Fears mount of Lebanon invasion, as Israeli tanks mass on border

The live blog has now ended and will be back tomorrow at 9am BST. You can read The New Arab's coverage of the Israel-Lebanon conflict here.

The United States has observed positioning of Israeli troops that suggests that a ground incursion into Lebanon could be imminent, a U.S. official told Reuters on Monday.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, declined to offer further details on the posture of Israeli forces and declined further comment. 

The Israeli military said on Monday that it destroyed a warehouse of surface-to-air missiles located about 1.5 km from Lebanon's international airport.

(Reuters)

Yemen's Houthis said on Monday that they will escalate military operations against Israel in response to its attacks on the country, a day after an Israeli attack against Houthi targets which the Yemeni group's spokesperson said left five killed and 57 injured.

(Reuters)

U.S. President Joe Biden called for a ceasefire on Monday when asked about reports that Israel is preparing for a limited ground invasion of Lebanon in its fight against Hezbollah militants.

Biden, asked if he was comfortable with Israel's plan, said, "I'm comfortable with them stopping."

(Reuters)

Hezbollah on Monday said in a statement it had attacked Israel using a "Nour Missile", which sources familiar with Hezbollah say is a ballistic missile.

(Reuters)

The next phase of the war along the southern border of Lebanon is set to begin shortly, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Monday, as at least two US newspapers reported that special forces may have already made short incursions.

"The next stage in the war against Hezbollah will begin soon," Gallant told a meeting of local council heads in northern Israel, according to a statement from his office. He said the next phase would contribute to achieving the war aim of returning residents evacuated from the area to their homes.

(Reuters)

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday that he had spoken to his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu about recent developments in West Asia and highlighted the need for de-escalation.

"Terrorism has no place in our world. It is crucial to prevent regional escalation and ensure the safe release of all hostages," Modi posted on X. 

(Reuters)

French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noel Barrot again urged Israel on Monday not to undertake any ground invasion of Lebanon, adding France will step up its support for the Lebanese army.

"I (...) urge Israel to refrain from any ground incursion and to cease fire. I call on Hezbollah to do the same and to refrain from any action likely to lead to regional destabilisation," Barrot told reporters while visiting Lebanon.

(Reuters)

Israel is planning a limited ground operation in Lebanon that may start imminently, Israel told the United States, the Washington Post reports citing an unidentified US official.

The operation would be smaller than Israel's 2006 war against Hezbollah and focus on security for border communities, the official said.

(Reuters) 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Monday in comments directed at Iran that there was nowhere in the Middle East beyond Israel's reach, two days after Israel killed the leader of Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

The Israeli leader was speaking in English in a three-minute video clip released by his office in which he said he was addressing the Iranian people.

"There is nowhere in the Middle East Israel cannot reach. There is nowhere we will not go to protect our people and protect our country," Netanyahu said.

The world is safer after Israel's killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, the top US diplomat said Monday, describing the Iran-backed Lebanese group's leader as a "brutal terrorist."

"The region, the world are safer without him," Antony Blinken said, even as he insisted that "diplomacy remains the best and only path to achieving greater stability in the Middle East" and vowed the United States would continue working "urgently" to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza.

 Germany has evacuated some non-essential staff, families of embassy workers and German nationals who are medically vulnerable out of Lebanon and will continue to support others trying to leave the country, a statement said on Monday.

The German foreign ministry raised its crisis level for missions in Beirut, Ramallah and Tel Aviv again at the weekend, though the embassies there remain operational.

There are currently 1,800 registered German citizens in Lebanon, a spokesperson for the German foreign ministry said on Monday.

The British NGO Mines Advisory Group (MAG), which operates in Lebanon, has launched a campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of unexploded ordnance.

"We know from our experience globally that a significant proportion of the ordnance that has hit Lebanon will have failed to explode and will be lodged in the rubble, buried underground or simply lying on the surface," said MAG CEO Darren Cormack.

“This poses a severe risk to the civilian population, may cost lives and will hamper reconstruction efforts and any return to normality when the conflict abates. Parts of Lebanon have now endured almost a year of aerial bombardments but the latest escalation obviously poses additional and acute risks to communities,” he added.

The world is safer after Israel's killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, the top US diplomat said Monday, describing the Iran-backed Lebanese group's leader as a "brutal terrorist."

"The region, the world are safer without him," Antony Blinken said, even as he insisted that "diplomacy remains the best and only path to achieving greater stability in the Middle East" and vowed the United States would continue working "urgently" to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported that six paramedics were killed and four others wounded in an Israeli attack on a civil defense center in Sahmar, western Bekaa.

"The Ministry of Public Health mourns the brave martyrs and salutes the courage of all Lebanese paramedics who did not hesitate to perform their humanitarian duty despite the threats, intimidation, and terror they were subjected to in order to hinder them from their first aid mission," the ministry said on X.

Additionally, on Sunday, the ministry confirmed that 14 paramedics had been killed in Lebanon over a span of two days.

Lebanese authorities on Monday urged the families of people who went missing in Israeli strikes to conduct DNA tests at specialised centres to identify the remains of loved ones.

"To help families of those who went missing following the Israeli aggression on Lebanon and to make the process of identifying victims and their remains smoother," families should head to centres affiliated with the Judicial Police "to conduct DNA tests", the police said in a statement.

A Lebanese army soldier died after sustaining injuries in an Israeli airstrike that targeted an army checkpoint in Wazzani, southern Lebanon, according to Lebanese media outlet An-Nahar.

The report was later confirmed by the Lebanese army.

The Kremlin on Monday condemned the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli air attack last week.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Nasrallah's death had led to a serious destabilisation in the broader region. He said the bombing of residential areas in Lebanon had caused heavy casualties and would create a humanitarian catastrophe akin to the one in Gaza. 

(Reuters)

Israel has been conducting special forces raids into Lebanon as part of intelligence gathering amid military preparations for a ground invasion, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. 

According to the WSJ, the raids included entering Hezbollah tunnels located on the border and have been ongoing for months.

Britain on Monday said that all sides should seek de-escalation and a ceasefire after Israel hit targets in Lebanon with airstrikes, reiterating that those involved in the conflict should step back from the brink.

A spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that Britain's support for Israel's right to self-defence was "ironclad" but that only a ceasefire could restore stability and security to the region.

(Reuters)

Lebanon said Monday that an Israeli strike a day earlier near the southern city of Sidon killed 45 people, raising an earlier toll.

In a statement, the health ministry announced "45 dead and 70 wounded in an updated toll for the Israeli enemy attack on Ain al-Delb" on Sunday, while the official National News Agency said the strike targeted a building which an AFP correspondent said had completely collapsed.

Flydubai said on Monday its Dubai-Beirut flights have been cancelled until Oct. 3 due to "ongoing developments". "We continue to monitor the situation closely and (will) amend our flight schedule accordingly," it said.

(Reuters)

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant appeared to hint on Monday at a possible ground operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon, according to reports in the Israeli media.

Gallant was cited by several news outlets as telling armoured corps troops near the Lebanese border: "Nasrallah's elimination is an important step but it is not the end - to return the resident of the north safely to their homes we will activate all our capabilities - including you."

(Reuters)

Israel's killing of Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in a powerful airstrike in Beirut constituted a use of its right to defend itself, a German foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday.

"Hezbollah is of course a terrorist organization and it was obviously a meeting of the top leadership of Hezbollah, from which one can assume, even from a distance, that they were planning their further operations," the spokesperson said.

"So in this respect, there are also reasons to believe that the right to self-defence was exercised here," he added.

Asked about the civilian deaths in the incident, the spokesperson said "every civilian victim is one civilian victim too many."

(Reuters)

Iran will not deploy forces to Lebanon or Gaza to confront Israel, its foreign ministry said on Monday, as Israeli strikes target its allies in the region.

"There is no need to send extra or volunteer forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran," said foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani, adding that Lebanon and fighters in the Palestinian territories "have the capability and strength to defend themselves against the aggression."

The Lebanese caretaker PM Najib Mikati told journalists in Beirut that the Lebanese government was committed to an immediate ceasefire and that the army was ready to deploy to the south of the country. 

He added that after a ceasefire the Lebanese parliament will hold a session to elect a new president.

More than 41,615 Palestinians have been killed and 96,359 injured in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Monday.

(Reuters)

The president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, pledged on Monday an urgent relief aid package worth $100 million to Lebanon, the state news agency WAM reported.

(Reuters)

The deputy chief of Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, is giving the first speech by Hezbollah since the assassination of Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah.

Qassem said that Israeli forces are killing Lebanese civilians and accused the US of being a partner in the war giving Israel "unlimited military support."

He also said that Hezbollah would confront an Israeli ground invasion. 

"We are quite ready if the Israelis wanted ground incursion, the resistance forces are ready for that. We are prepared and ready. Israeli enemy will not achieve its goals," Qassem said.

He also said that the organisation would pick a new leader soon.

Sounds of explosions were heard on the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus on Monday, witnesses told Reuters.

(Reuters)

The European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell is convening an extraordinary informal meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday to discuss the EU's response to the latest escalation in Lebanon, an EU spokesperson said on Monday.

(Reuters)

The deputy chief of Lebanon's armed group Hezbollah will give an address at 12 pm local time (0900 GMT), the group's media office said on Monday.

It is the first address by a Hezbollah official since the killing of the group's secretary general in an Israeli air attack on Friday. 

(Reuters)

Hamas said Monday its leader in Lebanon had been killed in an air strike in the country's south, as official media reported a strike on a Palestinian refugee camp.

"Fatah Sharif Abu al-Amine, the leader of Hamas... in Lebanon and member of the movement's leadership abroad" was killed in a strike on his "home in the Al-Bass camp in south Lebanon", a Hamas statement said. The official National News Agency reported an air strike on the camp near the southern city of Tyre.

Iran will not leave any of 'the criminal acts' of Israel unanswered, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said in a weekly news conference on Monday, referring to the killing of Hezbollah's chief and Iranian Guard deputy commander in Lebanon.

(Reuters)

Some 100,000 Lebanese and Syrian nationals have now fled to Syria from Lebanon amid Israeli airstrikes, the United Nations refugee chief said Monday.

"The number of people who have crossed into Syria from Lebanon fleeing Israeli airstrikes -- Lebanese and Syrian nationals -- has reached 100,000," Filippo Grandi said on X, adding that "the outflow continues".