At least 26 people have been killed and 93 others wounded after Israeli airstrikes targeted a mosque and a school sheltering displaced people in the Gaza Strip, the Hamas-run health ministry has said.
The strikes on the mosque and the school, near the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, came as the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in the enclave approaches its first anniversary tomorrow.
In its own statement, the Israeli military said it conducted “precise strikes on Hamas terrorists” who were operating within command and control centers embedded in Ibn Rushd School and the Shuhada al-Aqsa Mosque in the area of Deir al Balah.
In Beirut, meanwhile, air strikes lit up the skyline and loud explosions echoed across the southern suburbs, known as the Dahiyeh, as Lebanon suffered one of the most intense nights of Israeli aerial attacks since the start of this conflict last month.
Footage showed a huge fireball exploding against the night sky in what was believed to be a petrol station in the Lebanese capital.
Key Points
- Several injured in suspected shooting attack in southern Israel, police say
- Huge blast rocks southern Lebanon
- In pictures: Israel airstrikes hit Gaza and Beirut, killing dozens
- ‘Shame on you’ Netanyahu hits back at Macron for call for arms embargoes
- 'Israel will retaliate against Iran when the time is right’
Blast heard in Syria's Homs, cause being investigated, state news agency says
14:01
Tom Watling
A blast was heard in a factory in the Syrian city of Homs, the state news agency reported on Sunday, adding that the cause is still being investigated.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians displaced in Lebanon, says UN
13:43
Tom Watling
As violence escalates in #Lebanon, around 20,000 Palestine Refugees have been forcibly displaced following Israeli airstrikes on camps.@UNRWA activated emergency shelters for over 4,300 displaced people, including Palestine Refugees, Lebanese and Syrians. The Agency stands… pic.twitter.com/MNNri19dMw
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) October 6, 2024
Several injured in suspected shooting attack in southern Israel, police say
13:18
Tom Watling
Israeli police have said that several people have been injured in a suspected shooting attack in the city of Beersheba in the country’s south, while the ambulance service says the attacker has been killed.
The ambulance service said a seriously injured woman was being treated at the scene while eight other people injured in the attack, including one in a moderate to serious condition, were receiving medical treatment in a nearby hospital.
פיגוע קשה ומשולב של ירי ודקירה - בשלוש נקודות שונות בתחנה המרכזית בב"ש. במד"א מדווחים על 9 פצועים בדרגות חומרה שונות, בהן אחת במצב אנוש ואחת במצב קשה עד בינוני | כל העדכוניםhttps://t.co/NfqMFekXZX pic.twitter.com/hGQvsn1F6k
— החדשות - N12 (@N12News) October 6, 2024
Israeli ambassador invokes Mahsa Amini’s name in criticism of Iran regime
13:02
Tom Watling
Israeli military issues new evacuation alerts for areas in southern Lebanon
12:31
Tom Watling
The Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson issued new evacuation alerts on Sunday for residents of around 25 areas in southern Lebanon, calling on them to head immediately to the north of the Awali River.
Mosque lies in ruins as Israel continues Gaza bombardment amid Lebanon strikes
12:01
Tom Watling
Tory shadow foreign sec says Israel should engage in Lebanon ceasefire
11:29
Tom Watling
The “right approach” to ending conflict in Lebanon is “not a ceasefire”, the Conservative shadow foreign secretary has said.
Andrew Mitchell told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: “It is a very dangerous crisis in a world that in recent years has become more dangerous than at any time in our lifetime.
“But I think if you focus on what is happening in Lebanon, you see that Israel absolutely has the right of self-defence.
“No government would allow an internationally proscribed terrorist organisation to sit there lobbing rockets over the border and moving its populations, killing its population - more than 60,000 Israelis have had to move south.
“And the right approach is not a ceasefire, actually. The right approach is for Hezbollah and its Iranian masters to abide by United Nations Security Council resolution 1701, and pull back behind the Litani River, and that would end the conflict that's taking place in Lebanon.”
UPD: More than two dozen killed in Israeli srtike on Gaza school and mosque
11:01
Tom Watling
At least 26 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on a school and mosque in the central Gaza Strip, the local, Hamas-run health ministry has said.
Previously, the authorities’ media office put the death toll from the strikes on Deir al-Balah at 24.
Dozens of people were reported to have been injured. The Israeli military claimed it had targeted Hamas militants in the strikes.
Gaza death toll rises to 41,870, ministry says
10:28
Tom Watling
At least 41,870 Palestinians have been killed and 97,166 others injured in Israel‘s military offensive on Gaza since 7 October, Gaza’s health ministry has said.
Pro-Gaza protester attempts self-immolation outside White House
10:02
Tom Watling
In pictures: Israel airstrikes hit Gaza and Beirut, killing dozens
09:28
Tom Watling
Live: Lebanon's Beirut skyline as Israeli military issues evacuation order
08:59
Tom Watling
Lebanon health system on 'brink of collapsing'
08:30
Vishwam Sankaran
The health system in Lebanon is starting to collapse, according to the UN.
“Throughout the past days we have been witnessing an alarming increase in attacks against healthcare,” Imran Riza, the UN Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon, said in a post on X.
“Health workers are paying the heaviest price with their lives. The health system is on the brink of collapsing,” Mr Riza said.
The UN called on the international community to protect healthcare workers and civilians and establish an immediate ceasefire.
US pledges $157m in additional aid to Lebanon
08:00
Vishwam Sankaran
Amid Israel’s invasion of Lebanon and strikes on Beirut, US vice president and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris announced that the country would provide nearly $157m in additional assistance to the people of Lebanon.
Ms Harris said the aid would address “essential needs such as food, shelter, water, protection, and sanitation to help those who have been displaced by the recent conflict.”
The people of Lebanon are facing an increasingly dire humanitarian situation. I am concerned about the security and well-being of civilians suffering in Lebanon and will continue working to help meet the needs of all civilians there.
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) October 5, 2024
To that end, the United States will provide…
“I am concerned about the security and well-being of civilians suffering in Lebanon and will continue working to help meet the needs of all civilians there,” she said.
“This additional support brings total US assistance to Lebanon over the last year to over $385 million,” the vice president added.
X users were quick to criticise the move by the US, which accounts for nearly 70 per cent of Israel’s arms imports.
Since Israel invaded Gaza, the US has approved billions of dollars in weapons sales to Israel over the past months.
“I’m no military expert, but lying awake that night in Beirut, you wonder whether the value of the US-produced bombs and aircraft in use here, in the competition between destruction and aid, doesn’t far exceed that sum,” Beirut-based journalist Karim El-Gawhary posted on X.
Thousands protest across world against Middle East war
07:30
Vishwam Sankaran
Thousands of people in major cities worldwide took to the streets on Saturday, demanding an end to Israel’s invasion of Gaza and Lebanon.
Nearly 40,000 people marched through central London, with thousands more in Paris, Cape Town, and New York City, calling for a free Palestine and a swift end to the conflict in the Middle East.
Protesters in New York City gathered at Times Square, shouting slogans like “Gaza, Lebanon, you will rise, the people are by your side”.
Many wore black-and-white keffiyeh scarves and held banners calling for an arms embargo against Israel.
Gaza mosque strike toll rises to 24
07:21
Vishwam Sankaran
An Israeli airstrike on a mosque in the Gaza Strip early on Sunday killed at least 24 people and wounded nearly 100 others, according to the Gaza government's media office. The airstrike, near Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, comes as Israel's invasion of Gaza approaches its first anniversary.
The Israeli military said that the attack was a “precise strike on Hamas terrorists who were operating within a command and control centre embedded in a structure that previously served as the ‘Shuhada al-Aqsa’ Mosque in the area of Deir al-Balah”.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, nearly 42,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 2.3 million people displaced since the start of Israel’s invasion.
Potential Hezbollah successor missing after Israeli airstrikes in Beirut
07:00
Vishwam Sankaran
The potential successor to Hezbollah’s slain leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, has been unreachable since Friday after Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon, Reuters reported, citing a Lebanese security source.
Israel has been conducting large-scale strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs since Thursday, causing thousands to flee their neighbourhoods.
One of the attacks targetted Hashem Safieddine, the potential successor to Hezbollah’s leadership, who was believed to be in an underground bunker.
Rescue workers are reportedly searching the site of the attack, but Hezbollah has not commented on his whereabouts.
Israel invasion of Lebanon in pictures:
06:30
Vishwam Sankaran
Fire and smoke rise at areas targeted by Israel in southern Beirut early Sunday
At least 18 killed in airstrike on Gaza mosque
06:00
Vishwam Sankaran
At least 18 people were killed and dozens injured in an Israeli airstrike on a mosque in Gaza, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Israel’s military said it “conducted a precise strike on Hamas terrorists who were operating within a command and control center embedded in a structure that previously served as the ‘Shuhada al-Aqsa’ Mosque in the area of Deir al Balah.”
The number of casualties may rise since the mosque, near the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, was reportedly used to house displaced people.
ICYMI: Macron calls for arms embargo to Israel
05:30
Vishwam Sankaran
French president Emmanuel Macron called for the end of weapon shipments to Israel following IDF’s incursion into Lebanon.
“The priority is that we return to a political solution, that we stop delivering weapons to carry out fighting in Gaza,” Mr Macron said, adding that “terrorism should not be fought by “sacrificing a civilian population”.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticised leaders calling for an “arms embargo on Israel”.
“Israel will win with or without their support, but their shame will continue long after the war is won,” he said.
Iran urges India to convince Israel to stop genocide in Gaza
05:00
Vishwam Sankaran
Iran’s ambassador to India, Iraj Elahi said New Delhi can play a constructive role in convincing Israel to stop killing civilians in Gaza.
“We believe that India can play constructive role despite India has good relations with Israel, so it can convince Israel to stop genocide in Gaza,” Mr Elahi told Indian news agency ANI.
More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel invaded the strip in October 2023.
Israel says violent strikes will continue 'without respite' as explosions rock Beirut
04:30
Vishwam Sankaran
Israel continued airstrikes in Lebanon yesterday as explosions rocked suburbs in southern Beirut for hours.
“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 organisation,” IDF chief of staff Lt Gen Herzi Halevi said.
Dozens of people were killed in the airstrikes which Lebanon’s National News Agency described as “very violent”.
Two Hamas officials killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon
04:00
Barney Davis
An Israeli strike on a refugee camp in north Lebanon has killed Hamas official Saeed Atallah Ali and his family, the militant group said Saturday. Hamas later said another military wing member was killed in an Israeli strike in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley.
Israel began a ground incursion Tuesday into Lebanon against the Hezbollah militant group.
The Israeli military said nine soldiers have died in the conflict in southern Lebanon.Nearly 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon in the latest conflict, most of them since Sept. 23, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Health workers in Lebanon describe deadly Israeli attacks on colleagues and fear more
03:01
Barney Davis
Marjayoun hospital director Mounes Kalakesh said that even before Friday’s attack, ambulance crews in the area were so reluctant to operate that the facility had not received anyone wounded for days.
“We have not been able to work. There was fear and panic among the staff,” he said.
Kalakesh said the government hospital didn’t receive any warning from Israeli forces before the attack, even though nearby villages have received such warnings to evacuate.
40,000 march for Palestine in central London as demonstrations sweep globe
03:00
Barney Davis
About 40,000 pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through central London while thousands also gathered in Paris, Rome, Manila, Cape Town and New York City.
Demonstrations were also held near the White House in Washington, protesting U.S. support for its ally Israel in military campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon.
Protesters at Times Square in New York City wore the black-and-white keffiyeh scarf and chanted slogans like: “Gaza, Lebanon you will rise, the people are by your side.”
They held banners demanding an arms embargo against Israel.
The latest bloodshed in the decades old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered when Palestinian Hamas militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 as hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel expands strikes to northern Lebanon as more than one million people flee their homes
01:00
Bel Trew
Israel has expanded its intense bombing campaign in Lebanon, pounding a Palestinian refugee camp in the north of the country and unleashing dozens of strikes on the suburbs of Beirut.
Israeli warplanes hit areas as far north as the Beddawi camp, outside the city of Tripoli, on Saturday. The strikes killed a member of Hamas’s military wing in Lebanon, along with his wife and two daughters, according to the Palestinian militant group.
Israel said he served Hamas’ executive authority in Lebanon and had been directing attacks in the occupied West Bank.
Bel Trew reports:
Eight strikes on Beirut late Saturday
Saturday 5 October 2024 23:32
Barney Davis
At least eight strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs late on Saturday including close to the country’s main airport, according to Reuters witnesses, after the Israeli military issued warnings to residents of certain buildings in the area.
Huge blast rocks southern Lebanon
Saturday 5 October 2024 23:01
Barney Davis
Powerful new explosions rocked Beirut’s southern suburbs late Saturday as Israel expanded its bombardment in Lebanon, striking a Palestinian refugee camp deep in the north for the first time as it targeted both Hezbollah and Hamas fighters.
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.
A series of strong explosions were reported near midnight after Israel’s military called on residents to evacuate areas in Beirut’s Haret Hreik and Choueifat neighborhoods.
‘Shame on you’ Netanyahu hits back at Macron for call for arms embargoes
Saturday 5 October 2024 22:04
Barney Davis
“As Israel fights the forces of barbarism led by Iran, all civilised countries should be standing firmly by Israel’s side,” Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement issued by his office.
“Yet, President Macron and other Western leaders are now calling for arms embargoes against Israel. Shame on them.”
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.
IDF issue evacuation order in suburbs of Beirut
Saturday 5 October 2024 20:52
Barney Davis
The Israel Defense Force has issued their Nightly Evacuation Orders for Buildings within the Dahieh Suburb of Southern Beirut, telling Residents both inside and near these Buildings to Immediately Evacuate by at least 500 Meters. pic.twitter.com/JIYgzH34eE
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) October 5, 2024
Israel will retaliate against Iran when the time is right, military spokesman says
Saturday 5 October 2024 19:43
Barney Davis
Israel will retaliate against Iran for the missile attack launched by Tehran when the time is right, a military spokesman said on Saturday.
“The way in which we respond to this disgraceful attack will be in the manner, at the location and the timing which we decide, according to the political leadership’s instructions,” Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a broadcast statement.
Israeli military spokespersonconfirms two Israeli airbases were hit in Iran’s Tuesday attack, says air force and bases remain fully operational
Saturday 5 October 2024 18:45
Barney Davis
IDF say Israel must continue strikes on Hezbollah
Saturday 5 October 2024 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
Saturday 5 October 2024 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.
25 people and 127 wounded in Friday strikes
Saturday 5 October 2024 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
Saturday 5 October 2024 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
Saturday 5 October 2024 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
Saturday 5 October 2024 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
Saturday 5 October 2024 14:43
Tom Watling
Watch live: London march to mark one year of Israel-Hamas conflict
Saturday 5 October 2024 14:14
Tom Watling
Israel claims to have killed two senior Hamas figures in Lebanon
Saturday 5 October 2024 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.
Two senior terrorists in Hamas’ military wing in Lebanon were eliminated in two joint IDF and ISA operations.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 5, 2024
- Muhammad Hussein Ali al-Mahmoud served as Hamas’ executive authority in Lebanon and directed terrorist activities in Judea and Samaria. He was responsible for… pic.twitter.com/9cdSc1590J
Pro-Palestine demonstrators march through London
Saturday 5 October 2024 13:45
Tom Watling
Canadian PM urges citizens to leave Lebanon as evacuations top 1,000
Saturday 5 October 2024 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
Saturday 5 October 2024 12:41
Tom Watling
Hezbollah senior leader ‘unreachable’ after Israeli strikes, report claims
Saturday 5 October 2024 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
Saturday 5 October 2024 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.
