Israel-Lebanon latest: Israel strikes central Beirut for first time in 18 years as death toll passes 1,000
A drone attack reportedly killed three senior leaders of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a militant group active in the ongoing conflict with Israel
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Israel intensified its military campaign across the Middle East on Monday, reportedly striking central Beirut for the first time since 2006.
A drone attack also reportedly killed three senior leaders of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a militant group involved in the ongoing conflict with Israel. The airstrike hit a residential building near the Kola intersection, causing significant damage and killing at least two others on the scene, the group said.
The attack brings the death toll from Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon to over 1,000 people in the last two weeks, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
Earlier, Israel said it bombed Houthi targets in Yemen, expanding its confrontation with Iran’s allies in the region, in response to Houthi missile attacks on Israel in recent days.
It stoked fears that Middle East fighting could spin out of control and draw in the United States.
The Houthi-run health ministry said the strikes killed four people and wounded 40 others, but that they took precautionary measures beforehand, emptying oil storage units in the ports.
Israel has also killed a seventh key Hezbollah commander as its bombardment continues in Lebanon after the Lebanese militant group’s Hassan Nasrallah was assassinated in Beirut.
Israel kills Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in strike marking major escalation in conflict
Israel-Hezbollah conflict: Why is Lebanon being attacked and will there be a ceasefire?
The killing of Hezbollah’s leader will make Israel no safer
‘We have lost everything’: Britons fleeing Lebanon say family was wiped out by airstrike
Who was Hassan Nasrallah? Hezbollah leader of Lebanese militant group killed in Israeli strike
US kills dozens of al-Qaeda militants
The US military says it killed 37 militants linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group in two strikes in Syria this month.
US Central Command said it struck northwestern Syria on Tuesday, targeting a senior militant in charge of military operations for the al-Qaeda-linked Hurras al-Deen group and eight others.
It also said a large-scale airstrike on two weeks ago targeted an IS training camp in a remote location in central Syria. That attack killed 28 militants including “at least four Syrian leaders,” the US said.
There are 900 US forces in Syria, along with an undisclosed number of contractors, mostly trying to prevent any comeback by the extremist IS group, which swept through Iraq and Syria in 2014, taking control of large swaths of territory.
Israeli strike allegedly kills three leaders of Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
A Palestinian militant group, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), alleged that three of its leaders were killed in an Israeli airstrike on central Beirut’s Kola district.
The attack comes as Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon killed over 1,000 people in the last two weeks, according to Lebanon’s health ministry, with a fifth of the population now displaced.
The strikes, previously limited to southern Beirut, have now spread to the city’s centre for the first time since 2006.
The Israeli military has not commented on the latest incident.
Biden says need to avoid ‘all-out’ war in the Middle East
US president Joe Biden said that he planned to speak with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu shortly before Israel intensified its military actions in Lebanon.
Israel has launched its first airstrike on central Beirut since 2006. The strike followed a weekend of IDF attacks targeting Hezbollah, including the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Mr Biden said that there is a need to avoid an all-out war in the Middle East, adding that the US is working with international partners to de-escalate the situation. “It has to be. We really have to avoid it.”
“I’ll tell you what I say to him when I talk to him,” he said.
Iranian leader calls for ‘decisive’ response to killings
Iran’s president has said a “decisive response” is needed following Israel‘s killing of numerous leaders of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
President Masoud Pezeshkian characterised the Israeli attacks on Hezbollah as crimes.
“The Lebanese fighters should not be left alone in this battle,” Pezeshkian said during a Sunday cabinet meeting, his office reported.
Iran, which has armed and trained Hezbollah for decades, also condemned Israeli airstrikes on power plants and port facilities in Yemen that targeted Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
Pezeshkian branded Israel a “brutal” regime and urged all Islamic countries not to be indifferent.
He won Iran’s presidential race in July, and is thought to be a reformist politician within Iran’s Shia theocracy:
Moderate reformist politician Masoud Pezeshkian wins Iran’s presidential race
Stances of Iran’s president-elect reflect dualities of being a reformist politician within Shia theocracy
Israel strikes central Beirut for the first time in almost two decades
Israel intensified its military campaign across the Middle East on Monday, striking central Beirut for the first time since 2006.
A drone attack also reportedly killed three senior leaders of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a militant group involved in the ongoing conflict with Israel. The airstrike hit a residential building near the Kola intersection, causing significant damage and killing at least two others on the scene, the group said.
The attack comes as Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon have killed over 1,000 people in the last two weeks, according to Lebanon’s health ministry, with a fifth of the population now displaced.
Meanwhile, Israel launched a wave of airstrikes against Houthi forces in Yemen, targeting infrastructure in the port city of Hodeidah. The strikes, which hit fuel facilities and power plants, were reportedly in response to Houthi missile attacks on Israel. At least four people were killed and 33 wounded in the Yemeni strikes.
Hezbollah leadership ‘wiped out’ by Israel
Bombing has forced a fifth of Lebanese to flee, a minister says. Full report:
Israel ‘wipes out’ Hezbollah leadership as bombing ‘forces one million’ to flee homes
Israel claims it killed 20 Hezbollah members in the strike that assassinated the Lebanese group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah
Netanyahu puts former rival in war cabinet
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appointed a former rival, Gideon Saar, to his cabinet. The move expands Netanyahu’s governing coalition and helps entrench the Israeli leader in office.
Under their agreement, Mr Netanyahu said Mr Saar would be given a spot in the Security Cabinet, the body that oversees management of the war.
Mr Saar had hoped to replace defence minister Yoav Gallant, another rival of Mr Netanyahu’s. But a deal for the job fell through after fighting intensified with Hezbollah.
Israel's prime minister appoints a former rival to strengthen his hold on office
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin has appointed a former rival as a member of his Cabinet
Curbs eased in northern Israel
The Israeli army has eased restrictions in parts of the country’s north - a move that appears to reflect a determination that the threat of incoming rocket fire has slightly diminished, although restrictions in the north still remain much stricter than other parts of the country.
The changes applied to parts of the Haifa Bay area and several adjacent towns. Schools will be allowed to operate if they have quickly-accessible shelters and restrictions on gatherings will ease.
Shortly after the announcement, sirens warned of incoming rockets throughout the Haifa area and Israel’s northern coast. The army said some 35 rockets were launched from Lebanon at northern Israel and two drones that crossed from Lebanon into the territorial waters of Israel were intercepted.
Thousands of Israeli children have been kept home from schools for the past week across the country’s north as fighting between Israel and Hezbollah escalated.
Anti-America protesters in Pakistan clash with police
Stone-throwing protesters in Pakistan’s southern city of Karachi clashed with police who stopped them from reaching the US consulate during demonstrations over Israel’s killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Protesters chanted “Death to America” while carrying posters of Nasrallah.
Police said seven officers were being treated in hospital for injuries from stones thrown by protesters.
“Police had to resort to baton-charging and tear gas against those who breached the cordons in a bid to disperse the crowd,” said Police Deputy Inspector General Asad Raza, adding that protesters had tried to reach areas beyond cordons agreed upon with organisers in advance.
Netanyahu wants to avoid regional war, US aide says
Biden national security spokesman claims Netanyahu wants to avoid wider regional war
Biden and Netanyahu agree on the ‘big thing’, John Kirby says, as US president reportedly furious over Lebanon escalation
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