Israel-Lebanon latest: Netanyahu warns attacks will continue as Israel unleashes fresh wave of strikes
It comes as a Lebanese minister warned the country would pay a “very big price” for escalation with Israel
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Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that attacks will continue on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
The Israeli military has unleashed a fresh round of “extensive strikes”, continuing a heavy bombardment of across southern Lebanon.
In a message to Lebanese residents on X, Netanyahu said that "anyone who has a missile in their living room and a rocket in their garage will not have a home".
A Hezbollah commander was earlier killed in an airstrike on Beirut, Israel claimed. The commander was named as Ibrahim Qubaisi, a leading figure in Hezbollah’s rocket division.
Six people were killed and 15 injured in the strike, according to the Lebanese health ministry. It hit the typically-busy southern Dahiyeh district of the capital.
It comes after Lebanese authorities said the death toll has reached 558 including 50 children since Israel launched fresh strikes on Monday, according to the country’s health minister.
A fresh wave of strikes swept the country on Tuesday, after Monday saw the deadliest day of strikes in Lebanon in nearly two decades of the conflict.
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Conflict is spreading “dangerously”, says Brazilian president
In a speech at the UN summit, Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has condemned the “right of revenge” which he believes is hindering peace talks.
He said the war in Gaza is spreading “dangerously” to Lebanon and repeated his longstanding calls for a ceasefire.
"The right of defence has turned into the right of revenge, which prevents an agreement to release hostages and postpones a ceasefire," Lula told the summit.
Lula repeated his call for a reformation of the UN, saying the body was not succeeding in its job of preventing wars.
Israel open to ideas to de-escalate in Lebanon, says Israel’s UN envoy
Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon has said the country prefers a diplomatic solution to a ground invasion in Lebanon after the United States said it was exploring some “concrete ideas” with allies and partners to find a solution.
“As we speak there are important forces trying to come up with ideas and we are open-minded for that,” he told reporters. “We are not eager to start any ground invasion anywhere ... We prefer a diplomatic solution.”
Fierce fighting this week between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah has increased fears that nearly a year of conflict will explode and destabilize the Middle East, where a war between Hamas and Israel is already raging in Gaza.
Israel has said it is shifting its focus from Gaza to the northern frontier, where Hezbollah has been firing rockets into Israel in support of Hamas, which is also backed by Iran.
Lebanese minister warns country will pay ‘very big price’ if Hezbollah pursues Israel war
Amin Salam, Lebanon’s economy minister who is not affiliated with Hezbollah, warned against taking a “big risk and gamble”.
He called on the country to make a “wise decision”.
Mr Salam told Sky News: "There needs to be a decision whether we want to drag Lebanon into further escalation and misery or we want to make a wise decision.
He said that taking a “big risk and gamble” in this war will lead to a “very, very, very big”.
It would take Lebanon “many, many years” to get back from the “very difficult place” such a decision would lead the country to.
Oxfam: Lebanon ‘cannot afford’ another crisis
Oxfam has weighed in on events in Lebanon, saying in a statement that Lebanon cannot afford a war on top of existing crises.
The organisation says disastrous conditions will be the result of further war in southern Lebanon, and does not believe the international humanitarian system will have the capacity to meet the needs of an increase in violence.
Oxfam’s Lebanon country director Bachir Ayoub said: “This conflict was predictable and avoidable. It is the result of the failure to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza.
“For decades, the people of Lebanon have endured one crisis after another without getting the opportunity to fully recover. This latest emergency will only deepen the existing challenges facing the people of Lebanon and further destabilize an already volatile region.”
Thousands flee Israel airstrikes on Lebanon with what little they can: ‘We’re afraid for a big war’
Thousands of people have arrived in the Lebanese city of Aley, about 12 miles from Beirut, since Israel intensified its airstrikes against Hezbollah – fleeing the south where the bombardment has been focused.
“We smelled the bombs. Then we started to see traffic jams. My children panicked and cried, so we decided to leave.”
Cosette Molijn speaks to the people fleeing Israeli shelling in Lebanon:
Thousands flee Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon: ‘We’re afraid for a big war’
Israel claims to have killed a senior Hezbollah commander in strike on Beirut – as total death toll this week crosses 560
Pictured: Medics and authorities gather after Beirut strike
Israel carrying out ‘extensive’ strikes
The Israeli military has said it is carrying out “extensive strikes” on Hezbollah targets around Lebanon.
At least 564 people have been killed, including 50 children and 94 women, since Israel began a heavy round of strikes in southern Lebanon on Monday.
The military did not provide further detail on the strikes currently being conducted.
Israel-Hezbollah conflict timeline: Everything that’s happened since 7 October
Fears of an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah are growing, with the Israeli military launching fresh strikes on Lebanon after the deadliest day for the country since at least 2006.
A rapid escalation has taken place following a series of exploding device attacks last week, in which pagers and walkie talkies blew up around Lebanon. Hezbollah has blamed Israel for the attack. Israel has not commented.
Fifty children are among the 558 dead so far this week following Israeli strikes on Lebanon.
The Independent takes a look at the recent timeline of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and an ally of Hamas in Gaza:
Israel-Hezbollah conflict timeline: Everything that’s happened since 7 October
Strikes between Hezbollah and Israel are ramping up, fuelling fears of an all-out war
Two UN staff killed in strikes on Lebanon
Two UN refugee agency workers were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon on Monday, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said.
Dina Darwiche, who lived with her family and had worked with the agency for 12 years, was killed alongside her son, AP reported. Their bodies were recovered from the rubble today.
The strike, in Lebanon’s Bekaa region, also seriously injured her husband and another child.
Ali Basma who worked for the UNHCR as a cleaner in UNHCR’s Tyre office for seven years, was killed in a separate strike.
Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said: “Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon are now relentlessly claiming hundreds of civilian lives. And I am very saddened to confirm that two UNHCR colleagues were also killed yesterday.
“On behalf of all us at UNHCR, heartfelt condolences to their families, friends and colleagues.”
The UNHCR said it was “outraged and deeply saddened by the killing of two beloved members of the UNHCR family in Lebanon”.
Strikes in Lebanon will continue, Netanyahu says
In an update posted on X, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the military will continue striking Hezbollah targets.
"Our war is not with you, our war is with Hezbollah,” he told Lebanese citizens.
Hezbollah is “leading you to the brink of the abyss... Rid yourself from Nasrallah’s grip, for your own good,” he added.
Netanyahu added that "anyone who has a missile in their living room and a rocket in their garage will not have a home".
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