Live: Israel strikes south Beirut after evacuation warnings

22/10/2024 - 01:07

Blinken to visit Jordan on Wednesday on ceasefire push, says US official

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Jordan on Wednesday on a crisis trip to push a Gaza ceasefire, a US official said Monday.

Blinken, who is due Tuesday in Israel, will discuss humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip with the Jordanians, an official said on the top US diplomat's plane.

22/10/2024 - 00:45

Iran says US will bear 'full responsibility' for Israeli retaliation

Iran on Monday warned the United States would bear "full responsibility" in case of a retaliatory attack by Israel on the Islamic Republic, after US President Joe Biden indicated he was aware of Israeli plans to do so.

Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, called Biden's remarks "profoundly alarming and provocative" in a letter addressed to United Nations chief Antonio Guterres and the Swiss presidency of the UN Security Council.

The US president responded "yes and yes" when asked Friday by a reporter if he had "a good understanding right now" of how and when Israel would respond to Iran's missile barrage on October 1.

22/10/2024 - 00:14

Palestinians met requirements for Israel to extend banking waiver

Israel's requirements for the indemnification needed to allow Israeli banks to continue conducting transactions with Palestinian banks have been met by the Palestinian authorities, according to a source familiar with the situation.

Technical experts argue that should warrant an extension of a current indemnification - set to lapse on Oct. 31 - for at least a year to avert an economic crisis in the West Bank, the source said.

21/10/2024 - 23:35

Lebanon security source says planes switch runways after Israeli strike near Beirut airport

A Lebanese security official told AFP that the country's national airline had to switch landing strips on Monday after Israeli strikes near Beirut's only international airport hit close to the main runway.

"Middle East Airlines switched the runway it was using because the main runway is close to the site of the Ouzai strike," the official said, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

21/10/2024 - 22:50

Lebanon says child among four killed in Israeli strikes near south Beirut hospital

Lebanon's health ministry said four people including a child had been killed on Monday evening in Israeli strikes near the country's biggest public hospital close to the southern suburbs of Beirut.

"The Israeli enemy strike near the Hariri Hospital killed, in a preliminary toll, four people, including a child, and injured 24," the ministry said, adding it had caused "significant damage to the hospital".

21/10/2024 - 22:28

Iran FM visits Bahrain to discuss tamping down Middle East tensions

Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa received Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in the Gulf state's capital Manama on Monday, state media reported, amid fears of conflict potentially spreading across the Middle East.

The pair "discussed bilateral cooperation and the latest regional developments, focusing on efforts to de-escalate tensions and reach peaceful solutions," according to the official Bahrain News Agency.

Araghchi has for about two weeks been touring the region in a diplomatic effort to tamp down tensions with the region braced for Israel's promised retaliation for arch-foe Tehran's missile attack on October 1. 

21/10/2024 - 22:19

Israel army says Hezbollah fired about 170 projectiles into Israel Monday

The Israeli military said about 170 projectiles were fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon into Israel on Monday, as Israeli forces targeted the group's funding arm in a wave of air strikes.

"As of 23:00 (2000 GMT), approximately 170 projectiles that were fired by the Hezbollah terrorist organisation have crossed from Lebanon into Israel today," the military said in a statement.

21/10/2024 - 22:05

What we know about the ‘UNRWA ID’ allegedly found amidst Sinwar’s belongings

Israeli media said last week that two men killed alongside Hamas head Yahya Sinwar were his bodyguards, and that one of them worked for UNRWA.

It later posted photos of items allegedly found at the scene, including an “UNRWA ID” causing online furore that the UN agency is linked to Hamas or that Sinwar was falsifying his identity.

However the document is an expired passport belonging to a man very much alive, and who has fled Gaza.

Vedika Bahl shares what we know so far.

21/10/2024 - 21:36

Israel army issues new evacuation call for residents in southern Beirut suburb

The Israeli military on Monday called on residents to leave parts of southern Beirut, a warning which AFPTV images showed was followed almost immediately after by a strike on the area.

Military spokesman Avichay Adraee posted the new call on social media pointing out places that were asked to be evacuated, included an area close to Beirut airport. "You are located near facilities and interests affiliated with Hezbollah that the IDF will work against in the near future," he wrote.

21/10/2024 - 21:09

Israel military says it won't strike Beirut hospital it claims Hezbollah uses as cash bunker

Israel's chief military spokesman said on Monday that Israel will not strike the Lebanese Sahel Hospital in Beirut's southern suburbs, despite earlier claims that Hezbollah uses it to stash money underneath.

"The Israeli Air Force is monitoring the compound, as you can see. However, we will not strike the hospital itself," Israel's chief military spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said.

21/10/2024 - 20:51

Hospital in Beirut suburbs evacuated after Israel claims Hezbollah bunker below

The Lebanese Sahel Hospital in Beirut's southern suburbs is being evacuated following Israeli claims a Hezbollah cash bunker is located beneath it, hospital director Fadi Alameh told Reuters on Monday.

Alameh denied the allegation and called on the Lebanese army to visit the site.

21/10/2024 - 20:41

Hezbollah says targeted Israeli army intelligence base near Tel Aviv

Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah group said on Monday that it had launched rockets at an army intelligence base in the suburbs of the main Israeli city of Tel Aviv.

Hezbollah fighters launched "quality rockets" at "the Glilot base of the Military Intelligence Unit 8200 in the Tel Aviv suburbs," the group said, adding the attack was "in defence of Lebanon," "in response to Israeli aggressions" and dedicated to their slain leader Hassan Nasrallah. 

21/10/2024 - 20:34

Israel says will conduct more strikes in Beirut and across Lebanon in 'coming hours'

The Israeli military said on Monday it will carry out more strikes targeting Hezbollah and its financial network in Beirut and throughout Lebanon.

"Even in the coming hours, we will continue to attack Hezbollah targets throughout Lebanon, including in Beirut in Dahiyeh," military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said at a televised briefing, referring to the southern Beirut Hezbollah stronghold that has been pounded by Israeli strikes in recent weeks.

21/10/2024 - 20:33

White House calls on all parties to cooperate on aid distribution in Gaza

The White House on Monday called on all parties to cooperate in distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza.

The amount of aid to Gaza must further increase, although the White House has seen an uptick, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said

21/10/2024 - 20:23

Hamas sources say militant group to be led by ruling committee not new chief

Two Hamas sources said the Palestinian militant group was moving towards appointing a Doha-based ruling committee rather than a single successor to its chief Yahya Sinwar, who was killed by Israeli troops last week.

"The Hamas leadership's approach is not to appoint a successor to the late chief, the martyr Yahya Sinwar, until their next elections" scheduled for March "if conditions permit", a well-informed source from the group told AFP.

A five-member committee that was formed in August following the assassination of political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran "will take over the leadership of the group", the source added.

The committee was formed to facilitate decision-making in view of the difficulty of communicating with Sinwar in Gaza before his death on Wednesday.

The source said the committee is made up of representatives of the two Palestinian territories and the diaspora, namely Khalil al-Hayya for Gaza, Zaher Jabarin for the West Bank and Khaled Meshaal for Palestinians abroad.

It also includes the head of Hamas's Shura advisory council Mohammed Darwish and the secretary of the political bureau, who is never identified for security reasons.

All current members of the committee are based in Qatar.

21/10/2024 - 20:20

Israel says army struck Hezbollah bunker holding millions of dollars in cash, gold

The Israeli army on Monday said it hit a Hezbollah bunker holding tens of millions of dollars worth of cash and gold during strikes aimed at the group's financial network. 

"The Israeli Air Force carried out a series of precise strikes on these Hezbollah financial strongholds," said military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari. "One of our main targets last night was an underground vault with millions of dollars in cash and gold. The money was being used to finance Hezbollah's attacks on Israel."

21/10/2024 - 20:08

Israeli military says it hit about 300 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in past 24 hours

The Israeli military on Monday said it struck about 300 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon over the past 24 hours, in a widening air campaign now also targeting the group's financial operations. 

"Approximately 300 targets were hit in the last 24 hours alone," the military said in a statement, after military chief Herzi Halevi said around 30 targets related to Al-Qard al-Hassan, a financial firm linked to Iran-backed Hezbollah.

21/10/2024 - 19:40

Israel army chief says struck about 30 targets linked to group funding Hezbollah

Israeli military chief Herzi Halevi said on Monday the country's forces hit more than two dozen targets belonging to Al-Qard al-Hassan -- a financial firm linked to Hezbollah -- in an expanded campaign against the Iran-backed group in Lebanon. 

 "We struck close to 30 targets across Lebanon," Halevi said in a statement, after strikes began Sunday night against the US-sanctioned association that Israel accuses of financing "Hezbollah's terrorist operations".

21/10/2024 - 18:42

Hezbollah says targeted Israeli troops in Lebanon's Aita al-Shaab village

The Hezbollah group said it fired at Israeli soldiers located near the municipality of an embattled south Lebanon border village, where state media earlier said the group clashed with troops who blew up houses.

Hezbollah fighters launched "a rocket salvo" at "Israeli enemy soldiers near the municipality of Aita al-Shaab," Hezbollah said in a statement.

21/10/2024 - 18:35

US 'deeply concerned' about intelligence leak about Israel's Iran strike plans

The United States remains "deeply concerned" about the leak of a pair of highly classified intelligence documents describing Israel's preparations for a retaliatory strike on Iran, the White House said on Monday.

There is no indication that additional documents have been compromised and US officials have been in communication with Israeli counterparts about the leak, White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.

Yesterday's key developments:

• Lebanon state media reported four Israeli strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs Sunday, saying Hezbollah-linked financial associations were among the targets, after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders for the area.
• A Lebanese security source said Israeli strikes on Sunday landed near the country's only airport, as AFP footage showed large plumes of smoke rising close to the facility.
• The Israeli military said it intercepted a drone in Syrian airspace on Sunday as it was approaching from the east.
• The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Saturday that at least 42,519 people have been killed in the war between Israel and Palestinian militants, although the toll did not incorporate a strike that killed 33 people overnight.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP, and Reuters)