Page 7 - Lebanon

Israeli jets strike southern Beirut for first time in nearly a week

Israeli jets struck the southern suburbs of Beirut early Wednesday for the first time in six days, Lebanese state media reported. The casualty count was not yet clear. The attack comes just one day after caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the United States government gave him some assurances of Israel easing its strikes in the Lebanese capital. Israel says it is striking Hezbollah assets in the suburbs, where the militant group has a strong presence, but it is also a busy residential and commercial area. The Israeli military said the Wednesday strike hit a weapons warehouse under a residential building. The Israeli military posted an evacuation warning on the X platform saying it is targeting a building in the Haret Hreik neighbourhood. An Associated Press photographer who witnessed the strikes said there were three in the area. The first strike was documented less than an hour after the notice. Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on Oct. 8 in solidarity with the ...

UNSC voices 'strong concern' for peacekeepers after Israeli attacks

The UN Security Council expressed strong concern Monday as Israel has fired on and wounded UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon during intensified fighting, reiterating its support for their role in supporting security in the region. It's the first statement by the UN's most powerful body since Israel's attacks on the positions of the peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL began last week, drawing international condemnation. UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Marie Lacroix told reporters that Secretary-General Antnio Guterres confirmed Monday that peacekeepers will remain in all their positions even as Israel has urged the peacekeepers to move 5 kilometers (3 miles) north during its ground invasion in Lebanon. 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

Over 400K children in Lebanon displaced in 3 weeks by ongoing war: UN

More than 400,000 children in Lebanon have been displaced in the past three weeks, a top official with the U.N. children's agency said Monday, warning of a lost generation in the small country grappling with multiple crises and now in the middle of war. Israel has escalated its campaign against the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militant group, including launching a ground invasion, after a year of exchanges of fire during its war with Hamas in Gaza. The fighting in Lebanon has driven 1.2 million people from their homes, most of them fleeing to Beirut and elsewhere in the north over the past three weeks since the escalation. Ted Chaiban, UNICEF's deputy executive director for humanitarian actions, has visited schools that have been turned into shelters to host displaced families. What struck me is that this war is three weeks old and so many children have been affected, Chaiban told The Associated Press in Beirut. As we sit here today, 1.2 million children are deprived of education. Thei

Israel kills at least 21 in airstrike on Christian town in north Lebanon

So far the main focus of Israel's military operations in Lebanon has been in the south, the Bekaa Valley in the east and the suburbs of Beirut

UAE stands with Lebanon campaign launched, 200 tonnes of packages prepared

These initiatives affirm the UAE's leading global position to provide relief and stand in solidarity with Lebanon

News updates: NCP leader Baba Siddique shot dead in Mumbai

Stay with us for all the major news updates from across the globe

Hezbollah, Israel battle on border as Lebanon's army watches from sidelines

Since Israel launched its ground invasion of Lebanon, Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants have clashed along the border while the Lebanese army has largely stood on the sidelines. It's not the first time the national army has found itself watching war at home from the discomfiting position of bystander. Lebanon's widely beloved army is one of the few institutions that bridge the country's sectarian and political divides. Several army commanders have become president, and the current commander, Gen. Joseph Aoun, is widely regarded as one of the front-runners to step in when the deadlocked parliament fills a two-year vacuum and names a president. But with an aging arsenal and no air defenses, and battered by five years of economic crisis, the national army is ill-prepared to defend Lebanon against either aerial bombardment or a ground offensive by a well-equipped modern army like Israel's. The army is militarily overshadowed by Hezbollah. The Lebanese army has about 80,000 troops,

US sees window for new push to break deadlock in Lebanon, ease conflict

With Israel's sabotage and military operations in Lebanon taking out many of Hezbollah's senior leaders, some in Washington and elsewhere believe there may be a window for a new push to break the political deadlock in Lebanon to try to ease escalating war. To that end, Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by phone separately Friday with acting Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and parliament speaker Nabhi Berri about the need to resolve the situation, the State Department said. Earlier in the week, Blinken talked with his Saudi, Qatari and French counterparts about how a resolution particularly the election of a new Lebanese president might reduce tensions in the Middle East by getting Hezbollah to move its forces away from Israel's northern border to the line set out in a U.N. Security Council resolution ending the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. It's clear that the people of Lebanon have an interest, a strong interest, in the state asserting itself and taking ...

Israel yet to reach decision on Iran as it steps up strikes in Beirut

A security cabinet meeting on Thursday night ended without a decision on what the response should be, the official said

Israel's airstrike warnings terrify Lebanese civilians as war intensifies

As the war between Israel and Hezbollah intensifies, Lebanese civilians are increasingly paying the price and this dangerous reality often becomes clear in the middle of the night: That's when the Israeli military typically warns people to evacuate buildings or neighbourhoods to avoid airstrikes. Moein Shreif was recently awakened at 3 a.m. by a neighbor calling to alert him that Israel planned to strike a nearby building in his middle-class suburb south of Beirut where Hezbollah has a strong presence. Shreif, his wife and their three children quickly fled their multi-story apartment building and drove away. Within minutes, explosions rang out, he said later that day upon returning to see the smoldering ruins of his building and the one next door. I didn't even have time to dress properly, as you can see, said Shreif, a well-known Lebanese folk and pop singer who was still wearing his pajamas from the night before. I didn't take anything out of the house. Israel and Hezbollah have

Toll rises to 22 in Israeli strikes in central Beirut, 27 in Gaza school

Israeli airstrikes hit central Beirut on Thursday evening, killing at least 22 people and wounding dozens, Lebanon's health ministry said, leaving two neighbourhoods smoldering and further escalating Israel's bloody conflict with Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. The strikes apparently targeted two residential buildings in separate neighbourhoods 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. Thursday's strikes followed a year of tit-for-tat exchanges between Hezbollah and Israel that boiled over into all-out war in recent weeks, with Israel carrying out waves of heavy strikes across Lebanon and launching a ground invasion. Hezbollah has expanded its

500 Hezbollah targets including HQs hidden in nature reserve destroyed

282nd Artillery Brigade provide covering fire for the forces maneuvering in Lebanese territory and in close cooperation with Air Force, dozens of Hezbollah infrastructure and launchers were destroyed

Here's what to know about Israel's ground invasion in southern Lebanon

Israel's ground invasion in Lebanon stretched into its second week as the Hezbollah militant group fired hundreds of rockets deep into Israel with no end in sight to the escalating conflict. More than 1,400 people have been killed in Lebanon - mostly in airstrikes - and over a million displaced since the fighting intensified in mid-September. At least 15 Israeli soldiers and two civilians have been killed since the ground operation began, and more than 60,000 people have been displaced from towns along the border for more than a year. Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on October 8, 2023, a day after Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, attacked southern Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza. Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire almost every day since, coming close to a full-fledged war on several occasions but stepping back from the brink until this month. Here's what to know about the current ground incursion in southern Lebanon: What is the aim of Israeli military

Looming Israeli strike on Iran brings fresh test for US ceasefire attempts

While Israel, with US and UK help, knocked down almost all incoming missiles and drones in an attack in April, this time many of Iran's ballistic missiles hit close to their targets

Attack on Iran would be 'lethal', 'surprising': Israeli defence minister

Israel's defence minister warned on Wednesday that his country's retaliation for a recent Iranian missile attack will be lethal and surprising, while the Israeli military pushed ahead with a large-scale operation in northern Gaza and a ground offensive in Lebanon against Hezbollah militants. On the diplomatic front, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Joe Biden held their first call in seven weeks, with a White House press secretary saying the call included discussions on Israel's deliberations over how it will respond to Iran's attack. It was direct, it was productive, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said of the 30-minute call. The Israeli operation in northern Gaza left dozens of people dead and threatened to shut down three hospitals over a year into the war with Hamas, Palestinian officials and residents said. The continuing cycle of destruction and death in Gaza, unleashed by Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, comes as Israel

Explosions rock Beirut as Israel strikes Lebanon on Oct 7 anniv; updates

According to the Israeli military, airstrikes were carried out on several Hezbollah intelligence and weapons storage sites within the Lebanese capital

Gulf states must not allow use of airspace against Iran, says official

Any action by a Gulf country against Tehran, whether by airspace or military bases, will be regarded as an action taken by the entire group, and we will respond accordingly, Iranian official said

Hamas, Hezbollah & more: Who are the key players fighting Israel?

The Israel-Hamas war is rooted in longstanding tensions, and its impacts are spreading across the Middle East, drawing in multiple players.

Hezbollah steps up rocket fire as Israel sends more troops into Lebanon

Hezbollah fired another barrage of rockets into Israel on Tuesday, and the militant group's acting leader vowed to keep up pressure that has forced tens of thousands of Israelis from their homes near the Lebanese border. The Israeli military said it sent more ground troops into southern Lebanon and that a senior Hezbollah commander was killed in an airstrike. Dozens of rockets fired by Hezbollah were aimed as far south as Haifa, and the Israeli government warned residents north of the coastal city to limit activities, prompting the closure of more schools. The Israeli military said Hezbollah launched about 180 rockets across the border. Sheikh Naim Kassem, Hezbollah's acting leader, said its military capabilities remain intact after weeks of heavy Israeli airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon, and attacks that killed its top commanders in a matter of days. He said Israeli forces have not been able to advance since launching a ground incursion into Lebanon last week. Kassem, ..

After Israel targets Hezbollah, Lebanon envoy to India cites Gandhi

Following Israel's announcement of the killing of Hassan Nasrallah's successors, Lebanon's Ambassador to India Rabie Narsh cited Mahatma Gandhi's words and said Hezbollah is a legitimate political party supported by the people and cannot be eliminated. "I am reminded of Mahatma Gandhi's words: You can kill a revolutionary, but you cannot kill the revolution. You can eliminate the leaders of Hezbollah, but you cannot eliminate Hezbollah, because it is the people on the ground. It is not an imaginary structure that came to Lebanon by parachute," the ambassador said in an interview with PTI Videos. Narsh added that Hezbollah embodies a movement against the "rogue state" of Israel and cannot be crushed by eliminating its leaders. In a video message on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country's forces have effectively targeted and eliminated potential successors to the recently deceased Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. Hezbollah formally came into ...