Israel-Lebanon latest: Netanyahu rejects ceasefire as Israeli strike ‘eliminates’ Hezbollah’s aerial commander
Netanyahu ordered strikes to continue as Israel rejected a US-French proposal for a 21-day ceasefire in Lebanon
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Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected international calls for a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, despite pressure from allies like the US and France.
“We are continuing to strike Hezbollah with full force, and we will not stop until we reach all our goals – chief among them the return of the residents of the north securely to their homes,” Mr Netanyahu said.
The UK had joined the US, France and other allies in calling for a 21-day temporary truce, amid concerns Israel is preparing for a ground invasion.
Earlier, Israel struck about 220 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in 24 hours, according to Israeli military leaders.
The targets included infrastructure sites, launchers from which projectiles were fired toward Israeli territory, Hezbollah operatives and weapons storage facilities.
Israel also said a Hezbollah air force commander had been killed in an air strike on Beirut.
Mohammad Surur, the head of one of Hezbollah’s air force units, was killed in the strike on a populated area of Beirut’s southern suburbs.
There have been a number of such strikes this week, alongside more than 1,000 others around the country.
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Netanyahu orders Israeli military to fight Hezbollah with full force – despite ceasefire push
Pictured: Relatives mourn the death of an Iraqi killed in Lebanon
Blinken: World is calling for ceasefire
The US Secretary of State has spoken out on the international efforts to achieve a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
The world is speaking clearly on the need for a ceasefire on the Israel-Lebanon border - otherwise known as the Blue Line - he told MSNBC.
Report: Why is Lebanon being attacked and will there be a ceasefire?
Tensions in the Middle East continue to escalate as Israel ramps up its assault on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
Beginning with a major bombardment on 23 September, Lebanon has now experienced its deadliest attack since the end of the 1975 - 1990 Civil War, with over 90,000 civilians displaced from their homes.
Israel has called the bombardment a “new phase” of its war on Gaza, striking more than 1,000 targets in Lebanon which it says were Hezbollah strongholds or military facilities in homes.
Read the full report from The Independent’s Albert Toth:
Israel-Hezbollah: Why is Lebanon being attacked and will there be a ceasefire?
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out a US-led ceasefire deal
Israel strikes Lebanese-Syrian border crossing
An Israeli strike has hit a border crossing bridge between Syria and Lebanon, Lebanese transport minister Ali Hamieh said.
The strike on Thursday hit the Syrian end of the small bridge, Hamieh told Reuters, but it is unclear whether the bridge is still usable.
Israel says its fighter jets hit infrastructure on the border to stop the transfer of weapons from Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
It said it will “continue to strike” on Hezbollah’s attempts to arm itself.
ICYMI: Netanyahu’s office says reports of ceasefire with Hezbollah are “not true”
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu ruled out a possible ceasefire deal on Thursday.
In resonse to reports that Tel Aviv was open to negotiating, the Prime Minister’s office said: “The news about a ceasefire – not true.
“This is an American-French proposal, to which the prime minister did not even respond.”
Netanyahu will meet fellow world leaders at the United Nations this week.
The bombing campaign in southern Lebanon has continued, with over 600 people in Lebanon killed so far, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
Netanyahu has instructed the military to continue fighting at full power for the moment, Reuters news agency reported.
He added that the fighting in Gaza would continue until Israel has achieved its war aims.
Nearly two dozen Syrian refugees killed in Israeli strike
Twenty-three Syrian refugees were killed in Lebanon after an Israeli airstrike destroyed a building housing workers, Lebanon’s state-run news agency reported.
Four more Syrians and four Lebanese were wounded in the airstrike late on Wednesday in the village of Younine.
It comes as Israel’s military chief prepares troops for a potential ground invasion following a heavy bombing campaign across southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah has fired dozens of rockets across the border into northern Israel, most of which have been intercepted by Israeli defence systems.
Israeli strikes killed more than 72 people on Wednesday, bringing the death toll since Monday to more than 630 with more than 2,000 wounded.
Mother of British teacher shares relief at his escape
The mother of a British teacher in Beirut has shared her “relief” at her son’s escape from Lebanon.
Charlie Peters, 24, from Highgate in north London, worked in a Syrian refugee camp in Lebanon’s capital and has fled the country after the UK government urged British citizens to leave.
His mother, Nicola, said: “I’ve spent three days with the jitters and the jumps and not wanting really to look at the news, but also having to look at the news, and that’s really tricky.
“All those stages of, ‘are you at the airport? Have you got your boarding pass? Are you at gate?’ Because you’re waiting for that sort of news to come through the airport is shot.
“What Charlie was really keen to do is that he did not want to be evacuated
“He was like, ‘we’re edging towards emergency evacuation here. I don’t want to be somebody who’s left it to the point where that’s my only option.”
Nicola said that her son had to wrestle with the decision to leave Lebanon.
“What you have to understand for these people who work in these sort of refugee camp systems is you’re leaving people behind who have no choice,” she said.
Charlie hopes to arrive at London Heathrow this afternoon.
Scotland’s First Minister says a binding ceasefire across the Middle East is ‘essential’
Scotland’s First Minister has said the situation in the Middle East is cause for the “deepest concern” as he called for a binding ceasefire in the region.
UK citizens are being urged to leave Lebanon after Israel launched an intense series of air strikes earlier this week.
The UK has joined the US, France and other allies in calling for an immediate temporary ceasefire in Lebanon, warning the escalating violence between Israel and Hezbollah is “intolerable”.
Writing on X, John Swinney said: “The worsening situation in the Middle East is a cause of the deepest concern.
“It is essential that there is a binding ceasefire now to end the suffering in Gaza and to act to avoid escalating conflict in Lebanon.”
Thousands are pouring into Syria, fleeing conflict
Families fleeing Lebanon poured into Syria in growing numbers on Wednesday, waiting for hours to reach the relative safety of another war-torn country:
Thousands are pouring into Syria, fleeing worsening conflict in Lebanon
Families fleeing the escalating conflict in Lebanon are pouring into Syria in growing numbers
Iran foreign minister says Israel has ‘crossed all red lines’
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, says Israel has “crossed all red lines” and called for the UN Security Council to “intervene to restore peace and security”.
Mr Araghchi said the region was on the brink of a “full-scale catastrophe” and that Israel’s “attacks on Lebanon must stop”.
He also said that Iran supported Hezbollah in its “just cause” to defend Lebanon against Israeli “atrocities” and “occupation”.
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