Category Archives: Hezbollah

Israel launches intense attacks on Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut’s south

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Reports suggest strikes were targeting Hashem Safieddine, seen as most likely candidate to replace Hassan Nasrallah

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 as Hezbollah continued to attack northern Israel.

The raids came as Israel also cut off a key road near to Lebanon’s Masnaa border crossing with Syria that has been used by hundreds of thousands of people to flee Israeli bombardments in recent days.

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Israel orders evacuation of southern Lebanese city as Beirut strikes continue

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People of Nabatieh are told to leave, adding to mass displacement, and multiple airstrikes are heard in capital

The Israeli military has ordered evacuations of a Lebanese city and other communities north of a UN-declared buffer zone, signalling that it may widen a ground operation launched earlier this week against Hezbollah.

On Thursday, Israel told people to leave Nabatieh, a provincial capital in southern Lebanon, and several towns and villages north of the Litani River, which formed the northern edge of the border zone established by the UN security council after the 2006 war in a resolution that both sides have accused the other of violating.

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Biden says US ‘discussing’ possible Israeli plans to attack Iran’s oil industry

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President’s off-the-cuff remark outside White House over possible retaliation triggers global oil price rise

Joe Biden has said that his administration has been “discussing” possible Israeli plans to attack Iran’s oil industry in retaliation for the Iranian ballistic missile attack on Tuesday.

Biden’s off-the-cuff remark did not make clear whether his administration was holding internal discussions or talking directly to Israel, nor did he clarify what his attitude was to such an attack.

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Gulf leaders support Palestine – but many would not mind seeing Israel challenge Iran

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The escalating Middle East conflict could create a dangerous vacuum – or an opportunity – for several states

The coincidental timing of an emergency meeting of Gulf foreign ministers in Doha with a visit to the same city by the Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, for talks with Qatar’s emir raises questions about how the Gulf states will react if Israel pushes ahead with its plan to use its recent military success not just to weaken Iran, but reorder the Middle East.

This Sunni coalition of six Gulf monarchs is not naturally well disposed to Iran or its Shia proxies, and only in 2016 labelled Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation. But they also oppose further Israeli escalation, and believe it is ultimately only Washington that has the means to restrain the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

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Israeli strikes kill six in central Beirut as blasts heard across Lebanon’s capital

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Strike on medical centre is the second attack on the centre of Lebanon’s capital this week and comes after the IDF suffered their deadliest day against Hezbollah since 8 October

Israeli strikes on a central Beirut medical centre have killed at least six people, after Israel’s military suffered its deadliest day on the Lebanese front in a year of clashes with Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Residents in Beirut heard a missile flying above the city before hearing the sound of the explosion. Videos showed the floor of an apartment building burning. Residents living in nearby areas began to flee, driving away quickly in scooters and cars.

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After a fortnight of military triumph, what is Israel’s endgame?

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Hawks argue Tehran’s missile assault gives legitimacy to a direct attack on Iran – but would ‘wars and wars and wars’ guarantee greater security?

Israel is enjoying a moment of military and intelligence triumph. Over two weeks, it has killed an “archenemy” in his secret bunker, decimated Hezbollah’s leadership, blown up the militant group’s communications networks and parts of its arsenal and humbled its sponsor, Iran.

As its ground troops marched into Lebanon, Israel fended off a large-scale Iranian ballistic missile attack with backing from the US and other allies.

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Eight Israeli soldiers killed in clashes with Hezbollah in Lebanon

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Casualties during heavy fighting in border areas come days after Israel launched ground incursion

Eight Israeli soldiers have been killed and a number of others wounded in three exchanges with Hezbollah in heavy fighting inside Lebanon.

The largest group of soldiers, from the commando brigade and including an officer, was involved in a clash with Hezbollah in a village north of the Israeli border community of Misgav Am, while two other soldiers from the Golani brigade were killed in a separate incident.

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Gulf states call on international community to fulfil responsibilities in the region – as it happened

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Danish police said on Wednesday morning that they were investigating two blasts in the vicinity of Israel’s embassy in Copenhagen.

“No one has been injured, and we are carrying out initial investigations at the scene,” Copenhagen police said in a statement. They said a “possible connection” to the Israeli embassy, which is located in the area, was being investigated.

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US would not support Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear sites, says Biden

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Top Israeli diplomat at UN warns his country’s retaliation for Iranian missile attack will be heavier than Tehran ‘could ever have imagined’

Joe Biden has said he would not support an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear sites, as the US sought to temper Israel’s response to Iran’s missile attack on Tuesday and contain a rapidly escalating regional conflict.

Biden’s comments came after the top Israeli diplomat at the UN warned his country’s retaliation for an Iranian salvo of nearly 200 ballistic missiles would be heavier than Tehran “could ever have imagined”.

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Israel vows to retaliate after Iran launches unprecedented missile attack

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Iran sends more than 180 ballistic missiles in dramatic escalation of conflict

Israel has vowed to retaliate after Iran launched a barrage of ballistic missiles at targets across Israel in a dramatic intensification of a conflict that appeared to be escalating out of control.

“Iran made a big mistake tonight – and it will pay for it,” Benjamin Netanyahu told a meeting of his security cabinet late on Tuesday. “The regime in Iran does not understand our determination to defend ourselves and our determination to retaliate against our enemies.”

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Iran calls missile attack on Israel ‘legal, rational and legitimate’

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High-risk assault reflects Iranian elite’s belief that restraint after assassination of Ismail Haniyeh was strategic mistake

Iran said its supreme leader made the decision to fire dozens of missiles into Israel as retaliation for the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the recent killings of leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas, two of the main groups in Iran’s so-called axis of resistance.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said the decision had been made by Ali Khamenei with the backing of the supreme national security council (SNSC) and the Iranian defence ministry.

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Stopping Iran’s attack would have forced Israel to use sophisticated – and expensive – defences

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Despite launching 180 ballistic missiles, Iran is likely to have wanted to keep most of its stock in case of a full-blown war with Israel

Iran’s decision to launch about 180 high-speed ballistic missiles at Israel indicates that Tehran sought to inflict serious damage in Tuesday’s night attack, unlike the well-telegraphed drone and missile attack in April.

Their sheer speed makes ballistic weapons challenging to intercept, but the initial reports of no fatalities within Israel and one in the West Bank would suggest despite the numbers of missiles launched it was a military failure, though some of the weapons or fragments appear to have struck the ground.

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Australia financially assisting some citizens to leave Lebanon as Israel launches ground incursion

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It is thought there are 15,000 Australians in Lebanon, and plans for an emergency evacuation have been in place for months

The federal government is understood to be financially assisting some Australians in Lebanon to leave the country as part of an escalated bid to expatriate citizens as Israel begins a ground incursion.

Guardian Australia understands Beirut-Rafic Hariri international airport – the only operational commercial airport in Lebanon – remains open and both Australian passport and visa holders were being assisted on to flights by diplomatic staff. An estimated 15,000 Australians are in Lebanon.

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Burke accuses Dutton of trying to ‘throw kerosene’ on public debate over Middle East

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Home affairs minister says he will cancel visas of people waving Hezbollah flags at rallies as experts point to nuanced community perspectives on group

The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, has accused Peter Dutton of seeking to “raise the temperature” of public debate over conflict in the Middle East, after protests on the weekend included some people holding the Hezbollah flag.

The opposition leader on Monday suggested parliament should be recalled to enact new anti-terror laws that would cover such actions, if it was not already illegal.

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Israeli military says it is carrying out ‘limited’ ground operation targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon

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IDF says it has launched raids on villages close to the border ‘that pose an immediate threat to Israeli communities’, as Lebanon says Israeli strikes have killed 95 people in past 24 hours

The Israeli military has begun a “limited, localised and targeted” ground operation against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, it has said, as it continued shelling areas close to the border and carrying out airstrikes on the capital, Beirut.

“The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] began limited, localised, and targeted ground raids based on precise intelligence against Hezbollah terrorist targets and infrastructure in southern Lebanon,” the military said in a statement on X early on Tuesday.

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Israel has begun ground attacks on Hezbollah inside Lebanon, says US

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Israel tells US state department it is targeting infrastructure just inside Lebanon, while Beirutis are urged to evacuate

Israeli forces appeared to have launched what sources called “limited ground operations” targeting Hezbollah inside southern Lebanon, US and other officials said late on Monday.

“This is what they have informed us that they are currently conducting, which are limited operations targeting Hezbollah infrastructure near the border,” the state department spokesperson, Matthew Miller, told journalists.

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Lebanon to seek humanitarian funds as bombardment by Israel continues

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Caretaker PM ‘trying to fill the gaps’ amid mass displacement of people from their homes

Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, announced on Monday that he would meet donor countries to seek additional funding for Lebanon’s growing displacement crisis, as hundreds of thousands of people fled Israel’s widening aerial campaign.

“We are trying as much as possible to fill the gaps; as I said yesterday, it is not an easy process,” Mikati said, announcing that he would ask donors on Tuesday to give money to Lebanon through the UN.

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Middle East crisis live: Hezbollah deputy says group will fight on; explosions reported in Damascus

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Naim Qassem claims Israel is committing massacres of civilians in Lebanon with US support; unconfirmed reports of blasts heard in Syrian capital

Here is the video clip of US president Joe Biden saying “a broader war in the Middle East had to be averted”. Despite diplomatic efforts the US, Egypt and Qatar have been unable to broker a deal between Israel and Hamas for a ceasefire in Gaza since the 2023 deal ended ten months ago on 30 November.

Itay Blumental, who is military correspondent at Israel’s Channel 11, reports on social media that the UAV intercepted earlier by Israel’s military was targeted at infrastructure in the Karish gas field out at sea. Israel’s military has also issued a video which it says shows the interception. The Karish gas field belongs to Israel as part of a deal brokered with Lebanon over disputed waters in 2022.

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Israel launches rare strike on central Beirut

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Attack, the first by Israel on centre of Lebanese capital since 2006, targeted senior figures in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine

Israel struck central Beirut for the first time since 2006 early on Monday, hours after dozens of aircraft bombed Yemen in a long-range raid, as it pursued a rapidly expanding war on multiple fronts.

The Beirut strike targeted three senior figures in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine), a group associated with a series of high-profile aircraft hijackings in the 1970s.

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Victoria police identify six possible criminal incidents after Hezbollah flags seen at weekend protests

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Federal government warns against importing ‘radical ideologies of conflict’ and threatens to cancel visa of anyone inciting ‘discord’

Victoria police say they have identified six possible criminal incidents relating to weekend protests in Melbourne against Israel’s attacks on Lebanon, after initial suggestions that no offences had been committed.

The AFP confirmed on Monday that it was expecting at least six reports of alleged crimes from their Victorian counterparts involving symbols and chants which are prohibited under federal hate speech law. It also said it would be writing to major news outlets asking for video footage of the protests which could assist in investigations.

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