LIVEWest Asia Conflict LIVE | Israeli airstrike on Nabatiyeh hit building during meeting coordinating relief efforts: Lebanese officials

Lebanon state media says Israeli jets' sonic boom rattles Beirut

"Enemy aircraft violently broke the sound barrier twice in the airspace of (Beirut's) southern suburbs" and surroundings areas, the National News Agency, the Lebanese official media outet, reported. (AFP)

Lebanese officials say Israeli airstrike on Nabatiyeh hit building during meeting coordinating relief efforts

(AP)

How Israel’s bulky pager fooled Hezbollah

An invisible detonator and wafer-thin plastic explosives turned the pager batteries into bombs. In addition, a fake online history was created for the bulky new product. The 'pager attacks' killed 39 and wounded over 3,400; Israel neither confirmed nor denied involvement.

The batteries inside the weaponised pagers that arrived in Lebanon at the start of the year, part of an Israeli plot to decimate Hezbollah, had powerfully deceptive features and an Achilles' heel.

The agents who built the pagers designed a battery that concealed a small but potent charge of plastic explosive and a novel detonator that was invisible to X-ray, according to a Lebanese source with first-hand knowledge of the pagers, and teardown photos of the battery pack seen by Reuters.

To overcome the weakness — the absence of a plausible backstory for the bulky new product — they created fake online stores, pages and posts that could deceive Hezbollah due diligence, a Reuters review of web archives shows.

Egypt says division in Europe on Gaza, Lebanon sends wrong messages

Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said on Wednesday divisions between European states over conflict in Gaza and Lebanon send wrong messages to Israel and Arab countries, saying it was unacceptable for splits to continue. (Reuters)

Iran warns of 'decisive' response if Israel strikes, urges UN action

 Iran's top diplomat has warned UN chief Antonio Guterres that Tehran is ready for a "decisive and regretful" response if Israel attacks his country in retaliation for a missile attack. (AFP)

Lebanon PM condemns 'deliberate' Israeli strike on Nabatiyeh

(AFP)

Iran says attack on nuclear sites improbable

The probability of an attack on Iran's nuclear sites remains low but any potential damage would be "quickly compensated," state atomic energy agency spokesperson Behrouz Kamalvandi said on Wednesday, according to semi-official Nournews. (Reuters)

Israeli strike kills mayor and 5 others in southern Lebanese town of Nabatieh

The mayor of the southern Lebanese town of Nabatieh was killed along with five others in an Israeli airstrike, two security sources told Reuters on Wednesday.

Lebanon's health ministry had earlier reported that five people were killed in the strike on a municipal building. It added that debris removal efforts were still underway. (Reuters)

Lebanese officials say death toll from Israeli strike on southern town of Qana has risen to 15

(AP)

IAF conducted a strike on strategic weapons belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization

A short while ago, with the direction of precise IDF intelligence, the IAF conducted a strike on strategic weapons belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization. These weapons were stockpiled by Hezbollah in an underground storage facility in the area of Dahieh, a key Hezbollah terrorist stronghold in Beirut.

Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including advancing warnings to the population in the area. (IDF)

UN chief Antonio Guterres has been warned by Iran's top diplomat that Tehran is ready for a "decisive and regretful" response if Israel attacks his country in retaliation for a missile attack

(AFP)

Israeli military says it hit Hezbollah weapons storage depot in Beirut suburb

 Israeli jets hit an underground strategic weapons storage depot of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah in its Beirut stronghold of Dahieh on Wednesday, the Israeli military said.

It said advance warnings were given to civilians prior to the strike.  (Reuters)

Israel military issues new evacuation order for south Beirut

On Wednesday, the Israeli military ordered residents to leave part of southern Beirut, a warning which usually precedes strikes on the area pinpointed in the Lebanese capital. (AFP)

Israeli strike hits Beirut suburbs for first time in days, witnesses say

An Israeli strike hit Beirut's southern suburbs early on Wednesday morning, Reuters witnesses said, after days of the area being spared strikes.

Reuters witnesses heard a blast and saw a plume of smoke. It came after an evacuation order by the Israeli military for a building in the area.

(Reuters)

Israel Tells US It Won’t Hit Iran’s Oil or Nuclear Sites in Next Attack, Officials Say: NYT

Israel reviewing letter from US urging improvement in Gaza humanitarian situation

A letter from top U.S. officials in which they told Israel to improve Gaza's humanitarian situation or risk military aid is being reviewed by Israel, an Israeli official in Washington said late on Tuesday.

"Israel takes this matter seriously and intends to address the concerns raised in this letter with our American counterparts," the Israeli official said.

Two drones crossed from Lebanon into northern Israel with no injuries reported, army says

US tells Israel to improve Gaza humanitarian situation or risk military aid

The United States has told Israel it must take steps in the next month to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza or face potential restrictions on U.S. military aid, U.S. officials said, in the strongest such warning since Israel's war with Hamas began a year ago.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin wrote to Israeli officials on Sunday demanding concrete measures to address the worsening situation in the Palestinian enclave amid a renewed Israeli offensive in northern Gaza, U.S. officials said on Tuesday.

(Reuters)

Israeli military says it arrests three members of Hezbollah's elite Radwan forces

Blinken, Austin wrote to Israel about humanitarian situation in Gaza, State Dept says

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin wrote a letter to Israel on Sunday to make clear Washington's concerns about the levels of humanitarian assistance that have been making it to Gaza, the State Department said on Tuesday.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters at a regular news briefing that the US knows it is possible to get humanitarian aid into Gaza and that bureaucratic and logistical obstacles can be surmounted.

(Reuters)

Israel's demining near Golan signals wider front against Hezbollah

 In a sign Israel may expand its ground operations against Hezbollah while bolstering its own defences, its troops have cleared landmines and established new barriers on the frontier between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and a demilitarised strip bordering Syria, security sources and analysts said.

The move suggests Israel may seek to strike Hezbollah for the first time from further east along Lebanon's border, at the same time creating a secure area from which it can freely reconnoitre the armed group and prevent infiltration, the sources told Reuters.

US raised concerns with Israel over bombing campaign in Beirut, State Dept says

The United States has raised concerns with Israel over its bombing campaign in Beirut in past weeks, the State Department said on Tuesday, adding that strikes have diminished in recent days and Washington would continue to watch very carefully.

Israeli military says it intercepted drone that approached Israel from the east

The Israeli military said on Tuesday it intercepted a drone that approached Israel from the east, adding it was intercepted before crossing into the country.

Pentagon says letter about Gaza to Israel was 'private correspondence'

The Pentagon said on Tuesday a letter co-authored by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to Israeli officials about the humanitarian situation in Gaza was "private correspondence" and declined to discuss it in detail. 

(Reuters)

US warns Israel to boost humanitarian aid into Gaza or risk weapons funding

The Biden administration has warned Israel that it must increase the amount of humanitarian aid it is allowing into Gaza within the next 30 days or it could risk losing access to US weapons funding.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned their Israeli counterparts in a letter dated Sunday that the changes must occur. The letter, which restates US policy toward humanitarian aid and arms transfers, was sent amid deteriorating conditions in northern Gaza and reports Israel had conducted a strike on a hospital tent site in central Gaza that killed at least four people.

A senior defence official said Tuesday that Blinken and Austin sent a letter to their Israeli counterparts as they saw a recent decrease in assistance reaching Gaza. The official said a similar letter sent by Blinken in April triggered a constructive response and “concrete measures from the Israelis”. (AP)

Israeli military says it arrested three members of Hezbollah's elite Radwan forces

Hezbollah says fired rockets at north Israel town of Safed

Hezbollah said it targeted the north Israeli town of Safed on Tuesday and launched a "big rocket salvo" at a nearby base, more than three weeks into an intense Israeli air campaign on Lebanon.

Fighters launched "a rocket salvo" at Safed, it said and later added it launched a "big salvo of rockets" at a nearby base, saying both attacks were "in defence" of Lebanon and in response to Israeli attacks on the country. (AFP)

Italy's Meloni to visit Lebanon, says UN mission should not be withdrawn

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday announced a visit to Lebanon later this week, and said heeding Israel's unilateral demand for U.N. peacekeepers to be withdrawn from the country would be a "grave mistake".

Speaking in the lower house of parliament, she said she expected to be in Lebanon on Friday and said a withdrawal of the UNIFIL mission "would be a grave mistake and undermine the credibility" of the United Nations. (Reuters)

Israel kills at least 50 in Gaza, forces encircle northern Jabalia

Israeli military strikes killed at least 50 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip as Israeli forces tightened their squeeze around Jabalia in the north of the enclave on Tuesday, amid fierce battles with Hamas-led fighters.

Palestinian health officials said at least 17 people were killed by Israeli fire near Al-Falouja in Jabalia, the largest of Gaza's eight historic refugee camps, while 10 others were killed in Bani Suhaila in eastern Khan Younis in the south when an Israeli missile struck a house.

Earlier on Tuesday, an Israeli airstrike destroyed three houses in the Sabra suburb of Gaza City, and the local civil emergency service said they recovered two bodies from the site, while the search continued for 12 other people who were believed to have been in the houses at the time.

Eight others were killed when a house was struck in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza.

The Gaza health ministry said one doctor was killed when he tried to help people wounded by Israeli strikes in Al-Falouja in Jabalia. It added that several medics were wounded when their ambulance came under Israeli fire in the northern and southern Gaza Strip.

Jabalia has been the focus of an Israeli offensive for more than 10 days, with troops returning to areas of the north that came under heavy bombardment in the early months of the year-long war.

The operation has raised concerns among Palestinians and U.N. agencies that Israel wants to clear residents from the north of the crowded enclave, a charge it has denied. Residents said Israeli forces destroyed dozens of houses in the past 10 days. (Reuters)

Israel's demining near Golan signals wider front against Hezbollah

Iran cyber attacks against Israel surge after Gaza war, AFP reports

In a sign Israel may expand its ground operations against Hezbollah while bolstering its own defences, its troops have cleared landmines and established new barriers on the frontier between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and a demilitarised strip bordering Syria, security sources and analysts said.

The move suggests Israel may seek to strike Hezbollah for the first time from further east along Lebanon's border, at the same time creating a secure area from which it can freely reconnoitre the armed group and prevent infiltration, the sources said.

While demining activity has been reported, sources who spoke to Reuters - including a Syrian soldier stationed in south Syria, a Lebanese security official and a U.N. peacekeeping official - revealed additional unreported details that showed Israel was moving the fence separating the DMZ towards the Syrian side and digging more fortifications in the area. Military action involving raids from the Israeli-occupied Golan and possibly from the demilitarised zone that separates it from Syrian territory could widen the conflict pitting Israel against Hezbollah and its ally Hamas that has already drawn in Iran and risks sucking in the U.S.

Israel has been trading fire with Tehran-backed Hezbollah since the group began launching missiles across Lebanon's border in support of Hamas after its deadly attack on southern Israel triggered Israel's military campaign on Gaza.

Now, in addition to Israeli aerial strikes that have caused Hezbollah significant damage in the past month, the group is under Israeli ground assault from the south and faces Israeli naval shelling from the Mediterranean to the west. By extending its front in the east, Israel could tighten its squeeze on Hezbollah's arms supply routes, some of which cut across Syria, Lebanon's eastern neighbour and an ally of Iran.

Navvar Saban, a conflict analyst at the Istanbul-based Harmoon Center, said the operations in the Golan, a hilly, 1,200 square km (460 square mile) plateau that also overlooks Lebanon and borders Jordan, appeared to be an attempt to "prepare the groundwork" for a broader offensive in Lebanon. (Reuters)

Hezbollah deputy chief says group adopted new calculation so that Israel feels 'pain'

Beirut: Hezbollah's deputy secretary general Sheikh Naim Qassem said on Tuesday the militant group has adopted a new calculation so that Israel feels 'pain', even though he called for a ceasefire.

-Reuters

UN decries 'worst restrictions' on Gaza aid since start of war

Geneva: Conflict-ravaged Gaza appears to be facing the worst restrictions on aid since Israel's war there began over a year ago, the UN said Tuesday, lamenting the devastating impact on children especially.

"Day after day, the situation for children becomes worse than the day before," said James Elder, spokesman for the UN children's agency UNICEF.

Vast areas of Gaza have been devastated by Israel's retaliatory assault on the territory after the October 7 Hamas attack last year that sparked the war.

And Israel has been intensifying operations in the north of the besieged Palestinian territory, where the UN has warned hundreds of thousands of people are trapped.

Despite a desperate need to increase the amount of aid going in, Elder lamented that aid access was worsening.

-AFP

Advanced anti-missile system in Israel to be operational soon: US

Washington: The Pentagon said components for an advanced anti-missile system began arriving in Israel on Monday and that it would be fully operational in the near future, according to a statement on Tuesday.

"Over the coming days, additional US military personnel and THAAD battery components will continue to arrive in Israel," Pentagon spokesperson Major General Pat Ryder said.

"The battery will be fully operational capable in the near future, but for operations security reasons we will not discuss timelines."

-Reuters

Israel kills at least 50 in Gaza, tanks deepen raid in the north

Cairo: Israeli military strikes killed at least 50 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip as Israeli forces tightened their squeeze around Jabalia in the north of the enclave on Tuesday, amid fierce battles with Hamas-led fighters.

Palestinian health officials said at least 17 people were killed by Israeli fire near Al-Falouja in Jabalia, the largest of Gaza's eight historic refugee camps, while 10 others were killed in Bani Suhaila in eastern Khan Younis in the south when an Israeli missile struck a house.

Earlier on Tuesday, an Israeli airstrike destroyed three houses in the Sabra suburb of Gaza City, and the local civil emergency service said they recovered two bodies from the site, while the search continued for 12 other people who were believed to have been in the houses at the time of the strike.

Eight others were killed when a house was struck in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza.

-Reuters

At least 42,344 Palestinians killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023: Health Ministry

Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed at least 42,344 Palestinians and wounded 99,013 since October 7, 2023, the Palestinian enclave's health ministry said on Tuesday.

-Reuters

Israel strikes north Lebanon town, UN expresses concern about peacekeepers

Israel expanded its targets in its war with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon on Monday, killing at least 21 people in an airstrike in the north, health officials said, while millions of Israelis took shelter from projectiles fired back across the border.

So far the main focus of Israel's military operations in Lebanon has been in the Bekaa Valley in the east, the suburbs of Beirut, and in the south, where incidents involving Israeli troops and UN peacekeepers have created tension.

-Reuters

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Israel deliberately chose to expand 'aggression' in West Bank, Lebanon: Qatar Emir

Doha: Qatar's Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, said on Tuesday that Israel deliberately chose to expand what he called its "aggression" to implement pre-planned schemes in the West Bank and Lebanon.

Israel had done so "because it sees that the scope for that is available," he said in his annual speech to open the Shura Council.

The Council has legislative authority and approves general state policies and the budget, but has no say in the setting of defence, security, economic and investment policy for the small but wealthy gas producer, which bans political parties.

Amendments to Qatar's constitution will be proposed by the Shura Council and put to a popular referendum vote, Qatar's Emir added.

-Reuters

To hit back at Iran based on 'national interest': Israel

Jerusalem: Israel will consider the United States's opinion but will act against an Iranian missile attack based on its own "national interests", Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Tuesday.

US President Joe Biden has cautioned Israel against striking Iran's nuclear or oil facilities to avoid a further regional escalation and amid concerns over global energy prices.

"We listen to the opinions of the United States, but we will make our final decisions based on our national interest," the office said.

-AFP

Israel strikes Lebanon after Netanyahu vows no mercy for Hezbollah

Israel's military launched strikes Tuesday on eastern Lebanon, official Lebanese media reported, as Hezbollah fought Israeli soldiers after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed no mercy for the militant group.

The premier's pledge on Monday came a day after a drone attack by the Iran-backed Lebanese group on an Israeli base killed four soldiers, while volunteer rescuers said another 60 people were wounded.

Source: AFP

Struck 230 Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon: IDF

In a statement released on Tuesday, the Israel Defence Forces said that it is continuing targeted operational activity against "Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon" and has hit more than 200 targets on Monday.

"IDF troops eliminated dozens of terrorists in close-quarters combat and in IAF strikes, dismantled Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure, and located vast quantities of weaponry. In one of the strikes, the troops identified multiple terrorists entering a structure in the area. Shortly following the identification, the IAF struck the site and eliminated the terrorists," the statement added.

Israel would hit Iranian military, not nuclear or oil, targets Netanyahu's office says

Israel will listen to the United States but will make its own decisions based on its national interest, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement on Tuesday.

The statement was attached to a Washington Post article which said Netanyahu had told President Joe Biden's administration that Israel would strike Iranian military, not nuclear or oil, targets.

Via: Reuters

Netanyahu told US Israel willing to strike Iranian military targets, Washington Post reports

Israel strikes north Lebanon town, UN expresses concern about peacekeepers

Israel expanded its targets in its war with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon on Monday, killing at least 21 people in an airstrike in the north, health officials said, while millions of Israelis took shelter from projectiles fired back across the border.

UK's foreign minister, EU's foreign policy chief condemn Iranian attacks on Israel

British Foreign Minister David Lammy and the European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell condemned Iran's attacks on Israel and its supply of ballistic missiles to Russia for use against Ukraine, UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said in a statement on Monday.

Netanyahu says will 'mercilessly strike' Hezbollah

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday vowed to strike Hezbollah without mercy following a deadly drone strike on a military base in Israel, and retaliation would extend to targets in Beirut.

Hezbollah says fires 'big rocket salvo' at north Israel town

Hezbollah said it launched a barrage of rockets at the north Israeli town of Safed on Monday, more than three weeks after Israel intensified its air campaign on the Iran-backed group in Lebanon.

Nine killed in initial toll after Israeli strike in north Lebanon

At least nine people were killed and one person was injured on Monday in an initial toll following an Israeli air strike on the Christian-majority region of Aitou in north Lebanon, the Lebanese health ministry said. (Reuters)

Israeli hits north Lebanon region of Aitou for first time

An Israeli strike hit the north Lebanon region of Aitou on Monday, residents and Lebanese broadcasters said, the first time the Christian-majority area has been attacked by Israel in a year of hostilities. (Reuters Photo)

UNIFIL forces in Lebanon must be allowed to continue to carry out their mandate: France

France on Monday rejected demands made by Israel's Prime Minister for UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, to pull back from its position in Lebanon.

"The protection of peacekeepers is an obligation incumbent on all parties", the foreign ministry in Paris said.

We reject unjustified attacks against UN chief: EU foreign policy head

Days after Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that United Nations has become an “anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli body” under Antonio Guterres’ leadership, European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Monday responded to the statement

“We firmly reject the unjustified attacks against the [UN Secretary General, UNSG] Antonio Guterres. The repeated accusations of anti-Semitism against him are slanderous,” said Borrell.

Spain PM urges other EU members to suspend free trade agreement with Israel

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Monday urged other members of the European Union to respond to Madrid and Ireland's request to suspend the bloc's free trade agreement with Israel over its actions in Gaza and Lebanon.

Hezbollah says targeted Israeli base in central Israel

Lebanon's Hezbollah said it targeted a military barracks in central Israel on Monday, the latest attack claim after a deadly drone strike on an Israeli military base a day earlier.

Hezbollah fighters launched "a salvo of rockets" at the barracks "east of Netanya", a statement from the Iran-backed group said.

Source: AFP

200 Hezbollah targets hit, dozens killed in airstrikes in south Lebanon, says IDF

The Israel Defence Forces on Monday said that its soldiers are continuing limited, localized, targeted raids based on precise intelligence against Hezbollah "terror targets" in southern Lebanon.

"During the raids, the soldiers eliminated dozens of terrorists in close-quarters encounters and aerial strikes. The IAF struck approximately 200 Hezbollah terror targets, including launchers, anti-tank missile launch posts, terrorist infrastructure, and weapons storage facilities containing launchers, anti-tank missiles, RPG launchers, and munitions," it said.

The statement further read that IDF is continuing operations in Gaza Strip as well.

Sirens sound in central Israel from projectiles fired from Lebanon

Sirens sounded in central Israel due to a number of projectiles fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory, the Israeli military said.

Via: Reuters

10 missiles cross from Lebanon into Israel, most intercepted: IDF

Israeli strike on hospital tent camp kills 4, ignites fire that burns dozens

An Israeli airstrike on a hospital courtyard in the Gaza Strip early Monday killed at least four people and sent flames sweeping through a packed tent camp for people displaced by the war, leaving more than two dozen with severe burns, according to Palestinian medics.

The Israeli military said it targeted militants hiding out among civilians, without providing evidence. In recent months it has repeatedly struck crowded shelters and tent camps, alleging that Hamas fighters were using them as staging grounds for attacks.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah was already struggling to treat a large number of wounded people from an earlier strike on a school-turned-shelter nearby that killed at least 20 people when the early morning airstrike hit and fire engulfed many of the tents.

Source: AP

IDF releases names of soldiers killed in Hezbollah strike

Sergeant Omri Tamari, aged 19.

Sergeant Yosef Hieb, aged 19.

Sergeant Yoav Agmon, aged 19.

Sergeant Alon Amitay, aged 19.

Hezbollah says shelled Israel forces attempting Lebanon 'infiltration', reports AFP

Lebanese missile falls in open area in Israel: IDF

Netanyahu tells UN to withdraw peacekeepers

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement addressed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres: "The time has come for you to withdraw UNIFIL from Hezbollah strongholds and from the combat zones."

"The IDF has requested this repeatedly and has met with repeated refusal, which has the effect of providing Hezbollah terrorists with human shields."

Source: Reuters

At least 20 dead from Israeli strike in central Gaza school

An Israeli airstrike has killed at least 20 people at a school in central Gaza, according to local hospitals, reported news agency AP.

Israeli forces widened their raid into northern Gaza and tanks reached the north edge of Gaza City, pounding some districts of the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood and forcing many families to leave their homes, residents said.

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Israeli tanks deepen their push into the northern Gaza Strip

Israeli forces widened their raid into northern Gaza and tanks reached the north edge of Gaza City, pounding some districts of the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood and forcing many families to leave their homes, residents said.

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Around 40 people hurt by suspected drone attack in Israel

A drone attack wounded around 40 people around the northern Israeli town of Binyamina on Sunday, N12 News television said.

The head of Israel's ambulance service said four people were in critical condition and five more were seriously hurt.

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