LIVE: World leaders gather for UN Secretary General's speech as Lebanon death toll rises to 558

OVER 500 PEOPLE have been killed in Lebanon – including 50 children – since the start of Israeli bombardment early yesterday. 

Thousands of people are fleeing their homes in the south of the country. 

Yesterday was the deadliest day of violence in the country since Hezbollah and Israel went to war in 2006.

The attacks come as world leaders gather in New York for the UN General Assembly. 

Updates from Daragh Brophy (earlier) and Mairead Maguire (now). 

42 mins ago 1:19PM

A Lebanese security source said an Israeli strike has hit Hezbollah’s south Beirut stronghold.

It is understood that the strike hit a residential building in a suburban area of the Lebanese capital.

“An Israeli strike targeted two floors in a residential building in the Ghobeiri area,” the security source said, requesting anonymity to AFP.

The IDF confirmed the strike but did not immediately give further details. 

1 hr ago 12:59PM

Some 500 people have crossed from Lebanon to war-torn Syria, a Syrian security official has said, as they try to flee Israel’s bombardment.

They’re among tens of thousands who have left their homes.

Several UN agencies said they were ramping up their aid in Lebanon to address a situation that was already dire before the conflict’s escalation.

“The situation is extremely alarming. It is very chaotic,” UN refugee agency spokesman Matthew Saltmarsh told reporters in Geneva.

“The toll on civilians is unacceptable.”

1 hr ago 12:42PM

There was a bombing in Tibnine, South Lebanon earlier, The Journal has learned.

The building pictured above is a Lebanese Red Cross medical facility. It was not hit by the explosions.

Most people in the village fled north to Beirut yesterday, and the rest are following today.

1 hr ago 12:26PM

German airline group Lufthansa has said it’s extending the suspension of flights to and from Israel’s Tel Aviv and Iranian capital Tehran up to and including 14 October.

Lufthansa is going to “monitor the situation closely and will assess it further in the coming days”, the group said on its website.

Flights to Beirut remain suspended until 26 October.

1 hr ago 12:25PM

Some photos from the roads of Lebanon in the past 24 hours, as people flee villages in the south. 

1 hr ago 12:06PM

Taoiseach Simon Harris is set to meet President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas today at the UN.

It will be their first meeting since Ireland formally recognised the state of Palestine in May.

Speaking to CNN last night Harris said that the conflict in Lebanon marks the opening of a “potentially catastrophic second front in terms of the war in the Middle East”.

2 hrs ago 12:00PM

Israel announced dozens of new air strikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon earlier today.

The strikes came after it said it had killed a “large number” of militants when it hit about 1,600 suspected Hezbollah targets around the country.

Hezbollah said it had launched volleys of missiles at Israeli military bases. The Israeli military said more than 50 projectiles were fired into northern Israel in less than 10 minutes this morning, most of which were intercepted.

It said it had carried out more strikes during the morning targeting Hezbollah infrastructure.

Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said that most of those killed in yesterday’s strikes were unarmed people killed in their homes. 

“Tens of thousands of people were forced from their homes yesterday and overnight, and the numbers continue to grow,” UN refugee agency spokesman Matthew Saltmarsh said, adding that “the toll on civilians is unacceptable”.

2 hrs ago 11:54AM

In its latest update Lebanon has put the death toll from Israeli bombardment yesterday at  558, including 50 children. 

It represents the deadliest day of violence since Hezbollah and Israel went to war in 2006.

Meanwhile leaders are gathering in Manhattan at the United Nations General Assembly. 

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s spokesman has said he’s “gravely alarmed” at developments in Lebanon. 

The EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell warned “we are almost in a full-fledged war”.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas are due to address the UN this week. 

This afternoon we’ll have Guterres’s opening speech, followed by an address by US President Joe Biden. 

In an update yesterday evening a spokesperson for the Irish Defence Forces said all Irish soldiers currently deployed in Lebanon are “safe and accounted for”.

You can find our early report on the latest attacks in Lebanon on the site here. 

We’ll have updates on the situation – including reports from our Political Correspondent Jane Matthews at the UN – throughout the afternoon in this liveblog. 

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