This blog is now closing. You can read our latest full report on Israel’s invasion of Lebanon here and all our coverage of its war on Gaza here.
Israel’s Magen David Adom has reported that one person has been killed and another wounded at a kibbutz in northern Israel by anti-tank fire from Lebanon.
Israel’s emergency services said the person killed was a 27-year-old Thai national working at kibbutz Yiron.
Continue reading...Two incidents in Lebanon prompt growing concern over Israel’s escalating campaign and the spreading Middle East conflict
An Israeli airstrike has killed two Lebanese soldiers and wounded three others, hours after the Israeli military fired on the headquarters of a UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon for the second time in as many days.
The two incidents on Friday prompted further concern over Israel’s escalating campaign, amid waves of heavy airstrikes across Lebanon. Lebanon’s army has not been involved in the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, and it withdrew its forces from the border between the countries when Israel launched its invasion last month.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Strike that killed 22 is first time US-made munition confirmed to have been used in attack on central Beirut since 2006
A US-made munition was used in a strike on central Beirut that killed 22 people and wounded 117, according to an analysis of shrapnel found by the Guardian at the scene of the attack.
The strike on Thursday night hit an apartment complex in the densely populated neighbourhood of Basta, levelling the apartment building and destroying cars and the interiors of nearby residences.
Continue reading...Lawyers predict more claims after ‘perfect win’ for two Syrian asylum seekers pushed back to Lebanon
A ruling by the European court of human rights ordering authorities in Cyprus to pay damages to two Syrian refugees found to have been prevented from applying for asylum has been welcomed as a “perfect” victory by campaigners.
Lawyers said Tuesday’s judgment would encourage others to follow suit, including an ever-growing group of asylum seekers stranded in the UN-patrolled buffer zone of the war-split country.
Continue reading...UN says its peacekeepers in southern Lebanon are ‘increasingly in jeopardy’ with Israeli forces having deliberately fired on their positions
Israeli strikes killed 22 people in Beirut in the deadliest attack on the city centre since recent hostilities broke out, as the UN said its peacekeepers in Lebanon’s south were in growing danger.
The strikes hit a densely packed residential neighbourhood of apartment buildings and small shops in the heart of the Lebanese capital. Israel had not previously struck the area, which is removed from Beirut’s southern suburbs where Hezbollah’s headquarters have been repeatedly bombed over the past weeks.
Continue reading...Conflicting reports include house arrest of Esmail Ghaani, who was in Beirut at time of Hassan Nasrallah’s killing
Mystery surrounded the whereabouts and health of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) commander Esmail Ghaani, amid reports that he was being investigated over how Israel managed to penetrate and crush the command structure of Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia at the heart of the Iranian “axis of resistance”.
It is known that Ghaani, who leads the IRGC’s al-Quds force, was in Beirut at the time of the killing of Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, but Iranian authorities have insisted he is alive, and even in line for an award for valour.
Continue reading...Unifil says two peacekeepers were injured after Israeli tank fired on one observation point and soldiers fired on another
The UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon said on Thursday that Israeli forces had deliberately fired on its positions, injuring two peacekeepers and bringing fresh accusations of violations of international law.
Israel has been carrying out repeated ground incursions across the border into Lebanon in its war with Hezbollah, as the conflict that began in Gaza a year ago continues to spread across the region.
Continue reading...This blog has now closed. You can read our latest report from the region here and all our Middle East coverage here.
Diplomatic communications have intensified in the past hours, before a UN security council meeting discussing the situation in the Middle East, Lebanon’s prime minister Najib Mikati said in a statement on X on Thursday, reports Reuters.
“There are contacts taking place between the United States and France with the aim of reviving a ceasefire declaration for a specific period in order to resume the search for political solutions,” he was quoted as saying.
Continue reading...Leaders talk for first time in weeks as US administration seeks to weigh in on Israel’s plans
Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu spoke for the first time in weeks on Wednesday amid expectations of an imminent Israeli strike on Iran, which Yoav Gallant warned would be “deadly, precise and surprising”.
Netanyahu’s defence minister issued the warning in a video message on Israeli media on Wednesday night, broadcast after he postponed a scheduled trip to Washington.
Continue reading...This blog has now closed. You can read our latest report on the Israel-Gaza war here and all our Middle East coverage here.
We have more reports coming in of deadly Israeli attacks on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza (see post at 07.54) and Bureij refugee camp, which is located nearby.
Two Israeli airstrikes hit tents for displaced people in the camps earlier, the Associated Press reports. The bodies of nine people, including three children, were brought to the al-Aqsa martyrs hospital in the nearby town of Deir al-Balah.
Continue reading...Hezbollah has been a past source of tension between the two countries, but Riyadh wants to improve relations with Tehran
The Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, will meet his counterpart in Saudi Arabia to discuss the growing threat of an Israeli attack on Tehran and what steps, if any, the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon can take to secure a ceasefire in the face of growing evidence that the US supports Israel’s efforts to dismantle Hezbollah and force it to disarm.
In what is becoming a multifront war, Iran and Saudi Arabia are probably the two key regional players. Araghchi, who has already been to Beirut and Damascus, has been playing his cards close to his chest but he is seen as critical to any decision that Hezbollah needs to step back, regroup and prevent Lebanon from turning into a second Gaza.
Continue reading...Hezbollah acting leader says its military capabilities still ‘fine’ as Israel sends more troops and keeps up airstrikes
Israel has said it is expanding its ground operation in Lebanon with the deployment of a fourth division after another night of intense airstrikes across the south and east of the country.
The reservist 146th division was sent to southern Lebanon overnight, hours after Israel announced the mobilisation of a third standing division, meaning the number of troops on the ground is now likely to number 15,000.
Continue reading...This blog has now closed. You can see all our coverage of the Israel-Gaza war here, and our latest report on Israel’s attacks on Lebanon here.
Turkey will evacuate its citizens who have applied to leave Lebanon by sea on Wednesday, the Turkish foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
Reuters reports it said in a statement that two Turkish navy ships were expected to set off for Beirut on Tuesday with a total capacity of about 2,000 passengers, adding that the evacuation process will continue in the following days if necessary.
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So what’s that ARC research project on islands actually about, anyway?
A blog watcher has taken the trouble to look up the research project that has Liberal MP James Stevens all hot and bothered, Archipelagic Connections in Australian and Pacific Literature:
Australia is often defined as an isolated island-continent, ‘girt by sea’. This project aims to challenge this protectionist myth by analysing literary and historical connections between different geographical sites that have been represented as enclosed in Australian history.
It expects to offer new interpretations of interconnected narratives of Aboriginal Australian, South Sea Islander and migrant enclosure in Australian literature.
The project also contributes to national strategic initiatives into the ‘truth telling’ on Australia’s past relations to Aboriginal Australians and the study of environmental change in islands and archipelagos.
Continue reading...UK prime minister tells parliament that the first anniversary of 7 October Hamas attack is a ‘day of grief’ for region
Keir Starmer has urged all sides to pull back from the brink in the Middle East as he addressed the House of Commons on the anniversary of the 7 October attack by Hamas on Israel.
With Israel yet to decide how to respond to Iran’s unprecedented missile strike last week, the prime minister said he supported “Israel’s right to defend herself against Iran’s aggression, in line with international law”.
Continue reading...Military says 100 aircraft used in attack on targets in south of country as Israeli operations expand on multiple fronts
Israel launched an intense wave of air raids on southern Lebanon on Monday, with 100 aircraft targeting about 120 sites in the space of an hour, according to the country’s military.
An IDF Arabic spokesperson issued an urgent warning to Lebanese civilians to avoid being on the beach or on boats on the coast from the Awali River southward until further notice.
Continue reading...The Israeli military said it struck Hezbollah intelligence and weapons storage, as rocket hits Haifa injuring at least 5 people
Ceremonies were held across Israel on Monday as the country marked the first anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attacks, with the war it launched in response raging in Gaza and escalating in Lebanon, while conflict threatened to spread across the Middle East.
In the hours leading up to the anniversary, Israel bombed targets in Beirut and Gaza, while Hezbollah rockets struck Haifa, Israel’s third-largest city, causing damage to buildings, police said. Israeli media reported 5 people were wounded in rocket attacks in Haifa and the city of Tiberias.
Continue reading...Overnight Israeli strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs, while at least 10 people were reportedly injured after a Hezbollah rocket hit the city of Haifa
Israel will hold memorials for the first anniversary of the October 7 attacks on Monday as the war it launched in response escalates on two fronts, with heavy bombing raids and mass evacuation orders issued in Lebanon and Gaza amid the growing possibility of a retaliatory airstrike against Iran.
As Israelis across the country prepared to mark one year since Hamas launched its devastating attack, a region that has spiralled into unprecedented crisis was on high alert. In Israel, authorities said they were on the lookout for attacks timed to coincide with the anniversary after a gunman opened fire on pedestrians in a central bus station in a city in the Negev desert, killing one and wounding 10 in the second attack in the last week.
Continue reading...This blog has now closed. You can see all our coverage of the Israel-Gaza war: one year on here and all our coverage of the Israel-Lebanon conflict here.
The death toll from the Israeli strike on the Gaza mosque has risen to 24, according to local authorities. The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said 93 people were also wounded in the strikes on the mosque and the school, near the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
The al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital told the Associated Press that the strike hit a mosque sheltering displaced people. Eyewitnesses told Reuters the same. However Israeli forces say the mosque was being used as a Hamas command and control centre “to plan and carry out terrorist operations against the IDF forces and the State of Israel”, and that it took steps to reduce the chance of harming civilians. An AP reporter counted 18 bodies at the hospital morgue, and said hospital records listed all those killed as men.
Continue reading...Israeli prime minister turns on French counterpart’s continuing efforts towards a ceasefire and end to violence in Lebanon
A call by Emmanuel Macron for a halt in arms supplies to Israel for use in Gaza has been met with an angry rebuttal from the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
The French president’s comments were directed mainly at the US and were part of continuing French efforts to revive its call for a ceasefire in Lebanon.
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