Israel-Lebanon latest: Fighter jets strike 220 Hezbollah targets in a day, Israel says, as ceasefire rejected
Netanyahu ordered strikes to continue as Israel rejected a US-French proposal for a 21-day ceasefire in Lebanon
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Israel struck about 220 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon 24 hours, military leaders have said.
The targets included infrastructure sites, launchers from which projectiles were fired toward Israeli territory, Hezbollah operatives and weapons storage facilities.
Earlier, Israel 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.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s government ruled out a ceasefire with Hezbollah, instead ordering his military to fight at full force.
The UK joined the US, France and other allies in calling for a 21-day temporary truce. In a statement, Mr Netanyahu’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.”
The proposed ceasefire agreement would not affect the war in Gaza.
Foreign minister Israel Katz echoes ceasefire refusal
Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz has also outright rejected the calls for a ceasefire.
He wrote on X, formerly Twitter: "There will be no ceasefire in the north.
"We will continue to fight against the Hezbollah terrorist organization with all our strength until victory and the safe return of the residents of the north to their homes."
Mahmoud Abbas calls out US government at UN summit
Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas said the “entire world is responsible” for events in Gaza and the West Bank.
He opened his speech at the UN general assembly in New York by telling the members: “We will not leave. We will not leave. We will not leave.”
“Palestine is our homeland. It is the land of our fathers, our grandfathers. It will remain ours. And if anyone were to leave, it would be occupying usurpers.”
Abbas added, according to The Guardian: “Stop killing children and women. Stop the genocide. Stop sending weapons to Israel. This madness cannot continue.”
He also called out the US for their failure to vote for a ceasefire in the UN security council and their veto of full Palestinian membership in the UN.
“This is the United States, the very country that was the only member in the security council that voted against granting the state of Palestine for membership in the UN,” Abbas said.
“We don’t deserve membership in the eyes of America, so they use a veto against it.”
Netanyahu’s office says reports of ceasefire with Hezbollah are “not true"
More has emerged on Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu ruling out a possible ceasefire deal.
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.
ICYMI: Hezbollah air force commander killed in Beirut strike
The head of Hezbollah’s air force unit was killed in Israel’s strike on Beirut, Israel says.
The commander was named as Mohammad Surur by both Israeli forces and Lebanese security forces who spoke to Reuters.
The attack is one of a number of strikes on the Lebanese capital since Monday, amid an Israeli bombing campaign which has seen over 630 people killed in Lebanon.
The Israeli military earlier said it is carrying out what is cliams are “precise” strikes in Beirut, where the sound of a blast was heard and smoke was seen rising in the southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold.
Local Hezbollah media said the strike had hit an apartment building.
Netanyahu: I have not responded to ceasefire proposal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he had not yet responded to a US and and French proposal for a ceasefire.
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.
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.
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”.
Lebanese PM expresses hope for a ceasefire
Lebanese prime minister Najib Mikati has expressed hope that a ceasefire could be reached soon to end fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah that has shaken his country and raised fears of a ground invasion.
The US, France and several allies called for an immediate 21-day ceasefire across the Israel-Lebanon border while also expressing support for a ceasefire in Gaza following intense discussions at the United Nations on Wednesday.
Mikati welcomed the call for a truce but said the key to its implementation is whether Israel, which has been moving troops closer to Lebanon, is committed to enforcing international resolutions.
Asked if a ceasefire could be secured soon, Mikati told Reuters: “Hopefully, yes.”
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.”
ICYMI: Israel gears up for Lebanon ground invasion after another day of heavy strikes
Israel is preparing for a potential ground invasion of Lebanon, army chiefs said on Wednesday, as US president Joe Biden admitted “all-out war” is possible and Sir Keir Starmer urged British nationals to leave the area immediately.
Airstrikes in Lebanon are laying the groundwork for a possible operation to push Hezbollah back and “safely return” displaced Israeli citizens, said Israeli army general Lt Gen Herzi Halevi.
He told troops on Israel’s northern border the military is “preparing the process of a manoeuvre, which means your military boots, your manoeuvring boots, will enter enemy territory, enter villages that Hezbollah has prepared as large military outposts”.
Read the full report here:
Israel gears up for Lebanon ground invasion after another day of heavy strikes
Biden admits ‘all-out war’ is possible as Starmer warns British nationals in Lebanon: ‘The time to leave is now’
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