinating its movements with UN peacekeepers.
It came after Lebanon's health ministry has said that at least nine people had been killed in an Israeli strike in central Beirut.
It also said it is running DNA tests on remains they have obtained to identify others.
Civilians bear brunt in 'catastrophic' Lebanon conflict, UN official says
Civilians are bearing the brunt of a "truly catastrophic" situation in Lebanon, a senior UN official said, urging respect for the rules of war nearly two weeks since Israel launched a major offensive against the armed group Hezbollah.
With around 1 million people in Lebanon impacted, Imran Riza, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, said the pace of displacement since Sept. 23 had exceeded worst case scenarios, and too much damage was being done to civilian infrastructure.
"What we saw from 23 September on is truly catastrophic," Riza said in an interview with Reuters on Thursday. He was referring to the day when Israel dramatically ramped up airstrikes in Lebanon, killing more than 500 people in a single day, according to Lebanese government figures.
"The level of trauma, the level of fear amongst the population, has been extreme," he said.
Israel says its campaign against the heavily armed, Iran-backed Hezbollah aims to secure the return home of Israelis evacuated from areas near the Lebanese border as a result of nearly a year of Hezbollah fire into northern Israel.
The Lebanese government says around 1.2 million people have been displaced by Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley, the southern suburbs of Beirut and other parts of the country. Some have been killed in Israeli strikes after having been displaced.
"You've got people being displaced from one place to another, thinking they were going to a safe place, and then that being struck," Riza said.
Riza said 97 medical and emergency workers had been killed - the majority of them in the last 10 days. There has been too much damage to civilian infrastructure, and civilians have been "bearing the great brunt of what's been going on", he said.
He noted that international humanitarian law requires that humanitarians be allowed to access people in need, and that civilian infrastructure and water systems be protected.
"This is what we call for when we're saying respect the rules of war in this," he said. "Unfortunately, we are seeing a situation where we have to go back to everybody and advocate for these basics in terms of protecting civilians."
Israeli soldier killed in combat in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, Israeli military says
An Israeli soldier was killed in combat in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, the Israeli military has said.
Full story: Israeli strikes on Beirut kill at least nine as military calls for more Lebanon evacuations
Strikes by Israel on Beirut have killed at least nine as the military called on citizens in southern Lebanon to evacuate more than 20 more towns in a sign of a potential expansion of its ground and air assault on Hezbollah.
The latest warnings took the number of southern towns subject to evacuation calls to 70 and included the provincial capital Nabatieh, suggesting another Israeli military operation was imminent, further stoking fears of an all-out regional war.
Into Thursday, Israel bombed central Beirut in an attack the Lebanese health ministry said killed nine people. A Hezbollah-linked civil defence group said seven of its staff, including two medics, were killed in the Beirut attack. In response, Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy accused Israel of a possible breach of humanitarian lae: “Not only civilians are victims of attacks, including in densely populated areas, but they are deprived of emergency care. I condemn this violation of IHL [international humanitarian law],” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Israel denies all such accusations.
Chief International Correspondent Bel Trew and International Editor Chris Stevenson report:
Israeli strikes on Beirut kill 9 as military calls for more Lebanon evacuations
Residernts in more than 20 towns told to leave in sign of postential expansion of air and ground assault against Hezbollah. It comes as US President Joe Biden says Washington ‘discussing’ possibility of Israel striking Iranian oil sites
Russian deputy foreign minister and Israeli envoy discuss situation in Middle East in Moscow
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov held a meeting with the Israeli envoy to Moscow Simona Halperin on Thursday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The ministry said Bogdanov and Halperin discussed the situation in the Middle East, including Gaza and Lebanon, but provided no details.
Islamic Resistance in Iraq says it attacked target in southern Israel
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq has said it has attacked a target in southern Israel in a statement issued on Thursday.
Israeli military says it intercepts drone in southern Israel
The Israeli military has said it has intercepted a drone in southern Israel.
It added that no injuries have been reported.
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.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments