🔴 Live: Israel planning ‘lethal, precise, surprising' retaliation against Iran, defence minister says
by FRANCE 24 · France 24Summary:
- Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Wednesday thatIsrael will carry out “lethal, precise and surprising” retaliation against anyone who attacks it, while discussing Iran’s October 1 missile strike on Israel.
- France will host an international ministerial conference over the crisis in Lebanon on October 24 focusing on the domestic political situation and humanitarian aid, the foreign ministry said Wednesday.
- Hezbollah fighters targeted Israeli soldiers near the Lebanese border village of Labbouneh with artillery shells and rockets, the group said in a statement.
- At least 18 Palestinians were killed by Israeli air strikes, including nine members of the same family in northern Gaza, and three others in central Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp, Palestinian officials said.
- US President Joe Biden will speak with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu later Wednesday about Israel's response to Iran's missile strike a week ago, according to a US media report.
- Two people were killed in the northern Israeli town of Kirya Shmona by Hezbollah rockets fired from Lebanon on Wednesday, Israeli authorities said, marking Israel’s first civilian deaths caused by Hezbollah since Israel sent ground troops into southern Lebanon.
- More than 42,010 Palestinians have been killed and 97,720 injured in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since October 7, 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement.
09/10/2024 - 19:05
Israeli retaliation against Iran to be 'lethal, precise and surprising,' defence minister says
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant appeared on Wednesday to say that retaliation against Iran for its missile attack will be "lethal, precise and surprising," in a video published on Israeli media on Wednesday.
After describing Iran's October 1 missile attack as a failure, Gallant said: "Whoever attacks us will be hurt and will pay a price. Our attack will be deadly, precise and above all surprising, they will not understand what happened and how it happened, they will see the results," he said.
09/10/2024 - 18:32
Israel police says forces kill five Palestinian militants in West Bank
Israeli forces killed five armed Palestinian fighters in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, Israeli police said.
The Palestinian health ministry confirmed the deaths of only four men.
The Palestinian official news agency WAFA said that Israeli special forces had opened fire on a vehicle that the men were travelling in, in the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank.
09/10/2024 - 18:06
Hezbollah says it pushes back Israeli troops along Lebanese border
Lebanon's Hezbollah said on Wednesday its fighters had pushed back advancing Israeli forces in clashes along the length of the border, including in a village where Israeli troops had been filmed hoisting an Israeli flag.
The Iran-backed group said it had fired several rocket salvoes at Israeli troops near the village of Labbouneh in the western part of the border area, close to the Mediterranean coast, and had managed to push them back.
Further east, it said it had attacked Israeli soldiers in the village of Maroun el-Ras and unleashed missile barrages at Israeli forces advancing towards the twin border villages of Mays al-Jabal and Mouhaybib.
Video footage posted on social media showed three Israeli soldiers raising their country's blue and white flag in Maroun el-Ras. Amin Sherri, a Hezbollah politician visiting displaced people in schools in Beirut on Wednesday, told reporters that the Israeli flag raised in the south was up only briefly.
09/10/2024 - 18:00
Iran foreign minister in Saudi Arabia for talks on Lebanon and Gaza
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi travelled to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for talks that were expected to cover efforts to end fighting between the Israeli military and Iran-backed groups in Gaza and Lebanon.
"I hope that these consultations can lead to better conditions for Palestine and Lebanon and establish peace in the region," Araghchi told Iranian state television upon his arrival in Riyadh.
Araqchi met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman while in Riyadh, the Saudi state news agency reported.
09/10/2024 - 17:57
Israeli bombardments on Tuesday killed 22 in Lebanon, health ministry says
Israeli bombardments on Tuesday killed 22 people in Lebanon and injured 80, according to a statement released on Wednesday by Lebanon’s health ministry.
09/10/2024 - 17:15
Healthcare in Gaza 'scratching the surface' of what is needed, says Doctors Without Borders medic
Just over one year from the Hamas attacks on Israel that sparked a crushing retaliation in Gaza by the Israeli military, the health system in the Palestinian enclave has been “systematically” devastated, Javid Abdelmoneim, a doctor for Doctors Without Borders told FRANCE 24.
“The loss of the health infrastructure means that we’ve been unable to provide the care that’s needed to the wider population and we’re only just scratching the surface of the needs,” he added.
09/10/2024 - 17:05
Harris to join Biden call with Israel's Netanyahu, source says
US Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to join President Joe Biden for his call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters.
The talks are expected to include discussion of Israeli plans for a retaliatory strike on Iran.
The Middle East has been on edge awaiting Israel's response to a missile attack from Iran last week that Tehran carried out in retaliation for Israel's military escalation in Lebanon. The Iranian attack ultimately killed no one in Israel and Washington called it ineffective.
09/10/2024 - 17:00
'No sign something big will happen' among Iranians as Israeli attack looms
Israel has promised to retaliate for Iran’s massive missile attack last week, with its options ranging from symbolic strikes on military targets to crippling attacks on Iran's vital oil industry or its secretive and heavily fortified nuclear program.
However, there is little sign of worry over an imminent attack among Iranian citizens on the streets of Tehran, reports FRANCE 24’s correspondent Saeed Azimi.
09/10/2024 - 16:17
Air France investigating how jet flew over Iraq during Iran attack on Israel
Air France said it had launched an inquiry into how a jet on a Paris-Dubai flight went over Iraq as Iranian missiles taking part in an attack on Israel went through the same airspace.
Iran launched a barrage of missiles toward Israeli territory on October 1 as tensions in the Middle East soared. The missiles had to cross Iraq to reach Israel.
Air France flight AF662 crossed Iraqi territory at the start of the attack, just before Air France ordered its planes to stop flying over Iraq and local authorities closed Iraqi airspace, according to the French carrier.
The LCI television channel, which first reported the incident, said the pilots saw the missiles in the night sky from their cockpit and that Iraqi air traffic control had wished them "good luck".
09/10/2024 - 16:02
France to hold Lebanon conference on October 24
France will hold an international ministerial conference over the crisis in Lebanon on Oct 24 that will focus on the domestic political situation and humanitarian aid amid an escalation between Israel and Hezbollah, the foreign ministry said.
In a statement on Wednesday, the ministry said the focus was also to work to strengthen support for the Lebanese armed forces as countries try to convince both sides to accept a ceasefire.
09/10/2024 - 16:01
Turkey says it will evacuate its citizens from Lebanon by sea on Wednesday
Turkey will evacuate its citizens who have applied to leave Lebanon by sea on Wednesday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
It said in a statement that two Turkish navy ships were expected to set off for Beirut on Tuesday with a total capacity of around 2,000 passengers, adding that the evacuation process will continue in the following days if necessary.
09/10/2024 - 15:30
Biden and Netanyahu set to speak Wednesday, US source says
US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are set to speak Wednesday, a source familiar with the issue said, as Israel weighs up its response to last week's missile attack by Iran.
The scheduled call between the two leaders comes amid reported tensions between their administrations, and would be their first since August 21, a seven-week gap during which Israel also launched an offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
09/10/2024 - 14:37
Hezbollah says targeted Israeli forces in Lebanese village
Hezbollah on Wednesday said its fighters targeted Israeli forces in a south Lebanon border village, shortly after saying Israeli soldiers tried to advance in the area.
Hezbollah fighters "bombed ... a gathering of Israeli enemy troops in ... Mais al-Jabal with artillery shells", the Iran-backed group said, after earlier saying that clashes were ongoing after Israeli troops tried to advance in the area "from several directions".
09/10/2024 - 14:15
Spanish PM calls Israeli strikes in Lebanon an 'invasion'
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez described Israel's military offensive in Lebanon as an "invasion" on Wednesday, saying that the international community had to act.
"It is clear that there has been an invasion by a third country of a sovereign state such as Lebanon, and therefore the international community cannot remain indifferent," the Socialist premier told parliament.
09/10/2024 - 14:14
Two people killed in northern Israel by Hezbollah rocket fire, medics say
Two people were killed in a town in northern Israel that was hit by rocket fire from Hezbollah in Lebanon on Wednesday, Israeli authorities said.
Israel's ambulance service said that a man and a woman had been killed in the town of Kirya Shmona.
The military said about 20 projectiles had been launched from Lebanon in the barrage.
09/10/2024 - 14:00
Two people killed in northern Israel by Hezbollah rocket fire, medics say
Two people were killed in a town in northern Israel that was hit by rocket fire from Hezbollah in Lebanon on Wednesday, Israeli authorities said.
Israel's ambulance service said that a man and a woman had been killed in the town of Kiryat Shmona.
The military said about 20 projectiles had been launched from Lebanon in the barrage.
09/10/2024 - 13:59
German police shut pro-Palestinian camp over Thunberg invite
German police have closed a pro-Palestinian protest camp in Dortmund that had invited Greta Thunberg, a vocal critic of Israel.
Police said the Swedish climate activist had attended a pro-Palestinian rally in Berlin on Monday – the anniversary of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel – that ended in clashes.
Police said they had carried out a "risk assessment" and found that Thunberg's visit would have drawn large crowds.
They amended an initial statement to delete a reference to Thunberg as a "potentially violent" activist.
Thunberg protested the move in a video message on X, speaking with a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf over her shoulders.
She said that after Dortmund protesters announced the invitation, "police came and told them that they had to pack up the camp and leave and that I would get arrested if I went there".
"Germany is silencing and threatening activists who are speaking up against the genocide and occupation in Palestine," she charged.
09/10/2024 - 13:54
Bolivia joins South Africa ICJ 'genocide' case against Israel
Bolivia has joined South Africa's case against Israel at the International Court of Justice that alleges the Israeli Gaza offensive breaches the UN Genocide Convention, the court said on Wednesday.
The South American country is the latest of several nations, including Colombia, Libya, Spain and Mexico, adding their weight to the case against Israel, which vehemently denies the accusations.
Bolivia already announced in November it was severing diplomatic ties over what it described as the "disproportionate" attacks on Gaza by Israel.
09/10/2024 - 12:48
Stabber wounds six in 'terrorist attack', say Israeli police
Israeli police said at least six people were wounded, some seriously according to emergency responders, in a stabbing in four locations of Hadera city, describing it as a "terrorist attack".
"The attack took place on four different sites where six people were stabbed ... a short time ago, the police located the suspect and neutralised him by shooting," said a police statement.
"We treated several injured individuals in varying conditions, some of whom were in serious condition," said emergency service provider Magen David Adom.
"We provided life-saving medical treatment and began transporting them to Hillel Yaffe Medical Center," it added.
The attack comes more than a week after seven people were killed in a shooting and stabbing claimed by Hamas in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv.
09/10/2024 - 11:30
Iran's foreign minister heads to Saudi Arabia for talks on Gaza, Lebanon
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is heading to Saudi Arabia Wednesday for talks on efforts to end Israeli attacks on Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, his ministry said.
Hamas and Hezbollah are both in the Iran-backed "Axis for Resistance" of militant groups in the region.
Araghchi will visit the Gulf kingdom "in furtherance of our diplomatic efforts, in coordination with countries of the region", ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei posted on X.
He said the trip would focus on stopping "the Israeli regime's genocide & aggression and to alleviate the pain and suffering of our brothers and sisters in Gaza and Lebanon".
Yesterday's key developments:
- Israeli forces have killed the would-be successors of late Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday. Earlier, 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.
- 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.
(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP, and Reuters)