Israel-Lebanon latest: Hezbollah ready for Israeli ground invasion, vows deputy leader, as central Beirut hit
Israel strikes central Beirut for the first time in 18 years as Hamas’ leader in Lebanon is killed in another round of strikes
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The deputy leader of Hezbollah has vowed they are ready for an Israeli invasion and will defeat any forces that cross into Lebanon.
In his first speech since Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah over the weekend, the group’s deputy chief Naim Qassem said the militia was confident they could replicate its success during the 2006 war with Israel and fight invading forces back off its territory.
“We are confident the Israeli enemy will not achieve its aims,” Qassem said. “We will confront any possibility and are ready if Israel decides to enter by land.”
Israel intensified its military campaign across the Middle East on Monday, striking central Beirut for the first time since 2006.
The attacks brought the death toll from Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon to over 1,000 people in the last two weeks, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
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.
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
Israeli military says it has dismantled a Hamas tunnel in Gaza
The Israeli military claims to have uncovered and dismantled a Hamas tunnel in central Gaza that was more than a kilometre long.
The tunnel ran near residential buildings, and inside were several rooms and equipment used by militants for prolonged stays, the military said, releasing footage showing a long staircase leading underground and what appeared to be an iron blast door.
Hamas is believed to have built hundreds of kilometeres of tunnels across Gaza to evade Israeli airstrikes. The militants have also used the tunnels to hold hostages captured in the 7 October attack that triggered the war.
Nasrallah’s body recovered from site of Israeli airstrike, sources say
The body of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has been recovered from the site of an Israeli airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs and is intact, a medical source and a security source has told Reuters.
While Hezbollah’s statement on Saturday confirming Nasrallah’s death did not say how exactly he was killed nor when his funeral would be, the two sources said his body had no direct wounds and that it appeared the cause of death was blunt trauma from the force of the blast.
‘No place in Middle East that Israel’s long arm cannot reach,’ warns Netanyahu
In his first public remarks since the killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu said: “He wasn’t another terrorist. He was the terrorist.”
He said Nasrallah’s killing would help bring displaced Israelis back to their homes in the north and would pressure Hamas to free Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
But with the threat of retaliation high, he said the coming days will bring “significant challenges” and warned Iran against trying to strike.
“There is no place in Iran or in the Middle East that Israel’s long arm cannot reach,” he said. “Today you know how much that is true.”
Hundreds of thousands displaced in Lebanon
Hundreds of thousands of people in Lebanon have been displaced by the ongoing conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, a Lebanese cabinet minister spearheading the country’s emergency response said.
Environment minister Nasser Yassin said the government estimates that about 250,000 people have left their homes and taken refuge in government-run shelters and informal ones. However, he told the Associated Press the total number is about “four times as many directly affected and/or displaced outside the shelters.”
The United Nations said that, as of Friday, 211,319 people were forced to relocate – even prior to the intensive Israeli airstrikes over Beirut’s southern suburbs over the past two days.
The Lebanese government has converted schools and other facilities into temporary shelters. But still many are sleeping on the streets or in public squares, as the government and non-governmental organisations try to find them places to stay.
Lebanon has ‘no option but the diplomatic option’ in response to Israel
Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati said said that his country has “no option but the diplomatic option” in response to Israel’s attacks.
Mr Mikati gave the response during a televised speech, when asked about diplomatic efforts to end Israel’s escalation against Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
Killing of Revolutionary Guards chief will not go unanswered, Iran warns
Israel’s killing of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards deputy commander Abbas Nilforoushan in Lebanon “will not go unanswered”, Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araqchi has warned.
‘This is our country and we’re staying,’ Beirut resident says
In Beirut, some displaced families spent the night on the benches at Zaitunay Bay, a string of restaurants and cafes on Beirut’s waterfront. On Sunday morning, families with nothing more than a duffle bag of clothes had rolled out mats to sleep on and made tea for themselves.
“You won’t be able to destroy us, whatever you do, however much you bomb, however much you displace people – we will stay here. We won’t leave. This is our country and we’re staying,” said Francoise Azori, a Beirut resident jogging through the area.
Four killed in strikes in Gaza
Israeli strikes have killed at least four people in the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian officials.
Two people were killed in separate strikes early on Sunday in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, according to the nearby Awda Hospital, which received the bodies. It said another six people were wounded.
In northern Gaza, first responders recovered two bodies after a strike on a house early on Sunday, according to Gaza’s civil defence authority, which operates under the Hamas-run government.
Tory leadership hopeful Badenoch praises Netanyahu for ‘extraordinary’ killing of Hezbollah chief
Diplomatic efforts for ceasefire with Israel ‘under way’, Lebanon minister says
Lebanon’s information minister said during a cabinet session on Sunday that diplomatic efforts for a ceasefire with Israel were still “under way”.
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