Israel-Iran latest: Beirut rocked by huge explosions as Israel ‘targets Nasrallah successor’
Israeli strike lands just outside perimeter of Beirut airport as Lebanon offensive continues
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Beirut has been rocked by huge explosions with a Lebanese government source claiming at least one Israeli strike had come close to the city’s airport.
Senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine, who is widely regarded as the heir of slain leader Hassan Nasrallah, was a target of the blasts, Axios reported, citing sources.
Civilians were fleeing the series of massive blasts in Beirut’s southern suburbs last night, with state media reporting there were more than 10 consecutive airstrikes.
Witnesses said they saw smoke near Beirut’s international airport while a source in Lebanon’s transport ministry said an Israeli strike had come down outside the perimeter this morning.
Earlier at least nine people were killed and 14 wounded in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut, targeting a building near the parliament.
Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes killed at least 18 people, including children, in the occupied West Bank in one of the deadliest attacks in two decades, the Palestinian health ministry said.
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?
Israel intercepts more rockets fired from Lebanon
The Israel Defence Force today said it intercepted some of the 20 rockets fired by Lebanon toward the Haifa area.
While most projectiles were intercepted, others struck open ground, the military said.
What are Israel and Iran’s attack and defence capabilities?
Fears are rising of an all-out war across the Middle East in the wake of lran launching almost 200 ballistic missiles in an attack on Israel, marking a major escalation in the conflict between the two bitter enemies.
Figures published by the think tank the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) show that Israel has 169,500 active personnel, with a reserve army of 465,000. Those currently in service include 126,000 in the army, 9,500 in the navy and 34,000 in the air force.
Meanwhile, Iran has 610,000 active personnel, which includes 350,000 in their army, 190,000 in the IRGC, and 15,000 in air defence and 18,000 in the navy.
They also have an additional reserve of 350,000 with conscription mandatory for Iranian men over 18, while Israel conscripts most young men and women over 18 with a few exemptions.
Holly Evans reports.
What are Israel and Iran’s attack and defence capabilities?
The two bitter regional enemies are on the brink of all-out war
Israel strikes near Russian air base in Syria - report
Suspected Israeli rockets struck near a Russian airbase in Syria, which is believed to house weapons for Iran, according to a report.
About 30 missiles were fired at a target near Khmeimim air base overnight, triggering a series of huge explosions, The Telegraph reported.
The strikes were launched an hour after an Iranian Qassem Fars Airlines cargo plane allegedly delivered weapons at the base, according to the report.
Purported video from the strikes showed streaks of bright orange lighting up the night sky as air defences attempted to intercept the missile.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told The Telegraph that Russian and Syrian air defences attempted to intercept missiles for at least 40 minutes in Latakia but failed.
Boris Johnson claims bugging device found in bathroom after Netanyahu visit
A bugging device was found in Boris Johnson’s bathroom after a visit by Benjamin Netanyahu when he was foreign secretary, the former prime minister has claimed.
Mr Johnson alleged that his security team had made the discovery when they did a sweep of the toilets after the Israeli premier had used them during a meeting in 2017.
Writing in his memoir, “Unleashed”, the former Tory MP said Mr Netanyahu had excused himself during talks at his old office to use the washroom, described as “a secret annex… a bit like the gents in a posh London club.”
More here.
Boris Johnson claims bugging device found in his bathroom after Netanyahu visit
The former prime minister alleged that his security team had made the discovery when they did a sweep of the toilets in 2017.
Israeli strike ‘closes off road' used to flee Lebanon to Syria
An Israeli strike this morning near Lebanon’s Masnaa border crossing with Syria cut off a road used by hundreds of thousands of people to flee Israeli bombardments in recent days, Lebanon’s transport minister said.
Ali Hamieh told Reuters that the strike hit inside Lebanese territory near the border crossing, creating a 12ft wide crater.
An Israel Defence Forces (IDF) military spokesman had accused Lebanese armed group Hezbollah on Thursday of using the crossing to transport military equipment into Lebanon.
“The IDF will not allow the smuggling of these weapons and will not hesitate to act if forced to do so, as it has done throughout this war,” IDF spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X.
UAE flight delays: How is the conflict affecting international flights?
The late afternoon Emirates flight from London Heathrow to Dubai has an advertised connection to Bangkok of just one hour.
Normally 60 minutes is sufficient for extricating passengers (and, separately, their checked baggage) from the world’s biggest passenger plane, the A380, and enabling them to board another SuperJumbo at a different gate at the airport that handles more international travellers than any in the world, all in the early hours of the morning.
But the remarkable, unrelenting choreography that allows millions of passengers to connect every day at Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi and many other hubs is under severe strain as a result of the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Lebanon.
With Russian and Ukrainian skies closed to Western aircraft, the options for flying from Europe to Asia seem to be narrowing by the day.
Simon Calder reports.
UAE flight delays: How is the Middle East conflict affecting international flights?
Exclusive: Airlines flying from Europe to the Gulf on Tuesday night into Wednesday experienced severe disruption
Israel strikes Masnaa border crossing between Syria and Lebanon - report
The Israeli military has struck the Masnaa border crossing between Syria and Lebanon with two missiles, halting traffic between the two nations, according to reports.
All departures and entry of passengers and cargo activities were suspended at the border this morning until further notice, authorities said.
Israel has accused the Iran-backed Hezbollah of smuggling weapons from Syria through the border crossing.
Oil jumps over 5 per cent a barrel amid supply worry
Oil prices surged yesterday as concerns mounted that a widening regional conflict in the Middle East could disrupt global crude flows.
Brent crude futures settled up £2.83, or 5.03 per cent, at £59.13 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures settled up £2.75, or 5.15 per cent, to £56.15.
Market fears are rising over the possibility that Israel might target Iranian oil infrastructure, which could provoke retaliation.
“Markets are in a state of suspense, bracing for Israel’s anticipated retaliation against Iran - a move that could catapult oil prices skyward,” independent markets analyst Stephen Innes, told AFP.
US president Joe Biden said “we’re discussing that” when asked if he would support Israel striking Iran’s oil facilities.“There is nothing going to happen today,” he added.
In Pics: Israel fires barrage of missiles toward Beirut in Lebanon
Children among 18 killed in Israel’s deadliest attack on West Bank in decades
Israeli airstrikes killed at least 18 people, including children, in the occupied West Bank in one of the deadliest attacks in two decades, the Palestinian health ministry said.
“Eighteen martyrs following the bombing of the Tulkarm camp by the occupation,” the ministry said on Telegram.
Last night’s attack reportedly levelled an entire building. An activist in the area told AFP that the airstrike “hit a cafeteria in a four-storey building”.
He added there were “many victims in the hospital”.
The Israeli military earlier said it conducted a strike in Tulkarm in a joint operation with its Shin Bet security service and killed the head of Hamas in the refugee camp.
It said the strike also killed “multiple other significant terrorists”.
Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Mustafa called the attack a “massacre” and accused Israel of ignoring “global calls for justice”.
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