Israel bomb targets for third day; Hezbollah launches missile
The escalation between Israel and Hezbollah has continued with warplanes dropping more bombs and ballistic missiles launched, as thousands attempt to flee the conflict. Follow updates.
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Israeli warplanes have bombed Hezbollah targets for a third day, after air raids earlier this week killed at least 558 people in the deadliest day of violence since the 1975-1990 civil war.
Hezbollah also said it had fired a ballistic missile at the Israeli city of Tel Aviv on Wednesday, with the Israeli military describing the launch as unprecedented.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Hezbollah had “protected” Gaza since the start of the conflict.
“Until today, the victory has been for the Palestinian resistance and Hezbollah,” Khamenei said.
“The final victory in this battle will belong to the resistance front and Hezbollah.”
The Israel-Lebanon border has seen near-daily exchanges of fire since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October, after Palestinian militant group Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel.
The violence has escalated dramatically since last week after coordinated sabotage attacks targeting Hezbollah communication devices killed 39 people and wounded almost 3,000.
In the past three days at least 558 people, including 50 children, have so far been killed and 1835 wounded in Israel’s fierce bombardment.
Thousands have since attempted to flee southern Lebanon as Israel intensified its strikes against Hezbollah, targeting densely populated areas south of Beirut.
Amid the panic from two days of bombardment, civilians crowded the main roads and gas stations heading into the capital. United Nations and Lebanese officials have reported that 27,000 displaced individuals had already found refuge in temporary shelters.
“The numbers continue to grow,” spokesman for the UN’s refugee agency, Matthew Saltmarsh, said in Geneva. “The toll on civilians is unacceptable.”
The UN Security Council will convene an emergency session on Lebanon, with France’s foreign minister requesting the meeting after Israeli attacks killed more than 500 Lebanese people in one day.
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IRAN SAYS KILLING TOP HEZBOLLAH COMMANDERS WON’T STOP THE GROUP
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Israel’s killing of top Hezbollah commanders couldn’t bring the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group to its knees.
“Some of the effective and valuable forces of Hezbollah were martyred, which undoubtedly caused damage to Hezbollah, but this was not the sort of damage that could bring the group to its knees,” he said in meeting with military personnel and veterans of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.
“The organisational and human strength of Hezbollah is much more than that. Their authority, capabilities and strength are much more than that and cannot be seriously affected by these martyrdoms.”
ISRAELI PM DELAYS TRAVEL PLANS AMID HEZBOLLAH STRIKES
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has delayed his departure for the UN General Assembly in New York, his office said.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu will leave for his speech at the UN tomorrow (Thursday), instead of tonight, and will return on Saturday night,” his office said.
“During the day, the prime minister will hold consultations to discuss the continuation of the attacks in Lebanon.”
MISSILE SIRENS SOUND IN TEL AVIV
Israel’s military said on Wednesday it intercepted a missile fired from Lebanon after sirens sounded in Tel Aviv.
“Following the sirens that sounded in the Tel Aviv and Netanya areas, one surface-to-surface missile was identified crossing from Lebanon and was intercepted,” a military spokesman said.
Hezbollah said it had fired a ‘Qader 1’ ballistic missile on Wednesday morning targeting Israeli spy agency Mossad’s headquarters near Tel Aviv, saying that recent attacks on the militant group had been planned there.
ISRAEL BOMBS SEASIDE TOWN SOUTH OF BEIRUT
There are reports that Israeli warplanes have hit the town of Jiyeh, nearly 75km north of the country’s border with Israel, for the first time.
The town, a popular destination for beachgoers, is only about 25 minutes drive from Beirut.
Earlier, Israeli forces bombed the Lebanese capital, killing at least six people, according to health authorities.
‘TIMING IS NOT RIGHT’: IRAN PRESIDENT VISITS US
A fortuitously timed United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York could be all that is standing in the way of a full-scale Middle Eastern war according to highly placed diplomatic sources.
Two well placed Israeli officials have told Axios they had knowledge of Iranian officials telling their Hezbollah counterparts “the timing isn’t right” to support them in their escalating fight with Israel.
Beirut based members of the Iran backed terror group Hezbollah have been trading air strikes with Israel all week.
Meanwhile Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system continues to be pummelled by Hezbollah rockets, some of which have managed to slip through.
The revelation comes as Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant traded blows with UN secretary-general António Guterres on social media on Tuesday afternoon, New York time.
“The situation in Gaza is a non-stop nightmare that threatens to take the entire region with it. Lebanon is at the brink. The people of Lebanon, the people of Israel and the people of the world cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza,” Mr Guterres wrote on X.
His tweet incensed Mr Gallant who shot back a scathing reply.
“Mr Secretary-general @antonioguterres the nightmare you speak of, is in fact reality. The reality is that Hezbollah has taken Lebanon hostage, and the UN is neither acknowledging their actions, nor fulfilling its fundamental obligation – preventing Hezbollah attacks and demanding the implementation of resolution 1701,” Mr Gallant retorted.
UK PM’S SHOCKING ‘SAUSAGE’ HOSTAGE GAFFE
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has suffered an embarrassing gaffe after a video of him referring to Israeli hostages as “the sausages” went viral online.
Sir Keir was seen on the video calling on Hamas to return “the sausages” as he urged a peaceful solution to the Gaza war with Israel.
Starmer’s slip of the tongue came while he was speaking at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, northwest England, as he meant to say “hostages”.
Having first called for “restraint and de-escalation at the border between Lebanon and Israel”, Starmer moved on to the Gaza conflict.
“I call again for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the return of the sausages,” he said, before quickly correcting himself with “the hostages” as applause rang out around the conference hall.
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ISRAEL KILLS TOP HEZBOLLAH COMMANDER
The Israeli military said it had killed a top Hezbollah commander, Ibrahim Mohammed Kobeissi, in a targeted strike in Beirut.
“Air Force fighter jets attacked Dahiyeh in Beirut and eliminated Ibrahim Mohammed Kobeissi, the commander of the missile and rocket network of the Hezbollah terrorist organisation,” the military said in a statement.
It comes as Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that the Israeli military would press on with its aerial bombing campaign against Iran-backed group’s sites.
“We will continue to hit Hezbollah … the one who has a missile in his living room and a rocket in his home will not have a home,” Netanyahu said in a statement after visiting an Israeli intelligence base.
US President Joe Biden, meanwhile, urged Israel and Hamas to finalise a months-old ceasefire proposal, telling the United Nations he was committed to ending the Gaza war.
“Now is the time for the parties to finalise its terms,” he said of the deal brokered by the United States, Qatar and Egypt.
The deal will “bring the hostages home and secure security for Israel and Gaza free from Hamas’s grip, ease the suffering in Gaza and end this war,” Biden told the UN General Assembly.
“Full-scale war is not in anyone’s interest. Even though the situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible,” Biden said.
– with AFP
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