IDF says strikes in Beirut in early October also killed the head of the militant group’s intelligence branch
Israel has confirmed the killing of the presumed next leader of Hezbollah in an airstrike on southern Beirut earlier in October.
In a statement on Tuesday evening, the Israeli military said strikes in the suburb of Dahiyeh had killed Hashem Safieddine and Ali Hussein Hazima, the head of the militant group’s intelligence branch, three weeks ago.
Continue reading...This blog has now closed. You can read our latest report on the conflict in the Middle East here and all our coverage from the region here.
As Israel continues its war in Gaza and assault on Lebanon, a growing number of international airlines are suspending flights to the region or to avoid affected airspace.
Reuters has helpfully compiled a list of some of them:
Aegean Airlines: The Greek airline cancelled flights to and from Beirut until 6 November and to and from Tel Aviv until 5 November.
AirBaltic: Latvia’s airBaltic cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv until 30 November.
Air Algerie: The Algerian airline suspended flights to and from Lebanon until further notice.
Air France-KLM: Air France extended its suspension of Paris-Tel Aviv flights until 29 October and Paris-Beirut flights until 30 November. KLM extended the suspension of flights to Tel Aviv until the end of this year at least.
Air India: The Indian flag carrier suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv until further notice.
Bulgaria Air: The Bulgarian carrier cancelled flights to and from Israel until 31 October.
Cathay Pacific: Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific cancelled flights to Tel Aviv until 25 October 2025.
Delta Air Lines: The US carrier paused flights between New York and Tel Aviv through March 2025.
EasyJet: The UK budget airline stopped flying to and from Tel Aviv in April and will resume flights on 30 March.
Egyptair: The Egyptian carrier in September said it had suspended flights to Beirut until “the situation stabilises”.
Emirates UAE’s state-owned airline cancelled flights to Beirut through to 31 October and flights to Baghdad and Tehran until 30 October.
Ethiopian Airlines: The Ethiopian carrier suspended flights to Beirut until further notice, it said in a Facebook post on 4 October.
FlyDubai: The Emirati airline suspended Dubai-Beirut flights until 31 October.
Iran Air: The Iranian airline cancelled Beirut flights until further notice.
Iraqi Airways: The Iraqi national carrier suspended flights to Beirut until further notice.
ITA Airways: The Italian carrier extended the suspension of Tel Aviv flights through to 30 November.
LOT: The Polish flag carrier cancelled flights to Tel Aviv until 26 October. Its first scheduled flight to Beirut is planned for 1 April.
Lufthansa Group: The German airline group extended the suspension of flights to Tel Aviv until 10 November, while its low cost carrier Eurowings suspended them until 30 November. Flights for Tehran are cancelled until 31 October and to Beirut until 30 November.
Pegasus: The Turkish airline cancelled flights to Beirut until 28 October.
Qatar airways: The Qatari airline temporarily suspended flights to and from Iraq, Iran and Lebanon, while flights to Amman will operate only during daylight hours.
Ryanair: Europe’s biggest budget airline cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv until the end of December. Group CEO Michael O’Leary said in early October that the suspension was likely to be extended until end-March.
Tarom: Romania’s flag carrier extended the suspension of Beirut flights until 15 November.
United Airlines: The Chicago-based airline suspended flights to Tel Aviv for the foreseeable future.
Virgin Atlantic: The UK carrier extended suspension of Tel Aviv flights until end-March.
Wizz Air: The Hungary-based airline suspended Tel Aviv flights through 14 January.
Continue reading...Discussion about letting private firms bid for contracts comes before Knesset vote on banning UN relief agency from operating in Israel
Israel is weighing the use of private security contractors – possibly involving UK special forces veterans – to deliver aid to Gaza, as conditions in the north of the strip worsen dramatically, the Guardian has learned.
According to an Israeli official, the security cabinet discussed the issue on Sunday, before an expected vote in the Knesset next week on two bills that would ban the UN relief agency, Unrwa, from operating in Israel. If passed, the bills would severely curtail the operations of by far the biggest aid operation in Gaza.
Continue reading...Israeli strikes near Rafik Hariri hospital and its claims that a second Beirut facility is hiding Hezbollah stash cause anxiety and panic
The rescuers struck at the concrete with jackhammers, excavators and even pickaxes, pausing occasionally and demanding silence, straining to hear anyone still trapped under the collapsed building.
Beneath the rubble, nothing stirred. They resumed, many working through the night after Israel carried out airstrikes on residential buildings across the street from Rafik Hariri university hospital, killing 18 people, including four children, and wounding 60 on Monday night.
Continue reading...Downing Street says government ‘shocked’ at inheriting prisons crisis as hundreds of prisoners get early release. This live blog is closed
The funeral of Alex Salmond, the former Scottish first minister who died suddenly earlier this month after delivering a speech in North Macedonia, will be held on Tuesday 29 October, his family has announced.
The funeral will be at Strichen parish church in Aberdeenshire. It will be conducted by Rev Ian McEwan, a friend of the family, and only family and close friends are invited. Salmond will be laid to rest in Strichen cemetery.
According to the Eurostat data, England and Wales had 144 prisoners per 100,000 head of population, the 8th highest rate among EU countries and the highest amongst western European jurisdictions. Scotland had the 9th highest with 137 prisoners per 100,000. Northern Ireland had 76 prisoners per 100,000 of population and was ranked 24th.
Continue reading...Report says ‘intense military operations in Gaza have left unprecedented humanitarian, environmental and social catastrophe’
Gaza’s economy has been left in “utter ruin” by the year-long war between Israel and Hamas, and it would take 350 years to return to its pre-conflict levels, the United Nations has warned.
In a report on the economic costs of the war prepared by its trade and development wing (Unctad), the UN said the fighting since Hamas killed more than 1,000 Israelis on 7 October last year had devastated the remnants of Gaza’s economy and infrastructure.
Continue reading...US secretary of state urges Israeli PM to capitalise on death of Hamas leader by securing release of hostages and ending conflict
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has arrived in Israel to encourage efforts to revive the stalled Gaza ceasefire negotiations after Israel’s killing of the Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar, last week.
Meeting the Israeli prime minister, Blinken urged Benjamin Netanyahu to capitalise on the death of the Hamas leader by securing the release of the 7 October attack hostages and ending the conflict in Gaza.
Continue reading...John Kirby says Biden administration unsure if leak or hack led to secret documents appearing online on Telegram
The FBI has launched an investigation into the unauthorized release of classified documents describing Israel’s preparation for a potential retaliatory attack on Iran.
The White House national security spokesperson, John Kirby, said on Monday that the Biden administration was still not certain if the classified information was leaked or hacked but that officials did not have any indication at this point of “additional documents like this finding their way into the public domain”.
Continue reading...Nine members of Force 100 investigated over allegations of sexual assaulting prisoner at Sde Teiman detention camp
An Israeli military unit that has been accused of human rights abuses against Palestinian detainees is reportedly under investigation by the US state department in a move that could lead to it being barred from receiving assistance.
The inquiry into the activities of Force 100 was instigated following a spate of allegations that Palestinians held under its guard at a detention centre have been subject to torture and brutal mistreatment, including sexual assault, Axios reported on Monday.
Continue reading...Sahel hospital evacuated despite Israel saying it would not attack it although at least four people died in nearby strikes
Israel has accused Hezbollah of keeping hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and gold in a bunker under a hospital in the southern suburbs of Beirut, though it said it would not strike the complex.
The Sahel hospital in Dahiyeh was evacuated shortly afterwards, and Fadi Alame, its director, told Reuters that the allegations were untrue.
Continue reading...Officials say no further leaks but investigation under way into how documents came to be published on Telegram
US government officials investigating the leak of two classified intelligence papers assessing Israel’s plans to attack Iran have said they did believe any more documents had been compromised.
However, the Biden administration remained “deeply disturbed” by the unauthorized release, John Kirby, the national security communications adviser, told reporters at a White House briefing on Monday.
Continue reading...Strikes targeted Al-Qard Al-Hassan buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs, south Lebanon and the Bekaa valley
Israel carried out a series of airstrikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut, south Lebanon and the Bekaa valley early on Monday morning, hitting buildings belonging to the Hezbollah-run banking institution Al-Qard Al-Hassan.
At least 10 airstrikes were carried out in the southern suburbs of the capital, with an entire building collapsing and a jet of fire streaming into the air in the Chiyah neighbourhood. A building close to Lebanon’s only commercial airport was also struck, video footage showing a smoke plume billowing while a nearby plane sat on the runway.
Continue reading...Suspects are accused of photographing and collecting information about Israeli bases and facilities
Israeli police and the Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency say they have arrested a network of Israeli citizens spying for Iran who allegedly provided information on military bases and conducted surveillance of individuals.
The investigators claimed the network had been active for about two years. According to reports in the Israeli press, the suspects are accused of photographing and collecting information about Israeli bases and facilities, including the defence headquarters in Tel Aviv, known as the Kirya, and the Nevatim and Ramat David airbases.
Continue reading...Detainees say they were sent into unexplored houses and tunnels before soldiers, in violation of Geneva conventions
After they burned down his family home in northern Gaza, Israeli troops separated Ramez al-Skafi from his family and detained him. They had a particular job in mind for him, he said.
For the next 11 days in early July, the 30-year-old Palestinian said he was sent into one house after another in his home district, Shuja’iya, watched by his Israeli military minders. According to the account he gave the Guardian, they turned him into a human shield against booby-traps and Hamas gunmen.
Continue reading...Hundreds evacuate after Israeli military says it will strike areas linked to Al-Qard Al-Hassan association, a US-sanctioned banking system
Hundreds of Beirut residents fled their homes on Sunday night as blasts were heard across its southern suburbs after Israel’s military said it was preparing strikes on branches of a banking system linked to Hezbollah, a further escalation of Israel’s nearly month-long war against the militant group.
Reuters witnesses saw dense plumes of black smoke billowing in the air in Lebanon’s capital after at least 10 blasts. Witnesses, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said a building located in the Chiyah neighbourhood in the southern suburbs was reduced to rubble and the few people in the area had fled ahead of the explosion, resulting in no casualties.
Continue reading...US officials say documents appear to be legitimate and House speaker says leak is very concerning
The US government is investigating an unauthorised release of classified documents that assess Israel’s plans to attack Iran.
The US House speaker, Mike Johnson, confirmed the investigation in remarks to CNN’s State of the Union programme on Sunday, saying the leak was very concerning.
Continue reading...Emmanuel Macron has banned Israeli companies from the Euronaval Salon defence fair in Paris next month
Israel’s foreign minister has announced he is taking “legal and diplomatic measures” against the decision by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, to ban Israeli companies from showing their wares at an arms fair in Paris next month.
Israel Katz described the “boycott” as an anti-democratic measure that was “not acceptable, especially between friendly nations”.
Continue reading...This blog is closing now. You can read our full report on the latest Israeli attacks on Lebanon here and our report on the latest Israeli attacks on Gaza here.
At least 42,603 Palestinian people have been killed and 99,795 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
Of those, 84 Palestinians were killed in the latest 24-hour reporting period, according to the ministry, which has said in the past that thousands of other dead people are most likely lost in the rubble of the territory.
Continue reading...UN special coordinator says ‘nightmare in Gaza is intensifying’ and calls for immediate end to violence
At least 87 people have been killed or are missing and 40 injured after intense Israeli airstrikes overnight in the north of the Gaza Strip, part of the country’s ferocious renewed assault on the area, medics in the besieged Palestinian territory have said.
In the past 24 hours 108 people had been killed in bombings across the territory, according to local health officials on Sunday. “The nightmare in Gaza is intensifying. Horrifying scenes are unfolding in the northern strip amidst relentless Israeli strikes and an ever-worsening humanitarian crisis,” Tor Wennesland, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, said in a statement.
Continue reading...Shia group has not claimed responsibility for attack on PM’s home but says it fired several barrages of rockets
Benjamin Netanyahu’s house in the seaside town of Caesarea was hit by a drone on Saturday, causing superficial damage and no casualties, as Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon rage unabated after the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
The Israeli government said that one of the prime minister’s three homes was targeted by three drones, two of which were intercepted, and that neither Netanyahu nor his wife, Sara, were home at the time.
Continue reading...