Lebanon, Gaza live: Hezbollah targets Mossad HQ near Tel Aviv

Protesters in some US cities demonstrated on Tuesday against American military support for Israel as risks have risen of a full-fledged conflict in the Middle East, with anti-war activists demanding an arms embargo against the US ally.

Dozens of protesters gathered in Herald Square in New York City on Tuesday evening and carried banners that read "Hands off Lebanon now" and "no US-Israeli war on Lebanon," according to the ANSWER coalition group, which stands for "Act Now to Stop War and End Racism."

Protesters chanted "Hands off the Middle East," "Free Palestine" and "Biden, Harris, Trump and Bibi; none are welcome in our city," referring to US President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Hundreds of protestors took to the streets in Seattle, Washington, to demand an end to the Israeli genocide in Gaza and support Lebanon. 🇵🇸🇱🇧 pic.twitter.com/VhpeeWiZUT

— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) September 25, 2024

(Reuters)

The foreign ministers of Egypt, Iraq and Jordan condemned Israel's "aggression" against Lebanon Wednesday, warning that it is "pushing the region towards all-out war".

The ministers said that stopping the "dangerous escalation under way in the region... begins by halting Israel's aggression in Gaza", in a joint statement issued after a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Lebanon said three people were killed after Israel struck a village north of Beirut Wednesday, hit for the first time in nearly a year of clashes between Hezbollah and Israel.

The "Israeli enemy strike on the village of Maaysra in the Keserwan district killed three people and injured nine," Lebanon's health ministry said. A Lebanese security source had earlier told AFP the strike hit a house.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Wednesday that at least 41,495 people have been killed in Israel's war on Gaza, now almost in its 12th month.

The toll includes 28 deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to the ministry, which said 96,006 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip.

The Kremlin on Wednesday urged Russian nationals to leave Lebanon as soon as possible for their own safety on commercial flights.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made the statement on a daily conference call with reporters after warning a day earlier that Israeli strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon had the potential to destabilise the Middle East and widen the conflict there.

(Reuters)

Pope Francis on Wednesday slammed the "terrible escalation" of the conflict in Lebanon as "unacceptable", after Israeli bombings in the south of the country killed hundreds of people.

"I am saddened by the news coming out of Lebanon... but I hope that the international community will make every effort to stop this terrible escalation. This is unacceptable, I express my closeness to the Lebanese people, who have already suffered too much in the recent past," Francis said.

Norway's security police (PST) have begun a preliminary investigation into reports that a Norwegian-owned company was linked to the sale of pagers to Lebanese militant group Hezbollah that exploded last week, a police lawyer told Reuters.

Over a two-day period last week, thousands of pagers, as well as walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah operatives, blew up in Lebanon, killing at least 39 people and wounding thousands. The attacks were widely believed to have been carried out by Israel, which has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement.

"PST has initiated a preliminary investigation to determine whether there are reasons for starting a (full) investigation on the basis of allegations in the media that a Norwegian-owned company may have been involved in the dissemination of pagers to Hezbollah," PST lawyer Haris Hrenovica said in a text message to Reuters.

(Reuters) 

The Israeli military said it was carrying out "extensive" air strikes in south Lebanon and the eastern Beqaa Valley after Hezbollah fired a ballistic missile that reached the Israeli city of Tel Aviv.

"The IDF (Israeli military) is currently conducting extensive strikes in southern Lebanon and the Beqaa area. Details to follow," the military said in a statement.

The Israeli military said on Wednesday its fighter jets intercepted an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that crossed from Syria.

"The UAV was intercepted ... south of the Sea of Galilee. No damage or injuries were reported," it said. 

(Reuters)

The Israeli military said on Wednesday that for the "first time ever" a missile fired by Hezbollah reached the Tel Aviv area and was intercepted by Israel's defence system.

"It is the first time ever a Hezbollah missile reached Tel Aviv area. It was intercepted by IDF (Israeli military)," an army spokesman told AFP.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has delayed his departure for the UN General Assembly in New York, his office said Wednesday, as the army pounds Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

"Prime Minister Netanyahu will leave for his speech at the UN tomorrow (Thursday), instead of tonight, and will return on Saturday night," his office said. "During the day, the prime minister will hold consultations to discuss the continuation of the attacks in Lebanon."

Israel carried out airstrikes on south and east Lebanon for a third day Wednesday, Lebanese official media reported.

"Since 5:00 am (0200 GMT) enemy warplanes have launched strikes" on several areas of southern Lebanon, the official National News Agency said, adding that "the air aggression continued overnight" on other parts of the south, reporting unspecified casualties.

It also reported that "enemy warplanes and drones" targeted multiple locations in the Baalbek area in eastern Lebanon's Bekaa Valley after midnight, also reporting casualties there.

Hezbollah and its arch-foe Israel have been exchanging near-daily cross-border fire since 7 October, with the Lebanese group saying it is acting in support of Palestinian ally Hamas.

But the violence has spiralled in recent days, and on Monday, Israel launched devastating strikes that resulted in the deadliest single-day toll since the end of Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.

Warning sirens sounded in Israel's economic capital, Tel Aviv, on Wednesday as air defence systems intercepted a single surface-to-surface missile after it was detected crossing from Lebanon, the Israeli military said.

There were no reports of damage or casualties, and the military said there was no change to civil defence instructions for central Israel.

The warning sirens also sounded in other areas of central Israel, including Netanya.

(Reuters) 

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shiaa al-Sudani has ordered the launch of air and land bridges to send humanitarian and medical aid to Lebanon.

Sudani also ordered the facilitation of fuel delivery to operate the power stations needed by Lebanese hospitals and service institutions, in addition to receiving the wounded Lebanese people in Iraqi hospitals.

The prime minister called for holding an emergency summit for leaders of the Muslim countries who are present in New York to attend the UN General Assembly session, describing the Israeli strikes as "terrorist attacks and crimes committed by Zionist criminality".

Sudani also ordered the extension of entry visas for Lebanese citizens currently visiting Iraq by 30 days, the continuation of granting visas for Lebanese arriving at the country's border crossings, and the exempting of the Lebanese who violate residency conditions from penalties stipulated in the law.

The decisions came shortly after Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's highest Shia authority, called on Iraqis to contribute to alleviating the suffering of the Lebanese people and securing their humanitarian needs.

Hezbollah has warned residents in the country's eastern Bekaa Valley region against using their phones to scan a QR code which appeared on leaflets dropped by the Israeli army urging evacuations of certain areas.

The group said in a statement that using the barcode could lead to data leaks from any device.

"Please do not open or circulate the barcode. Rather you must destroy it immediately because it is very dangerous and withdraws all the information you store. It is a harmful code for your safety. Please be careful and cautious," the statement said.

Israeli forces have raided Hebron in the occupied West Bank and arrested six Palestinians, security sources told the Palestinian Wafa news agency.

Israeli forces also arrested one man from Idhna, west of Hebron.

Earlier, Israeli forces stormed the Fawwar refugee camp south of Hebron, raiding a number of Palestinian neighbourhoods and homes.

Qatar's Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has criticised Israel's "barbaric" and "heinous" aggression in the Gaza Strip and its intensified strikes in Lebanon.

"This is not a war within the international relations' well-known and common concept of war, but rather it is a crime of genocide by means of the most sophisticated weapons against people besieged in a detention camp where there is no escape from the barrage of aerial bombing," he said during his address to the 79th UN General Assembly in New York.

The Qatari leader also criticised Israel for over-committing "a major crime" in Lebanon, urging the need to "avert an all-out regional war".

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI) group said it had carried out an attack with an al-Arqab developed cruise missile on what it described as "a vital target" in northern Israel.

The group said in a Telegram statement that the attack came "in support of our people in Palestine and in response to the massacres committed by the usurping entity against civilians, including children, women and the elderly".

The IRI also claimed two other drone attacks, one on a "military target" in northern Israel and another on "a target" near the Jordan Valley.

The Israeli army posted on X that "following the alerts activated in the Araba area, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was detected crossing from the east, and a fall was identified in the area", adding that there were "no casualties".

Since the Israeli army intensified its targeted strikes in Beirut and southern Lebanon, the IRI has increased its attacks on different parts of Israel.

Hamas has sent a letter to the United Nations urging its secretary-general to take direct action to immediately stop "the aggression and war of genocide in the Gaza Strip and the flagrant violations in the West Bank and Jerusalem".

"We call upon you to intensify relief efforts for our steadfast people in the Gaza Strip by opening the crossings and directing urgent aid of food, medicine, clothing and shelter supplies," Hamas said in a statement on its website on Tuesday.

The group held the Israeli government and its supporters, as well as the US, responsible for the failure of the ceasefire talks. 

It noted its previously announced position of not going to further rounds of negotiations and refusing to discuss new proposals that would provide "cover for the occupation's aggression and give it more time to continue its war of genocide against our people".

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan and his Lebanese counterpart Abdallah Bou Habib have held a meeting on the ongoing military escalation between Israel and Hezbollah.

The meeting, which took place on the sidelines of UN General Assembly meetings in New York, discussed the impact of the current developments on security and stability in Lebanon and the Middle East region.

The two officials stressed the need for Lebanon's stability and sovereignty to be "respected" in accordance with international law.