Israel-Lebanon live: Israeli army warns Beirut suburbs residents to flee as fresh attacks on Hezbollah planned
Air attack reportedly targeted Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah but injured at least 76
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The Israeli military has issued a stark warning to people in areas of southern Beirut that it will strike a second time, and called on civilians to leave those areas.
In a televised address, spokesperson Daniel Hagari said an earlier strike on Hezbollah’s central command was “very precise” and that the defence forces would not tolerate the civilian airport being used for military purposes.
Earlier, the Israeli military struck Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut in a series of massive explosions thought to have targeted Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the militant group.
The airstrikes killed at least two people and wounded 76 in the suburbs where Hezbollah’s headquarters are said to be located.
Israeli sources said Nasrallah was the intended target but a source close to Hezbollah told Reuters he was still alive.
Top US officials are furious after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed a ceasefire plan, sources told CNN. Biden administration chiefs had been assured that he had agreed a 21-day peace deal framework, but hours after the White House announced the idea, Mr Netanyahu branded it “incorrect”.
Mr Netanyahu vowed at the UN to continue attacks on Iranian-backed fighters in Lebanon.
Britain joins US, France and allies in call for 21-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah
Britons urged to leave Lebanon now – but what are their travel options after most flights cancelled?
Jordan travel: Is it safe to travel right now, and what are your rights if you have a trip booked?
Netanyahu orders Israeli military to fight Hezbollah with full force – despite ceasefire push
Israeli strike in Syria kills 5 soldiers
An overnight Israeli airstrike on a military site near Kfar Yabous, close to the Lebanese border, killed five Syrian soldiers and wounded another, Syrian state news agency SANA reported Friday, citing an unnamed military official.
Israel’s military has not officially acknowledged the strike, although it regularly targets military positions in Syria, including facilities linked to Iran and Hezbollah. Israel rarely confirms these incidents.
The frequency of such strikes has increased in the past 11 months, coinciding with Hezbollah’s ongoing clashes with Israel’s military, against the backdrop of Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.
Since the beginning of the week, tens of thousands of Lebanese and Syrians have fled across the Lebanon-Syria border due to heavy Israeli bombardment.
Israeli teams will continue ceasefire talks, Netanyahu says
Israeli teams had meetings to discuss the U.S. ceasefire proposals with Lebanon on Thursday and will continue discussions in the days ahead, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday, adding that he appreciated the U.S. efforts.
“Our teams met (Thursday, Sept. 26) to discuss the U.S. initiative and how we can advance the shared goal of returning people safely to their homes. We will continue those discussions in the coming days,” he said in a statement.
The comments came after Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz said on Thursday there would be no ceasefire in the north, where Israeli jets have been carrying out the heaviest bombardment against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement in decades.
On Thursday, after Netanyahu left for New York where he is attending the United Nations General Assembly, his office issued a statement saying the prime minister had ordered Israeli troops to continue fighting with full force in Lebanon.
Mr Netanyahu is giving his address to the UN at 2.30pm.
Nearly 700 people have been killed in Lebanon this week - country’s health ministry
Nearly 700 people have been killed in Lebanon this week, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
Israel has dramatically escalated strikes, saying it is targeting Hezbollah’s military capacities and senior Hezbollah commanders.
Top Israeli officials have threatened to repeat the destruction of Gaza in Lebanon if the Hezbollah fire continues, raising fears that Israel‘s actions in Gaza since Oct. 7 would be repeated in Lebanon.
The International Organization for Migration estimated Thursday that more than 200,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon since Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel in support of Hamas after it stormed into Israel, sparking the Israel-Hamas war.
Lebanon says a total of 1,540 people have been killed within its borders in that time.
ICYMI: Blinken tells Israel escalation will make civilian return more difficult
US secretary of state Antony Blinken warned Israel that further escalation of the conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon would make it harder for civilians on both sides of the border to return home.
“The Secretary discussed the importance of reaching an agreement on the 21-day ceasefire across the Israel-Lebanon border,” the state department said in a statement referring to talks between Blinken and Israeli minister for strategic affairs Ron Dermer.
“He underscored that further escalation of the conflict will only make that objective (of civilian return) more difficult.”
Despite global calls for a ceasefire, including from the US and France, Israel has continued its military strikes in Lebanon, heightening fears of a wider regional war.
White House defends ceasefire proposal
The White House has defended its ceasefire proposal, saying they believed Israel was open to considering it, especially for the Lebanon border.
Global calls for a 21-day ceasefire, led by US president Joe Biden and France’s Emmanuel Macron, have been dismissed by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters: “He and his cabinet and the Israeli people have every right to want to thwart that threat,” Mr Kirby said.
“We still believe an all-out war is not the best way to get people back in their homes. If that’s the goal, an all-out war, we don’t believe is the right way to do that.”
ICYMI: Israel-Hezbollah conflict: Why is Lebanon being attacked and will there be a ceasefire?
Tensions in the Middle East continue to escalate as Israel ramps up its assault on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
Beginning with a major bombardment on 23 September, Lebanon has now experienced its deadliest attack since the end of the 1975 - 1990 Civil War, with over 90,000 civilians displaced from their homes.
Israel has called the bombardment a “new phase” of its war on Gaza, striking more than 1,000 targets in Lebanon which it says were Hezbollah strongholds or military facilities in homes.
Since the 7 October Hamas attack where over 240 Israeli hostages were taken, Hezbollah has been striking Israel from Lebanon on the country’s northern border in support of Hamas. Israeli forces have continued to respond with strikes on the paramilitary group which regularly fired missiles and rockets to intercept military technology like drones or tanks.
Read the full story here:
Israel-Hezbollah: Why is Lebanon being attacked and will there be a ceasefire?
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out a US-led ceasefire deal
‘Sirens’ heard across central Israel after ‘missile launched from Yemen’
The Israel Defence Forces said that sirens were sounding across central Israel late on Thursday. In a post on X, the IDF attributed the alarms to “a missile launched from Yemen”.
“The missile launched from Yemen was successfully intercepted by an ‘Arrow’ interceptor,” they said in a post on X.
“The alarms and explosions that were heard are the result of the interception process and the interception fragments.”
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.”
Norwegian police search for missing man linked to pager explosions
Norwegian police have issued an international search warrant for Rinson Jose, a 39-year-old Norwegian-Indian man, in connection with the sale of pagers to Hezbollah.
These pagers exploded recently, killing dozens of people in Lebanon. Jose, who founded the Bulgarian company Norta Global Ltd., allegedly part of the pager supply chain, went missing during a work trip to the US.
Oslo police said: “Yesterday, the Oslo police district received a missing person report in connection with the pager case. A missing persons case has been opened and we have sent out an international warrant for the person.”
Jose’s employer also reportedly lost contact with him after he left for a Boston conference on 17 September.
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.”
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