Live : Iran’s Khamenei threatens 'crushing response' to Israel attacks

02/11/2024 - 14:57

11 wounded in Israeli strikes on southern Beirut suburb

Lebanon's health ministry said 11 people were wounded Saturday in an Israeli strike on Hezbollah's south Beirut stronghold, which has been hard hit by the Israel-Hezbollah war.

The ministry announcement came as the official National News Agency said the "Israeli enemy launched a raid near Karout Mall... in the southern suburbs of Beirut". The strike was not preceded by an Israeli evacuation warning.

02/11/2024 - 14:48

Lebanese army source tells AFP naval commandos captured man in coastal city

A Lebanese military source said Saturday that unidentified naval commandos abducted a mariner in the coastal city of Batroun, more than a month into Israel's war with Hezbollah.

"A naval commando force kidnapped a civilian," the military source told AFP. Speaking under cover of anonymity, the source added that an investigation is underway to determine whether the operation was carried out by Israel.

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said they were checking reports of the incident. 

Lebanon's official National News agency said an "unidentified military force" carried out a "sea landing" on the shore of Batroun, south of Tripoli, at dawn on Friday.

The force "went with all its weapons and equipment to a chalet near the beach, kidnapping a Lebanese man... and sailing away into the open sea on a speedboat," the NNA said.

An acquaintance of the abductee identified him as a student at the Maritime Sciences and Technology Institute (MARSATI) in Batroun.

He was taken from student housing near the Batroun institute, but was a resident of the Shiite-majority town of Qmatiyeh further south, said the acquaintance who spoke on the condition of anonymity for security concerns. 

He was completing courses to become a sea captain, the source told AFP, adding that the man was in his thirties and was well known by the teaching staff at the centre. 

02/11/2024 - 14:25

Axios reporter says Israeli navy captured senior Hezbollah member in northern Lebanon

Israeli naval forces captured a senior Hezbollah official, Imad Amhaz, in an operation in northern Lebanon on Friday, Axios reporter Barak Ravid said on X, citing an Israeli official.

02/11/2024 - 13:53

France delivers aid to war-torn Lebanon

France delivered nearly 30 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Lebanon after pledging €100 million to support the conflict-stricken country.

Last week, France helped to raise $1 billion in aid at an international conference in Paris.

02/11/2024 - 13:36

Israeli forces land in Lebanese coastal town, seize one person, sources say

A suspected Israeli naval force landed in the northern Lebanese coastal town of Batroun early on Saturday and captured one person, a security source said, while another source confirmed the incident but did not say who was responsible.

There was no immediate comment from Israeli and Lebanese authorities.

Pro-Hezbollah journalist Hassan Illaik said in a post on X that a large group of Israeli troops made a landing in the resort town and captured the man, before departing on speed boats.

He shared CCTV footage appearing to show soldiers walking in a street, two of them holding a person.

Lebanese transport minister Ali Hamiye, who represents Hezbollah in Lebanon's government, said the video was accurate but did not provide further details.

02/11/2024 - 12:56

Hezbollah says targeted 'military industries' in northern Israel

Hezbollah said on Saturday it carried out a rocket attack against Israeli "military industries" inZvulun, near the northern city of Haifa, following a drone attack on a base south of Tel Aviv.

Twice on Saturday, "salvos of rockets" were fired at "the Zvulun base for military industries north of the city of Haifa", the Iran-backed militant group said in a statement. Earlier, it said it had launched drones at the Palmahim air base south of Tel Aviv.

02/11/2024 - 12:41

At least 43,314 Palestinians killed in Israel's offensive on Gaza, health ministry says

At least 43,314 Palestinians have been killed and 102,019 injured in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since October 7, 2023, Gaza's health ministry said Saturday.

The toll includes 55 deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to the ministry.

02/11/2024 - 11:26

Hezbollah says it attacked Israeli airbase with drones

The Lebanese Hezbollah group said it had targeted Israel's Palmachim Airbase in southern Tel Aviv on Saturday with drones.

There was no immediate comment from Israel on the attack.

02/11/2024 - 10:48

Iraqi pro-Iran groups say carried out drone attack on Israel's Eilat

A coalition of pro-Iran groups in Iraq said it carried out four drone attacks on the Israeli resort of Eilat on Saturday, after Israel said it intercepted three drones approaching from the east.

In a statement, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq it was behind the attacks on what it called "four vital targets" in the resort on Israel's Red Sea coast, all conducted within one hour.

02/11/2024 - 10:31

Israel army says intercepted three drones over Red Sea

The Israeli military said on Saturday it had intercepted three drones launched from the east over the Red Sea, without specifying where they came from.

"A short while ago, three UAVs that were launched from the east were intercepted over the Red Sea.... the UAVs were intercepted prior to crossing into Israeli territory," the military said in a statement. 

02/11/2024 - 09:54

Iran's supreme leader threatens Israel and US with 'a crushing response' over Israeli attack

Iran's supreme leader on Saturday threatened both Israel and the US with “a crushing response” over attacks on Iran and its allies.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei spoke as Iranian officials are increasingly threatening to launch yet another strike against Israel after its October 26 on the Islamic Republic that targeted military bases and other locations and killed at least five people. 

Any further attacks from either side could engulf the wider Middle East, already teetering over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip and Israel’s ground invasion of Lebanon, into a wider regional conflict ahead of the US presidential election this Tuesday.

“The enemies, whether the Zionist regime or the United States of America, will definitely receive a crushing response to what they are doing to Iran and the Iranian nation and to the resistance front," Khamenei said in video released by Iranian state media. 

The supreme leader did not elaborate on the timing of the attack, nor the scope. 

02/11/2024 - 07:23

Hezbollah says launched rockets at intelligence base near Tel Aviv

Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group said on Saturday it had launched rockets at an Israeli intelligence base near Tel Aviv in the early hours of Saturday.

At 2:30 AM (00:30 GMT) militants "fired a salvo of rockets at the Glilot base of the 8200 military intelligence unit in the suburbs of Tel Aviv" the pro-Iran group said in a statement.

02/11/2024 - 07:20

Yemen rebels get 'unprecedented' outside military support, UN report says

Yemen's Huthi rebels are transforming themselves into a "powerful military organization" due to "unprecedented" military support from outside sources, particularly Iran and Hezbollah, according to a UN report published Friday.

Since the beginning of the war in Gaza last year, the Huthis, who have controlled large swaths of war-torn Yemen for a decade, have "exploited the regional situation and enhanced cooperation with the 'axis of resistance,'" which includes Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah, the UN experts said.

The panel noted "the transformation of the Huthis from a localized armed group with limited capabilities to a powerful military organization, extending their operational capabilities well beyond the territories under their control."

The report, which analyzed the period from September 2023 through July 2024, said such a transformation was aided by the transfer of military materiel and financial support.

02/11/2024 - 07:16

US announces new Mideast military deployments, in warning to Iran

The US announced late Friday the deployment of additional military assets to the Middle East, including ballistic missile defense destroyers and long-range B-52 bomber aircraft, serving as a warning to Tehran as Iran and Israel trade tit-for-tat strikes.

"Should Iran, its partners, or its proxies use this moment to target American personnel or interests in the region, the United States will take every measure necessary to defend our people," Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder said in a statement

02/11/2024 - 07:15
02/11/2024 - 06:49

• Strike on central Israel wounds 19
• Iran's supreme leader threatens Israel and US with 'a crushing response' over Israeli attack
• Iraqi pro-Iran groups say carried out drone attack on Israel's Eilat
• 11 wounded in Israeli strikes on southern Beirut suburb

02/11/2024 - 06:46

Strike on central Israel wounds 19

A missile strike in Israel's Sharon area wounded 19 people, police said early Saturday, after the army reported three projectiles were fired from Lebanon into central Israel.

All 19, four of whom were "in moderate condition", were taken to hospitals for treatment, the Israeli police added.

Israel's Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency medical service earlier said that several people had been wounded in a strike on the central city of Tira, including "a male around 20 with shrapnel injuries".

Videos posted by the Israeli Foreign Ministry on social media showed fire and smoke spilling from a building into the street and emergency responders swarming the site.

"This is the result of a direct hit of a Hezbollah rocket on a building in the Israeli Arab town of Tira, injuring 19 civilians," the ministry said in the post.

"We cannot and will not rest until Hezbollah is dismantled," it added.

The Israeli army said on Telegram that it had intercepted some of the three projectiles fired from Lebanon.

02/11/2024 - 06:44

Welcome to our live blog, where we post the latest news on the war in the Middle East. To read all about yesterday's key developments, click here.

Yesterday's key developments:

• The heads of the major UN agencies called the unfolding situation in the northern Gaza Strip "apocalyptic", warning that its entire population was at "imminent risk" of death.
• Lebanon's health ministry said 52 people had been killed in Israeli strikes in the country's east, attacks for which the Israeli army had not issued evacuation warnings.
• The Israeli military announced it killed senior Hamas official Izz al-Din Kassab, one of the last high-ranking members of Hamas responsible for coordinating with other groups in the Gaza Strip, in an airstrike in Khan Younis.
• A Hamas official said the group received a proposal from mediators Egypt and Qatar for a short-term truce in Gaza and rejected it as it did not include a lasting ceasefire.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)