Live: Lebanon Red Cross says 3 paramedics wounded in strike on country’s south
· France 2422/10/2024 - 16:35
Four children among 18 killed after Israeli strike near Beirut hospital, ministry says
At least 18 people were killed, including four children, and 60 were wounded in an Israeli strike on Monday near Beirut’s main government hospital, the health ministry said on Tuesday.
Israeli jets hit a Hezbollah target close to the Rafik Hariri University Hospital in Beirut but did not target the hospital and it was not affected by the strike, the Israeli military said on Tuesday.
However, the director of the hospital said that due to the Israeli attack, nearby debris, probably from heavy ammunition, had caused damage to the medical facility.
22/10/2024 - 16:29
At least 1,552 killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon since Sept 23, AFP tally shows
More than 1,550 people have been killed in bombardment by Israel since it intensified its air campaign on Lebanon last month, according to an AFP tally updated with new figures released on Tuesday.
Lebanon’s health ministry reported 63 killed in “Israeli enemy strikes on Lebanon” Monday, raising the death toll from an strike near a south Beirut hospital to 18. The real toll is likely to be higher due to data gaps.
22/10/2024 - 16:00
Saudi crown prince, Jordan king discuss Mideast de-escalation
Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Jordan’s King Abdullah II held talks Tuesday on efforts to halt fighting in Gaza and Lebanon, the Saudi foreign ministry said.
The pair held discussions “related to the security and stability of the region, including efforts made to stop the ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon and reduce escalation,” the ministry said in a statement as the Jordanian ruler visited the Saudi capital Riyadh.
22/10/2024 - 15:44
Amnesty says Israel strikes on Hezbollah-linked finance firm warrant war crime probe
Human rights group Amnesty International said Tuesday that the Israeli military’s bombing of branches of a Hezbollah-linked financial firm in Lebanon should be “investigated as a war crime”.
The Al-Qard al-Hassan firm, a lifeline for many Shiite Muslims and other Lebanese in the face of a years-long financial crisis, is sanctioned by Washington, which accuses Hezbollah of using it as a cover to gain access to the international financial system.
Israel accuses Al-Qard al-Hassan of financing “Hezbollah’s terrorist operations”, and the Israeli military hit branches of the organisation across Lebanon late Sunday and early Monday.
22/10/2024 - 15:41
Revolutionary Guards commander cited saying Iran does not expect significant Israeli retaliation
Israel is not likely to make a “significant move” against Tehran but could instead carry out a symbolic “limited attack”, Revolutionary Guards Commander Mohammad Ali Jafari said on Tuesday, according to the Iranian Student News Network.
Israel is widely thought to be planning significant retaliation for a missile barrage launched by Iran on Oct. 1.
22/10/2024 - 15:39
FBI investigating leak of US intelligence on Israel's attack plans for Iran
The FBI is investigating the leak of a pair of highly classified intelligence documents describing Israel’s preparations for a retaliatory strike on Iran, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday.
“The FBI is investigating the alleged leak of classified documents and working closely with our partners in the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community,” the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a statement cited by the Post.
22/10/2024 - 14:53
Israel arrests seven Jerusalem residents over alleged Iran assassination plot
Israel’s security forces have arrested seven Jerusalem residents over allegations they were planning to assassinate Israeli officials and carry out other attacks on behalf of Iran’s intelligence service, the Shin Bet and police said on Tuesday.
The incident is the fifth case involving attempted assassinations directed by Iranian intelligence that has been thwarted by Israeli security services in the past month, a joint police and Shin Bet statement said.
The seven suspects, residents of the mainly Palestinian neighbourhood of Beit Safafa in Jerusalem, were planning to carry out the assassination of a senior Israeli scientist and the mayor of a major city in Israel which was not named, the statement said.
22/10/2024 - 14:52
11 pro-Palestinian protesters are arrested after occupying building at University of Minnesota
Police arrested about a dozen pro-Palestinian protesters Monday at the University of Minnesota after a group of students entered an administrative building, university officials said.
The Monday afternoon protest prompted an alert from school officials. “Protestors have entered Morrill Hall on the East Bank, causing property damage and restricting entrance and exit from the building,” the alert said. “If you are currently in Morrill Hall and able to safely exit the building, please do so immediately. Others are advised to avoid this area until further notice.”
22/10/2024 - 14:47
Lebanon's Hezbollah rules out negotiations during fighting with Israel
Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement said on Tuesday there would be no negotiations while fighting continued with Israel and it claimed sole responsibility for a drone attack on Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s holiday home.
The group “takes full and sole responsibility” for targeting Netanyahu’s house, Mohammad Afif, head of the Iranian-backed militant group’s media office, told a press conference in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
“If our hands didn’t reach you the previous time, then days, nights and the battlefield are still between us,” he said.
22/10/2024 - 14:41
Yemen's Houthis say they targeted military base in Tel Aviv
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said on Tuesday they had targeted an Israeli military base in Tel Aviv using ballistic missiles in solidarity with Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.
22/10/2024 - 14:37
Lebanon Red Cross says 3 paramedics wounded in strike on country's south
Three paramedics were wounded on Tuesday in a strike on south Lebanon while on a rescue mission coordinated with UN peacekeepers, the Lebanese Red Cross said.
Four ambulance teams were dispatched to the southern city of Nabatiyeh in coordination with UNIFIL following a strike there, the Lebanese Red Cross said, adding that “the site was bombed again and three...volunteers were injured and are being transported to hospital”.
22/10/2024 - 14:25
Strike hits Beirut southern suburbs shortly after Hezbollah news conference
An Israeli strike hit Beirut’s southern suburbs Tuesday just minutes after a Hezbollah official cut short a news conference in the area, an AFP video journalist said.
Journalists hastily left the press conference held by Hezbollah spokesperson Mohammed Afif after the Israeli military warned people near two buildings in the Ghobeiri area to evacuate. The official National News Agency said Israeli aircraft then carried out a strike in the area.
22/10/2024 - 14:17
Israel army issues new evacuation call for southern Beirut suburb
Israel’s army on Tuesday called on residents of a southern Beirut suburb to evacuate ahead of military operations against the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah’s facilities in the area.
“For your safety and the safety of your family, you must evacuate these buildings and the surrounding ones immediately and move at least 500 meters (yards) away,” the army’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee wrote on X alongside a map showing two specific buildings to be targeted.
22/10/2024 - 13:55
Blinken in Israel to push for Gaza truce
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Israel Tuesday to push for a ceasefire in Gaza after his administration called for an end to the war in Lebanon "as soon as possible". It is his 11th trip to the Middle East since Hamas's attack on Israel more than a year ago triggered the Gaza war, and his first since Israel's conflict with Hezbollah escalated late last month.
He is due to meet Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and other top officials, as Israel weighs its response to Iran's October 1 missile attack.
FRANCE 24's International Affairs Editor Kethevane Gorjestani tells us more:
22/10/2024 - 13:53
Hezbollah says fighters captured by Israeli army, without giving number
A Hezbollah spokesman on Tuesday acknowledged that some of the group's fighters were captured by the Israeli army without giving numbers, adding that Israel "bears responsibility" for their lives.
"On the issue of captives currently held by the enemy, I say: I know that the enemy is not committed to the ethics of war and international conventions but it bears the responsibility of preserving the lives of the captives," spokesman Mohammed Afif told reporters, calling on the the International Committee of the Red Cross to ascertain their safety.
22/10/2024 - 13:52
Israel strikes near south Beirut hospital, Hezbollah fires rockets into central Israel
Hezbollah launched a barrage of rockets into central Israel on Tuesday, setting off air raid sirens in the country’s most populated areas but causing no apparent damage or injuries, a few hours before US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken arrived in the region on a mission to restart stalled Gaza ceasefire talks.
The rocket fire came as Israel stepped up its strikes in Lebanon, targeting a Hezbollah-run financial institution, and as the US pushed to resume cease-fire talks in Gaza following the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
Watch FRANCE 24's full report below:
22/10/2024 - 13:44
Hezbollah claims drone attack on Israeli PM's residence
Hezbollah claimed responsibility Tuesday for a drone attack last week targeting the home of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
Hezbollah "declares its full, complete and exclusive responsibility for the Caesarea operation targeting... Netanyahu," spokesman Mohammed Afif told reporters.
22/10/2024 - 13:38
UN agency head calls for temporary truce in northern Gaza
The United Nations Palestinian refugee agency called on Tuesday for a temporary truce to allow people to leave areas of northern Gaza as health officials said they were running out of supplies to treat patients hurt in a three-week-old Israeli offensive.
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UNRWA relief agency, said the humanitarian situation had reached a dire point, with bodies abandoned by roadsides or buried under rubble.
“In northern Gaza, people are just waiting to die,” he said in a statement on social media platform X. “They feel deserted, hopeless and alone.”
“I am calling for an immediate truce, even if for a few hours, to enable safe humanitarian passage for families who wish to leave the area & reach safer places,” he said.
22/10/2024 - 11:53
Lebanon state media says Israel strikes near city of Tyre in Lebanon
Lebanese state media reported Israeli strikes near the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on Tuesday after Israel's military issued an evacuation call.
AFPTV footage captured smoke billowing after the Israeli military on X warned residents of Al-Hawsh, just south of Tyre, to evacuate, while Lebanon's official National News Agency reported that "enemy aircraft launched a series of strikes" that targeted the area.
22/10/2024 - 11:43
War has knocked Gaza's development back to 1955 levels, UNDP says
The war in Gaza has devastated the Palestinian economy, which is now 35 percent smaller than it was at the start of Israel's invasion a year ago, while development levels in Gaza itself have collapsed to the level of the 1950s, the UN's development agency said.
Launching a new study on the socioeconomic impacts of the war, which Palestinian officials say has claimed more than 42,500 lives, the UNDP's Chitose Noguchi said that by some measures the region's poverty level was now approaching 100 percent as a result of the disruption, with unemployment now at 80 percent.
"The state of Palestine is experiencing unprecedented levels of setbacks," she said over a crackling line from Deir Al-Balah. "For Gaza, reversing development by an estimated 70 years to 1955."
Yesterday's key developments:
- Lebanon's health ministry said four people including a child had been killedon Monday evening in Israeli strikes near the country's biggest public hospital close to the southern suburbs of Beirut.
- Israeli media said that two men killed alongside Hamas head Yahya Sinwar last week were his bodyguards, and that one of them worked for UNRWA.
- Two Hamas sources said the Palestinian militant group is moving towards appointing a Doha-based ruling committee rather than a single successor to chief Yahya Sinwar.
- Visiting US envoy Amos Hochstein said Monday the basis of a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah was a 2006 United Nations resolution but that it would require more than just commitments from the warring parties.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP, and Reuters)