Israel-Lebanon latest: Hamas fires rocket barrage at Tel Aviv on anniversary of October 7 attack
Today marks a year since Hamas crossed the Gaza border into Israel and killed 1,200 people, taking 251 more hostage . A little less than half of those hostages remain captive in the Gaza Strip
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Hamas has fired a barrage of rockets at Tel Aviv and central Israel as the country marks the anniversary of the deadly 7 October Hamas attack.
After air raid sirens were heard this morning, the Israeli military claimed Hamas had launched five rockets from the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. Hamas also claimed the attack.
“Falls were detected in the area, the details are under investigation,” the statement added, referring to areas in Israel.
Pictures published today from Khan Younis detailed rows of houses and apartment blocks levelled by Israeli airstrikes.
It comes as Israeli civilians mark the anniversary of Hamas’ deadly 7 October attack, during which they killed around 1,200 people and took 251 more hostage in Gaza, 101 of which remain in the enclave. Nearly 42,000 Palestinians have since been killed by Israel’s retaliatory air and ground attack in Gaza, according to the local, Hamas-run health ministry.
Families of the hostages marched to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem this morning to mark the terror attack.
“I couldn’t have imagined in my worst nightmares that a whole year would pass and my father would not be with us,” said Shir Siegel, 28, whose father Keith, 65, remains in Gaza.
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Israel pounds south Beirut and launches new offensive in north Gaza as war anniversary looms
Four Gaza hostage families torn apart by 7 October: ‘I’m screaming for the world to help’
365 days of horror since 7 October: The Gaza war in numbers
Israel will decide independently about Iran retaliation, says minister
Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant Israel would decide independently how to respond to Iran even though it was closely coordinating with longtime ally the US.
Iran launched a missile attack on Israel last week in response to its operations in Lebanon and Gaza, where Hezbollah and Hamas militants are Tehran’s allies in the “Axis of Resistance”.
“Everything is on the table,” Mr Gallant, who is due to meet US defence secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday.
“Israel has capabilities to hit targets near and far areas, we have proved it,” the minister told CNN.
While the US has said it would not support strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, president Joe Biden said last week that Israeli attacks on Iran’s oil facilities were being discussed.
Israel snubbed a US-backed push for a ceasefire in launching ground operations in Lebanon.
Israel on high alert for one-year anniversary of 7 October attacks
Israel is on high alert for possible attacks on the one-year anniversary of the 7 October Hamas assault on southern Israel.
“We are ready with increased forces in anticipation for this day,” said military spokesperson Admiral Daniel Hagari, adding that there could be “attacks on the home front”.
Israel will today hold memorials for the victims of the Hamas attack.
The war in Gaza was triggered when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 as hostages, according to Israeli tallies. More than 100 hostages remain held by Hamas.
Israel’s subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed nearly 42,000 Palestinians, according to the health ministry of the Hamas-run Strip.
One year on from the horrors of 7 October, Israel must work to secure a peaceful future
One year after the atrocities committed by Hamas, 7 October 2023 remains a date that will live in infamy. It is a moment to remember and commemorate all those innocents who lost their lives and suffered terrible injuries, who were taken hostage and orphaned, and who suffered other bereavements then and in the wars that have followed and continue still.
There are more than 40,000 dead in Gaza, and thousands more elsewhere as there seems no end to the slaughter. Gaza has been reduced to rubble, and everywhere there is disease and starvation. These are the facts of this war.
One year on from 7 October, Israel must work to secure a peaceful future
Editorial: A ceasefire now would help restore some measure of calm and trust across an incredibly volatile Middle East
Israel intensifies bombing of Gaza and Lebanon
Israel bombed targets in Lebanon and Gaza on the eve of the first anniversary of the Hamas attack on southern Israel that sparked its war on the Strip.
Hezbollah rockets launched last night got past Israeli air defence systems and landed in Haifa, Israel’s third-largest city, causing damage to buildings, police said. Israeli media reported 10 people wounded in rocket strikes in Haifa and the city of Tiberias.
Israeli air strikes battered Beirut’s southern suburbs yesterday in the most intense bombardment of the Lebanese capital since Israel sharply escalated its campaign against Iran-backed group Hezbollah last month.
Large fireballs lit the darkened skyline and booms reverberated across Beirut.
PM says ‘we must stand with Jewish community’ as he marks October 7 anniversary
Sir Keir Starmer has said that “we must unequivocally stand with the Jewish community” and reiterated his calls for a ceasefire as he marked the first anniversary of the October 7 attacks.
Monday is one year since the Hamas attacks in Israel, which triggered Israel’s subsequent conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon.
Sir Keir described October 7 2023 as “the darkest day in Jewish history since the Holocaust” and said that “collective grief has not diminished” in the year since.
“Over a thousand people were brutally murdered. Men, women, children and babies killed, mutilated, and tortured by the terrorists of Hamas. Jewish people murdered whilst protecting their families, young people massacred at a music festival, people abducted from their homes,” the Prime Minister said.
“Agonising reports of rape, torture and brutality beyond comprehension which continued to emerge days and weeks later.
“As a father, a husband, a son, a brother – meeting the families of those who lost their loved ones last week was unimaginable. Their grief and pain are ours, and it is shared in homes across the land.
“A year on, that collective grief has not diminished or waned.”
More than 30 strikes on Beirut overnight - casualties unclear
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported more than 30 strikes overnight into Sunday.
Israel’s military confirmed it was striking targets near Beirut and said about 130 projectiles had crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory.
“It was very difficult. All of us in Beirut could hear everything,” resident Haytham Al-Darazi said.
Another resident, Maxime Jawad, called it “a night of terror.”One strike killed three sisters and their aunt in the coastal village of Jiyyeh. “This is a civilian home, and the biggest evidence is those martyred are four women,” said a neighbour, Ali Al Hajj.
19 killed at mosque strike in Gaza
An Israeli airstrike hit a mosque in central Gaza and Palestinian officials said at least 19 people were killed early Sunday.
The strike in Gaza hit a mosque where displaced people were sheltering near the main hospital in the central town of Deir al-Balah. Another four people were killed in a strike on a school sheltering displaced people near the town. The Israeli military said both strikes targeted militants, without providing evidence.
Ten injured in strikes on Haifa
Hezbollah rockets hit Haifa, Israel’s third-largest city, Israeli police said early on Monday, and Israeli media reported 10 people were injured in the country’s north.
Hezbollah said it targeted a military base south of Haifa with a salvo of “Fadi 1” missiles. Media reports said two rockets hit Haifa.
Police said that some buildings and properties were damaged, and that there were several reports of minor injuries.
Israel bombards southern Beirut
Beirut’s skyline lit up again late Sunday with new airstrikes, a day after Israel’s heaviest bombardment of the southern suburbs known as the Dahiyeh since it escalated its air campaign on September 23.
It was not immediately clear if there were casualties.Israel confirmed the strikes and says it targets Hezbollah.
UK advises against all travel to Israel and Gaza
Britain advised citizens on Sunday against all travel to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) due to a heightened state of tension and violent clashes in the region.
“FCDO advises against all travel to the area close to the border with Gaza and all but essential travel to the rest of Israel and the OPTs,” it said.
It came as the fourth and final charter flight for Britons wanting to leave Lebanon has left Beirut.
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