Israel expand Lebanon strikes, killing Hamas chief, as Macron makes Gaza arms sales demand

A senior Hezbollah leader rumoured to be a possible successor to Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed last week, has been declared “unreachable” after more Israeli airstrikes hit Beirut.

Lebanese security sources said they were unable to establish contact with senior figure Hashem Safieddine after Israel reportedly targeted him during airstrikes on the southern Beirut suburb of Dahieh.

An Israeli strike on a refugee camp in north Lebanon has killed Hamas official Saeed Atallah Ali and his family, the militant group has said.

It came as French President Emmanuel Macron said shipments of arms used in the conflict in Gaza should be stopped as part of a broader effort to find a political solution.

“I think the priority today is to get back to a political solution (and) that arms used to fight in Gaza are halted. France doesn’t ship any,” Macron told France Inter radio.

Twenty five people were killed and 127 wounded in Israeli strikes on Lebanon on Friday, the Lebanese health ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

Key Points

• Hezbollah senior leader ‘unreachable’ after Israeli strikes, report claims

• Israeli airstrikes rock southern suburbs of Beirut and cut off a key crossing into Syria

• Iran vows it will not back down from Israel

• Israel’s deadliest attack on West Bank in decades kills 18

• Hamas leader killed along with family in Lebanon, Hamas says

Israeli military spokespersonconfirms two Israeli airbases were hit in Iran’s Tuesday attack, says air force and bases remain fully operational

18:45 , Barney Davis

IDF say Israel must continue strikes on Hezbollah

17:51 , Barney Davis

IDF Chief of Staff Lt Gen Herzi Halevi says that Israel must continue to strike Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“We must continue exerting pressure on Hezbollah and creating additional and lasting damage to the enemy.

“Without relief and without allowing a respite for the organization,” he says in remarks provided by the IDF.

Arrests made as tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters gather in London

17:19 , Barney Davis

Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered in central London on Saturday ahead of the anniversary of the 7 October attacks in Israel.

Officers have made 15 arrests so far, the Metropolitan Police said, as part of a “significant” policing operation across the capital in response to the planned protest and memorial events.

One person was arrested on suspicion of supporting a proscribed organisation, and there were seven arrests on suspicion of public order offences – three of which were allegedly racially aggravated.

Arrests made as tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters gather in London

25 people and 127 wounded in Friday strikes

17:03 , Barney Davis

Twenty five people were killed and 127 wounded in Israeli strikes on Lebanon on Friday, the Lebanese health ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

Israel expanded its bombardment in Lebanon on Saturday, hitting Beirut’s southern suburbs with a dozen airstrikes and striking a Palestinian refugee camp deep in the north for the first time as it targeted both Hezbollah and Hamas fighters.Tens of thousands of people in Lebanon, including Palestinian refugees, continued to flee the widening conflict in the region, while rallies were held around the world marking the approaching anniversary of the start of the war in Gaza.

Lebanon’s migrant workers stuck in limbo as thousands flee conflict

16:36 , Barney Davis

Migrant worker Fajima Kamara came to Lebanon three years ago from Sierra Leone, but when Israeli jets started pounding her neighbourhood with airstrikes last month, her employers left her jobless and homeless.

The 28-year-old mother-of-three had been working as a domestic helper for a Lebanese family in the eastern city of Baalbek, a Hezbollah stronghold.

When they evacuated they told her to go and find her “fellow African sisters” in the capital, Beirut, Kamara said.

With her phone and passport still confiscated by her employers and no time to pack, Kamara left Baalbek with nothing but the clothes she was wearing and made her way among the thousands of other displaced people to Beirut, where she hoped to find somewhere to stay.

Turned away by local shelters that were taking in displaced Lebanese, she soon found herself homeless and living on the city streets.

“I slept on the street for two days. Now I have fever,” Kamara told reporters between sneezes.

Australia starts evacuating nationals from Lebanon via Cyprus

15:40 , Tom Watling

Australia started evacuating its nationals from Lebanon via Cyprus on Saturday, in the first large-scale operation to get citizens out of the country amid an Israeli onslaught on Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Some 229 people arrived on the east Mediterranean island, which lies a 40 minute flight time from Beirut, on a commercial airline chartered by Australia. A second flight is scheduled later in the day.

More evacuation flights could be expected based on demand, Australian and Cypriot officials said.

At Cyprus’s Larnaca airport, civilians of all ages transferred from the aircraft into a terminal and then escorted onto waiting coaches. Children helped themselves to red apples and water provided by Australian military staff.

“They are exhausted, exceptionally happy to be here but heartbroken because they left family behind,” said Fiona McKergow, the Australian High Commissioner (Ambassador) to Cyprus.

More and more countries are using close hubs like Cyprus to assist in evacuations from Lebanon. Israel has sharply escalated attacks on Hezbollah in recent weeks, with a barrage of airstrikes and a ground operation in the south of the country, after nearly a year of lower-level cross-border conflict waged in parallel with Israel‘s war against Hamas in Gaza.

France’s Macron says sales of arms used in Gaza should be halted

15:10 , Tom Watling

Shipments of arms used in the conflict in Gaza should be stopped as part of a broader effort to find a political solution, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday.

France is not a major weapons provider for Israel, shipping military equipment worth 30 million euros ($33 million) last year, according to the defence ministry’s annual arms exports report.

“I think the priority today is to get back to a political solution (and) that arms used to fight in Gaza are halted. France doesn’t ship any,” Macron told France Inter radio.

“Our priority now is to avoid escalation. The Lebanese people must not in turn be sacrificed, Lebanon cannot become another Gaza,” he added.

Macron’s comments come as his Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot is on a four-day trip to the Middle East, wrapping up on Monday in Israel as Paris looks to play a role in reviving diplomatic efforts.

Planes take off from Beirut as smoke billows from explosions – pictured

14:43 , Tom Watling

Watch live: London march to mark one year of Israel-Hamas conflict

14:14 , Tom Watling

Watch live: London march to mark one year of Israel-Hamas conflict

Israel claims to have killed two senior Hamas figures in Lebanon

13:57 , Tom Watling

The Israeli military is claiming to have killed two senior Hamas figures during airstrikes in Gaza.

You can read their statement below.

Pro-Palestine demonstrators march through London

13:45 , Tom Watling

Canadian PM urges citizens to leave Lebanon as evacuations top 1,000

13:10 , Tom Watling

Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau has urged Canadian citizens still in Lebanon to sign up to be evacuated on special flights which have already helped more than 1,000 leave as security there deteriorates.

Canada has 6,000 signed up to leave and officials are trying to reach another 2,500 over the weekend, an official in Trudeau’s office said, adding that more flights were being added for Monday and Tuesday.

“We’ve still got seats on airplanes organised by Canada. We encourage all Canadians to take seats on these airplanes and get out of Lebanon while they can,” Trudeau said at a summit of leaders from French-speaking countries in France.

Canada has not been able to fill flights with its citizens and has offered seats to people from the Australia, New Zealand, the United States and some European countries, the official in his office said.

Israel has expanded its strikes on Lebanon in recent weeks after nearly a year of exchanging fire with Lebanon‘s Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah.

Fighting had been mostly limited to the Israel-Lebanon border area, taking place in parallel to Israel’s year-old war in Gaza against Hamas.

Trudeau said an immediate ceasefire from both Hezbollah and Israel was needed so the situation could be stabilised and United Nations resolutions could begin to be respected again.

How the Taliban is profiting as flights avoid Middle East crisis

12:41 , Tom Watling

How the Taliban is profiting from flights diverted around Middle East crisis

Hezbollah senior leader ‘unreachable’ after Israeli strikes, report claims

12:16 , Tom Watling

A senior leader of Hezbollah is “unreachable” after Israeli strikes on Beirut, a Lebanese security source has told Reuters, suggesting that Israel may have killed another key figure from the Iran-backed group.

The source claimed that since strikes on the suburb of Dahieh in Beirut on Friday, senior leader Hashem Safieddine could not be reached.

Subsequent strikes have prevented rescuers from concluding whether Safieddine has been killed, separate sources added.

When asked in a Friday evening briefing about whether Safieddine was killed in the strike, Israeli military spokesperson Nadav Shoshani said that the military was still investigating the outcome of the raid.

“Around midnight, we struck the Central Intelligence headquarters of Hezbollah in Dahieh,” he said. “When we have more information to share about who was there and what the result of the strike was, we will share it.”

He claimed that since beginning the ground invasion into southern Lebanon the Israeli military had killed  250 Hezbollah operatives, including four battalion commanders and nine company commanders.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was killed by an Israeli strike last week in Beirut.

Iran oil minister: We are not worried about crisis despite threats of strikes

11:48 , Tom Watling

Iranian oil minister Mohsen Paknejad has said he is “not worried about crisis” amid reports that Israel could target the country’s oil facilities by way of retaliation to Tehran’s aerial attack on Israel on Wednesday.

Earlier this week, US president Joe Biden sought to dissuade Israel from attacking Iran’s oil fields for fear of it’s impact on global oil prices.

“If I were in their shoes, I’d be thinking about other alternatives than striking oil fields,” he said.

Hamas official killed in Israel airstrike in Lebanon

11:18 , Tom Watling

An Israeli strike on a refugee camp in north Lebanon has killed Hamas official Saeed Atallah Ali and his family, the militant group has said.

The early morning strike came a day after another Israeli air strike cut off a main highway linking Lebanon with Syria, leaving two huge craters on either side of the road.

Israel began a ground incursion into Lebanon on Tuesday against the Hezbollah militant group. The Israeli military said nine soldiers have died in the conflict in southern Lebanon.

In pictures: Israel strikes Beirut this morning

10:50 , Tom Watling

Biden sends message to Netanyahu over election influence

10:20 , Tom Watling

Biden sends message to Netanyahu over election influence

UPD: Gaza health ministry issue new death toll

09:43 , Tom Watling

At least 41,825 Palestinians have been killed and an additional 96,910 wounded during the last nearly year of Israel’s ground and aerial war in the enclave, the local Hamas-run health ministry has said.

Israel orders evacuation of central Gaza strip ahead of ‘great force’ attack

09:21 , Tom Watling

Israel has ordered Palestinians civilians in two refugee camps in the central Gaza Strip to leave ahead of operations to root out Hamas fighters.

Israeli Arabic-language military spokesperson Avichay Adraee posted a map detailing the areas where Israel is preparing to go in with “great force” imminently.

Addressing Palestiniains directly, he claimed that Hamas is “continuing their terrorist activities within your area”.

Times of Israel military correspondent Emanuel Fabian has an English translation of the order below.

South Korea military evacuates 97 from Lebanon as tensions rise

09:06 , Tom Watling

A South Korean military transport aircraft has returned 97 citizens and family members from Lebanon on Saturday as Middle East tensions rise, the foreign ministry has announced.

A KC-330 aircraft left Beirut on Friday afternoon with the evacuees, who include Lebanese family members, and arrived at a military airfield on the south of Seoul, the ministry said.

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday ordered military aircraft to be deployed to evacuate South Korean citizens from parts of the Middle East as conflict escalates between Israel and Hezbollah, as well as the armed group’s backer, Iran.

South Korea’s defence ministry said it flew a C130J transport plane as backup, which is capable of operating on shorter runways and under fire, as a precaution, and sent 39 military personnel, including mechanics and diplomats.

The government will take further actions to ensure the safety of its citizens, the foreign ministry said without elaborating.

South Korean diplomats stationed in Lebanon remained in the country, Yonhap news agency reported.

Biden says he’s unsure if Netanyahu is trying to influence US elections

08:50 , Vishwam Sankaran

US president Joe Biden said he “doesn’t know” whether Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is delaying a ceasefire deal in Gaza to influence next month’s US presidential election.

Some Democrats have voiced similar concerns about Mr Netanyahu escalating tensions in the Middle East.

Democratic Senator Chris Murphy told CNN that he fears the Israeli prime minister may be acting strategically by launching attacks right before the US election.

“I hope this is not true, but it is certainly a possibility that the Israeli government might avoid signing any diplomatic agreement prior to the American election, potentially as a way to influence the result,” Mr Murphy said.

At least 20 killed in Israel attack on Gaza schools, UN says

08:20 , Vishwam Sankaran

The UN said at least 20 Palestinians sheltering across three schools in Gaza have been killed in the past two days.

“Schools are not a target and cannot be used for any military purposes by anyone,” Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN agency United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said yesterday.

Nearly 90 per cent of school buildings in Gaza have been directly hit or damaged since Israel invaded Gaza, of which a third are UNRWA schools, according to the UN.

Iran foreign minister in Damascus after Israeli strike targets Lebanon-Syria border

07:50 , Vishwam Sankaran

Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has arrived in the Syrian capital Damascus after Israel bombed the Masnaa border crossing between Lebanon and Syria.

Syrian foreign ministry condemned the attack on Facebook, adding that the Israeli bombing cut off access to “hundreds of thousands of displaced Lebanese and Syrian citizens”.

“We condemn this reckless Zionist criminality that has now extended to targeting civil defence teams and humanitarian aid workers,” the ministry said in a statement.

“We call for an immediate halt to these violations and demand accountability for this entity’s crimes, ensuring that it does not escape punishment,” it added.

‘Hard to tell’ if Israel plans retaliation on 7 October anniversary: US state department official

07:20 , Vishwam Sankaran

A top US State Department official told CNN that it is “really hard to tell” if Israel is planning retaliatory attacks on 7 October, marking the anniversary of Hamas’ deadly attacks.

“I think in some ways they would want to avoid the seventh, so in my estimation, if there is anything it would likely be before or after,” the official added.

Israel has also not given any official assurances that it would not target Iran’s nuclear facilities, according to the official.

“We hope and expect to see some wisdom as well as strength, but as you guys know, no guarantees,” the state department official said.

‘Iran and allies won’t back down’

06:50 , Vishwam Sankaran

Iran’s leader Ali Khamenei said in a rare public address yesterday that Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza will not back down amid Israel’s invasion and airstrikes over Beirut.

Khamenei defended Iran’s airstrike on Israel as “legal and legitimate”, adding that the country would not “procrastinate nor act hastily to carry out its duty” in confronting Israel.

If Israel attacked, Tehran would retaliate by targeting Israeli energy and gas installations, Iranian Revolutionary Guards deputy commander Ali Fadavi was quoted saying semi-official news agency SNN.

“Every strike launched by any group against Israel is a service to the region and to all humanity,” Khamenei said, adding that assassinations would just spur more attacks.

UAE first aid shipments arrive in Lebanon

06:20 , Vishwam Sankaran

Shipments carrying first aid from the United Arab Emirates have arrived in Lebanon.

The UAE has pledged $100m in urgent relief to Lebanon amid Israel’s invasion of the country.

UAE’s first plane arrived yesterday with 40 tonnes of medical supplies in Beirut.

Israel attack on Lebanon in pictures:

05:50 , Vishwam Sankaran

South Korea airlifts nearly 100 citizens and their families from Lebanon

05:20 , Vishwam Sankaran

The South Korean military has evacuated 97 citizens and their family members from Lebanon amid Israel’s invasion and escalating tensions in the region, the country’s foreign ministry said.

A KC-330 aircraft carrying the evacuees, including Lebanese family members, departed from Beirut on Friday and is expected to return to South Korea on Saturday afternoon.

South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol ordered military aircraft to be deployed to rescue citizens from parts of the Middle East affected by the escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

Trump urges Israel to strike Iran’s nuclear sites: ‘Worry about everything else later’

04:50 , Vishwam Sankaran

Former US president and Republican nominee Donald Trump said Israel should target Iran’s nuclear facilities, days after president Joe Biden said that an “all-out war” in the Middle East should be avoided.

“That’s the thing you want to hit, right?..I mean, it’s the biggest risk we have, nuclear weapons,” Mr Trump said at a campaign event in North Carolina, adding that Israel should “worry about everything else later”.

“If they’re going to do it, they’re going to do it. But we’ll find out whatever their plans are,” he added.

Kamala Harris meets Arab American leaders angered by US support for Israel

04:19 , Vishwam Sankaran

US Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris met with Arab American and Muslim leaders in Flint, Michigan, who are angered by the White House’s support for Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

During the meeting, Ms Harris reportedly discussed efforts to prevent a regional war.

“Emgage Action asked Vice President Harris to impress upon President Biden the urgency of bringing an immediate end to the violence,” Wa’el Alzayat, the chief of Emgage Action, a group of organisations seeking to empower Muslim Americans, said.

“She agrees that this war needs to end,” Mr Alzayat added.

Hamas leader killed along with family in Lebanon, Hamas says

03:55 , Vishwam Sankaran

Israeli strike in northern Lebanon has killed a leader of Hamas armed wing along with three of his family members, Hamas media said.

Israel stated that it is considering various options in response to Iran’s missile strike on Tuesday, which Iran launched in retaliation for Israel’s invasion of Lebanon.

More than 2,000 people have been killed so far in Israel’s attacks across Lebanon, including 127 children and 261 women, according to the country’s health ministry.

Oil prices rise on possibility of Israeli attack on Iran’s oil facilities

03:00 , Tara Cobham

Oil prices have risen on the possibility of an attack on Iran’s oil facilities as Israel pursues its goals of pushing back Hezbollah militants in Lebanon and eliminating their Hamas allies in Gaza.

US President Joe Biden said on Friday he would think about alternatives to striking Iranian oil fields if he were in Israel’s shoes, adding that he thinks Israel has not yet concluded how to respond to Iran.

Many buildings reduced to rubble in Hezbollah’s stronghold in Beirut’s southern suburbs

02:15 , Tara Cobham

Many buildings have been reduced to rubble in Hezbollah’s stronghold in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Nearly all the storefronts in the main market street, Moawad Souk, were damaged and the road filled with broken glass.

“We’re alive but don’t know for how long,” said Nouhad Chaib, a 40-year-old man already displaced from the south.

The Islamic Health Authority, a civil defense agency linked to Hezbollah, said 11 medics had been killed in three separate Israeli attacks across southern Lebanon on Friday.

The Israeli military said that in the past day it had struck several weapons storage facilities, command and control centres, and additional Hezbollah infrastructure sites in the Beirut area.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, visiting Beirut and meeting with top Lebanese officials, said Tehran supported efforts for a ceasefire in Lebanon provided it was backed by Hezbollah and was simultaneous with a Gaza ceasefire.

Boris Johnson claims bugging device found in his bathroom after Netanyahu visit

01:30 , Tara Cobham

A bugging device was found in Boris Johnson’s bathroom after a visit by Benjamin Netanyahu when he was foreign secretary, the former prime minister has claimed.

Mr Johnson alleged that his security team had made the discovery when they did a sweep of the toilets after the Israeli premier had used them during a meeting in 2017.

Writing in his memoir, “Unleashed”, the former Tory MP said Mr Netanyahu had excused himself during talks at his old office to use the washroom, described as “a secret annex… a bit like the gents in a posh London club.”

Nina Lloyd reports:

Boris Johnson claims bugging device found in his bathroom after Netanyahu visit

Iran vows not to back down

Saturday 5 October 2024 00:45 , Tara Cobham

Iran’s missile salvo was partly in retaliation for Israel’s killing of Hezbollah secretary-general Nasrallah, a dominant figure who had turned the group into a powerful armed and political force with reach across the Middle East.

Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told a huge crowd in Tehran Iran and its regional allies would not back down.

Israel’s adversaries in the region should “double your efforts and capabilities… and resist the aggressive enemy,” Khamenei said in a rare appearance leading Friday prayers, at which he mentioned Nasrallah and called Iran’s attack on Israel legal and legitimate. He said Iran would not “procrastinate nor act hastily to carry out its duty” in confronting Israel.

The semi-official Iranian news agency SNN quoted Revolutionary Guards deputy commander Ali Fadavi as saying on Friday that if Israel attacked, Tehran would target Israeli energy and gas installations.

Axios reporter Barak Ravid cited three Israeli officials as saying that Hezbollah official Safieddine, rumoured to be Nasrallah’s successor, had been targeted in an underground bunker in Beirut overnight but his fate was not clear.

Israeli Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said on Friday the military was still assessing the Thursday night airstrikes, which he said targeted Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters.

Earlier the Israeli military reported that it had killed the head of Hezbollah’s communication networks, Mohammad Rashid Sakafi. It declined to comment on the report that Safieddine was targeted.

Hezbollah made no comment on the fate of Sakafi.

Khamenei said assassinations would just spur more attacks. “Every strike launched by any group against Israel is a service to the region and to all humanity,” he said, adding that Afghanistan should join the “defence”.

Blast heard and smoke seen over Beirut’s southern suburbs, witnesses say

Saturday 5 October 2024 00:06 , Tara Cobham

A blast was heard and smoke was seen over Beirut’s southern suburbs in the early hours of Saturday, Reuters witnesses said, shortly after the Israeli military issued two alerts for residents of the area to immediately evacuate.

The first alert on Saturday called on residents specifically present in a building at Burj al-Barajneh neighborhood. The second alert mentioned those present in a building at Choueifat district.

The strikes on Beirut come as fighting between the Lebanese Hezbollah group and Israel rages amid Israel’s military escalation in the country.

Hamas confirms death of commander in Israeli strike on West Bank

Saturday 5 October 2024 00:00 , Tara Cobham

Hamas’ armed wing al-Qassam Brigades confirmed death of one of its commanders Zahi Yaser Oufi in an Israeli strike on the West Bank city of Tulkarm along with seven other fighters, the group said in a statement on Friday.

The Israeli military said that it killed Oufi, head of the Hamas network in Tulkarm, in an attack on Thursday.

Death toll in Lebanon surpasses 2,000, announces government

Friday 4 October 2024 23:15 , Tara Cobham

More than 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon as a result of the conflict in the past year, most of them in the past two weeks, according to the Lebanese government, which has not broken down the overall figure to detail the numbers of civilians and Hezbollah fighters killed.

The Lebanese government has accused Israel of targeting civilians, pointing to the dozens of women and children killed.

Israeli officials say the military precisely targets Hezbollah’s military capabilities and takes steps to mitigate the risk of harm to civilians. It accuses the group of hiding among civilians, which the group denies.

Prior to the deaths of two Israeli soldiers in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights announced by the military on Friday, Hezbollah had killed 47 people – soldiers and civilians – over the past year, according to data published on Sept. 2 by Alma, an Israeli think tank specializing in Hezbollah.

American killed in Lebanon was a US citizen, State Dept says

Friday 4 October 2024 22:51 , Tara Cobham

An American killed in Lebanon this week was a US citizen, a State Department spokesperson said on Friday, adding that Washington was working to understand the circumstances of the incident.

Kamel Ahmad Jawad, from Dearborn, Michigan, was killed in Lebanon in an Israeli airstrike on Tuesday, according to his daughter, a friend and the US congresswoman representing his district.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller earlier this week said it was Washington’s understanding that Jawad was a legal permanent resident, not an American citizen. On Friday, the department said that he was a US citizen.

“We are aware and alarmed of reports of the death of Kamel Jawad, who we have confirmed is a US citizen,” the spokesperson said.

“As we have noted repeatedly, it is a moral and strategic imperative that Israel take all feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm. Any loss of civilian life is a tragedy.”

Israel says it is targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah militants, who have been firing rockets into Israel since the war in Gaza began a year ago.

Its recent military campaign in Lebanon has killed hundreds and wounded thousands, according to the Lebanese government, which has not said how many of the casualties were civilians versus Hezbollah members. The Israeli bombardment has also driven more than 1.2 million Lebanese from their homes.

The governor of Michigan has urged the US government to do more to rescue Americans stuck in Lebanon, many of them from Michigan, during Israel’s military offensive in the country.

Israeli airstrikes rock southern suburbs of Beirut and cut off a key crossing into Syria

Friday 4 October 2024 22:45 , Tara Cobham

Israel carried out another series of punishing airstrikes Friday, hitting suburban Beirut and cutting off the main border crossing between Lebanon and Syria for tens of thousands of people fleeing the Israeli bombardment of the Hezbollah militant group.

The overnight blasts in Beirut’s southern suburbs sent huge plumes of smoke and flames into the night sky and shook buildings kilometers (miles) away in the Lebanese capital. Additional strikes sent people running for cover in streets littered with rubble in the Dahiyeh neighborhood, where at least one building was leveled and cars were burned out.

The Israeli military said it targeted Hezbollah’s central intelligence headquarters around midnight. It did not say who it was aiming for or if any militants were killed in that strike, but it claimed to have killed 100 Hezbollah fighters in the last 24 hours.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported more than 10 consecutive airstrikes in the area. Some 1,400 Lebanese, including Hezbollah fighters and civilians, have been killed and some 1.2 million driven from their homes since Israel escalated its strikes in late September aiming to cripple Hezbollah and push it away from the countries’ shared border.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah launched about 100 rockets into Israel on Friday, the Israel military said.

The Israeli military also said that a strike in Beirut the day before killed Mohammed Rashid Skafi, the head of Hezbollah’s communications division. The military said in a statement that Skafi was “a senior Hezbollah terrorist who was responsible for the communications unit since 2000” and was “closely affiliated” with high-up Hezbollah officials.

Thursday’s strike along the Lebanon-Syria border, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of Beirut, led to the closure of the road near the busy Masnaa Border Crossing — the first time it has been cut off since Hezbollah and Israel began trading fire almost a year ago.

Israel said it targeted the crossing because it was being used by Hezbollah to transport military equipment across the border. It said fighter jets had struck a tunnel used to smuggle weapons from Iran and other proxies into Lebanon.

Hezbollah is believed to have received much of its weaponry through Syria from Iran, its main backer.

US military strikes 15 Houthi targets in Yemen

Friday 4 October 2024 22:30 , Tara Cobham

The US military said it carried out 15 strikes on Friday against targets linked to Iran-aligned Houthi fighters in Yemen, where residents reported blasts at military outposts and even an airport.

Central Command, which oversees US forces in the Middle East, said the targets were tied to Houthi offensive military capabilities, but did not detail whether that included missile, drone or radar capabilities.

In a post on X, Central Command said the strikes took place at about 2pm (GMT).

The Houthis have carried out nearly 100 attacks on ships crossing the Red Sea since November and say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Israel’s year-long war in Gaza. They have sunk two vessels, seized another and killed at least four seafarers.

Al Masirah TV, the main television news outlet run by the Houthi movement controlling much of Yemen, and residents said airstrikes were launched at several parts of Yemen including its capital Sanaa and Hodeidah airport.

Strikes also targeted the south of Dhamar city and the southeast of al-Bayda province, the channel added.

Residents said that the attack on al-Bayda province targeted several Houthi military outposts.

The Biden administration has been acting mostly defensively against Houthi strikes in the Red Sea, usually moving to intercept drone and missile attacks against commercial vessels and US warships.

It has also struck Houthi military infrastructure with less frequency and avoided broader targets in Yemen, as it seeks to contain fallout from the nearly year-old Israel-Hamas war.

Britain charters flight to leave Lebanon on Sunday

Friday 4 October 2024 22:06 , Tara Cobham

The British government said it has chartered a flight to leave Lebanon on Sunday to support its citizens looking to leave the country.

“There are no more scheduled flights, although we will continue to keep this under review,” Britain’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday, adding that more than 250 British nationals have left Lebanon on flights chartered by the government.

Democrats fear Netanyahu is pushing his Middle East war to influence the US election

Friday 4 October 2024 21:45 , Tara Cobham

Democrats fear Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is escalating tensions in the Middle East in order to influence the U.S. election.

This past week, Israel has increased its attack on Lebanon, targeting the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah, and vowed to make Iran “pay” for its recent missile attack.

Democratic Senator Christ Murphy, of Connecticut told CNN he fears Netanyahu is being strategic in launching attacks right before the November election.

Ariana Baio reports:

Democrats fear Netanyahu is pushing his Middle East war to influence the US election

Biden says he would weigh alternatives to striking Iranian oil if he were in Israel’s shoes

Friday 4 October 2024 21:00 , Tara Cobham

US President Joe Biden has said he would think about alternatives to striking Iranian oil fields if he were in Israel’s shoes, adding he thinks Israel has not yet concluded how to respond to Iran.

“The Israelis have not concluded what they are going to do in terms of a strike. That’s under discussion,” Biden said in remarks to reporters at a White House press briefing on Friday.

“If I were in their shoes, I’d be thinking about other alternatives than striking oilfields,” the president added.

Tensions between Iran and Israel have been high as Israel has been weighing options to respond to Tehran’s ballistic missile attack on Tuesday, which Iran had carried out in response to Israel’s military action in Lebanon.

Biden was also asked if he thought that by not engaging in diplomacy, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was trying to influence the 5 November US election in which Republican former President Donald Trump faces Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.

“Whether he is trying to influence the election, I don’t know, but I am not counting on that,” Biden said in response. “No administration has done more to help Israel than I have.”

Full story: Israel launches fresh strikes on Beirut as Iran’s leader vows Hezbollah and Hamas won’t back down

Friday 4 October 2024 20:14 , Tara Cobham

Israel has claimed to have targeted Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters in Beirut as it carried out strikes against the militant group’s leadership – with Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowing that Tehran and its proxies will not back down.

The air attack on Beirut, part of a wide assault that has driven more than 1.2 million Lebanese residents from their homes, is reported to have targeted the potential successor to Hassan Nasrallah, the longtime leader of Hezbollah who was assassinated by Israel a week ago.

Hashem Safieddine’s fate is unclear, and neither Israel nor Hezbollah has offered any comment. Israeli Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said on Friday afternoon that the military was still assessing the damage caused by the airstrikes in southern Beirut. He added that the army had “eliminated” approximately 250 Hezbollah operatives, including four battalion commanders and nine company commanders.

The Independent’s international correspondent Bel Trew reports from Jerusalem along with international editor Chris Stevenson:

Israel launches fresh strikes on Beirut as Iran vows it won’t back down

Deadly Israeli strike in West Bank shows how war is spreading

Friday 4 October 2024 19:30 , Tara Cobham

The ruins of a coffee shop in the West Bank city of Tulkarm show the force of the airstrike on Thursday night that killed at least 18 people including a senior local commander of the militant group Hamas.

The strike in Tulkarm refugee camp, one of the most densely populated in the occupied West Bank, destroyed the ground floor shop entirely, leaving rescue workers picking through piles of concrete with the smell of blood still hanging in the air.

Two holes in an upper level show where the missile penetrated the three-storey building before reaching the coffee shop, where a mechanical digger was clearing rubble on Friday.

The strike by the Israeli air force was the largest seen in the West Bank during operations that have escalated sharply since the start of the war in Gaza almost a year ago, and one of the biggest since the second “intifada” uprising two decades ago.

“We haven’t heard this sound since 2002,” said Nimer Fayyad, owner of the cafe, whose brother was killed in the strike. “There is no safe place for the Palestinian people. The Palestinian people have the right to defend themselves.”

The Israeli military said the strike killed Zahi Yaser Abd al-Razeq Oufi, head of the Hamas network in Tulkarm, a volatile city in the northern West Bank that has seen repeated clashes between the Israeli army and Palestinian fighters.

Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said the military had verified that at least seven militants were killed in the attack, including Ghaith Radwan, a prominent commander from the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad militant group.

He said the strike had been carried out “as they met to plan a terrorist attack against the State of Israel in the immediate term”.

The United Nations Human Rights Office said the attack was “part of a highly concerning pattern of unlawful use of force” by Israel in the West Bank.

French minister heads to Middle East amid worsening crisis

Friday 4 October 2024 19:00 , Tara Cobham

France’s Foreign Minister will head to Saudi Arabia on Friday evening, beginning a four-day trip that will end in Israel and the West Bank as Paris seeks to revive stalled diplomatic efforts in the region.

Jean-Noel Barrot will be in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan over the weekend before arriving in Israel ahead of 7 October when Israel will mark a year since Palestinian Islamist group Hamas attacked the country, a French diplomatic source said.

He is also due to travel to the West Bank.

UN says civilian toll in Lebanon from Israeli campaign is ‘totally unacceptable’

Friday 4 October 2024 18:30 , Tara Cobham

The toll on civilians in Lebanon from Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah is “totally unacceptable”, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Friday.

”All parties must do whatever they can at all times to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure and ensure that civilians are never put in harm’s way,” Dujarric told reporters.

Two Israeli soldiers killed in combat, military says

Friday 4 October 2024 18:00 , Tara Cobham

Israel’s military announced on Friday that two of its soldiers from the Golani Brigade had been killed in combat, and two others severely wounded.

Israeli media reported that the two soldiers were killed in a drone attack launched from Iraq at the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The Golan Heights were captured from Syria by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move not recognised by most countries.

The Iran-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition of Shi’ite armed factions opposed to US and Israeli presence in the region, claimed responsibility for three dawn attacks on sites in the Golan Heights and the Tiberias region.

Plane carrying Poles from Lebanon lands in Warsaw

Friday 4 October 2024 17:30 , Tara Cobham

A plane carrying several dozens of Poles and citizens of other countries who wanted to leave Lebanon landed in Warsaw on Friday, the Polish Foreign Ministry said on social media platform X.

Western nations have drafted contingency plans to evacuate citizens from Lebanon after a dramatic escalation in the conflict between Israel and the Lebanese armed movement Hezbollah, coupled with Iran’s missile attack on Israel on Tuesday.

No country has launched a large-scale military evacuation yet, though some are chartering aircraft as Beirut airport stays open.

It’s clear we are already in a Middle East war – one that will be difficult to stop

Friday 4 October 2024 17:00 , Alexander Butler

It’s clear we are already in a Middle East war – one that will be difficult to stop

Qatar, Oman and the UAE travel advice: What are the current global warnings for tourists?

Friday 4 October 2024 16:30 , Alexander Butler

Qatar, Oman and the UAE: What are the current travel warnings for tourists?

Israeli bombardment kills 29 people in Gaza while militants renew rocket fire into Israel

Friday 4 October 2024 16:30 , Tara Cobham

Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip killed at least 29 Palestinians on Friday, medics said, and sirens blared in southern Israel in response to renewed rocket fire from militants in the Palestinian enclave.

The new rocket salvoes indicated that Hamas-led militant factions in Gaza are still able to fire projectiles into Israel despite a year-long Israeli aerial and ground offensive that has turned wide areas of the enclave into wasteland.

On Friday, the Israeli military said sirens sounded in southern Israel for the first time in around two months.

“Almost a year after 7 October, Hamas is still threatening our civilians with their terrorism and we will continue operating against them,” it added, referring to the anniversary of Hamas’ cross-border attack that touched off the Gaza war.

In Gaza City in north Gaza, Palestinian health officials said one Israeli aerial strike on a house killed at least seven people. Four people including two women and a baby were killed in the bombing of a home in the southern city of Khan Younis.

The rest were killed in airstrikes on several areas across the densely populated coastal enclave. Residents said Israeli forces operating in Gaza City’s Zeitoun suburb and in Rafah, near the southern border with Egypt, blew up clusters of homes.

Israel’s military says Hamas combatants use crowded, built-up residential neighbourhoods as cover. Hamas denies this.

Israel media, reporting on the rocket fire, said one rocket was intercepted by air defence and another crashed in an open area. There were no reports of casualties or notable damage.

Iran is on course to build a nuclear bomb and enter a high-stakes gamble

Friday 4 October 2024 16:00 , Alexander Butler

Jack Straw: Iran is on course to build a nuclear bomb and enter a high-stakes gamble

Watch: Israel troops prepare for targeted ground operation in Lebanon

Friday 4 October 2024 15:30 , Alexander Butler

Editorial: Keir Starmer is right to stand with Israel while calling for de-escalation

Friday 4 October 2024 15:00 , Alexander Butler