Israel strikes kill dozens in Lebanon's Sidon, Gaza's al-Shati camp

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Israel's chief of defense staff said on Sunday that the strikes on Iran used "only a portion of our capabilities", in a veiled threat to Tehran following Friday night's attack.

Herzi Halevi claimed that the strikes struck Iran's "strategic systems which carries great importance" and said that Israel was prepared for "all scenarios".

Halevi was speaking on Saturday during a visit to the Kirya military headquarters, the army said.

The US military base at al-Tanf on the Syria-Iraq-Jordan border was reportedly hit by a drone strike on Sunday night, according to local reports.

Pro-Iran outlet Al Mayadeen reported that there were attacks at al-Tanf base as well as on the US base at al-Omar east of Deir ez-Zor in Syria.

It is not the first time that al-Tanf has been struck since the outbreak of war in Gaza in October 2023. The attack is likely to have been conducted by Iran-backed militias in the region.

The Islamic Resistance groups in Iraq had threatened to attack American military bases in the region if Israel used Iraqi airspace to conduct its strikes on Iran on Friday.

The Lebanese health ministry said that at least 21 people were killed on Sunday in Israeli strikes on three different areas in southern Lebanon.

Nine people were killed and 38 wounded in a strike on Haret Saida, near the port city of Sidon, the ministry said, with at least seven others including a nurse and three rescuers killed in the southern village of Ain Baal and five in Burj al-Shemali.

The Israeli strike which hit a suburb of the southern Lebanese city of Sidon on Sunday killed nine people and wounded 38 others, the Lebanese health ministry said in an updated toll.

Three people are in a critical condition, the ministry added.

Lebanon's Hezbollah group said on Sunday it targeted multiple sites in Israel with drones and missiles.

The group said it targeted the settlements of Zariit and Shomera with two "suicide drones". It also said it fired rockets at Abel al-Qamh barracks with a missile salvo.

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced Sunday a proposal for a two-day truce in the Israel-Hamas war that would include a hostage release and could pave the way for a "complete ceasefire".

Sisi, whose government has been involved in mediation efforts to end the Gaza war, proposed a "two-day ceasefire" during which "four hostages would be exchanged for some prisoners in Israeli jails", followed by more negotiations within 10 days aiming to secure "a complete ceasefire and the entry of aid" into the Gaza Strip, the president told a news conference in Cairo alongside his visiting Algerian counterpart.

Speaking in Cairo, Sisi said that "our brothers in the (Gaza) Strip face a very harsh siege" that has put them "on the brink of famine".

"It is very important that aid enters as soon as possible" to alleviate the dire humanitarian needs in Gaza, Sisi added.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday he had "received indications" hours before Israel launched an attack on military sites.

"We had received indications since the evening about the possibility of an attack that night," Araghchi told reporters without specifying the nature of the indications.

On Saturday, Israel carried out air strikes on military sites in Iran in response to Tehran's October 1 attack, itself retaliation for the killing of Iran-backed militant leaders and a Revolutionary Guards commander.

Araghchi said the "necessary measures" were taken when the attack unfolded, adding that he had been in contact with military officials and that "messages were also exchanged with different parties" whom he did not name.

The foreign minister emphasised in his remarks that the Islamic republic has the "right to respond

Lebanon's Ministry of Public Health have released their daily update on the number of dead and wounded from Israeli strikes.

19 people were killed and 108 wounded in attacks on Saturday, the report said. It included casualties in the south governorate, Nabatieh and Baalbek-Hermel region.

The total number of dead since last October stands at 2,672 and the number wounded at 12,468.

The Lebanese health ministry said an Israeli strike on Sunday hit a facility in southern Lebanon, killing three rescuers affiliated with the Hezbollah-allied Amal movement.

"The Israeli enemy attack on a centre of the Risala Scouts association in Ain Baal town killed three rescuers," a ministry statement said, referring to the Amal-affiliated rescue group.

Britain's foreign minister David Lammy said he had spoken to his Israeli and Iranian counterparts in separate calls on Sunday seeking to avoid escalation into a "catastrophic" regional war after Israel struck Iranian military sites.

"Today I held important calls with Israeli FM (Israel Katz) and Iranian FM (Abbas Araghchi). The UK continues to press for de-escalation and an end to the conflicts in Lebanon and Gaza," Lammy said in a statement after a Israeli air attack early on Saturday against Iranian targets.

"A regional war would be catastrophic and is in no one's interests," he said.

(Reuters)

Three people have been killed in an Israeli strike that targeted a new centre for the Resala Society-Civil Defence in the town of Ain Baal, in Lebanon, the Lebanon’s National News Agency said.

US Vice President Kamala Harris said on Sunday she was not concerned about talks between former President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and reiterated her positions on the conflict in the Middle East.

Democratic presidential candidate Harris faces Republican Trump in what polls show to be a tight race for the November 5 US elections.

"No," Harris said when asked if she felt that talks between Trump and Netanyahu could undermine what the current US government is trying to achieve.

President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday that Iran did not seek war with Israel but was ready to deliver "an appropriate response" to strikes this week on Iranian military sites.

"We do not seek war but we will defend the rights of our nation and country," Pezeshkian told a cabinet meeting, adding: "We will give an appropriate response to the aggression of the Zionist regime."

 Iran is not looking for war but will give an "appropriate response" to Israel's recent attack, President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday according to state media

Egypt has proposed a two-day ceasefire in Gaza which would entail an exchange of four Israeli hostages for some Palestinian prisoners, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Sunday.

Speaking alongside Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune during a press conference in Cairo, Sisi also said that talks should resume within 10 days of implementing the temporary ceasefire in efforts to reach a permanent one.

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Monday at Iran's request following Israel's deadly missile strikes in retaliation for an October 1 attack by Tehran.

The Swiss presidency of the UNSC said Sunday that the meeting would take place following the request by Iran, supported by Algeria, China and Russia.

The Israeli military on Sunday said five soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon, bringing to 37 the death toll for soldiers fighting there since the start of ground operations on September 30.

The soldiers "fell during combat in southern Lebanon," the army said in a statement, adding that they were killed on Saturday.

At least nine Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli strike on a UN-run shelter in Gaza City's al-Shati camp, including three journalists.

The strike hit the Asma School, which is sheltering thousands of those displaced by Israel's military offensive.

The United Nations Security Council is expected to meet on Monday to discuss Israel's attack on Iran, diplomats said on Sunday.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called on the Security Council to meet over the attack and diplomats said the council was likely to discuss the situation on Monday.

“Israeli regime's actions constitute a grave threat to international peace and security and further destabilize an already fragile region," Araghchi said in a letter to the 15-member council on Saturday.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran, in alignment with the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and under international law, reserves its inherent right to legal and legitimate response to these criminal attacks at the appropriate time,” he wrote.

A man died of his wounds after a truck hit a bus stop in the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Hasharon, according to medics quoted by Israeli media and AFP.

Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Medical Center announced the death hours after the incident, which injured dozens of people.

Screaming relatives of Hamas attack victims interrupted a speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday during October 7 commemorations, in accordance with the Hebrew calendar,

Netanyahu stood motionless at a lectern during the ceremony in Jerusalem as audience members in the crowd shouted, interrupting him for more than a minute, according to a live broadcast of the speech.

One of the protesters repeatedly shouted, "My father was killed".

Public and diplomatic pressure has been on Netanyahu's administration to do more to strike a deal for securing the release of captives still held in Gaza.

Lebanon's health ministry has now confirmed that at least eight people were killed and 25 others wounded Sunday in an Israeli strike near the southern city of Sidon.

This is the second time the death toll has been updated, after initial reports of two and five casualties.

The strike hit a densely-populated area in a Sidon suburb that saw an influx of families displaced from areas further south.

It was the first strike there since the Israel-Hezbollah war erupted last month.

"The Israeli enemy's raid on Haret Saida resulted in a... toll of eight killed," the health ministry said, revising an earlier toll of two dead.

The official National News Agency said a child was among the victims.

UN chief Antonio Guterres said Sunday he was "shocked by harrowing levels of death, injury and destruction" in north Gaza, where Israeli forces are carrying out attacks they say aim to prevent Hamas regrouping.

"The plight of Palestinian civilians trapped in North Gaza is unbearable," Guterres's spokesman said.

"The Secretary-General is shocked by the harrowing levels of death, injury and destruction in the north, with civilians trapped under rubble, the sick and wounded going without life-saving health care, and families lacking food and shelter."

Iran on Sunday called for an urgent United Nations Security Council meeting to condemn the recent Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi sent a letter to the UN chief and the head of the Council "demanding an urgent meeting of the Security Council to take a decisive position in condemning this aggression", a foreign ministry statement said, referring to the Israeli strikes on Saturday.

Five people have now been confirmed killed and 13 wounded in an Israeli strike on the coastal city in southern Lebanon, according to the health ministry.

The ministry said earlier that two had been killed and 11 injured in the attack.

Israeli forces have detained at least 12 Palestinians from the West Bank during the last 24 hours, according to a joint statement by the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Society.

The detentions occurred across various governorates, including Hebron, Ramallah, and Jenin, amid a series of raids carried out by the Israeli army, amid intensified violence in the Palestinian territories.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant briefed US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin on the success of Israel's strikes on Iran and discussed "strategic opportunities" that may have arisen, Gallant's office said on Sunday.

"Gallant discussed initial assessments regarding the success of the strikes against missile manufacturing facilities, surface-to-air missile arrays and Iranian aerial capabilities," it said.

"Minister Gallant also discussed the strategic opportunities that have risen as a result of operational achievements, in both the northern and southern arenas," the statement said, referring to fighting in Lebanon and Gaza.

Lebanon says two killed, 11 wounded by Israel strike near coastal city of Sidon.

Hezbollah said it fired rockets at a military base in northern Israel on Sunday, a day after it declared several areas in the region a "legitimate target" due to the presence of Israeli troops.

The group said it targeted a "military industries base north of Haifa... with a large rocket salvo", after it issued an evacuation warning on Saturday for large swathes of northern Israel.

The directors of the CIA and Israel's Mossad will meet Qatar's prime minister in Doha on Sunday to begin negotiations for a new short term Gaza ceasefire deal and the release of some hostages in exchange for Israel’s release of Palestinian prisoners, an official briefed on the talks told Reuters.

The talks aim to get Israel and Hamas to agree to a ceasefire in Gaza that would last less than a month, with the hope that it would lead to a more permanent agreement, the official said.

The details of which or how many hostages and prisoners would be released as part of the deal is not yet clear, the official said.

The Israeli military urged residents of 14 villages in southern Lebanon on Sunday to evacuate immediately and move north of the Awali river. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel's air attack on Iran was "precise and powerful" and achieved all its objectives.

"We promised we would respond to the Iranian attack and on Saturday we struck. The attack in Iran was precise and powerful, achieving all of its objectives," Netanyahu said in a speech on Sunday.

At least three people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Zawtar Al Sharkiya in southern Lebanon, the country's health ministry said on Sunday, adding that an airstrike on Marjayoun the previous day resulted in five fatalities and one injury.

The Israeli military on Sunday said four soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon, bringing to 36 the total number of Israeli soldiers killed since the start of ground operations on September 30.

The soldiers "fell during combat in southern Lebanon," the army said in a statement, adding that they were killed on Saturday.

Early on Sunday, at least two Palestinians were killed in Israeli shelling in Tel al-Zaatar east of the Jabalia camp , also in northern Gaza, Al Jazeera said.

Multiple people were injured on Sunday when a truck struck a bus stop at a major intersection in central Israel, Israeli police said.

"Currently, the circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation," the police said in a statement.

Israeli media said at least 50 people were injured in the incident.

Lebanon's state news agency early on Sunday reported an Israeli raid on southern Beirut, after Israel's army issued a fresh evacuation call.

The official National News Agency said shortly after midnight that Israel had "targeted the southern suburbs of Beirut".

The Israeli army had earlier asked residents of two neighbourhoods in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital to evacuate their homes.

"You are located near Hezbollah facilities and interests, against which the IDF will operate in the near future," military spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on social media platform X, using an acronym for the Israeli army.

The evacuation call included maps showing buildings that would be targeted in Burj al-Barajneh and Hadath.

At least 40 Palestinians were killed and 80 others injured in Israeli air strikes on several houses in northern Gaza's Beit Lahiya on Saturday, official Palestinian news agency Wafa said on Sunday, citing medical sources.

At least five homes were targeted in the strike, with some belonging to the Abu Shdaq, Al-Masri, and Salman families, Wafa said.

Iranian officials should determine how best to demonstrate Iran's power to Israel after the Israeli attack on Iran two nights ago, Iran's official IRNA news agency cited the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as saying on Sunday.

"The evil committed by the Zionist regime (Israel) two nights ago should neither be downplayed nor exaggerated", IRNA cited Khamenei as saying.

Scores of Israeli jets completed three waves of strikes before dawn against missile factories and other sites near Tehran and in western Iran, Israel's military said.

Khamenei said Iran's power should be demonstrated to Israel, adding that the way to do so should be "determined by the officials and that which is in the best interest of the people and the country should take place".