Category Archives: Lebanon

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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Lebanese healthcare workers fearful as growing numbers killed in strikes

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At least 50 paramedics have been killed in Lebanon over the last two weeks

The airstrikes started just before noon. The injured and the dead quickly followed. As the ground in the southern Lebanese town of Marjayoun began to shake from the relentless approach of Israeli bombs, Shoshan Mazraani let her muscle memory take over.

As the emergency room director of its public hospital, she was well versed in the grim logistics of the triage procedures that follow a bombing. Then after five hours of gruelling work, the din of the emergency room was interrupted by a long whistle.

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Pro-Palestine rally and standing vigil going ahead in Sydney after protesters and police reach agreement

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Decision reached after police launched supreme court action to have events scheduled for Town Hall on 6 and 7 October ruled unlawful

Pro-Palestine organisers have claimed victory in court, after announcing that both a rally on 6 October and a standing vigil on 7 October will go ahead after a last-minute agreement with New South Wales police.

NSW police this week launched supreme court action to have both events deemed unlawful, citing concerns over expected crowd size and potential hazards including “planter boxes” at Town Hall.

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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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UK begins evacuating citizens from Lebanon as Israel’s offensive continues

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First charter flight has left Beirut, says David Lammy, with officials planning ‘sea and air’ rescues if situation worsens

The UK has laid on a charter flight to evacuate Britons from Lebanon and said it is ready to commission more for the 5,000 nationals and their dependants remaining in the country.

Beirut’s international airport remains open but ministers and officials are preparing contingency plans for sea and air rescues via Cyprus should the security situation in Lebanon deteriorate to the point at which commercial flights are stopped.

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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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Pro-Palestinian protesters call NSW police attempt to block rally on 7 October ‘an attack on fundamental democratic rights’

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Exclusive: police will ask state supreme court to prevent the protests due to safety concerns as Palestine Action Group says it ‘unequivocally opposes’ move

The organisers behind the weekly pro-Palestine protests have criticised New South Wales Police for their decision to apply to the state’s supreme court to prevent two rallies from going ahead on 6 and 7 October.

Palestine Action Group (PAG) had informed police of the protests and submitted the required paperwork request, known as form 1, for both.

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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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Assange says he is free because he ‘pled guilty to journalism’ – as it happened

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National weather forecasts

Sticking with the weather, here’s a look at the forecasts across Australia’s capital cities today:

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UK charters flight from Lebanon as governments prepare evacuation plans

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UK arranges flight from Beirut while Germany evacuates embassy staff and others urge citizens to leave as Israel launches limited ground operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon

The UK has chartered a flight out of Lebanon for Britons to leave the country amid the escalating violence in the region, as governments around the world begin making contingency plans to evacuate their citizens. amid the escalating violence in the region.

The UK arranged a flight that was due to leave Beirut-Rafic Hariri international airport on Wednesday. David Lammy, the foreign secretary, described the situation in Lebanon as “volatile” and with the “potential to deteriorate quickly”.

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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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Sadiq Khan fears rise in UK hate crime linked to Middle East violence

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Exclusive: London mayor boosts counter-hate funding as British Jewish group warns of danger of ‘reprisal’ attacks

Sadiq Khan has warned of a potential increase in hate crime in Britain triggered by the rise in Middle East violence, as a leading British Jewish group warned of the danger of “reprisal” attacks here.

The London mayor’s warning comes after a series of Israeli airstrikes against targets in Lebanon, which have killed Hezbollah’s top leaders as well as its followers, and it is feared, scores of civilians. Khan is pumping extra emergency funding into groups in London countering hate.

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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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US looks unable to talk Netanyahu out of planned invasion of Lebanon

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An emboldened Israel appears to believe it can safely ignore a lame duck US president and grab the chance to reset the Middle East’s security dynamics

The Biden administration is losing influence over whether Benjamin Netanyahu launches a ground invasion into southern Lebanon or not.

For more than a year, Joe Biden and his senior advisers have managed to forestall an Israeli ground incursion into Lebanon in fear of a larger war that could envelop the entire Middle East.

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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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