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At least 37 people were killed by an Israeli strike in a densely populated area of Beirut on Friday, Lebanese authorities now say.
Israel says two Hezbollah leaders were among the dead, including Ibrahim Aqil, Hezbollah’s operations commander, and Ahmed Wahbi, a senior commander.
According to Lebanon, women and children were killed in the strike, which also left 68 people injured, Lebanon said.
Aqil was involved in Hezbollah’s bombing of the US embassy in Beirut which killed 63 people in April 1983, according to the US State Department.
On Saturday in Gaza, dozens of people including children were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a school, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
At least 22 people, including 13 children and six women, were killed in the attack while using the building as a shelter, the ministry added.
The Israeli military said it targeted a Hamas command centre embedded in the building previously used as a school.
Footage from the site showed blasted walls, wrecked and burnt furniture, and holes in the ceiling of one room. Witnesses said children were in the playground.
Key Points
- Israel's strike on Beirut killed 37, Lebanon says
- Israel will 'pay price' for killing top commander, Hamas says
- Hezbollah fires 140 rockets at Israel
- Israel ‘destroys 100 rocket launchers’ in major airstrikes on southern Israel
Israel raids and shuts down Al Jazeera's bureau in Ramallah
Israeli troops raided the offices of the satellite news network Al Jazeera in the Israeli-occupied West Bank early today, ordering the bureau to shut down amid a widening campaign by Israel targeting the Qatar-funded broadcaster as it covers the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
Al Jazeera aired footage of Israeli troops live on its Arabic-language channel ordering the office to be shut for 45 days. It follows an extraordinary order issued in May that saw Israeli police raid Al Jazeera’s broadcast position in East Jerusalem, seizing equipment there, preventing its broadcasts in Israel and blocking its websites.
The move marked the first time Israel has ever shuttered a foreign news outlet operating in the country. However, Al Jazeera has continued operating in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in the Gaza Strip, territories that the Palestinians hope to have for their future state.
There was no immediate acknowledgement of the shutdown by Israeli forces.
Al Jazeera denounced the move as it continued broadcasting live from Amman in neighbouring Jordan.
Israel raids and shuts down Al Jazeera's bureau in Ramallah in the West Bank
Israeli troops have raided the offices of the satellite news network Al Jazeera in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, ordering the bureau to shut down
Arpan Rai22 September 2024 06:35 1726983044Hezbollah, Israel exchange heavy fire after deadly Israeli strike
Israel and Lebanon exchanged heavy fire in the early hours today, with Israeli warplanes carrying out the most intense bombardment in almost a year of war across Lebanon’s south.
Hezbollah has claimed rocket attacks on military targets in Israel’s north.
The Israeli military said it struck around 290 targets yesterday, including thousands of Hezbollah rocket launcher barrels and said it would continue to strike targets of the Iran-backed movement.
Israel closed schools and restricted gatherings in many northern areas of the country and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights early this morning.
Sirens sounded all night as multiple rockets and missiles were fired from Lebanon and Iraq, most of which were intercepted by Israeli aerial defence systems, the military said.
Israeli media reported that a number of buildings were hit directly or by falling missile debris, and ambulance services said they treated some lightly injured people. No serious casualties were reported.
Hezbollah said it targeted the Israeli Ramat David Airbase with dozens of missiles in response to “repeated Israeli attacks on Lebanon”, the group posted on its Telegram channel early today.
The successive barrages of rocket attacks launched by Hezbollah at Ramat David are the deepest strikes it has claimed since hostilities began.
Iran-backed Iraqi militants in a statement also claimed an explosive drone attack on Israel early today.
Arpan Rai22 September 2024 06:30 1726981225Israel braces for retaliation
Hezbollah has said it will keep fighting Israel until it agrees to a ceasefire in its war against Hamas in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza – triggered by a Hamas-led rampage in southern Israel on 7 October.
US officials say that is unlikely anytime soon. Israel wants Hezbollah to cease fire and withdraw forces from the border region, adhering to a UN resolution signed with Israel in 2006, irrespective of any Gaza deal.
Anticipating retaliation, the Israeli military restricted gatherings and raised the alert level for residents of northern communities. The alert went as far south as the coastal city of Haifa, signalling Israel thought Hezbollah could strike deeper than it had since the war with Hamas began.
Tara Cobham22 September 2024 06:00 1726977625David Lammy considers plans to evacuate Britons from Lebanon as Israel conflict escalates
David Lammy is looking at contingency plans to evacuate UK nationals from Lebanon as tensions rise in the Middle East.
The foreign secretary has already urged Brits to leave the country amid the conflict with Israel.
Ministers are keen to avoid a repeat of the chaotic scenes three years ago when as Britons attempted to flee Afghanistan as the Taliban took over the country.
Whitehall editor Kate Devlin reports:
Lammy considers plans to evacuate Britons from Lebanon as Israel conflict escalates
Foreign Secretary has urged UK nationals to leave as tensions rise after attacks on Hezbollah radios and pagers killed 37 and wounded thousands more
Tara Cobham22 September 2024 05:00 1726974025US national security adviser concerned about escalation in Israel-Hezbollah conflict
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan has said he is worried about escalation but that the Israeli killing of a top Hezbollah leader brought justice to the group, which Washington designates terrorists.
"While the risk of escalation is real, we actually believe there is also a distinct avenue to getting to a cessation of hostilities and a durable solution that makes people on both sides of the border feel secure," Sullivan told reporters.
Tara Cobham22 September 2024 04:00 1726970437What to know about the growing conflict between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah
This week saw a dizzying escalation in the 11-month-old conflict between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
First came two days of exploding pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah — deadly attacks pinned on Israel that also maimed civilians around Lebanon.
Hezbollah’s leader vowed to retaliate, and on Friday the militant group launched dozens of rockets into northern Israel. Later in the day, Israel said it killed the commander of Hezbollah’s most elite unit with a strike in Beirut that Lebanese authorities say left at least 37 dead.
Lee Keath reports:
What to know about the growing conflict between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah
This week saw a dizzying escalation in the 11-month-old conflict between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah
Tara Cobham22 September 2024 03:00 1726966837What is Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese group hit in ‘double tap’ pager attacks?
Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged intense rounds of rocket fire and airstrikes after the Lebanese militant group was targeted by an attack which caused their communication devices to explode.
In an unprecedented attack, pagers used by the group were simultaneously detonated on Tuesday, sparking widespread panic in Beirut and southern Lebanon. The following day, walkie-talkies were also remotely detonated across the country.
The total death toll in those attacks has risen to 39, and more than 3,000 were injured.
My colleagues Tom Watling and Andy Gregory report:
What is Hezbollah, the Lebanese group hit in ‘double tap’ pager attacks?
Israel has declared a ‘new phase of war’ on its border with Lebanon
Tara Cobham22 September 2024 02:00 1726961400In pictures: ‘At least 37 killed' in missile strike targeting suburb of Beirut
Israel's strike on Beirut killed 37, Lebanon says
Rescue workers in Beirut searched on Saturday for people still missing in rubble after an Israeli airstrike targeting Hezbollah commanders the previous day killed at least 37 people in a suburb of the Lebanese capital, according to authorities.
Hezbollah, a powerful Iran-backed group, said that 16 members including senior leader Ibrahim Aqil and another commander, Ahmed Wahbi, were among those killed in the deadliest strike in nearly a year of conflict with Israel.
Israel's army said it hit an underground gathering of Aqil and leaders of Hezbollah's elite Radwan forces, and had almost completely dismantled its military chain of command.
The attack levelled a multi-story residential building in the crowded suburb and damaged a nursery next door, a security source said. Three children and seven women were among those killed, according to Lebanon's health ministry.
Cross-border strikes continued on Saturday: Israeli warplanes carried out the heaviest bombardment in 11 months of fighting across Lebanon's south and Hezbollah claimed rocket attacks on military targets in Israel's north.
The Israeli army said it hit around 180 targets, destroying thousands of rocket launch barrels.
Friday’s strike sharply escalated the conflict and inflicted another blow on Hezbollah after two days of attacks this week in which pagers and walkie-talkies used by its members exploded.
Tara Cobham21 September 2024 23:42 1726954225From booby-trapped walkie-talkies to exploding pagers – could our phones and cars be next?
Exploding pagers and walkie-talkies – could our phones and cars be next?
The use of old-fashioned tech to spark a series of deadly explosions across Lebanon and Syria has left many wondering, how safe are any of our devices? Technology expert Jonathan Margolis takes a closer look
Alexander Butler21 September 2024 22:30 Newer1 / 7OlderDisclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
