At least eight dead and thousands injured from exploding pagers in Lebanon, officials say

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Israel strikes Houthi targets in Yemen as attacks continue in Lebanon

Israel's military launched "large-scale" airstrikes targeting Houthis in Yemen on Sunday and continued to carry out strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The IDF said it hit Hodeida and Rass Issa ports along with two power plants in Hodeida city, which is a stronghold for the Iranian-backed Houthis.

At least four people were killed and 33 wounded in the attacks on Hodeida, Houthi-run media reported, with plumes of smoke seen in the air over the city.

The Houthi group said the airstrikes would not stop them from attacking shipping routes and Israel.

The strikes came a day after Houthis launched a missile attack on Israel’s Ben Gurion airport as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was arriving.

Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defence minister, has pledged that the country will strike its enemies no matter how far away they are.

“Our message is clear - for us, no place is too far,” Gallant said on Sunday.

The attacks on Yemen came as Israel carried out further attacks in Lebanon on Sunday, killing dozens of people.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said at least 24 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes that hit two buildings in Ain el-Delb, east of Sidon. The strikes also injured 29 people, the health ministry said.

Videos showed a building swaying and then collapsing after it was struck.

Intensified strikes in Lebanon over the last week have killed seven high-ranking commanders and officials from Hezbollah, including the group's leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

On Sunday, Israel said it had killed another two high-ranking officials - Nabil Kaouk, the deputy head of Hezbollah's Central Council, and top commander, Ali Karaki.

The IDF said it was continuing to strike Hezbollah targets, including “launchers that were aimed towards Israeli territory, structures in which weapons were stored and additional Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure.”

In a video shared along with the statement, the IDF said strikes were conducted in several areas in southern Lebanon, including Marjayoun, Deir Aames and Jouaiyya, as well as towns in the eastern Baalbek-Hermel and Bekaa regions.

“Over the past day, the IDF struck hundreds of Hezbollah terror targets throughout Lebanon,” the IDF statement said, adding it continues to “operate to degrade and dismantle Hezbollah’s capabilities.”

It comes after the Israeli military said it had killed Nasrallah in a strike on the group's headquarters on Friday.

Hezbollah confirmed the death, but has yet to launch a major retaliation. It is likely assessing how to meet, communicate and respond to the attacks.

Iran, which backs Hezbollah and has given an assurance of its solidarity in the wake of Nasrallah’s killing, has vowed revenge.

Iran’s envoy to the United Nations on Saturday requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to “condemn Israel’s actions in the strongest possible terms.”

Lebanon and Iran have also declared several days of mourning for Nasrallah.

It comes as hundreds of families slept in public squares, on beaches or in cars around Beirut after days of intense Israeli strikes.

Footage from Lebanon's capital shows groups of people sleeping outdoors, trudging up to the mountains, holding infants and a few belongings.

The assault was part of a rapid escalation of Israeli strikes the past week that has killed more than 700 people in Lebanon.

Israel has vowed to cripple Hezbollah and put an end to 11 months of its fire onto Israeli territory in what Nasrallah described as a “support front” for his ally Hamas in Gaza.

The people escaping Friday night’s mayhem joined tens of thousands who have fled to Beirut and other areas of southern Lebanon the past week to escape Israel’s bombardment.

The UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, said this week’s escalation had more than doubled the number of people displaced by the conflict in Lebanon.

There are now over 211,000 people displaced, including some of the humanitarian workers who should be responding to the crisis, it said. Around 85,000 of them are sleeping in shelters, it said.

“Humanitarian capacities to respond have been severely overstretched,” it added.

[Solauren]

Looks like Israel is going after anyone that they have an issue with, or that has an issue with them, that they think they can get away with.

So, the insergencies/militant groups for now.

But how long until they decide "well, no one is stopping us, and we have plenty of firepower left..."

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Netanyahu warns 'nowhere Israel cannot reach' amid threats of Lebanon invasion

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned "there is nowhere in the Middle East Israel cannot reach" amid speculation the military may be about to launch an invasion of southern Lebanon.

Speaking on Monday, Netanyahu directed his criticism at Iran, which backs Hezbollah and Hamas saying: "Every day, their (Iran’s) puppets are eliminated. Ask Mohammed Deif. Ask Nasrallah."

CNN has reported the US believes Israel is planning an imminent incursion into south Lebanon.

US officials briefing the media said they believe the attack would be limited in nature targeting Hezbollah infrastructure near the border.

Following the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah the group has vowed to keep on fighting.

Deputy leader Naim Kassem used his first speech since their leader's death was announced, he said Hezbollah were ready if Israel launched a ground offensive into Lebanon.

In a televised address following the deaths of many within Hezbollah's top chain of command, he said: "Israel was not able to affect our (military) capabilities.

“There are deputy commanders and there are replacements in case a commander is wounded in any post.”

Over the past week, Israel has killed seven high-ranking Hezbollah commanders and officials. Iran, Hezbollah’s main backer and sponsor, has vowed to retaliate.

“Iran’s tyrants don’t care about your future,” Netanyahu said. “When Iran is finally free, that moment will come a lot sooner than people think. Everything will be different.”

Nasrallah, who led Hezbollah for 32 years, was killed in a strike on its headquarters in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Friday.

As deputy secretary-general, Kassem now is the acting leader of the militant group until a replacement for Nasrallah is chosen.

Israel carried out attacks on central Beirut on Monday, after a weekend of dramatic missile strikes against its enemies in the Middle East - including in other parts of Lebanon and Yemen.

Meanwhile, Israeli special forces have been carrying out raids in Lebanon, sources told CNN.

In recent days, commandos have infiltrated Lebanese territory and destroyed Hezbollah posts close to the border, the source added - but the Israeli military declined to comment.

Monday morning's strike, which hit an apartment block and killed at least one person, marks the first time Israel has targeted the centre of Beirut since the recent conflict began on October 7.

At least 16 people were left wounded after the multi-storey residential building was hit, according to a Lebanese Civil Defence official.

Recent attacks have centred on the city's southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a strong presence.

The Lebanese Health Ministry said at least 105 people were killed around the country in airstrikes on Sunday.

Over the past ten days, more than 1,000 people have been killed by in Lebanon, according to the country's health ministry. Nearly a quarter of those have been women and children.

Recent fighting in the country may have displaced up to a million people, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has renewed calls for the thousands of British nationals believed to be in Lebanon to leave the country immediately.

Starmer’s official spokesman said: “The Prime Minister has been very, very clear that British nationals should leave now, particularly whilst commercial flights are still available.

“We’re doing everything we can to work with commercial airlines to maximise capacity because we want people to leave."

The spokesman also emphasised 700 troops have been deployed to Cyprus to work on "all contingency options".

The person killed in Monday's apartment block strike was a member of Al Jamaa Al Islamiya, a Sunni political and militant group that is allied with Hezbollah, a Lebanese official claimed.

Meanwhile, Palestinian leftist group Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claimed in a statement on Monday that three of its members were killed in the attack, including military and security commanders.

Neither group has played a significant or meaningful role in the months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

On Saturday, the Israeli military confirmed Nabil Kaouk had died, becoming the seventh senior Hezbollah leader killed by Israeli strikes in little over a week.

A separate strike on Monday killed a commander of Hamas, Fatah Sharif. The militant group said he was killed with his family in a strike on the Al-Buss refugee camp in the port city of Tyre.

Two strikes near the southern city of Sidon, around 45 kilometres (28 miles) south of Beirut, killed at least 32 people on Sunday, the ministry said.

Separately, Israeli strikes in the northern province of Baalbek Hermel killed 21 people and wounded at least 47.

The militant group also confirmed Ali Karaki, another senior commander, died in Friday's strikes on its headquarters, the same blast which killed leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Multiple high-rise blocks of flats in the southern suburbs of Beirut were destroyed in the biggest blast to hit the Lebanese capital over the past year.

News of the explosion came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's United Nations address in New York. He cut his trip short soon after.

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Netanyahu has since said the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was "necessary" to achieve Israel's goals and to restore a "balance of power" in the Middle East.

In a statement, he described the moment as a "historic turning point", whilst US President Joe Biden called it a “measure of justice for his many victims,” including Americans.

Attacks on Lebanon's capital follow Israeli strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen on Sunday, including power plants and sea port facilities in the city of Hodeida.

In response to the dramatic escalation in Israeli strikes on Lebanon, Hezbollah significantly increased its rocket attacks in the past week, from several dozen to several hundred daily, the Israeli military said.

The attacks injured several people and caused damage, but most of the rockets and drones were intercepted by Israel’s air defence systems or fell in open areas.

Biden said on Sunday that he would soon speak with Netanyahu, and added he believes that an all-out war in the Middle East must be avoided.

In response to the killing of Hezbollah's leader, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the strike had “wiped out” Hezbollah’s command structure, but he warned the group will work quickly to rebuild it.

“I think people are safer without him walking around,” Kirby said, referring to Nasrallah.

“But they will try to recover. We’re watching to see what they do to try to fill this leadership vacuum."

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Netanyahu vows Iran 'will pay' after hundreds of missile fired into Israel

Israel says it will carry out a “significant response” after Iran launched a barrage of almost 200 missiles into the country

Sirens were blaring across the country as citizens were told to take shelter, but there has been no immediate reports of casualties. The aerial attack has since stopped

It comes after Israel says it has launched a ground operation in southern Lebanon, but Hezbollah refutes the claims

Israeli officials described the offensive as “localised raids” that are “very limited in scope"

The escalation in the war has killed more than 1,000 people, destroyed homes and displaced one million in Lebanon, authorities say

Israel says it will "attack" in retaliation to Iran launching a missile strike into the country on Tuesday night.

“Iran made a big mistake tonight and it will pay for it,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said as he gathered his Security Cabinet for a late-night meeting.

Netanyahu said the missile attack was a failure and that Iran would soon learn a painful lesson just as its enemies in Gaza, Lebanon and other places have learned.

“Whoever attacks us. We attack them,” he said.

Those warnings echoed the message from Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesperson Daniel Hagari, who said in a televised message that the attack "will have consequences.”

“We have plans, and we will operate at the place and time we decide,” Hagari said.

Earlier on Tuesday, an estimated 180 “projectiles” were fired at Israel from Iran, according to the IDF, sending citizens fleeing to bomb shelters.

The threat has since been declared over by the Israeli military and there are no immediate reports of casualties.

It is not clear how many missile made contact, nor how many were intercepted.

Israel and Iran have fought a shadow war for years, but rarely have they come into direct conflict.

Iran has claimed responsibility for the attack, confirming it was responding to a series of previous strikes, which killed members of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah leadership, figureheads of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corpsnian and a Hamas political leader.

The Iranian military said: "In response to the martyrdom of martyr Ismail Haniyeh, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and martyr Nilforooshan, we targeted the heart of occupied lands, the statement reads."

While Iran claims it targeted military targets, pictures and videos posted to social media showed shrapnel and missiles buried into tarmac in the streets and damaging buildings.

In Tehran, people were seen celebrating the attack, setting off fireworks and dancing in the streets.

As the world grapples with the intensifying escalations in the Middle East, international leaders are issuing divided responses to Iran's latest attack on Israel.

The strikes come after Israel claimed it launched a ground invasion into Lebanon.

The military said earlier on Tuesday it has entered southern Lebanon in what it has called a "limited, localised and targeted raids against Hezbollah terror targets".

In a statement, the IDF said the targets "are located in villages close to the border and pose an immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel".

But, Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif dismissed what he said were “false claims” of an Israeli incursion.

Hagari has claimed Israel have already made several smaller-scale incursions across the border in the past year.

He alleged evidence gathered during these raids proves Hezbollah were planning to launch an attack on the north of Israel.

"To make sure that Hezbollah can never carry out such an attack, and in order to enable 60,000 Israelis to safely return back to their homes in northern Israel, the IDF is taking action," he said.

Nearly two dozen Lebanese communities close to the Israeli border have been ordered to evacuate by the Israeli military.

In a statement posted in Arabic on X, an IDF spokesperson said: “You must immediately head north of the Awali River to save yourselves, and leave your houses immediately."

Earlier on Tuesday, officials declined to say how deep Israeli troops would move into Lebanese territory but Hagari said troops would not go to Lebanon's capital.

"We're not going to Beirut," he said. "We're only going to areas next to our border and will do what is necessary to dismantle and demolish Hezbollah infrastructure."

Israel carried out attacks on central Beirut on Monday, after a weekend of dramatic missile strikes against its enemies in the Middle East - including in other parts of Lebanon and Yemen.

Monday morning's strike, which hit an apartment block and killed at least one person, marks the first time Israel has targeted the centre of Beirut since the recent conflict began on October 7.

Recent attacks have centred on the city's southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a strong presence.

Amid Israel's ground incursion, Hezbollah launched rockets at central Israel, setting off air raid sirens and wounding one person, according to the IDF.

The Israeli military also said Hezbollah had launched projectiles at Israeli communities near the border, targeting soldiers without wounding anyone.

Anticipating more rocket attacks from Hezbollah, the Israeli army announced beaches would close, and restrictions would be in place on public gatherings.

Following the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah after the Israeli military bombed high-rise buildings in the southern suburbs of Beirut, the group has vowed to keep on fighting.

Deputy leader Naim Kassem, in his first speech since their leader's death was announced, said Hezbollah were ready if Israel launched a ground offensive into Lebanon.

[Juubi Karakuchi]

Damn. I honestly did not expect that to happen. The last time, following the embassy bombing, Iran was on fairly solid legal ground. This time, not so much.

Judging by the small scale and lack of casualties (none reported so far), it could be just Iran stomping and snorting to try and save face. That said, unless I'm very much mistaken, Israel is now legally entitled to shoot back. I fear this will not end well.

[Ralin]

Damn. I honestly did not expect that to happen. The last time, following the embassy bombing, Iran was on fairly solid legal ground. This time, not so much.

Judging by the small scale and lack of casualties (none reported so far), it could be just Iran stomping and snorting to try and save face. That said, unless I'm very much mistaken, Israel is now legally entitled to shoot back. I fear this will not end well.

Israel is always legally justified according to the US and Iran is always legally in the wrong, so what difference does it make?

[Solauren]

Damn. I honestly did not expect that to happen. The last time, following the embassy bombing, Iran was on fairly solid legal ground. This time, not so much.

Judging by the small scale and lack of casualties (none reported so far), it could be just Iran stomping and snorting to try and save face. That said, unless I'm very much mistaken, Israel is now legally entitled to shoot back. I fear this will not end well.

Israel is always legally justified according to the US and Iran is always legally in the wrong, so what difference does it make?

I think he means in front of the United Nations if it came to that.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Now Israel can turn round and say that it's Iran that's doing the escalating, they already let them get away with it once, relatively speaking.

[Ralin]

Now Israel can turn round and say that it's Iran that's doing the escalating, they already let them get away with it once, relatively speaking.

Turn around and say to who? They always have permission. Last time they bombed a consulate and their target got censured by the UN. Who are these people who are going to be won over by the fact that this time Iran was only responding to them attacking a neighbor and threatening to destroy the Iranian government?

[Formless]

Iran can always argue the same thing that the US has done countless times: they are intervening in an ongoing genocide, and Israel is an illegitimate government not actually recognized by the UN in the first place. Thus, lobbing missiles at legitimate military targets is fully justified as long as those facilities are being used to commit genocide.

The fact that this excuse is only ever treated as valid when its the US that's using it isn't an indictment of Iran's actions, but the UN's continued inaction to stop the crime of genocide, not just in Palestine, but in general. If international law never gets enforced except to defend injustices, then it isn't worth the paper its printed on.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Victim named after at least seven die in Tel Aviv shooting and stabbing attack

One victim has been named after Israeli authorities said at least seven people were killed in a stabbing and shooting attack in Tel Aviv.

Eight others were injured as police say two suspects opened fire on Tuesday evening in a boulevard in Jaffa.

"One of the victims from yesterday’s terrorist attack in Tel Aviv, Inbar Segev-Vigder, murdered while shielding her nine-month-old son Ari," the official Israeli X account posted on Wednesday.

"She saved his life. There are no words. Only heartbreak."

Photos and videos posted on social media showed the gunmen attacking bystanders, while people lay injured on the ground.

MDA medics said they treated victims at several sites on Jerusalem Boulevard, including near train tracks, in the street, at a synagogue and in a butcher’s shop.

A police spokesperson said that two suspects were killed by officers and civilians who were on the scene. The motive was described as "terror".

An eyewitness told the Jerusalem Post: “We were on the light rail when we suddenly heard gunfire from outside.

“At first, we thought it was fireworks, but then we realised it was something much worse. There were many gunshots. We dropped to the floor, and people were crying. I saw someone bleeding on the ground.”

A nearby shop owner added: “I saw crowds of people running and shouting ‘terror attack.’ I quickly closed my shutters and locked up.”

The attack happened at the same time a large volley of Iranian rocket fire hit Israel.

In a post on X, the IDF said Israeli citizens were "in bomb shelters" as rockets were fired from Iran. People have been told they can now leave the shelters.

There have been no immediate reports of casualties.

[Raw Shark]

This is a good ol' fashioned cold war proxy war. Israel vs Iran. I don't agree with it, but that's what's happening. And on Rosh Hashanah, the day to reflect upon what you've done. There's no good guys in this, except the innocent.

[Ralin]

This is a good ol' fashioned cold war proxy war. Israel vs Iran. I don't agree with it, but that's what's happening. And on Rosh Hashanah, the day to reflect upon what you've done. There's no good guys in this, except the innocent.

Is it really a proxy war when only one side can be accurately described as a proxy or a cold war when one side just fired a couple hundred missiles at the other?

[Solauren]

I wouldn't even call the Iran sponsored groups proxies. More like 'buffers'

[Ralin]

So realistically speaking what can Israel do to Iran without the US doing the heavy lifting to the point where it's really a US/Iran war? They're multiple countries away. Expeditionary forces aren't something you can pull out your ass. They can probably bomb Iranian military bases and oil fields and kindergartens, but air raids don't win wars and the Iranian air force is by all accounts no joke.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Assuming it sends bombers at all, Israel has missiles of its own it can lob in the other direction.

[Raw Shark]

Let's call a spade a spade: Israel has the bomb. It's been kinda sorta known for a while. They're a cold war power in the classic sense and have been. Nobody wants to talk about it, but they are. Iran maybe has it, or close. This could get ugly like India vs Pakistan if either of them was serious about it.

I'm going to show my hippie colors here: This is why we all need to give peace a chance. It's not worth it.

[Raw Shark]

Practically everybody who matters has the serious weaponry now. Everybody needs to take a deep breath and calm the fuck down. Just because we can do something doesn't mean we should.

[Ralin]

I'm going to show my hippie colors here: This is why we all need to give peace a chance. It's not worth it.

Yes, it. There are a couple million people in Gaza who have spent the past year being starved and terror bombed by America's rabid dog. They're doing this with arms the administration you voted for sent them and so far no one else has lifted a finger to stop it because the administration you voted for has unlimited veto power over UN resolutions. We are responsible here. If that's not worth it what the fuck is?

Everybody needs to take a deep breath and calm the fuck down.

Everyone in this except for Israel has exercised massive restraint, which has instead run down a greatest hits list of outrages bombing refugee camps, schools, hospitals and a fucking consulate. Don't even start with the everybody bullshit.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Israel intensifies Beirut bombardment after 26 killed in strike on Gaza mosque

Israel has launched fresh airstrikes on Lebanon's capital on Sunday evening, ahead of the anniversary of October 7.

It comes after a border police officer was killed in a stabbing and shooting attack at a bus station in Beersheba in Israel. Police did not identify the assailant but were treating it as a terror attack.

Earlier on Sunday, at least 26 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike in on a mosque and school in central Gaza, Palestinian medical officials said.

The mosque near the al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in the town of Deir al-Balah, was sheltering displaced people, the hospital said in a statement.

Ibn Rushd School was also damaged in the strike, in which dozens more people were injured and trapped under the rubble, according to Gazan officials..

The attack early on Sunday came after Israel bombarded Lebanon on Saturday as it targeted both Hezbollah and Hamas fighters.

Meanwhile, the international community is waiting to see how Israel responds to an unprecedented missile strike on its territory by Iran earlier this week, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claiming Tehran "will pay".

Iran has announced a temporary shutdown of its airspace, cancelling all flights until October 7.

Hospital records from the mosque in Deir al-Balah show that all the dead were men. Another two men were critically wounded, the hospital said. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strike.

Israel said it targeted a Hamas command and control centre embedded among civilians, without providing evidence.
The latest strikes add to the mounting Palestinian death toll in Gaza, which is nearing 42,000, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Israel has announced a new air and ground offensive in Jabaliya, in northern Gaza, home to a densely populated refugee camp dating back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation.

The military said its forces had encircled Jabaliya as warplanes struck militant sides ahead of their advance.

Israel also ordered new evacuations in northern Gaza, which largely emptied out in the early weeks of the war when Israel ordered its entire population to flee south.

Up to 300,000 people are estimated to have remained there despite harsh conditions and heavy destruction.

“We are in a new phase of the war,” the military said in leaflets dropped over the area. “These areas are considered dangerous combat zones.”

Avichay Adraee, a spokesman for the Israeli military, said it has expanded the so-called humanitarian zone in southern Gaza, urging people to head there.

The zone includes sprawling tent camps where hundreds of thousands of people have already sought refuge, and Israel has carried out strikes inside it against what it says are fighters sheltering among civilians.

In Beirut, strong explosions began around midnight on Saturday and continued into Sunday after Israel’s military urged residents to evacuate areas in the southern Beirut suburbs of Dahiyeh.

They followed a day of sporadic strikes and the nearly continuous buzz of reconnaissance drones.

In September the IDF opened up a new front against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, who have been firing rockets into northern Israel since the October 7 attacks in what they say is a show of support for the Palestinians.

Israel’s military confirmed it was striking targets near Beirut on Saturday and said about 30 projectiles had crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory, with some intercepted.

The strikes reportedly targeted a building near a road leading to Lebanon’s only international airport, and another building formerly used by the Hezbollah-run broadcaster Al-Manar.

Social media reports suggested that one of the strikes hit an oxygen tank storage facility, but this was later denied by the owner of the company.

Shortly afterwards, Hezbollah claimed it successfully targeted a group of Israeli soldiers near the Manara settlement in northern Israel “with a large rocket salvo, hitting them accurately”.

On Saturday, Israel’s attack on the northern Beddawi camp killed an official with Hamas’ military wing along with his wife and two young daughters, the Palestinian militant group said.

Hamas later said another military wing member was killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley.

Israel has killed several Hamas officials in Lebanon since the current war began, in addition to most of the top leadership of Hezbollah in Lebanon.
At least 1,400 Lebanese, including civilians, medics and Hezbollah fighters, have been killed and 1.2 million driven from their homes in less than two weeks.

Israel says it aims to drive the militant group away from shared borders so displaced Israelis can return to their homes.

Last week, Israel launched what it called a limited ground operation into southern Lebanon after a series of attacks killed longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and others.

The fighting is the worst since Israel and Hezbollah fought a brief war in 2006. Nine Israeli soldiers have been killed in the ground clashes that Israel says have killed 440 Hezbollah fighters.

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, told reporters in Damascus that “we are trying to reach a cease-fire in Gaza and in Lebanon.”

The minister said the unnamed countries putting forward initiatives include regional states and some outside the Middle East.
Araghchi spoke a day after the supreme leader of Iran praised its recent missile strikes on Israel and said it was ready to do it again if necessary.

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On Saturday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “Israel has the duty and the right to defend itself and respond to these attacks, and it will do so.”

On Israel's strikes and ground invasion of Lebanon, he said: "we are not done yet."

In a video shared on social media on Saturday, Netanyahu described French President Emmanuel Macron's calls to end arms sales to Israel as a "disgrace".

"As Israel fights the forces of barbarism led by Iran, all civilised countries should be standing firmly by Israel's side," he said.

"Yet President Macron and some other Western leaders are now calling for an arms embargo against Israel – shame on them.

"Israel will win with or without their support, but their shame will continue long after the war is won," he added.

[Broomstick]

They're doing this with arms the administration you voted for sent them and so far no one else has lifted a finger to stop it because the administration you voted for has unlimited veto power over UN resolutions.

Let's be real here - the alternative to the "current administration" a.k.a. Trump wouldn't have been any better and arguably a lot worse in the same situation. Trump likes/is buddy-buddy with Netanyahu, thinks he's a great guy, and doing the right thing because Trump absolutely hates and loathes Muslims, Arabs, and Muslim Arabs.

That's not to excuse any wrong-doings with the current US administration, just to point out that whoever won the last election it would have made fuck-all difference to the current situation.

[Juubi Karakuchi]

Let's be real here - the alternative to the "current administration" a.k.a. Trump wouldn't have been any better and arguably a lot worse in the same situation. Trump likes/is buddy-buddy with Netanyahu, thinks he's a great guy, and doing the right thing because Trump absolutely hates and loathes Muslims, Arabs, and Muslim Arabs.

That's not to excuse any wrong-doings with the current US administration, just to point out that whoever won the last election it would have made fuck-all difference to the current situation.

It's also quite possibly, among other things, why Netanyahu has turned up the heat recently. He may well believe that if he enrages Pro-Palestinian voters sufficiently, they'll vote Trump into power (or let him in by not voting) just to punish Biden and the Democrats. It was sort-of looking that way before Biden dropped out and Harris took his place.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Peacekeepers will not move, UN says, despite warnings from Israel

United Nations peacekeepers will remain in all their positions in Lebanon, despite several being injured in Israeli attacks over the last week.

Israel has urged peacekeepers to move five kilometres (three miles) north during its ground invasion in Lebanon, but on Monday UN Secretary General António Guterres confirmed they would not be going anywhere, according to peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix.

At least five peacekeepers have been injured as Israeli forces inflicted damage on UN positions.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to heed Israel’s warnings to evacuate, accusing them of “providing a human shield” to Hezbollah.

“We regret the injury to the UNIFIL soldiers, and we are doing everything in our power to prevent this injury. But the simple and obvious way to ensure this is simply to get them out of the danger zone,” he said on Sunday in a video addressed to Mr Guterres, who has been banned from entering Israel.

Attacks against peacekeepers "are in breach of international law, including international humanitarian law," a United Nations spokesperson said on Monday.

"They may constitute a war crime," he added, on behalf of Mr Guterres. "[Mr Guterres] called on all parties, including the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces), to refrain from any and all actions that put our peacekeepers at risk."

The UN Security Council expressed “strong concern” on Monday after Israel wounded UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon during intensified fighting.

The comments were the first made by the UN’s most powerful body since Israel's attacks on the positions of the peacekeeping force UNIFIL began last week, drawing international condemnation.

The UK government has condemned reports of Israel deliberately firing at peacekeepers.

Meanwhile at least 21 people in the northern Lebanese village of Aito have been killed as a result of an Israeli airstrike, the Lebanese Red Cross has reported.

The strike hit a small residential building in the village of Aito, which is part of the country's Christian heartland in the north - far from the Hezbollah militant group's main areas of influence in the south and east.

The Israeli Defense Forces said “the claim that Lebanese civilians were killed as a result of the strike is under review”, adding it hit what it claimed was a Hezbollah target in the area.

Rescue efforts and debris removal are ongoing.

Israel has been escalating its campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon across a UN-drawn boundary between the two countries.

The sides have been clashing since the Iranian-backed militant group started firing rockets a year ago in solidarity with its ally Hamas in Gaza. Hamas' deadly attacks in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, launched the latest conflict.

The Security Council statement, issued after emergency closed consultations on Lebanon, did not name Israel, Lebanon or Hezbollah.

Read by Swiss UN Ambassador Pascale Baeriswyl, the council's current president, it urges all parties “to respect the safety and security of UNIFIL personnel and UN premises”.

The 15-member Security Council has been deeply divided over the war in Gaza, with the United States defending its ally Israel as support for the Palestinians has grown among members and casualties have escalated.

The Biden administration has become more critical of civilian deaths as well as the recent attacks on UNIFIL.

US Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood told reporters that “it’s good that the council can speak with one voice on what’s on the minds of all people around the world right now - and it’s the situation in Lebanon.”

The council's statement sends a message to the Lebanese people “that the council cares, that the council is watching this issue and that the council today spoke with one voice,” Mr Wood said.

Council members also expressed “deep concern” at civilian casualties and suffering, the destruction of civilian infrastructure and the rising number of internally displaced people.

More than 1,400 people in Lebanon, including civilians, medics and Hezbollah fighters, have been killed and 1.2 million displaced in the past month.

That includes a total of 400,000 children just in the last three weeks, according to UNICEF.

Around 60 Israelis have been killed in Hezbollah strikes in the past year. Israel says it wants to drive the militant group away from the border so some 60,000 displaced Israelis can return to their homes.
The Security Council statement called on all parties to abide by international humanitarian law, which requires the protection of civilians.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Israel strikes Beirut suburbs as Netanyahu vows 'heavy price' for drone attack

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a drone attack which targeted his home in northern Israel was a "grave mistake".

Netanyahu and his family were not at their house in Caesarea when the drone attack struck on Saturday, and there were no casualties.

Israel’s military said some 180 projectiles were fired throughout Saturday from Lebanon. Some of the drones were intercepted but one got through and hit a building in the area.

"This will not deter me or the State of Israel from continuing our just war against our enemies in order to secure our future.," Netanyahu said.

"Anyone who tries to harm Israel’s citizens will pay a heavy price."

Hezbollah did not claim responsibility for the drone attack but said it carried out several rocket attacks on northern and central Israel.

In the northern city of Kiryat Ata, sirens blared as people ran for cover and intercepted missiles exploded in the sky.

Fighting continued in Lebanon on Saturday, where air strikes hit parts of southern Beirut causing huge plumes of smoke to billow across the city.

Israel carried out at least ten airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs known as Dahiyeh, a heavily populated area home to Hezbollah's offices. Israel's military said it was looking into the reported strikes.

The Lebanese health ministry said an Israeli airstrike on Saturday hit a vehicle on a main highway north of Beirut, killing two people. It was unclear who was in the car when it was struck.

Meanwhile, at least 50 people, including children, have been killed by Israeli strikes on Gaza in the past day.

Israeli forces fired at hospitals in the battered north of the Palestinian enclave, according to hospital officials and an Associated Press reporter there.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said Israeli strikes hit the upper floors of the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahiya, and forces opened fire at the hospital’s building and courtyard. At Al-Awda Hospital in Jabaliya, in northern Gaza, strikes hit the building’s top floors, injuring several staff members, the hospital said.

Israel also said it had killed Hezbollah’s deputy commander in the southern town of Bint Jbeil, in Lebanon. The IDF said Nasser Rashid supervised attacks against Israel.

Israel's war with Hezbollah has intensified in recent weeks after the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah by an Israeli airstrike in September.

Hezbollah said it planned to launch a new phase of fighting by sending more guided missiles and exploding drones into Israel.

Since Israel killed Hamas’ leader Yahya Sinwar, Hamas has reiterated its stance that the hostages they took from Israel a year ago will not be released until there is a ceasefire in Gaza and a withdrawal of Israeli troops.

Netanyahu said his country’s military will keep fighting until the hostages are released, and will remain in Gaza to prevent a severely weakened Hamas from rearming.

On Saturday, Israel dropped leaflets in southern Gaza showing Sinwar dead in a chair, with blood running down his forehead.

"Sinwar destroyed your lives," said the leaflet seen by The Associated Press. "Whoever lays down his weapons and returns the kidnapped people to us, we will allow him to leave and live in peace."

[Solauren]

If Israeli attacks keep hurting UN Peacekeepers, what could the results of that be?

Assuming that the US doesn't get Trump again in November....