Israeli attack on Beirut hotel kills 4

At least four people have been killed and 10 wounded in an Israeli attack on a hotel in Beirut.
 

At least 4 people killed in Israeli air strike on Beirut hotel

An Israeli air attack on a hotel in central Beirut overnight has killed at least four people and injured others, according to Lebanese authorities.

Israel said it targeted commanders from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps in the attack.

Israeli strike hits Beirut hotel housing displaced families

The Ramada hotel is in downtown Beirut, surrounded by several large high-rise hotels, including international chains. This is right by the waterfront of Beirut, close to the city’s most famous landmark, the Raouche.

Earlier this evening, an Israeli strike hit the Ramada. It looks to have been a targeted assassination attempt – just one room was targeted with a little bit of blast damage to surrounding rooms.

The hotel has been evacuated, and police at the scene said that there is unexploded ordinance on the floor below. Guests were leaving with their belongings as well as women carrying babies.

Many of the hotel’s guests were actually displaced people. They are residents of Beirut’s southern suburbs, Dahiyeh, as well as parts of the south of Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa Valley. They are among the hundreds of thousands who have been subject to forced evacuation orders by the Israeli military in the last couple of days.

The Israeli military reissued one of those warnings for the entirety of Beirut’s southern suburbs earlier, after which we saw a very large air strike on Dahiyeh.

Israel bombs Beirut

An Israeli raid on the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital has been reported.

This comes after Israeli forces bombed a hotel in downtown Beirut, killing at least four people. They had also attacked Beirut’s Haret Hreik neighborhood earlier.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, said it had targeted Israeli forces in the town of Marba in southern Lebanon.

Israeli strike on Beirut’s Raouche risks stoking sectarian tensions

The latest strike here in central Beirut is very significant because it represents a further widening of the targeted area by Israel and a widening in terms of Lebanon’s sectarian map and the people who are being targeted.

Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah fighters living among their support base in Lebanon’s Shia community. But this strike hit Raouche, a traditionally Sunni neighborhood. There have also been strikes in Christian and majority Druze areas.

The effect is a growing fear across the country about taking in the hundreds of thousands of displaced people — a climate of suspicion and tension that Israel risks inflaming, or may indeed be deliberately stoking.

Now there is a feeling: a) nowhere in Lebanon is safe, and b) it is not safe to welcome displaced people in case Israeli air raids follow those who are fleeing them.

Israel issues forced displacement order for residents in southern Lebanon

Israel has threatened the residents of Arnoun, Yohmor, Zrariyeh East and Zrariyeh West villages in southern Lebanon with an imminent attack, ordering them to flee north of Nabatieh governorate immediately.

The statement made by Avichay Adraee, Arabic-language spokesman for Israel’s army, said the attack would target Hezbollah fighters, facilities and weapons.

“Any home used by Hezbollah for military purposes may be subject to targeting,” he added.

Hezbollah claims attacks on Israel’s Kiryat Shmona

The Lebanese armed group says it launched a drone attack on the city of Kiryat Shmona in response to the Israeli attacks on Beirut and southern Lebanon.

This comes hours after it claimed a rocket attack on Israeli soldiers in al-Malikiyya, opposite the Lebanese town of Aitaroun.

At least 19 people killed in Israeli attack on southern Lebanese village

Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) says Israel has killed at least 19 people, including children, in an attack on a three-storey building in the southern Lebanese village of Sir el-Gharbiyeh.

Civil defence and rescue teams are working to remove the rubble and retrieve the bodies, the report said.

Israeli military build-up near border with Lebanon

Israeli troops and tanks prepare for a mass invasion.

Israeli army issues forced displacement order for residents south of Lebanon’s Litani River

The Israeli army has issued a forced evacuation order for all people in Lebanon south of the Litani River to the border with Israel.

On Saturday, it issued the same order, showing a map of southern Lebanon, marking the country’s south as a red zone to be evacuated.

Intensified cross-border fighting broke out on Monday after Hezbollah launched rockets towards Israeli territory following the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Since then, the Israeli military has launched a widespread aerial and ground assault against its northern neighbour, bombing areas across southern Lebanon and Beirut in what it says is a campaign against the Lebanese armed group.

For its part, Hezbollah has stepped up its military operations, saying it is responding to “Israeli aggression” against Lebanon.

The group has launched dozens of rockets and drones at Israel and targeted Israeli soldiers deployed inside Lebanon.

Cypriot foreign minister confirms drone that hit UK base launched from Lebanon: Report

Constantinos Kombos, the foreign minister of Cyprus, has told a British news outlet the Iranian-made drone that hit the UK’S Akrotiri base on the island a week ago had been launched from Lebanon.

“Right now, it’s a fact that we have to be looking towards the Lebanese front,” the minister told The Guardian newspaper, which said the comments confirmed the drone’s origin for the first time.

“We cannot exclude anything from the broader direction of the northeast. We have to be very careful. … We have to make sure that the systems in place are covering all possibilities of threat.”

Britain has sovereignty over two military bases in its former colony, Akrotiri and Dhekelia, as part of a treaty that established Cyprus’s independence in 1960.

Kombos was quoted as saying in the report that Cyprus has “consistently communicated” that the British bases could be targeted “if things move in a specific direction regionally”.

“This is a concern we shared consistently, … but the outcome of those conversations is clear in terms of what transpired on Sunday night,” he told The Guardian.

It was evident, he said, “not everything that could be done was done to the level of expectations that we have, that people living and working in the bases, Cypriots, also have, and I’m sure the British government has as well, … but, right now, I want to focus on how the cooperation improves.”

Intensifying Israeli strikes exacerbate misery in crisis-hit Lebanon

Reports of strikes across southern Lebanon in multiple locations, whether it’s in Gaziyeh, south of Sidon, or in villages closer to the border with Israel.

Up to 18 people – a family among them, with women and children – have been reported killed in an overnight Israeli strike that targeted a three-storey building in a village in southern Lebanon, Sir el-Gharbiyeh, north of the Litani River.

Late last night, the Health Ministry released its updated figures saying that just under 300 people had been killed since the start of the attacks. With these latest strikes, it is now more than 300, and among them are women and children. The ministry is expected to hold a press conference in the next few minutes, likely to give updates on the figures and to talk about how the health sector is going to struggle to deal with this crisis.

Hundreds of Lebanese have also been wounded in these ongoing Israeli strikes.

This is a cash-strapped state. Many of the sectors are on the verge of collapse, whether it’s the health sector or the education sector. Schools are now housing the displaced. There is a growing humanitarian crisis, and all the while these strikes are intensifying, with the Israeli military saying that they will hit Hezbollah across the country.

Footage shows level of destruction in attack on Lebanon’s Sir al-Gharbiya

Earlier, 19 people were killed in an Israeli air attack on the town of Sir al-Gharbiya in southern Lebanon.

Videos show the targeted building reduced to rubble.

Israel’s renewed forced evacuation orders part of ‘strategic objective’

The latest Israeli military forced evacuation orders, telling people living south of the Litani River all the way to the Israeli border – which at its deepest point is approximately 25km (15.5 miles) away – to leave their homes and empty the area.

So, it seems that there are also strategic objectives here, and this is why we are seeing all these intense Israeli air strikes.

At the same time, we are getting reports from sources in the Lebanese army saying that there is Israeli troop movement along the border, with Israeli troops advancing into some villages along the border.

We know that Hezbollah is in that area. They have carried out attacks against these advancing forces, the Israeli military acknowledging casualties among its ranks. But it’s not clear how far the Israeli military wants to go.

All this pressure continues as the warring sides hold on to their hardened positions, with Israel demanding that Hezbollah disarm and surrender, and it is refusing to do so.

At least 394, including 83 children, killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon: Health Ministry

The Lebanese Health Ministry updates the casualties in Israeli attacks on the country.

It said the number of people killed has risen to at least 394, including 83 children.

At least 1,130 others have been wounded, it added.

Israeli army says soldier killed in southern Lebanon

The Israeli army has announced the killing of an Israeli soldier in southern Lebanon.

The military identified the man as Maher Khatar, 38, from Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. He was part of the combat engineering corps, it added.

Two Israeli soldiers killed in southern Lebanon: Army

The ⁠Israeli military says ⁠two of its soldiers have been killed in southern Lebanon – the first ‌fatalities among its troops since Israel-Hezbollah clashes resumed last week as Israeli intensified air strikes.

The ⁠army did not immediately ⁠provide further details on the circumstances of the incident.

Fighting continues along the ⁠Israel-Lebanon frontier amid ⁠heightened tensions between Israel and Hezbollah following the US-Israeli attack on Iran.

Hezbollah claims further attacks on Haifa naval base

Hezbollah said it carried out several attacks on Israeli military sites and northern cities today, according to statements issued by the group.

In one statement, the Lebanese group said it fired a rocket barrage at the Misgav base in northern Israel, which it described as a logistics facility. The group said the attack was in response to what it called Israeli strikes on dozens of Lebanese towns and cities, including Beirut’s southern suburbs.

In a separate statement, Hezbollah said its fighters launched “sophisticated missiles” at the Haifa naval base. This comes after it also claimed to attack the same target yesterday.

Earlier, the group said it carried out two drone attacks on the northern Israeli city of Nahariya, describing the strikes as part of a previously issued warning to the city.

Lebanese government calls on Hezbollah to ‘surrender’ weapons

Lebanon’s foreign minister has condemned Iranian attacks on several Arab countries and said Hezbollah’s military actions do not represent the Lebanese state.

In a post on X summarizing remarks made during an Arab League meeting, Foreign Minister Youssef Raji said Lebanon “strongly condemns” Iranian strikes on Gulf Arab states as well as Jordan and Iraq.

Addressing Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon, he said Hezbollah has disregarded Lebanon’s national interests, accusing the group of acting independently of the state.

Raji reiterated calls for Hezbollah to surrender its weapons immediately.

He made the comments after the Lebanese army withdrew from some of its positions along the southern border with Israel after Israel invaded the country this past week.

Israel strikes Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon

Israeli aircraft have attacked a Palestinian refugee camp near the southern Lebanese city of Sidon.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported “enemy warplanes launched two raids on the Ein el-Hilweh camp in Sidon.” It’s unclear if there are any casualties.

Ein el-Hilweh is the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon. It is located on the outskirts of Sidon and is home to tens of thousands of residents already displaced by Israel.

Israeli air strikes kill 6 people in southern Lebanon

The Israeli army has killed six people in an attack on a house and car repair shop in southern Lebanon’s Nabatieh governorate.

The strikes “completely” destroyed the buildings in the town of Doueir and killed five members of the same family and one of their acquaintances, the National News Agency (NNA) reported.

The civil defence agency and Red Cross teams are working to recover the bodies and transport them to local morgues, it said.

Israeli air attacks reported across southern Lebanon

Israeli air raids have targeted several areas in southern Lebanon.

The strikes hit the towns of Biriqah and Toul as well as the Kfar Jouz area.

There was no immediate information on casualties or damage.

Israel launched more than 100 strikes in Lebanon over past day

The Israeli military has pummeled Lebanon with more than 100 aerial strikes over the past day.

In a statement, the army said it hit Hezbollah weapons storage facilities, “dozens” of military sites, a command centre and a training compound.

One attack in the eastern Bekaa Valley area killed Mustafa Ahmad al-Zein, who the army said was a Hezbollah operative.

Hezbollah claims rocket attack on Israeli logistics base

In a statement, Hezbollah said its fighters targeted the Misgav logistics base at 1:35pm local time (11:35 GMT) today. It remains unclear if there were any casualties.

The group said the attack came after what it described as Israeli strikes on dozens of Lebanese towns and cities, including Beirut’s southern suburbs.

At least 517,000 Lebanese displaced after week of Israel attacks

Lebanon says over a half-million people have been displaced in the week of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

The actual number is likely higher. Lebanon’s count of 517,000 refers to those who registered on the government’s online portal.

The cash-strapped government has struggled to accommodate the large number of people who have fled their homes in large parts of southern and eastern Lebanon.

Israel over the past week has called on residents in dozens of villages across southern Lebanon and the entirety of Beirut’s southern suburbs to evacuate as the fighting intensifies.

Israel kills three alleged IRGC Quds Force commanders

The Israeli military says it killed five people at a hotel in Beirut, allegedly including three commanders from the elite Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Earlier, the Lebanese Health Ministry said an Israeli air raid hit Beirut’s city centre and “a hotel room” in Raouche, a popular tourist destination.

Four people were initially reported dead, with 10 more wounded, the ministry said.

The Israeli military has released the names of five people killed in the attack: Quds commanders Majid Hassini, Ali Reza Bi-Azar, and Ahmad Rasouli, as well as Hossein Ahmadlou and Abu Mohammad Ali, who the army claimed were an intelligence operative and Hezbollah representative in the Palestine Corps, respectively.

It said the killings are “a significant and necessary blow to the Iranian presence in Lebanon and to the Hezbollah terrorist organization”.

Israel’s attack on Iran could ‘continue for a long time’: Spokesman

An Israeli army spokesman says Israel will continue carrying out strikes against Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) members and that the current US-Israel operations could continue “for a long time”.

Effie Defrin described Israel’s early morning attack on a Beirut hotel as targeting the IRGC “precisely in their hideouts”. The army warned families of IRGC members to leave Lebanon, he added.

“These attacks are going to be the same for every individual and personnel of the IRGC,” Defrin said. “They have no place to hide in Iran, Lebanon, or anywhere.”

He also claimed that Israeli forces destroyed Iran’s military headquarters “completely” and hit fuel storage facilities near Tehran.

The ongoing attack is a “multi-front war”, the spokesman added.

“This operation might continue for a long time.”

Hezbollah claims second missile strike on Kiryat Shmona

Lebanon’s Hezbollah group says it carried out a second missile strike on the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona.

In a statement, Hezbollah said its fighters targeted the town at 5:55pm local time (15:55 GMT). The attack came in response to Israeli strikes on Lebanese cities and towns, including Beirut’s southern suburbs.

The group said the strike followed a warning it previously issued to the town. No immediate reports of casualties or damage were available.

More Israeli air raids in southern Lebanon’s Nabatieh district

Israeli air strikes have hit several towns in southern Lebanon. Attacks targeted the towns of Zebdin and Zefta in the Nabatieh district. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

Israel army chief calls for ‘patience’; says war could last ‘much longer’

Israel’s military chief has warned that the state of emergency in the country could last “much longer” as war racks the Middle East.

“Israel has been under a state of emergency for two years. We must expect it to take much longer; patience is required,” Lieutenant-General Eyal Zamir said in a video released by the military.

He said Hezbollah would “continue to pay a heavy price” for attacking Israel.

“Overnight, we acted against Iranian forces of the Quds Force in Lebanon in Beirut and hit them. I tell you that there is no safe place for the arms of Iranian evil, anywhere in the Middle East, not in Beirut and not anywhere else,” said Zamir.

Two Israeli soldiers were killed earlier in Hezbollah attacks.

“We experienced quite a bit of fire toward the northern communities, and there was also an incident during the night,” Zamir added, referring to the soldiers’ deaths.