Hezbollah drone attack kills, wounds soldiers at Israeli army base

An Israeli airstrike has killed at least 20 people at a school in central Gaza, according to local hospitals.

Lebanese militant group Hezbollah threatened Israel with more attacks if its offensive in Lebanon continued, after a drone attack on a base near Israel's Haifa Sunday killed four soldiers.

The Iran-backed group "promises the enemy that what it witnessed today in southern Haifa is nothing compared to what awaits it if it decides to continue its aggression against our noble and dear people," it said.

The Israeli military said four soldiers were killed by a Hezbollah drone strike Sunday on a military base south of Haifa amid an escalating conflict with the Iran-backed group in Lebanon.

"Four IDF (army) soldiers were killed in the incident and an additional seven were severely injured," the military said in a statement.

Hezbollah said it fired missiles at a military base south of the Israeli city of Haifa Sunday, shortly after a drone attack on a training camp in the same area.

Fighters from the Iran-backed Lebanese group launched "missiles at maintenance and rehabilitation base 7200 south of Haifa", it said, after the earlier attack, which Israel said had wounded more than 60.

At least 19 Palestinians were killed after Israeli shelling hit a school in central Gaza were hundreds of families were sheltering, local media reported.

The school was in the al-Mufti area north of Nuseriat refugee camp. Emergency teams have struggled to get access to the area due to continued dangers from live fire, reports said.

At least 1.9 million people in Gaza have been displaced by Israel's war on the dense enclave which has triggered a major humanitarian crisis with the majority of the population dependent on aid handouts and living in tents.

Some 90 percent of Gaza's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed over the past 12 months.

At least 13 Palestinians were killed and several wounded in Israeli tank shelling of a school sheltering displaced families in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on Sunday, medics said. 

(Reuters)

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Sunday that any attacks against peacekeepers "may constitute a war crime," his spokesperson said after Israeli tanks burst through the gates of a peacekeeping base in southern Lebanon.

It was the latest accusation of Israeli violations and attacks against the U.N. peacekeeping mission, known as UNIFIL, in recent days.

"UNIFIL peacekeepers remain in all positions and the UN flag continues to fly," U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.

"The Secretary-General reiterates that UNIFIL personnel and its premises must never be targeted. Attacks against peacekeepers are in breach of international law, including international humanitarian law. They may constitute a war crime," he said.

(Reuters)

French President Emmanuel Macron called on Iran's leader Masoud Pezeshkian to support a "general de-escalation" in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon in a telephone conversation Sunday, his office said.

Macron stressed "the responsibility of Iran to support a general de-escalation and to use its influence in this direction with the destabilising actors that enjoy its support". Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters are fighting Israeli troops in Lebanon.

The Iranian presidential website said that in his conversation with Macron, Pezeshkian had called for an end to "crimes" in Lebanon and Gaza.

They discussed ways to secure a "ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel", a statement on the website said.

Pezeshkian "asked the French president to work together with other European countries to force the Zionist regime to stop the genocide and crimes in Gaza and Lebanon", the statement added.

Lebanon's health ministry said on Sunday that 51 people had been killed and 174 wounded in Israeli attacks on Saturday, in its latest update since the fighting began.

The casualties took place in various governorates, south Lebanon, the Bekaa valley, Baalbek and Mount Lebanon and the North, the Ministry of Public Health said.

The total number of people killed since 8 October 2023 now stands at 2,306, with a further 10,698 wounded.

The toll of casualties from a Hezbollah drone attack on an Israeli base in northern Israel has risen again to 67, Israeli media is reporting.

The Lebanese group issued a statement claiming the attack was in response to Israeli attacks against Palestinians and Lebanese.

It launched a squadron of drones against a base of Golani Brigade troops in Binyamina, just south of Haifa.

It seems the air attack evaded Israel's air defence system and did not trigger siren warnings.

Hezbollah said it targeted an Israeli military base in northern Israel on Sunday with drones which wounded some 40 Israelis, in the most devastating hit on an Israeli base since fighting broke out last year.

In a statement, the Lebanese Shia group said it launched a "squadron of drones" on a training camp of the Golani Brigade in Binyamina, south of Haifa.

The Golani Brigade is one of the unit's currently fighting with Hezbollah in southern Lebanese villages.

At least 40 people have been wounded in the attack with the toll expected to rise, Israeli media reports.

Lebanon's Hezbollah group said that its fighters "ambushed" Israeli troops on the outskirts of Mais al Jabal in southern Lebanon on Sunday evening.

In a statement, the Shia group said it attacked Israeli army with rockets and gunfire and "violent clashes" took place at point blank range.

It claimed to have killed and wounded Israeli troops.

Heavy fighting has been ongoing between Israel and Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon's southern border areas for nearly three weeks.

The number wounded by the drone attack on Binyamina in northern Israel has risen to 40, Israeli media reports. The head of Israel's ambulance service said four people were in critical condition and five more were seriously hurt.

The casualties are believed to be Israeli troops. If so, it would mark the heaviest assault on an Israeli military base since the fighting began last October.

The drone attack which hit northern Israel is a suspect launch from Hezbollah, according to reports. 

The Lebanese Shia group issued a statement saying it launched an air attack at a "gathering of Israeli enemy forces" in the Zarit barracks at around 6:50pm local time. 

The barracks are near the Lebanese-Israeli frontier which has been at the centre of heavy fighting in recent weeks.

The Israeli Army Radio, a close source to the military, says the attack is suspected to be from Hezbollah

A drone attack wounded at least 20 people in the northern Israel town of Binyamina on Sunday, N12 News television said.

The head of Israel's ambulance service said that at least five were badly hurt.

(Reuters)

The Pentagon said Sunday it will deploy a high-altitude anti-missile system and its US military crew to Israel to help the ally protect itself from potential Iranian missile attacks.

At the direction of US President Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin "authorized the deployment of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery and associated crew of US military personnel to Israel to help bolster Israel's air defenses following Iran's unprecedented attacks against Israel on April 13 and again on October 1," Pentagon press secretary Pat Ryder said in a statement.

25 Israeli soldiers were wounded in fighting against Hezbollah in south Lebanon, according to Israeli media. 

The Israeli military has yet to comment on the number.

An Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza killed five children on Sunday, according to official Palestinian news agency Wafa.

A group of children were playing near a cafe in the Al-Shati area when they were killed by a drone strike, according to Wafa, which cited local sources.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the report. 

(Reuters)

Iran is ready to respond to any Israeli action against its territory, Revolutionary Guards Aerospace Commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh said on Sunday, according to semi-official Tasnim news agency.

He made the remarks as Iran awaits what Israel has said will be retaliation for its 1 October missile strikes on Israel.

(Reuters)

Hezbollah fighters will not be allowed back into south Lebanon's border villages, which they have turned into underground military posts stocked with hundreds of weapons, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Sunday.

"We will not allow the terrorists back to these places. This is vital to ensure the safety of (Israel's) northern residents," Gallant said in a video statement from the Israel-Lebanon border. 

(Reuters)

Hezbollah said its fighters had engaged in "violent clashes" for nearly an hour on Sunday with Israeli troops at a Lebanese border village, as incursions increased two weeks into Israel's ground operation.

The "fighters attacked Israeli enemy forces in... Aita al-Shaab and violent clashes took place with machine guns, rockets, and artillery shells. The clashes are still ongoing," the group said, after earlier reporting clashes in several other villages.

UNIFIL has said that 15 peacekeepers have suffered from "skin irritation and gastrointestinal reactions" from smoke caused by Israeli shelling that struck a position 100 meters north of the UN position at Ramyah on Sunday.

Earlier on Sunday two Israeli tanks drove through the base, destroying the main gate. UNIFIL stated that it was seeking an explanation for the "shocking violations". 

UNIFIL’s mandate provides for its freedom of movement in its area of operations, and any restriction on this is a violation of resolution 1701.

We have requested an explanation from the IDF from these shocking violations.

— UNIFIL (@UNIFIL_) October 13, 2024

Lebanon's Prime Minister condemned Sunday his Israeli counterpart's call to UN chief Antonio Guterres to remove peacekeepers from the Lebanese side of the border, where clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli troops have intensified.

Lebanon "condemns (Benjamin) Netanyahu's position and the Israeli aggression against UNIFIL" peacekeepers, said Najib Mikati. "The warning that Netanyahu addressed to... Guterres demanding the removal of the UNIFIL represents a new chapter in the enemy's approach of not complying with international" norms, he added.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein on Sunday said Baghdad was against a regional war spreading to Iran, ahead of Israel's expected retaliation for the Islamic republic's recent missile attack.

"The continuation of the war and its expansion towards the Islamic Republic of Iran and (Israel's) exploitation of Iraqi airspace as a corridor is completely unacceptable and rejected," he said during a press conference with his Iranian counterpart in the Iraqi capital.

Hamas condemned Israel's military campaign in northern Gaza on Sunday, as Israeli forces focused their operations around Jabalia in the Palestinian territory.

In a statement, it condemned Israel's "criminal military campaign in northern Gaza, the tightening of the siege, the isolation of the area through intense firepower from Gaza City, and the escalation of bombings and massacres targeting unarmed civilians".

Hezbollah said its fighters had been fighting for nearly an hour with Israeli troops at a Lebanese border village, as incursions increased two weeks into Israel's ground operations.

"During an attempt by an Israeli enemy infantry force to infiltrate the village of Al-Qawzah from the southern side at 13:15 (1015 GMT)" Hezbollah fighters "clashed with them using machine guns and the clashes are still ongoing," the group said in a statement.

The Israeli military ordered residents on Sunday of 21 more Lebanese villages to evacuate to areas north of the Awali River which flows through southern Lebanon, as it intensifies its attacks in the region.

(Reuters)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the United Nations on Sunday to evacuate troops in its UNIFIL peacekeeping force from combat areas in Lebanon.

Netanyahu said the military had asked the UN to evacuate the soldiers repeatedly, adding that their presence in the area made them hostages of Hezbollah. 

(Reuters)

The Irish Foreign Minister, Micheal Martin, has called on Israel to stop its operation in northern Gaza to stop.

In a post on X, Martin said "The horrific scenes unfolding in Jabalia, and northern Gaza must stop," adding that  "an entire population is being encircled and forced out, with nowhere for them to go."

In an attached press release Martin further said that what was happening in Jabalia was a war crime, calling on the international community to "use every lever at its disposal to pressure Israel to stop this war."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the operation, saying that the army was "dismantling the Hamas strongholds" in Jabalia.

The horrific scenes unfolding in Jabalia, and northern Gaza must stop.

An entire population is being encircled and forced out, with nowhere for them to go.

My statement: pic.twitter.com/FpITcYO5P5

— Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) October 13, 2024

The deputy permanent observer of Palestine to the UN, Majed Bamya, has described Israel's actions in northern Gaza as a "genocide within the genocide" after reports that the Israeli army has isolated the areas of Beit Hanoon, Beit Lahiya and Jabalia Refugee Camp and is destroying the area.

What is happening in northern Gaza now is a genocide within the genocide

— Ambassador Majed Bamya 🇵🇸 (@majedbamya) October 13, 2024

According to Mustafa Barghouti, head of the Palestinian National Initiative, Israeli soldiers were forcing Palestinians to walk in front of army vehicles as human shields, adding that massacres of were being committed in the camp and other areas of north Gaza.

Palestinian reporter Hossam Shabat described last night in a post on X as a "very bloody night in north Gaza," adding that "I made it but hundreds didn't"

Very bloody night in north Gaza , I made it but hundreds didn’t

— حسام شبات (@HossamShabat) October 13, 2024

The Israeli military said on Sunday its troops in Lebanon had captured a Hezbollah militant, the first such announcement since it launched its invasion.

The military did not specify when he was captured, while Hezbollah did not offer an immediate comment.

Iran has "no red lines" when it comes to defending its people and interests, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said in a post on X on Sunday, as the region braces for Israel's retaliation following Iran's recent missile attack.

The US has been delivering record amount of arms to Israel. It is now also putting lives of its troops at risk by deploying them to operate US missile systems in Israel.

While we have made tremendous efforts in recent days to contain an all-out war in our region, I say it… pic.twitter.com/wX16CnhT1A

— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) October 13, 2024

(Reuters)

Gaza's Ministry of Health announced that 52 people were killed and 128 injured by Israel in the last 24 hours, raising the total death toll to 42,227 killed and 98,464 wounded.

Hezbollah said it clashed at "point-blank range" with Israeli troops at a Lebanon border village on Sunday after earlier saying they launched a rocket salvo at a base in southern Haifa.

Hezbollah fighters launched a rocket salvo on a "base in southern Haifa", the group said in a statement, later reporting they clashed with Israeli troops at the border village of Blida "with machine guns at point-blank range".

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant accused Hezbollah of using UNIFIL posts as cover after five UNIFIL soldiers were wounded by Israeli fire this week.

Gallant made the accusations in a call to US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin where he added that the incidents that saw UNIFIL peacekeepers wounded were under invesstigation.

Hezbollah said it launched rockets at Israeli forces inside Lebanese territory on Sunday, as troops conducted incursions into the country's south.

The group's fighters "targeted at 10:10 am (0710 GMT)... a gathering of Israeli enemy forces in the village of Maroun al-Ras with artillery shells," Hezbollah said in a statement.

US officials believe Israel has narrowed down targets in its response to Iran's recent attack to military and energy infrastructure, NBC reported on Saturday.

There is no indication that Israel will target nuclear facilities or carry out assassinations, the report said citing unnamed US officials, adding that Israel has not made final decisions about how and when to act.

US and Israeli officials said a response could come during the current Yom Kippur holiday, according to the report.

(Reuters)

Iran condemned Sunday what it called an "illegal and unjustified" expansion of US sanctions targeting its oil industry following Tehran's missile attack on Israel earlier this month.

In a statement, foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei defended Iran's attack on Israel and "strongly condemned" the sanctions, saying they were "illegal and unjustified."

Lebanon's Hezbollah group said it clashed twice with Israeli troops who attempted to infiltrate near a Lebanese border village on Sunday and claimed several other attacks overnight.

Hezbollah fighters detonated explosive devices at Israeli soldiers and "clashed with them as they attempted to infiltrate" twice near the Lebanese village of Ramia, the group said, reporting fighting that lasted about an hour. The group also claimed attacks on Israeli troops in Lebanon and on the Israeli side of the border.