Israeli strikes on Beirut kill 22, while north Gaza is beseiged

Lebanon PM demands UN resolution on ceasefire with Israel

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Friday urged the United Nations to pass a resolution calling for an "immediate" ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group.

Mikati told reporters the foreign ministry would ask the UN Security Council to issue a resolution demanding a "full and immediate ceasefire" and that his government was committed to Resolution 1701 which was adopted in 2006 and called for the Lebanese army and peacekeepers to be the only armed forces deployed in the south of the country.

Iran foreign minister reiterates Israel retaliation warning

Tehran will not hesitate to take "stronger defensive actions" if Israel retaliates for last week's missile attack by Tehran, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Friday.

Iran is "fully prepared to take stronger defensive actions, if necessary, in response to any further aggression, and will not hesitate to do so," Araqchi said in a letter to other foreign ministers, according to a ministry post on X.

Israel has repeatedly said it will respond to Iran's missile attack on Oct. 1, launched in retaliation for Israeli strikes in Lebanon and Gaza and the killing of a Hamas leader in Iran.

Araqchi said in his letter that Iran’s missile attack on Israel had been in accordance with its right to self defence under international law and followed much restraint as it sought a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has said Israel will hit Iran in a way that will be "lethal, precise and surprising".

UN chief condemns Israeli fire on peacekeeper base

UN chief Antonio Guterres on Friday condemned Israeli forces firing on a peacekeeper base in Lebanon as a breach of international humanitarian law.

"I condemn the fact that there was a shooting against a UN premise, wounding two peacekeepers, which is a violation of international humanitarian law," the UN secretary general told reporters at a summit in Laos.

Hezbollah says launched drone attack on Haifa

Lebanon's Hezbollah said it launched a drone attack Friday on a military base in north Israel's Haifa, a day after deadly strikes in Beirut and as the group battles Israeli forces on the border.

Hezbollah launched "an air attack with a group of explosive-laden drones" towards the "air defence command base" in Haifa, "responding to" Israeli attacks on "cities and villages and civilians", the Iran-backed group said in a statement.

Belgian military evacuates 100 Europeans from Lebanon

More than 100 Europeans were evacuated from Lebanon on a Belgian military plane on Thursday evening, most of them from Belgium, the Netherlands and France, the government in Brussels said.

The aircraft, which landed at Melsbroek military base near the Belgian capital was carrying "58 Belgians and dependents, 41 Dutch citizens, 11 from France and one from Luxembourg, a foreign ministry spokesman told AFP on Friday.

Over the past week nearly 150 of the 1,800 or so Belgians living in Lebanon have benefited from assistance to return to Belgium, he said.

A first group left last week on two flights arranged by the Netherlands.

It included two Belgian journalists who were attacked and injured in Beirut while covering an Israeli bombardment of the city on the night of October 2 to 3.

"All the Belgians who wanted to leave have been able to do so. We are continuing to assess the situation," the spokesman said.

Israeli attack wounds UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon

Lebanon's foreign ministry condemned an Israeli attack that it said wounded United Nations peacekeepers in the country's south, after Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported a new attack on Friday.

The ministry condemned "the targeting... carried out by the Israeli army" on the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, most recently "the bombing that targeted watchtowers and the main UNIFIL base in Ras Naqura, and on the Sri Lankan battalion's base, which led to a number of wounded", a statement said.

Lebanon's official National News Agency earlier Friday reported that "an enemy Merkava tank targeted one of the UNIFIL towers on the main road linking Tyre and Naqura... which wounded personnel from the Sri Lankan battalion."

Israeli forces fires at UNIFIL observation post in Lebanon

Israeli forces fired at an observation post belonging to the UNIFIL peacekeeping force at its main base at Naqoura in southern Lebanon on Friday, wounding two people, a UN source said.

Israeli forces also breached the perimeter of another UNIFIL position they had fired at on Thursday, the source said. 

(Reuters)

Israeli army says killed Islamic Jihad leader in West Bank

Israeli army says it killed a leader of Islamic Jihad in the occupied West Bank in a strike on Tulkarm on Thursday.

In a statement the army said it killed Muhammed Abdullah, head of Islamic Jihad in Nur Shams.

Islamic Jihad is a smaller Sunni Palestinian political and armed group operating mainly in West Bank towns of Tulkarm, Nur Shams and Jenin.

Israel has been raiding West Bank towns for months waging hours long clashes with local armed militants and causing widespread destruction.

One person killed by anti-tank fire in northern Israel

Israeli army says it struck a drone which crossed into Israeli airspace near Ashkelon in the north of the country. It did not say where the drone came from but follows a drone infiltration near Eilat, claimed by the Iraq- Islamic Resistance Groups.

Sirens have been sounding in upper Galilee in northern Israel where some rockets from Lebanon were intercepted, according to reports.

The times of Israel reported that two people were wounded by anti-tank missile fire in the Israeli town of Kibbutz Yir’on on the border with Lebanon. Yiron is opposite Maroun el Ras which has been the site of clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters.

Israeli media reported that a 27 year old Thai national was killed and one other injured by the anti-tank missile attack on Kibbutz Yir’on, citing the Magen David Adom ambulance service.

Blinken backs Lebanon asserting itself against Hezbollah

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken promised support on Friday for efforts by the Lebanese state to assert itself as Israel strikes Hezbollah militants.

"It's clear that the people of Lebanon have an interest -- a strong interest -- in the state asserting itself and taking responsibility for the country and its future," Blinken told reporters after the East Asia Summit in Laos.

EU chief says Israeli fire on UN base 'not acceptable'

EU chief Charles Michel on Friday condemned attacks on UN peace operations, after peacekeepers said Israeli forces fired on their headquarters in south Lebanon.

"An attack against a UN peace mission is not responsible, is not acceptable and that's why we call on Israel and we call on all sides to fully respect international humanitarian law," the European Council president told AFP on the sidelines of a Southeast Asian summit in Laos.