At least 22 people were killed and 117 wounded in Israeli air strikes that hit two different areas in central Beirut on Thursday evening, Lebanon’s health ministry said – the third such attack on the capital since Israel escalated its air campaign last month. The news came after the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon said Israeli tank fire on its headquarters in the country's south wounded two of its members, accusing Israel of "repeatedly" hitting its positions. This live blog is no longer being updated.
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Summary:
At least 22 people were killed and 117 wounded in Israeli air strikes that hit two different areas in central Beiruton Thursday evening, Lebanon’s health ministry said.
The UNpeacekeeping force in Lebanon said Israeli tank fire on its headquarters in the country's south on Thursday wounded two of its members, accusing Israel of "repeatedly" hitting its positions.
An Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced people in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza killed 28 people, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. The IDF said it targeted militants in the compound.
An Israeli strike hit a road linking Syria and Lebanon as Israel tries to cut off Hezbollah supply routes, said the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Syrian state media reported that 'Israeli attacks' hit the Syrian town of Hassian, claiming the target was a "car factory" located in the city's industrial area.
Members of the UN Security Council, including the US, expressed deep "concern" at the Israeli parliament's approval of two bills which aim to end UNRWA's activities and privileges in Israel.
More than 42,065 Palestinians have been killed and 97,886 injured in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since October 7, 2023, according to the Gaza health ministry.
Israeli UN envoy calls for resolution 1701 to be enforced
Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon told the council that resolution 1701 must be enforced, along with resolution 1559, which was adopted in 2004, and "calls for the disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias."
"We are fulfilling our obligations to ensure this, and the council must support us in our efforts," he said.
France, US push at UN for stronger Lebanese army
Strengthening Lebanon's army will be crucial to implementing a key United Nations Security Council resolution that aims to keep peace on the country's border with Israel, the United States and France said on Thursday.
Deputy US Ambassador Robert Wood told a meeting of the 15-member Security Council that the international community must focus its efforts on strengthening Lebanese state institutions.
"The solution to this crisis is a not a weaker Lebanon. It's a strong and truly sovereign Lebanon, protected by a legitimate security force, embodied in the Lebanese Armed Forces," he said.
FRANCE 24 correspondent Cyril Payen reports from Beirut
Lebanon says 22 killed, 117 wounded in Israeli strikes on Beirut
Israeli airstrikes hit central Beirut on Thursday evening, killing at least 22 people and wounding dozens, Lebanon’s health ministry said – the deadliest attacks in the centre of the capital since Israel escalated its campaign last month.
The strikes apparently targeted two residential buildings in separate neighborhoods of western Beirut, according to an AP photographer at the scene, bringing down one multi-story building and wiping out the lower floors of another.
The Israeli military said it was looking into the reported strikes on the Lebanese capital. Israeli airstrikes have been far more common in Beirut’s tightly packed southern suburbs, where Hezbollah bases many of its operations.
UN says its Lebanon peacekeepers 'increasingly in jeopardy'
The safety and security of United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon are "increasingly in jeopardy" and operational activities have virtually come to a halt since Sept. 23, U.N. peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix told the Security Council on Thursday.
"Peacekeepers have been confined to their bases with significant periods of time in shelter," he said, adding that the mission - known as UNIFIL - was ready to support all efforts towards a diplomatic solution.
Erdogan says Gaza 'shame of humanity', calls for permanent ceasefire
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan renewed his attacks on Israel as he arrived in Tirana Thursday, the first stop of a Balkans tour that will also take him to Serbia.
Repeating his claim that Israel's actions in Gaza constituted "genocide", he branded it the "shame of humanity", at a joint press conference with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama.
"The international community, we must do our best to urgently guarantee a permanent ceasefire and exert the necessary pressure on Israel," he added.
"The genocide that has been going on in Gaza for the past year is the common shame of all humanity," he added.
White House 'deeply concerned' after Israel fire on UN peacekeepers, says spokesperson
The White House is "deeply concerned" by reports Israel fired on UN peacekeeper headquarters in south Lebanon, a National Security Council spokesperson said Thursday.
"We understand Israel is conducting targeted operations near the Blue Line to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure that could be used to threaten Israeli citizens," the spokesperson said, referring to the demarcation line between Israel and Lebanon.
"While they undertake these operations, it is critical that they not threaten UN peacekeepers' safety and security."
Israel army says troops fired in area of Lebanon UN peacekeeper HQ
The Israeli military said its forces opened fire Thursday in the area where UN peacekeepers have their headquarters in south Lebanon, insisting that Hezbollah fighters were operating nearby.
"This morning, IDF (Israeli military) troops operated in the area of Naqura, next to a UNIFIL base," the military said, referring to the UN peacekeepers headquarters.
"Accordingly, the IDF instructed the UN forces in the area to remain in protected spaces, following which the forces opened fire in the area."
The military said Hezbollah "operates from within and near civilian areas in southern Lebanon, including areas near UNIFIL posts".
Lebanon's health ministry says 11 killed in Israeli attacks on Beirut on Thursday
At least 11 people were killed and 48 wounded in Israeli airstrikes that hit two different areas in central Beirut on Thursday evening, Lebanon’s health ministry said.
An Associated Press photographer who went to the scene of the strikes said the first one, in the area of Ras al-Nabaa, appeared to have hit the lower half of an eight-story apartment building, and that explosions were ongoing inside the building. A large number of ambulances arrived at the scene.
The second strike, in the area of Burj Abi Haidar, collapsed an entire building, which was engulfed in flames.
There was no immediate statement from the Israeli military. In recent weeks Israel has launched frequent strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, but strikes in central Beirut are rare.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels attack a Liberian-flagged ship in the Red Sea
Yemen's Houthi rebels attacked a Liberian-flagged chemical tanker on Thursday in the Red Sea, authorities said.
The attack comes as the rebels continue to threaten ships moving through the Red Sea, a waterway that once saw $1 trillion in goods move through it a year, over the ongoing conflicts in the Mideast stemming from the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
The Olympic Spirit tanker in the Red Sea had been skirting the coast of East Africa when it found itself struck first by a projectile that damaged the vessel, but sparked no fire and caused no injuries, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said.
At least three more projectiles later fell in the waters around the vessel, which was a distance away from Hodeida, the Houthi-controlled port from which many of the rebels' attacks have been launched.
Israeli military says three soldiers were killed during combat in northern Gaza
The Israeli military said three soldiers were killed on Thursday fighting in north Gaza where troops are engaged in fierce battle with Palestinians militants.
The latest deaths bring the military's death toll in the Gaza campaign to 353 since it launched a ground offensive on October 27 last year.
Israeli strike hits central Beirut, says Lebanese security source
At least two people were killed and nine others were injured in an Israeli strike that hit a central neighbourhood in the Lebanese capital on Thursday evening, an area that had not been previously hit, two Lebanese security source told Reuters.
The strike targeted at least one senior figure in Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, the source said.
A thick plume of smoke could be seen rising from central Beirut after missiles were heard flying over the city, witnesses said.
Children's aid workers killed by Israeli strike on Gaza school, aid group says
An Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced people in the Gaza Strip killed at least 27 people on Thursday, Palestinian medical officials said. The Israeli military said it targeted militants, but people sheltering there said the strike hit a meeting of aid workers.
The strike in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah killed 27 people, including a child and seven women, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where the bodies were brought. It said several other people were wounded.
This death toll differs to that given by the Palestinian Red Crescent, which said 28 people were killed by the strike.
Witnesses said the strike occurred while school managers were meeting with representatives of an aid group in a room normally used by Hamas-run police who provide security. They said there were no police in the room at the time.
The Palestinian branch of Terre des Hommes, a Swiss aid group, said in a statement that members of one of its children’s health teams were killed in the strike, though it did not specify how many.
The Israeli military said it carried out a precise strike targeting a militant command and control centre inside the school, without providing evidence.
Palestinians inspect damage to a school hit by an Israeli bombardment on Deir al-Balah, Gaza, on Thursday, October 10, 2024. Abdel Kareem Hana, AP
Amnesty accuses Israel of 'misleading' Lebanon evacuation orders
Amnesty International accused Israel on Thursday of "misleading" and sometimes inadequate calls for residents to evacuate parts of the country, expressing concern the warnings intend to massively uproot southerners.
Since September 23, Israel has launched an intense air campaign that has killed more than 1,200 people in Lebanon and displaced over a million more from their homes, according to official figures.
The group said it analysed more than a dozen evacuation warnings and maps and conducted interviews with residents of south Beirut and south Lebanon.
The warnings included "misleading maps" and were issued "at short notice -- in one instance less than 30 minutes before strikes began -- in the middle of the night, via social media" when many are asleep, Amnesty chief Agnes Callamard said in a statement.
France demands explanation from Israel after UN troops targeted in Lebanon
France said it was waiting for explanations from Israel after UN peacekeeping troops were targeted in Lebanon on Thursday and that it was an obligation to ensure their safety.
"France expresses its deep concern following the Israeli shots that hit the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and condemns any attack on the security of UNIFIL," the foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that none of its 700 troops in the mission had been wounded.
"We await explanations from the Israeli authorities. The protection of peacekeepers is an obligation that applies to all parties to a conflict."
Italy says shooting at UN Lebanon peacekeepers possible 'war crime'
Italy's defence minister Thursday said firing at the headquarters of the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon and other incidents the force blames on Israel "could constitute war crimes".
"The hostile acts committed and repeated by Israeli forces against the base... could constitute war crimes," defence minister Guido Crosetto told a press conference, adding that Italy has asked for an official explanation "because it was not a mistake".
Israel recommends Lebanon peace keepers move, says UN envoy
Israel is focused on fighting Hezbollah and recommends that the United Nations peacekeeping force (UNIFIL) in southern Lebanon move north, Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon said on Thursday after Israeli forces fired on several UN positions.
"Our recommendation is that UNIFIL relocate 5 km (3 miles) north to avoid danger as fighting intensifies and while the situation along the Blue Line remains volatile as a result of Hezbollah's aggression," Danon said in a statement.
He said that "Israel has no desire to be in Lebanon, but it will do what is necessary" to force Hezbollah away from its northern border so 70,000 residents can return to their homes in northern Israel.
Belgium evacuates 111 people from Lebanon
A Belgian military plane has evacuated 111 people from Lebanon, Hadja Lahbib, the Belgian minister of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday.
The flight from Beirut to Brussels was carrying 58 Belgian nationals and those with residence rights and 53 Europeans,
Lahbib said on social media platform X.
Lebanon envoy urges pressure on Israel to end military campaigns, allow humanitarian relief
Lebanon and other states called for more pressure on Israel to end its military campaigns in the Middle East at a meeting at the UN in Geneva on Thursday, saying that it was repeating its Gaza methods in Lebanon with catastrophic consequences.
Pakistan, as head of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, hosted the meeting to examine the humanitarian situation a year into the Gaza war, triggered by the Hamas-led attack in which 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
Addressing assembled UN officials and ambassadors, the Palestinian ambassador said the pain of a year of conflict in Gaza was "indescribable", while Lebanon's envoy accused Israel of using the "same sinister playbook" in his country as in Gaza.
Gaza fighting pauses have been agreed to finish polio vaccinations, UNICEF says
Humanitarian pauses have been agreed to allow a second round of polio vaccinations targeting 590,000 children under the age of 10 to start in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 14, the head of the U.N. children's agency UNICEF said on Thursday.
"Area-specific humanitarian pauses have been agreed. It is critical that these pauses are respected by all parties. Without them, it is impossible to vaccinate the children," UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement.
Yesterday's key developments:
Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday that Israel will carry out “lethal, precise and surprising” retaliation against anyone who attacks it, while discussing Iran’s October 1 missile strike on Israel.
Two people were killed in the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona by Hezbollah rockets fired from Lebanon, Israeli authorities said, marking Israel’s first civilian deaths caused by Hezbollah since Israel sent ground troops into southern Lebanon.
United Nations officials warned that Lebanon was staring down a "catastrophic" humanitarian crisis as the number of internally displaced people hit 600,000.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP, and Reuters)
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