Category Archives: Lebanon

Hamas unlikely to take part in new round of Gaza ceasefire talks

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Islamist group says it won’t ‘negotiate just to negotiate’, raising fears of Iranian attacks on Israel if no deal is agreed

Hamas appears unlikely to participate in a new round of talks on a Gaza ceasefire deal on Thursday, further eroding hopes of an agreement that might stave off expected retaliatory strikes by Iran against Israel for the killing of a Hamas leader in Tehran last month.

Most observers already had low expectations of the ceasefire talks, with Israel hardening its position in recent weeks and fears that Hamas, now led by its most hardline faction, would offer few concessions.

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Iran may rethink reprisals against Israel over killing of Hamas’s leader

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Other Islamic countries are not openly backing military response by Tehran and more targeted action appears likely

Iran may be rethinking the scale and format of its planned reprisal against Israel after the assassination of Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, but is not likely to be put off by the absence of explicit support from Muslim states for an Iranian military response, officials have suggested.

Meanwhile, Israeli officials have reportedly concluded that the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah is determined to carry out an attack in the next few days in response to Israel’s killing of senior commander Fuad Shukr, but the degree to which it will coordinate with Iran is unclear.

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Middle East crisis: UN peacekeepers have never been more crucial on Israeli-Lebanese border, says forces chief – as it happened

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Jean-Pierre Lacroix says peacekeeping force is ‘only liaison channel between Israeli and Lebanese sides’

A United Nations expert on Tuesday condemned Israel’s killing last week of Al Jazeera journalist Ismail Al-Ghoul and cameraman Ramy El Rify in Gaza and urged that the deaths be prosecuted as a war crime.

The two men died in a 31 July airstrike by the Israeli military, which said Al-Ghoul was a Hamas operative who took part in the October attack against Israel.

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Middle East crisis: Hezbollah launches drone attack on northern Israel as border skirmishes continue – as it happened

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US president Joe Biden to meet national security team as fears grow of Iranian attack on Israel

Iran’s foreign ministry has called in ambassadors and heads of missions for a meeting with the country’s acting foreign minister, Ali Bagheri Kani, to reiterate Iran’s will to respond to Israel, Reuters reports.

Spain’s foreign minister, José Manuel Albares, has spoken with his Jordanian counterpart, Ayman Safadi, about the risk of escalation in the Middle East.

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Joe Biden to meet national security team as fears grow of retaliatory Iranian attack on Israel

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US is attempting to ‘turn the temperature down’ after assassinations of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders last week escalate tensions

Joe Biden is set to meet his national security team on Monday to discuss “developments in the Middle East”, the White House has said, as the US deploys extra fighter jets and warships to the region amid growing fears of an Iranian attack on Israel.

Regional tensions have increased after the assassination last week of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran a day after an Israeli strike in Beirut killed Fuad Shukur, a senior military commander from the Lebanese group Hezbollah. Both groups are backed by Iran, which has sworn revenge.

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Middle East crisis: Iran vows ‘severe’ revenge against Israel as US deploys jets and warships to region – as it happened

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Thousands of pro-Palestine protesters are marching through central London, UK.

Protesters waved banners reading “stop arming Israel”, “ceasefire now” and “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”.

This terrorist operation was carried out by firing a short-range projectile with a warhead of about 7 kilograms - causing a strong explosion - from outside the accommodation area.

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Assassination again shows Netanyahu’s disregard for US-Israel relations

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Hamas killing is further snub to Biden administration, which does not share methods or objectives of Israeli leader

Standing alongside Donald Trump in Florida a week ago, Benjamin Netanyahu was vague on the latest prospect of a ceasefire in the war in Gaza.

“I hope we are going to have a deal. Time will tell,” the Israeli prime minister said, two days after his controversial address to a joint session of the US Congress.

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Hezbollah chief says conflict with Israel is in ‘new phase’ after assassinations

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Hassan Nasrallah calls for revenge at funeral of Fuad Shukr as does Iranian president at funeral of Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh

The leader of Hezbollah has said that the Lebanese group’s conflict with Israel has entered “a new phase” after the back-to-back assassinations of a senior commander and Hamas’s political chief that risk plunging the Middle East into a regional war.

In a televised address broadcast to about 1,000 mourners at the Beirut funeral of Hezbollah’s second-in-command, Fuad Shukur, Hassan Nasrallah vowed that the powerful Shia militia would seek revenge.

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Middle East crisis: Israel confirms death of Hamas military chief who masterminded 7 October attack – as it happened

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The head of Hamas’ military wing, Mohammed Deif, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza last month, the Israeli military said on Thursday, a day after the group’s political leader was assassinated in Teheran.

“The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) announces that on 13 July 2024, IDF fighter jets struck in the area of Khan Younis, and following an intelligence assessment, it can be confirmed that Mohammed Deif was eliminated in the strike,” the military said.

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Australia news live: Penny Wong urges Australians to leave Lebanon; Chalmers says housing pipeline ‘not where we want it to be’

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The foreign minister says in video message there is a ‘real risk’ that conflict in the region would seriously escalate. Follow the day’s news live

Indigenous Australians ‘frustrated’ at slow progress

Indigenous Australians are “somewhere between disappointed and frustrated” at a lack of traction on socio-economic targets, after a scorecard found most aren’t being met.

You see those datasets that again reinforce what we heard even at the beginning of the year, and that is governments are not moving fast enough on this, it’s frustrating.

It’s not about finding a new pathway – certainly that’s not what the productivity commission is saying. It’s saying: share the decision-making – this is commonsense, governments talking to the people about the issues that impact them, and the solutions to solve that.

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Fears of escalation mount after Israeli killings of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders

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Iran vows revenge after airstrikes kill Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on same day as commander killed in Beirut

Iran has vowed revenge after airstrikes killed the Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and a top Hezbollah commander in Beirut in the space of 12 hours, as the dual Israeli assassinations crushed hopes for an imminent Gaza ceasefire and fuelled fears of a “dangerous escalation” in the region.

Israel did not directly claim the attack on Haniyeh, but there was little doubt among the country’s enemies, and its own politicians and analysts, about who was responsible.

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Two US airlines suspend flights to Tel Aviv – as it happened

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This blog has now closed. You can read our full report on the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukur here

The death of Haniyeh is damaging to Hamas, but he was not involved in the military operations on the ground in Gaza, and the group has survived past assassinations of its leadership.

In 2004, Israel killed both Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin and co-founder Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi in attacks in Gaza.

This assassination by the Israeli occupation of Brother Haniyeh is a grave escalation that aims to break the will of Hamas and the will of our people and achieve fake goals. We confirm that this escalation will fail to achieve its objectives.

Hamas is a concept and an institution and not persons. Hamas will continue on this path regardless of the sacrifices and we are confident of victory.

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Israel claims it killed Hezbollah top commander in south Beirut airstrike

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Lebanon foreign minister says attack came as shock after assurances of ‘limited response’ from Israel

Israel has claimed it killed Hezbollah’s top military commander, Fuad Shukur, in an airstrike on a south Beirut suburb launched in retaliation for a rocket attack that killed 12 children at the weekend.

Shukur, also known as Hajj Mohsin, served as right hand man to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Israel’s military spokesperson R Adm Daniel Hagari said in a late night briefing.

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Middle East crisis: Israeli military said 10 rockets had been fired from Lebanon and that one of them hit kibbutz HaGoshrim – as it happened

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An Israeli civilian has been killed by rocket fired from Lebanon, Israel’s N12 news channel is reporting.

David Lammy has reiterated a warning to British citizens in Lebanon.

“My message to British nationals in Lebanon is clear – leave,” he said.

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Rockets fired from Lebanon kill one Israeli citizen amid retaliation fears

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US diplomatic efforts to constrain Israel’s reaction continue as Benjamin Netanyahu vows a ‘harsh’ response

Two barrages of rockets fired from Lebanon have killed one Israeli civilian in a kibbutz and injured another person, in attacks likely to add to political pressure inside Israel for a strong strike against Hezbollah and complicate a US-led push to de-escalate regional tensions.

America has been leading a global diplomatic effort to deter Israel from hitting Beirut or Lebanese infrastructure in retaliation for a weekend rocket attack on the occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 children as they played football.

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Middle East crisis: Netanyahu says Israel will issue ‘harsh’ response to Golan Heights strike – as it happened

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Israeli prime minister releases statement following visit to scene of strike in which 12 youngsters died

Hundreds of thousands of people have converged on Deir al-Balah, a small city in the centre of the Gaza Strip that is the only major area yet to be stormed, Reuters reports.

Many have been forced there by fighting in the ruins of Khan Younis further south since last week.

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Israeli drones hit southern Lebanon as tensions mount over Golan Heights attack

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Two reported dead as Israeli officials weigh up response to rocket strike blamed on Hezbollah that killed 12 children

Israeli drones struck a remote road in southern Lebanon, underscoring tensions as the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, promised a “harsh” response to the rocket strike on the occupied Golan Heights that killed 12 children.

“The state of Israel will not and cannot let this pass. Our response will come, and it will be harsh,” he said during a visit to the remote town of Majdal Shams, a majority Druze village in a region annexed by Israel from Syria in 1981.

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Global leaders try to dissuade Israel from increasing attacks on Lebanon

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US backed Israel in blaming Hezbollah for strike on Golan Heights but is ‘working on a diplomatic solution’

Global leaders were engaged in intensive diplomacy on Sunday to dissuade Israel from increasing attacks on Lebanon, amid fears that a wider regional war could erupt in response to a rocket strike that killed 12 children playing football in the occupied Golan Heights.

As the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, convened a meeting of his national security cabinet, the White House backed Israeli statements that blamed Saturday’s attack on the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, saying: “It was their rocket, and launched from an area they control. It should be universally condemned.”

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Biden administration blames Hezbollah for ‘horrific’ Golan Heights rocket attack

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National security council says attack that killed 12 children and teenagers ‘should be universally condemned’

The Biden administration formally placed blame on Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah for the rocket strike that killed 12 children and teenagers on a soccer field in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Sunday.

National security council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the attack was “conducted by Lebanese Hezbollah. It was their rocket, and launched from an area they control. It should be universally condemned.”

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‘It was indescribable’: Golan Heights town mourns 12 children killed in strike

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Majdal Shams residents tell of scenes of horror after children who had gathered to play football were struck

The funeral lament rang out across Majdal Shams, from the centre of the town, from balconies and from rooftops. Thousands of mourners packed the narrow streets and squares, carrying small coffins covered in white shrouds to their final resting place.

Men from the town in the occupied Golan Heights, some wearing traditional white hats topped with red, linked arms and sung a mourners’ chant. “The mother cries: ‘Where is my son? Don’t say he is among the victims,’” they intoned. “Oh, children, tears are pouring from the eyes of girls and young men.”

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