Middle East latest: Israel warns Iran it could end up like Gaza as it considers response to missile attack
Israel claims it is only targeting Hamas and Hezbollah military sites despite significant civilian casualties
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Israel’s defence minister has warned that Iran could end up like Gaza as it considers how to respond to Tehran’s unprecedented ballistic missile attack.
Yoav Gallant, a key ally of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said the Iranian attack, which involved 180 ballistic missiles, had failed to do significant damage.
But warning against further assaults, he added: “Whoever thinks that a mere attempt to harm us will deter us from taking action should take a look at Gaza and Beirut.”
It comes as Israel is considering how to respond to Iran’s missile attack. US president Joe Biden has urged Israel not to hit Iran’s oil facilities for fear of the knock-effect on global oil supplies.
Meanwhile, at least 26 people have been killed and 93 others wounded after Israeli airstrikes targeted a mosque and a school sheltering displaced people in the Gaza Strip, the Hamas-run health ministry has said.
The strikes on the mosque and the school, near the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, came as the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in the enclave approaches its first anniversary tomorrow.
Australia starts evacuating nationals from Lebanon via Cyprus
Australia started evacuating its nationals from Lebanon via Cyprus on Saturday, in the first large-scale operation to get citizens out of the country amid an Israeli onslaught on Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Some 229 people arrived on the east Mediterranean island, which lies a 40 minute flight time from Beirut, on a commercial airline chartered by Australia. A second flight is scheduled later in the day.
More evacuation flights could be expected based on demand, Australian and Cypriot officials said.
At Cyprus’s Larnaca airport, civilians of all ages transferred from the aircraft into a terminal and then escorted onto waiting coaches. Children helped themselves to red apples and water provided by Australian military staff.
“They are exhausted, exceptionally happy to be here but heartbroken because they left family behind,” said Fiona McKergow, the Australian High Commissioner (Ambassador) to Cyprus.
More and more countries are using close hubs like Cyprus to assist in evacuations from Lebanon. Israel has sharply escalated attacks on Hezbollah in recent weeks, with a barrage of airstrikes and a ground operation in the south of the country, after nearly a year of lower-level cross-border conflict waged in parallel with Israel‘s war against Hamas in Gaza.
France's Macron says sales of arms used in Gaza should be halted
Shipments of arms used in the conflict in Gaza should be stopped as part of a broader effort to find a political solution, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday.
France is not a major weapons provider for Israel, shipping military equipment worth 30 million euros ($33 million) last year, according to the defence ministry’s annual arms exports report.
“I think the priority today is to get back to a political solution (and) that arms used to fight in Gaza are halted. France doesn’t ship any,” Macron told France Inter radio.
“Our priority now is to avoid escalation. The Lebanese people must not in turn be sacrificed, Lebanon cannot become another Gaza,” he added.
Macron’s comments come as his Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot is on a four-day trip to the Middle East, wrapping up on Monday in Israel as Paris looks to play a role in reviving diplomatic efforts.
Planes take off from Beirut as smoke billows from explosions - pictured
Watch live: London march to mark one year of Israel-Hamas conflict
Watch live: London march to mark one year of Israel-Hamas conflict
Watch live as pro-Palestine supporters march through central London on Saturday, 5 October, to mark one year of the Israel-Hamas conflict that began with the October 7 attack in 2023.
Israel claims to have killed two senior Hamas figures in Lebanon
The Israeli military is claiming to have killed two senior Hamas figures during airstrikes in Gaza.
You can read their statement below.
Pro-Palestine demonstrators march through London
Canadian PM urges citizens to leave Lebanon as evacuations top 1,000
Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau has urged Canadian citizens still in Lebanon to sign up to be evacuated on special flights which have already helped more than 1,000 leave as security there deteriorates.
Canada has 6,000 signed up to leave and officials are trying to reach another 2,500 over the weekend, an official in Trudeau’s office said, adding that more flights were being added for Monday and Tuesday.
“We’ve still got seats on airplanes organised by Canada. We encourage all Canadians to take seats on these airplanes and get out of Lebanon while they can,” Trudeau said at a summit of leaders from French-speaking countries in France.
Canada has not been able to fill flights with its citizens and has offered seats to people from the Australia, New Zealand, the United States and some European countries, the official in his office said.
Israel has expanded its strikes on Lebanon in recent weeks after nearly a year of exchanging fire with Lebanon‘s Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah.
Fighting had been mostly limited to the Israel-Lebanon border area, taking place in parallel to Israel’s year-old war in Gaza against Hamas.
Trudeau said an immediate ceasefire from both Hezbollah and Israel was needed so the situation could be stabilised and United Nations resolutions could begin to be respected again.
How the Taliban is profiting as flights avoid Middle East crisis
How the Taliban is profiting from flights diverted around Middle East crisis
Flying through Afghan airspace is proving to be the safest option for international airlines, with Iran’s missile bombardment of Israel causing a noticeable shift in flight patterns
Hezbollah senior leader ‘unreachable’ after Israeli strikes, report claims
A senior leader of Hezbollah is “unreachable” after Israeli strikes on Beirut, a Lebanese security source has told Reuters, suggesting that Israel may have killed another key figure from the Iran-backed group.
The source claimed that since strikes on the suburb of Dahieh in Beirut on Friday, senior leader Hashem Safieddine could not be reached.
Subsequent strikes have prevented rescuers from concluding whether Safieddine has been killed, separate sources added.
When asked in a Friday evening briefing about whether Safieddine was killed in the strike, Israeli military spokesperson Nadav Shoshani said that the military was still investigating the outcome of the raid.
“Around midnight, we struck the Central Intelligence headquarters of Hezbollah in Dahieh,” he said. “When we have more information to share about who was there and what the result of the strike was, we will share it.”
He claimed that since beginning the ground invasion into southern Lebanon the Israeli military had killed 250 Hezbollah operatives, including four battalion commanders and nine company commanders.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was killed by an Israeli strike last week in Beirut.
Iran oil minister: We are not worried about crisis despite threats of strikes
Iranian oil minister Mohsen Paknejad has said he is “not worried about crisis” amid reports that Israel could target the country’s oil facilities by way of retaliation to Tehran’s aerial attack on Israel on Wednesday.
Earlier this week, US president Joe Biden sought to dissuade Israel from attacking Iran’s oil fields for fear of it’s impact on global oil prices.
“If I were in their shoes, I’d be thinking about other alternatives than striking oil fields,” he said.
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