US and European states urge Tehran not to respond, while Middle Eastern countries condemn Israeli operation
World leaders have called for restraint after the first open Israeli airstrikes on Iran, after Tehran reiterated that it was “entitled and obligated to defend itself”.
The Israeli air force struck about 20 military bases across Iran, including missile and drone manufacturing sites and air defence systems, in the early hours of Saturday.
Continue reading...Political elite under pressure from variety of sources, with US urging Iran to step back from the brink
The Iranian government has belittled the scale and effectiveness of the Israeli attack on its military sites, but hardliners in the parliament insisted the strikes breached Iranian red lines and required a swift response, preferably at a time when Israel is already enmeshed in Lebanon and Gaza.
The internal Iranian debate on how to respond to the long-awaited Israeli attack turns on whether to treat Israel’s breach of Iranian national sovereignty as too grave to be ignored, or instead to heed the advice coming from the region and from the US to acknowledge the relatively limited nature of the attack and to step back from the brink by not launching reprisals.
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We’ve launched video footage of the blasts and light flashes in Tehran early today and Iran’s air defences appearing to be at work. See here:
Meanwhile in Gaza, many believe Israel’s new offensive in the north – along with a tightening of its siege – is following a blueprint for removing the remaining population.
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Lebanon’s health minister, Firass Abiad, has told reporters that over 163 rescuers and health workers had been killed and 272 injured in Israeli airstrikes during more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
Hezbollah, the Iranian backed Lebanese militant group, began firing rockets into northern Israel in support of Palestinians on 7 October 2023, the day after its ally Hamas’s attack on southern Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed.
We have been very clear that this cannot lead - should not lead - to a protracted campaign and that Israel must take the necessary steps to avoid civilian casualties and not endanger UN peacekeepers or the Lebanese armed forces.
Continue reading...In a visit to the region, secretary of state Antony Blinken said the US was working to progress ceasefire talks for Gaza and Lebanon
Israeli strikes hit Beirut on Thursday evening, after the US warned against Israel being led into a “protracted” campaign in Lebanon and efforts got under way to hold renewed talks over a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza.
Lebanese state media said several strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs on Thursday, about half an hour after Israel issued evacuation warnings for the Hezbollah bastion after intense strikes the night before.
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Warning sirens have again sounded in northern Israel.
Lebanon’s National News Agency reports that later today India will deliver 33 tons of medical aid to Lebanon.
Continue reading...Conference convened by French president raises $800m in humanitarian aid and $200m to strengthen Lebanese army
Emmanuel Macron has warned Benjamin Netanyahu that “civilisation is not best defended by sowing barbarism ourselves”, as a conference convened by the French president in Paris raised $200m (£154m) for Lebanon’s official military and $800m in humanitarian aid for the country.
Macron also vowed to help train 6,000 extra Lebanese official forces, and called for a ceasefire and an end to Israeli attacks on UN peacekeepers, for which he said there was no justification.
Continue reading...WHO says ‘escalating violence’ in northern Gaza has led to postponement of vaccines to more than 100,000 children
Israeli strikes across Gaza killed 42 people on Wednesday as the military intensified a siege on northern parts of the Palestinian territory, forcing the World Health Organization to pause the latest phase of its polio vaccination campaign, medics and officials said.
Israeli forces began the operation in the north about three weeks ago with the declared aim of preventing Hamas fighters from regrouping. The operation has intensified since the killing of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar a week ago, despite hopes from the US that his death could provide a fresh impetus for peace.
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In a statement on its official Telegram channel, Israel’s military has claimed that overnight it struck at weapons storage facilities in Beirut in Lebanon.
In the message, the IDF said the targets were “manufacturing facilities and command centres belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization which were located within civilian infrastructure.”
Continue reading...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.
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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...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...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...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...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...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.
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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...Airstrikes Israel says are targeting Hezbollah have killed the city’s mayor as well as civil defence workers
Hussein Jaber, the head of Nabatieh’s civil defence station, picked his way through a mess of shattered concrete and twisted metal piled knee high, surveying what was left of the city’s Ottoman open-air market, built in 1910 and destroyed by Israeli airstrikes last Saturday.
“When we were kids, everyone would come here to buy their things. This market wasn’t just for Nabatieh, but for all the villages around,” said Jaber, 30, gesturing at the ruined promenade, still smoking five days later.
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