At least seven dead in Israeli strike on residential building in Damascus

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Summary:

• Israeli forces have killed the would-be successors of late Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday. Earlier Tuesday, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said it appeared the presumed replacement for Nasrallah had also been "eliminated". Top Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine had not been heard from publicly since an Israeli air strike late last week.
• The Israeli army said it had killed the commander of Hezbollah’s headquarters, Suhail Hussein Husseini, in a strike on Beirut.
• In a televised speech, Hezbollah deputy leader Naim Qassem said he supported attempts to secure a truce, and for the first time did not mention the end of war in Gaza as a pre-condition to halting combat on the Lebanon-Israel border.
• Seven civilians were killed in an Israeli air strike in Damascus on Tuesday, the Syrian government said, with a UK-based war monitor saying the strike had targeted a building used by Iran's Revolutionary Guards and Lebanon's Hezbollah.
• More than 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon since Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7 last year, with 1,000 of those occurring in the last week. The Lebanese government estimates that roughly 1.2 million people have been displaced. 
• Nine Israeli soldiers have been killed in southern Lebanon since Israel launched a ground operation across its northern border on October 1.

08/10/2024 - 22:55

36 people killed in Israeli attacks across Lebanon on Monday, Lebanese health ministry says

Thirty six people were killed and 150 others wounded in Israeli attacks across Lebanon on Monday, the Lebanese health ministry said on Tuesday.

08/10/2024 - 22:18

Lebanon state media says 'massive destruction' in strikes on south Beirut

Lebanese state-run media reported a series of strikes on Hezbollah's south Beirut stronghold Tuesday, after the Israeli army issued a warning to residents to evacuate the area ahead of expected attacks.

"Beirut's southern suburbs are still being subjected to a series of strikes, the latest of which hit the main road at Al-Kafaat, and caused massive destruction," in several south Beirut neighbourhoods, the National News Agency said.

The NNA said "four adjacent residential buildings collapsed in the Burj al-Barajneh area after the recent Israeli strike," and had earlier reported several "enemy" strikes in the area.

08/10/2024 - 21:45

Netanyahu threatens Lebanon with destruction 'like Gaza'

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned Lebanon Tuesday it could face destruction "like Gaza" as Israel ramps up its ground offensive against Hezbollah along the southern section of the Lebanese coast.

Netanyahu's stark warning came as the Israeli military deployed more troops and urged civilians in coastal areas to evacuate. FRANCE 24's Irris Makler reports from Jerusalem.

08/10/2024 - 21:45

Hezbollah threatens more attacks if Israel keeps bombarding Lebanon

The Iran-backed Hezbollah group warned on Tuesday that it would intensify attacks on Israel, including the northern port city of Haifa, if it continues to strike Lebanon.

"The Israeli enemy's intensifying strikes" mean that "Haifa and other locations will be targeted by our rockets just as much as Kiryat Shmona, Metula, and other" locations, the group said. The Israeli army earlier reported that 85 projectiles were fired from Lebanon at northern Israel, including Haifa.

08/10/2024 - 21:24

Escalation to what ends? Israel further widens war beyond Gaza

When does escalation morph into overreach? On the one-year anniversary Hezbollah's decision to fire rockets into Israel following Hamas's October 7 attacks, the IDF is announcing the killing of another top ranking Hezbollah commander – the heir apparent to Hassan Nasrallah – and the deployment of a fourth division to southern Lebanon.

08/10/2024 - 21:17

Syria says children among seven civilians killed in Israel Damascus strike

The Syrian defence ministry said seven people, including women and children, were killed in an Israeli air strike on a residential building in Damascus on Tuesday.

"The Israeli enemy launched an aerial aggression ... targeting a residential and commercial building in the densely populated Mazzeh neighbourhood of Damascus killing seven civilians, including children and women," the ministry said. 

It said the toll was preliminary as rescuers were still searching for survivors under the rubble.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said: "Israel targeted a building frequented by senior Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah operatives, as well as a car parked in front of the building".

Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said nine people were killed, five of them civilians including a child.

At least two of the dead were foreigners, the Observatory said, without specifying their nationality.

None of the dead were Iranian, the Iranian embassy in Damascus said.

08/10/2024 - 21:17

Israel army says dismantled Hezbollah tunnel that crossed into Israel

The Israeli army said its forces dismantled a Hezbollah tunnel that crossed into the country's territory, as its troops continued to carry out ground operations in southern Lebanon.

"Tonight we reported that we located and dismantled a tunnel of about 25 metres long, which crossed the border fence about 10 meters ... into Israeli territory," military spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a televised briefing. "We detected this a few months ago, we identified and investigated it ... and now we can confirm that we are also dismantling it."

08/10/2024 - 20:56

US says ceasefire call shows Hezbollah 'getting battered'

Hezbollah's call for a ceasefire on Tuesday shows the militant group is on the back foot and "getting battered", US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told a regular briefing on Tuesday.

Hezbollah's deputy leader Naim Qassem said in a televised address on Tuesday the Iran-backed group's capabilities were intact and its fighters were pushing back Israeli ground incursions, despite the "painful blows" inflicted by Israel in recent weeks.

Qassem said the group supported the efforts of Lebanon's Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally, to secure a ceasefire, without providing further details on any conditions demanded by Hezbollah.

"For a year, you had the world calling for this ceasefire, you had Hezbollah refusing to agree to one, and now that Hezbollah is on the back foot and is getting battered, suddenly they've changed their tune and want a ceasefire," Miller said.

"We continue to ultimately want a diplomatic solution to this conflict," Miller said.

08/10/2024 - 20:53

Israel's Defence Minister Gallant postpones visit to Washington, Pentagon says

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has canceled plans for a Wednesday visit to the Pentagon, a Pentagon spokesperson said on Tuesday, saying it looked forward to welcoming him at a later date.

"We were just informed that Minister Gallant will be postponing his trip to Washington," Sabrina Singh told a news briefing, referring questions about why Gallant canceled to Israel's government.

08/10/2024 - 20:21

War monitor says four dead in Israel strike on Damascus

A war monitor said four people were killed in an Israeli air strike Tuesday targeting a building in the Syrian capital used by Iran's Revolutionary Guards for meetings with Hezbollah.

"Israel targeted a building frequented by senior Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah operatives, as well as a car parked in front of the building ... killing four people," the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. 

Earlier, Syria's official SANA news agency reported an Israeli strike on a residential building in the Mazzeh neighbourhood of Damascus, which is home to security headquarters and embassies.

08/10/2024 - 19:45

Syria state media says Israel strike hits Damascus residential building

08/10/2024 - 19:25

Syrian air defences intercept 'hostile' targets near Damascus, state media says

Syrian air defences intercepted "hostile" targets in the vicinity of the capital Damascus, Syrian state media reported on Tuesday.

08/10/2024 - 19:02

Netanyahu warns Lebanon faces destruction 'like Gaza'

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned the people of Lebanon they could face "destruction and suffering" like the Palestinians in war-battered Gaza if they don't "free" the country from Hezbollah.

"You have an opportunity to save Lebanon before it falls into the abyss of a long war that will lead to destruction and suffering like we see in Gaza," Netanyahu said in a video address directed to the people of Lebanon. 

"I say to you, the people of Lebanon: Free your country from Hezbollah so that this war can end."

Netanyahu said Israeli forces "took out thousands of terrorists, including (Hassan) Nasrallah himself and Nasrallah's replacement and the replacement of his replacement".

08/10/2024 - 18:34

UN chief warns Netanyahu that blocking UNRWA would be 'catastrophe'

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday he has written to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, warning him that draft Israeli legislation to prevent the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) from working in the occupied Palestinian territory would be a "catastrophe".

"Such a measure would suffocate efforts to ease human suffering and tensions in Gaza, and indeed, the entire Occupied Palestinian Territory. It would be a catastrophe in what is already an unmitigated disaster," he told reporters.

In July the Israeli parliament gave preliminary approval to a bill that declares UNRWA a terrorist organisation and proposes to sever relations with the body. Israeli leaders have accused UNRWA of collaborating with Hamas militants in Gaza.

08/10/2024 - 18:33

Israeli tanks push deeper into Jabalia in northern Gaza, residents say

Israel sent tanks deeper into Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday and advised people to leave as it pounded the historic Palestinian refugee camp from the air, residents said.

Palestinian medics said casualties had been reported in Jabalia but they were unable to reach areas under fire.

Israel's army has said its forces are trying to stop fighters from the Hamas militant group staging further attacks from Jabalia and want to prevent them regrouping

08/10/2024 - 18:18

Israeli military says it intercepted two launches that crossed Gaza Strip

The Israeli military said on Tuesday it had detected and intercepted two launches crossing the Gaza Strip, shortly after the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad said it had launched rockets towards Sderot in southern Israel.

08/10/2024 - 17:54

'No strategic political endgame in sight' as Israel seeks to extinguish Iran's 'ring of fire'

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Tuesday that Hezbollah had been "battered and broken" by continual strikes and the killing of its leader Hassan Nasrallah.

For in-depth analysis and a deeper perspective on Israel's war raging on multiple fronts in the Middle East, FRANCE 24's Eve Irvine is joined by Yossi Mekelberg, associate fellow in the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House in London.

08/10/2024 - 17:26

France, Qatar deliver urgent aid to Lebanon, foreign minister says

France and Qatar delivered urgent humanitarian aid to Lebanon on Tuesday, France's foreign minister said, as Paris pushes for broader humanitarian efforts and a ceasefire in the country.

"If we don't do anything, then Lebanon tomorrow could resemble what Syria has become," Jean-Noël Barrot told lawmakers in parliament. "(That is), a hub of instability for smuggling, terrorism and a point of departure for a large migration of civilians seeking refuge in Europe."

French and Qatari military planes delivered some 27 metric tons of medicines and basic necessities, including blankets and hygiene kits, diplomatic sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

08/10/2024 - 17:22

Lebanon says it has 'assurances' but no guarantees Israel won't target airport

Beirut has received "assurances" that Israel will not target the country's only international airport, Lebanon's transport minister told AFP, but said those fell short of guarantees.

Since September 23, Israel has launched an intense air campaign mainly targeting Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon including Beirut's southern suburbs, adjacent to the airport.

On Monday, the United States warned Israel not to attack the Beirut airport or the roads leading to it, after repeated Israeli strikes near the facility.

Lebanon "seeks to keep its public airport, sea ports and land crossings – chief among them the Rafik Hariri International Airport – functional," Minister of Public Works and Transport Ali Hamieh told AFP.

"Ongoing international calls have given us a sort of assurance" the airport will be spared Israeli strikes, he said, however adding that "there is a big difference between assurances and guarantees".

Hamieh denied Israeli accusations that Hezbollah was using the airport and border crossings to smuggle weapons. 

08/10/2024 - 17:20

Israel tightens restrictions on civilians in Haifa area after rocket barrage

Israel's Home Front Command on Tuesday tightened restrictions on civilians in the Haifa area in the wake of a barrage of rockets launched by Hezbollah in Lebanon.

"The activity scale will be changed from partial activity to limited activity, meaning educational activities are prohibited," the military said, adding that the rest of the country's guidelines remain unchanged.

Yesterday's key developments:

• Two new Israeli strikes struck Beirut's southern suburbs on Monday evening, Lebanese state media said, after Israel's military issued a warning to inhabitants of the area.
• More than 3,000 people attended an alternative memorial organised on Monday evening by relatives of victims and hostages in a Tel Aviv park to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attacks, with emotional testimonies from survivors and performances by singers.
• Around 374,000 people have fled from Lebanon to Syria in recent days, according to Lebanese authorities, as Israel continues strikes throughout the county. Strikes were reported in the southern suburbs of Beirut, as well as in north and east Lebanon.

(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP and Reuters)