Israel-Lebanon latest: Biden and Netanyahu to discuss Israeli plans to strike Iran
Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed to respond to Iran’s huge missile barrage launched at Israel last week
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US president Joe Biden is set to speak with Benjamin Netanyahu about Israel’s plans to strike Iran in response to a massive missile barrage launched at Israel by Tehran last week.
Biden is said to want to “shape the limitations” of Israel’s retaliation to ensure targets hit across Iran are “significant” without being disproportionate, White House officials said.
Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed to respond to Iran’s attack last Tuesday, which saw almost 200 ballistic missiles fired at Israel.
It comes after Netanyahu and his defence minister Yoav Gallant both suggested Hashem Safieddine, the man expected to replace former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut.
“We took out thousands of terrorists, including Nasrallah himself and Nasrallah’s replacement, and the replacement of the replacement,” Netanyahu said.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah targeted Israeli forces near the Lebanese border village of Labbouneh with artillery shells and rockets on Wednesday, injuring three soliders.
The conflict in Lebanon has escalated dramatically in recent weeks after Israel launched ground operations into southern Lebanon on 1 October that expanded further this week.
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Who is Hashem Safieddine, the Nasrallah relative seen as future Hezbollah leader?
Israeli forces have claimed senior Hezbollah commander Hashem Safieddine was likely killed in an overnight airstrike on Beirut.
Safieddine was widely seen as the successor to his slain relative Hassan Nasrallah, who perished in an Israeli airstrike on the Lebanese capital city on 27 September.
He was running Hezbollah alongside the group’s deputy secretary general Naim Qassem since Nasrallah’s assassination just under two weeks ago.
Safieddine has sat on the group’s Jihad Council - the body responsible for its military operations. He was also head of its executive council, overseeing financial and administrative affairs for the Iran-backed group.
While not as well-known to Israelis as Nasrallah, Safieddine is seen by Israel as a leading target in what it deems a terrorist organisation and a proxy for Iran.
Joe Biden called Netanyahu a ‘f***ing liar’, according to upcoming book
US President Joe Biden called prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “f*****g liar” after IDF troops went into Rafah, according to an upcoming book by US journalist Bob Woodward.
After Israel entered Rafah, Biden said of Netanyahu: “He’s a f****** liar.” “That son of a b***h, Bibi Netanyahu, he’s a bad guy,” said Biden privately, according to Woodward. “He’s a bad f*****g guy!”
Pictured: Smoke billows above ancient city of Tyre, southern Lebanon
Pictured: Aftermath of Hezbollah rocket fire in Haifa
Pictured: Commercial plane takes off as smoke billows across the Beirut skyline
Health facilities in Lebanon ‘severely damaged’, WHO says
Health facilities have been severely damaged by Israel’s ongoing bombardment and invasion of Lebanon as it seeks to uproot Hezbollah, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned.
There have been 36 attacks on health facilities, killing 77 health workers and injuring 74 others over the past year, according to the WHO.
Watch: Starmer’s blunt response to suspended Labour MP’s question on Israel arms sales
Israeli air force strike school being used by Hezbollah, military claims
The Israeli Air Force destroyed a school in southern Lebanon being used by Hezbollah to launch rockets at northern Israel, the Israeli military claimed.
“Over the past few hours, Israeli Air Force fighter jets have continued to strike Hezbollah terror targets in Lebanon, including launchers, terrorist infrastructure sites, and anti-tank missile launchers,” the military said.
“During Israeli military operational activity in the area, the Israeli air force struck Hezbollah observation posts, anti-tank missile launchers, and ambush posts.”
Keir Starmer takes aim at ‘malign’ Iran and vows never to ban all arms sales to Israel
Sir Keir Starmer used the first anniversary of Hamas’s barbaric terrorist attack on Israel to urge the international community to turn its focus on the “malign” regime in Iran.
In a carefully crafted statement in the Commons to commemorate the 7 October atrocity, which sparked war in the Middle East, Sir Keir’s message to MPs was that the ayatollahs who rule Iran must be held to account and forced to take responsibility for the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the region.
He said his government “will never stop selling weapons to Israel”, despite calls from French president Emmanuel Macron for a full arms embargo.
Read the full article here:
Starmer takes aim at ‘malign’ Iran and vows never to ban all arms sales to Israel
Starmer tells MPs: ‘This was not a defensive action by Iran, it was an act of aggression’
Pictured: Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel
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