US intervention points to growing concerns over Israel’s air defences

After Hezbollah drone strike, any tit-for-tat strikes with Iran could pose a bigger problem still for Israel’s defences

As Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah and Iran has escalated, it has begun to show a degree of vulnerability. A Hezbollah drone evaded Israel’s much vaunted air defences on Sunday and struck a military canteen when it was busy with soldiers eating dinner. Four were killed and 58 wounded, seven seriously, at a location 40 miles south of the Lebanese border.

The drone that hit the canteen of the Golani base near Binyamina appears to have been part of a synchronised attack that allowed it to elude the country’s well organised air defences. Three drones flew from Lebanon over the Mediterranean, and though they were all initially spotted, and two shot down, the other was able to reach its target.

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Middle East crisis live: Israeli attacks on UN forces in Lebanon must stop, say UK, Italy, France and Germany

Benjamin Netanyahu claims Israeli military did its utmost to avoid harming Unifil personnel while striking Hezbollah fighters

More now on the Hezbollah strike on an IDF training base we reported on earlier (see post 7.33BST)

The drone attack on an army base in central Israel killed four soldiers and severely wounded seven others on Sunday, the Israeli military said, in the deadliest strike by the militant group since Israel launched its ground invasion of Lebanon nearly two weeks ago.

Hezbollah called the attack near Binyamina city retaliation for Israeli strikes on Beirut on Thursday that killed 22 people. It later said it targeted Israel’s elite Golani brigade, launching dozens of missiles to occupy Israeli air defence systems during the assault by “squadrons” of drones.

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Hezbollah drone attack kills four IDF soldiers as US prepares to send missile system to Israel

Strike on base near Binyamina city is deadliest since Israel’s ground invasion of Lebanon, and follows rare US commitment to deploy Thaad battery to Israel

A Hezbollah drone attack on an army base in central Israel killed four soldiers and severely wounded seven others on Sunday, the Israeli military said, in the deadliest strike by the militant group since Israel launched its ground invasion of Lebanon nearly two weeks ago.

Hezbollah called the attack near Binyamina city a retaliation for Israeli strikes on Beirut on Thursday that killed 22 people. It later said it targeted Israel’s elite Golani brigade, launching dozens of missiles to occupy Israeli air defence systems during the assault by “squadrons” of drones.

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Israel orders more evacuations in Lebanon and threatens medics who treat Hezbollah members

Military spokesperson demands that medics ‘avoid dealing with Hezbollah operatives’ and claims ambulances used to transport weapons

Israel has ordered more evacuations in southern Lebanon and threatened to target ambulances, as a fifth UN peacekeeper was wounded in Israel’s escalating conflict with the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah.

Israel’s military on Saturday ordered people in 23 southern Lebanese villages to evacuate to areas north of the Awali River, which flows from the western Bekaa valley into the Mediterranean.

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Middle East: African Union joins UN member states in expressing support for Guterres – as it happened

This blog has now closed. You can read all our coverage of the Israel-Gaza war here and Israel’s invasion of Lebanon here.

Images on the newswires show Palestinians fleeing areas in the northern Gaza Strip after a fresh Israeli evacuation order:

In a separate post on X to the one we reported on earlier (see 9.38am BST), Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee reiterated an earlier call for health workers and medical teams in southern Lebanon to avoid using ambulances, claiming they are being used by Hezbollah fighters.

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Middle East crisis: Nicaragua breaks diplomatic relations with Israel – as it happened

This blog is now closing. You can read our latest full report on Israel’s invasion of Lebanon here and all our coverage of its war on Gaza here.

Israel’s Magen David Adom has reported that one person has been killed and another wounded at a kibbutz in northern Israel by anti-tank fire from Lebanon.

Israel’s emergency services said the person killed was a 27-year-old Thai national working at kibbutz Yiron.

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US-made munition used in Israeli strike on central Beirut, shrapnel shows

Exclusive: Strike that killed 22 is first time US-made munition confirmed to have been used in attack on central Beirut since 2006

A US-made munition was used in a strike on central Beirut that killed 22 people and wounded 117, according to an analysis of shrapnel found by the Guardian at the scene of the attack.

The strike on Thursday night hit an apartment complex in the densely populated neighbourhood of Basta, levelling the apartment building and destroying cars and the interiors of nearby residences.

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Israeli strike on Beirut kills 22 in deadliest attack on city centre since war’s start

UN says its peacekeepers in southern Lebanon are ‘increasingly in jeopardy’ with Israeli forces having deliberately fired on their positions

Israeli strikes killed 22 people in Beirut in the deadliest attack on the city centre since recent hostilities broke out, as the UN said its peacekeepers in Lebanon’s south were in growing danger.

The strikes hit a densely packed residential neighbourhood of apartment buildings and small shops in the heart of the Lebanese capital. Israel had not previously struck the area, which is removed from Beirut’s southern suburbs where Hezbollah’s headquarters have been repeatedly bombed over the past weeks.

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Iran general’s whereabouts in question after Israeli strikes on Hezbollah

Conflicting reports include house arrest of Esmail Ghaani, who was in Beirut at time of Hassan Nasrallah’s killing

Mystery surrounded the whereabouts and health of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) commander Esmail Ghaani, amid reports that he was being investigated over how Israel managed to penetrate and crush the command structure of Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia at the heart of the Iranian “axis of resistance”.

It is known that Ghaani, who leads the IRGC’s al-Quds force, was in Beirut at the time of the killing of Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, but Iranian authorities have insisted he is alive, and even in line for an award for valour.

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At least 22 people killed in deadliest Israeli strike on central Beirut since start of war, officials say – as it happened

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Diplomatic communications have intensified in the past hours, before a UN security council meeting discussing the situation in the Middle East, Lebanon’s prime minister Najib Mikati said in a statement on X on Thursday, reports Reuters.

“There are contacts taking place between the United States and France with the aim of reviving a ceasefire declaration for a specific period in order to resume the search for political solutions,” he was quoted as saying.

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Middle East crisis: Al Jazeera accuses IDF of targeting journalists – as it happened

This blog has now closed. You can read our latest report on the Israel-Gaza war here and all our Middle East coverage here.

We have more reports coming in of deadly Israeli attacks on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza (see post at 07.54) and Bureij refugee camp, which is located nearby.

Two Israeli airstrikes hit tents for displaced people in the camps earlier, the Associated Press reports. The bodies of nine people, including three children, were brought to the al-Aqsa martyrs hospital in the nearby town of Deir al-Balah.

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Could Saudi-Iran talks prevent Lebanon from turning into a second Gaza?

Hezbollah has been a past source of tension between the two countries, but Riyadh wants to improve relations with Tehran

The Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, will meet his counterpart in Saudi Arabia to discuss the growing threat of an Israeli attack on Tehran and what steps, if any, the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon can take to secure a ceasefire in the face of growing evidence that the US supports Israel’s efforts to dismantle Hezbollah and force it to disarm.

In what is becoming a multifront war, Iran and Saudi Arabia are probably the two key regional players. Araghchi, who has already been to Beirut and Damascus, has been playing his cards close to his chest but he is seen as critical to any decision that Hezbollah needs to step back, regroup and prevent Lebanon from turning into a second Gaza.

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Israeli military deploys fourth division in Lebanon ground offensive

Hezbollah acting leader says its military capabilities still ‘fine’ as Israel sends more troops and keeps up airstrikes

Israel has said it is expanding its ground operation in Lebanon with the deployment of a fourth division after another night of intense airstrikes across the south and east of the country.

The reservist 146th division was sent to southern Lebanon overnight, hours after Israel announced the mobilisation of a third standing division, meaning the number of troops on the ground is now likely to number 15,000.

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Middle East crisis: Lammy to visit Bahrain and Jordan – as it happened

This blog has now closed. You can see all our coverage of the Israel-Gaza war here, and our latest report on Israel’s attacks on Lebanon here.

Turkey will evacuate its citizens who have applied to leave Lebanon by sea on Wednesday, the Turkish foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

Reuters reports it said in a statement that two Turkish navy ships were expected to set off for Beirut on Tuesday with a total capacity of about 2,000 passengers, adding that the evacuation process will continue in the following days if necessary.

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Starmer urges all sides in Middle East to ‘step back from the brink’

UK prime minister tells parliament that the first anniversary of 7 October Hamas attack is a ‘day of grief’ for region

Keir Starmer has urged all sides to pull back from the brink in the Middle East as he addressed the House of Commons on the anniversary of the 7 October attack by Hamas on Israel.

With Israel yet to decide how to respond to Iran’s unprecedented missile strike last week, the prime minister said he supported “Israel’s right to defend herself against Iran’s aggression, in line with international law”.

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Israel marks October 7 with memorials and protests, as attacks on Lebanon and Gaza continue

The Israeli military said it struck Hezbollah intelligence and weapons storage, as rocket hits Haifa injuring at least 5 people

Ceremonies were held across Israel on Monday as the country marked the first anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attacks, with the war it launched in response raging in Gaza and escalating in Lebanon, while conflict threatened to spread across the Middle East.

In the hours leading up to the anniversary, Israel bombed targets in Beirut and Gaza, while Hezbollah rockets struck Haifa, Israel’s third-largest city, causing damage to buildings, police said. Israeli media reported 5 people were wounded in rocket attacks in Haifa and the city of Tiberias.

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Middle East crisis live: night of bombing in south Beirut; IDF confirms Gaza mosque strike

Israeli army issued evacuation warnings on Saturday to people in the south of Lebanese capital; Israel says Deir al-Balah mosque in Gaza was Hamas site

At least 41,825 Palestinians have been killed and 96,910 wounded in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since 7 October, the territory’s health authorities said on Saturday.

A South Korean military transport aircraft returned 97 citizens and family members from Lebanon on Saturday as Middle East tensions rise, the foreign ministry said.

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Blasts shake Beirut’s southern suburbs as Israeli military urges evacuations

Explosions and smoke reported in capital early on Saturday while Hezbollah says clashes continue with Israeli troops in Lebanon border area

A series of explosions were heard over Beirut’s southern suburbs early on Saturday after the Israeli military demanded evacuations for some areas while Hezbollah said it was engaged in continued clashes with Israeli troops in the Lebanon border area.

Israel said on Friday it had targeted the intelligence headquarters of Hezbollah in Beirut and was assessing the damage after a series of strikes on senior figures in the militant group that Iran’s supreme leader condemned as counterproductive.

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More blasts in Beirut after Israel demands new evacuations – as it happened

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The Israeli military launched a series of strikes on southern Beirut on Thursday night, in one of the most intense bombardments on the city since the campaign began last week.

A source close to Hezbollah told the AFP news agency that Israel had conducted 11 consecutive strikes on the group’s stronghold in the Lebanese capital.

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Iran’s Ali Khamenei vows Hezbollah and Hamas will not back down

In rare public address, supreme leader defends missile attack on Israel and makes appeal for Muslim unity

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has vowed that Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza will re-emerge strongly with new leaders, as an Israeli airstrike cut Lebanon’s main route to Syria.

In a rare public sermon in front of tens of thousands in Tehran on Friday, Khamenei defended the “legal and legitimate” ballistic missile attack on Israel this week that Iran has said was in retaliation for the deaths of the Hezbollah secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah, and the Hamas political leader, Ismail Haniyeh.

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