Lebanon: Hezbollah says contact with Hashem Safieddine 'lost', strikes continue

Israel began bombing different areas across Beirut's southern suburbs Saturday night. The sounds of explosions could be heard across the city.

The below image shows smoke billowing from Amrousiyeh in the town of Choueifat.

#عاجل دخان منبعث من المكان المستهدف في #الشويفات https://t.co/9HBzSb7JNW pic.twitter.com/cBXdEpySs3

— Annahar (@Annahar) October 5, 2024

In an initial toll, Lebanese health authorities said two people were killed and 18 wounded in an Israeli strike in the coastal town of Jiyeh, 23 km south of Beirut.

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said on Saturday reports that Israeli strikes hit "health facilities and support personnel" in Lebanon were "deeply disturbing".

"All parties must comply with international humanitarian law," Lammy added in a statement on X, as at least four hospitals in Lebanon announced the suspension of works and the UNHCR chief warned about strikes hitting health care after Israel struck what it says are Hezbollah targets.

At least four hospitals have been put out of service in southern Lebanon due to Israel's offensive. In Beirut's southern suburbs, one hospital has been left partially operating.

The Israeli military has issued new warnings to anyone living in Beirut's southern suburbs to evacuate before bombing the area.

Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee shared satellite images of Burj al Barajneh, Haret Hreik and Choueifat, saying sites in these residential areas would be hit tonight.

Most people in these municipalities that make up Beirut's southern suburbs have already left the region, which has seen near-daily strikes by the Israeli air force and war ships.

Despite evacuation orders, the Israeli military still bombs targets not warned about.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday claimed the Israeli military had succeeded in destroying much of Hezbollah's arsenal and altered the course of the war against the Iran-backed group.

"We destroyed a large part of the array of missiles and rockets that Hezbollah built over the years," said Netanyahu in a televised address, adding: "We have changed the course of the war and the balance of the war."

Israel will retaliate against Iran for the missile attack launched by Tehran when the time is right, a military spokesman said on Saturday, adding that two air bases struck in the attack remained fully operational and no aircraft were damaged.

"The way in which we respond to this disgraceful attack will be in the manner, at the location and the timing which we decide, according to the political leadership's instructions," Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a broadcast statement.

Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari confirmed Saturday that two airbases were hit in Iran's missile attack on Tuesday, claiming that Israel's air force and bases remain fully operational.

The Israeli military on Saturday said its forces were on high alert ahead of the October 7 anniversary, saying militants were seeking to attack "the home front".

"This week we will mark the anniversary of the war and October 7. We are prepared with increased forces in anticipation for this day. They will try to carry out attacks on the home front," said military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari at a televised briefing.

An Israeli strike has targeted the coastal town of Jiyeh and destroyed a home there, in what reports are saying could be an assassination attempt.

Initial reports said a centre belonging to the Islamic Health Authority was hit, but the organisation denied this. A number of its paramedics have already been killed in the Israeli offensive.

الاسعافات تهرع الى المنزل المستهدف بالغارة في حي النبي يونس في الجية https://t.co/4TgUS48aDL pic.twitter.com/rSMI39hku1

— مصدر مسؤول (@fouadkhreiss) October 5, 2024

French President Emmanuel Macron expressed reservations Saturday about the decision of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to send troops on ground operations into Lebanon.

"I regret that Prime Minister Netanyahu has made another choice," said Macron, referring to his decision not to heed calls from Paris and Washington for a ceasefire.

France will host an international conference this month to help drum up humanitarian aid for Lebanon and strengthen security in the southern part of the country, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday.

"We will hold in the next few weeks a conference to provide humanitarian aid, support the international community and support the Lebanese armed forces boost security, especially in southern Lebanon," Macron said after a meeting of French speaking countries in Paris.

President Isaac Herzog said on Saturday that Iran remains an "ongoing threat" to Israel, as tensions in the region continue to escalate.

"In many senses we are still living the aftermath of October 7... It is in the ongoing threat to the Jewish State by Iran and its terror proxies, who are blinded by hatred and bent on the destruction of our one and only Jewish nation state," Herzog said in a statement.

Hezbollah said it launched rockets at a defence company in northern Israel Saturday, the latest attacks after Israel intensified its bombing campaign last week, nearly a year into cross-border clashes with the group.

The Iran-backed group said in a statement that it launched "a rocket salvo" towards a "military industries company" east of Acre.

Israel's military on Saturday said its forces killed 12 fighters in an air strike this week in the occupied West Bank, raising an earlier toll, while the Palestinian health ministry has reported 18 deaths.

The army had previously given a toll of seven killed during the strike Thursday at Tulkarem refugee camp, but added five more names to the figure, saying the group included Hamas and Islamic Jihad members that were planning an imminent attack.

"The IDF (military) and ISA (internal security) conducted a joint operation to strike terrorist operatives who were planning to carry out a terror attack against Israeli civilians in the immediate future," the military said in a statement.

The Palestinian health ministry said at least 18 people were killed during the air strike on a building in Tulkarem.

Twenty five people were killed and 127 wounded in Israeli strikes on Lebanon on Friday, the Lebanese health ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

Australia started evacuating its nationals from Lebanon via Cyprus on Saturday, in the first large-scale operation to get citizens out of the country amid an Israeli onslaught on Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Some 229 people arrived on the east Mediterranean island, which lies a 40 minute flight time from Beirut, on a commercial airline chartered by Australia. A second flight is scheduled later in the day.

More evacuation flights could be expected based on demand, Australian and Cypriot officials said.

At Cyprus's Larnaca airport, civilians of all ages transferred from the aircraft into a terminal and then escorted onto waiting coaches. Children helped themselves to red apples and water provided by Australian military staff.

"They are exhausted, exceptionally happy to be here but heartbroken because they left family behind," said Fiona McKergow, the Australian High Commissioner (Ambassador) to Cyprus.

More and more countries are using close hubs like Cyprus to assist in evacuations from Lebanon. Israel has sharply escalated attacks on Hezbollah in recent weeks, with a barrage of airstrikes and a ground operation in the south of the country, after nearly a year of lower-level cross-border conflict waged in parallel with Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza.

In the past week, Cyprus assisted evacuations by China, Greece, Portugal and Slovakia. Britain and the United States have also moved personnel to Cyprus to assist in military evacuations, if necessary.

A high-level Hezbollah source said Saturday that contact with Hashem Safieddine, widely touted as potentially the group's next leader, had been lost following Israeli strikes this week.

"Contact with Sayyed Safieddine has been lost since the violent strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs" early Friday, the source told AFP, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters and adding: "We don't know if he was at the targeted site, or who may have been there with him."

The head of the United Nations refugee agency arrived in Lebanon on Saturday on a "solidarity" visit for those affected by Israeli bombardment, decrying a "terrible crisis" that requires international support.

UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi said on social network X that "Lebanon faces a terrible crisis" as "hundreds of thousands of people are left destitute or displaced by Israeli air strikes", adding: "I have come here in solidarity with those affected, to support the humanitarian effort and to ask for more international help."

The Israeli military has reportedly destroyed 814 mosques, three churches and 19 cemeteries throughout its war in Gaza over the year, he region’s Religious Affairs Ministry said as cited by Al Jazeera.

Another 148 mosques were damaged in the attacks, it added.

The ministry estimates that the financial cost of the damage to the ministry’s properties is $350 million.

The ministry added that the Israeli army was also guilty of desecrating graves, exhuming bodies and committing acts of violence against those who died, such as stealing their remains and mutilating them. 

The Israeli military said on Saturday it had killed two members from the armed wing of Hamas operating in Lebanon.

The military named Muhammad Hussein Ali al-Mahmoud, who it said served as the group's executive authority in Lebanon, as being killed in an Israeli air strike. Said Alaa Naif Ali, a member of Hamas’ Military Wing in Lebanon, was also killed in an Israeli operation overnight on Saturday, it said.

The Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, confirmed the deaths of two of its fighters following Israeli air strikes in Lebanon, but provided different names for them: Mohammed Hussein Al-Louise and Saeed Attallah Ali.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday urged a halt to arms deliveries to Israel, which has been criticised over the conduct of its retaliatory operation in Gaza.

"I think that today, the priority is that we return to a political solution, that we stop delivering weapons to fight in Gaza," Macron told broadcaster France Inter, adding that France was not sending any arms to Israel.

China said on Saturday that it has evacuated 215 of its nationals from Lebanon, where Israel has been carrying out intense bombardments since September 23, resulting in over 1,100 deaths.

Several countries have launched operations to remove their nationals from Lebanon in the wake of the ground raids, including Russia, France, Spain, Germany and the UK.

"So far, 215 Chinese citizens have been safely evacuated from Lebanon in two batches under the organisation and arrangement of the Chinese government," Beijing's foreign ministry said in a statement given to AFP.

"The Chinese Embassy in Lebanon continues to carry out its mission in Lebanon and will continue to assist the Chinese citizens there in taking security measures," it added.

The ministry did not say where the evacuated Chinese nationals had been taken.

Iran's oil minister Mohsen Paknejad said on Saturday that he was "not worried" amid the escalating conflict in the region, the ministry's Shana news site said, after reports that Israel may strike Iran.

"I am not worried about the crises that the enemies of the revolution are creating, and this trip is considered a normal work trip," Paknejad was quoted by Shana as saying.

Paknejad's comments were made during a visit to Assaluyeh, a centre for Iranian installations exploiting the world's largest offshore gas field, which Iran shares with Qatar across the Gulf.

Israeli forces have detained over 25 Palestinians, including a child and former detainees,  in a series of raids across the occupied West Bank over the last 24 hours, according to local sources, as cited by the Palestinian Wafa agency.

The number of those detained across the West Bank since October 7 last year has exceeded 11,000, the Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) and the Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission said.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Saturday that Iran's second-ever missile attack on Israel this week was a "lesson" for Israel, his office said.

The missile attack on Tuesday evening, just days after Israel killed the leader of Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, was "a strong response and taught the Zionist entity a lesson," Assad was quoted as saying as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited Damascus.

An Israeli official told AFP on Saturday that the military is "preparing a response" to the Iranian missile barrage that targeted Israel earlier this week.

"The IDF (Israeli military) is preparing a response to the unprecedented and unlawful Iranian attack on Israeli civilians and Israel," the military official said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak publicly on the issue.

He did not elaborate on the nature or timing of the response.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz, quoting the military, reported that the military's response will be "significant".

"The IDF is preparing for a significant strike in Iran following this week's missile attack from Tehran," the newspaper reported.

"The military does not rule out the possibility that Iran may launch missiles at Israeli territory again after the Israeli attack," it added.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi renewed his call for ceasefires in both Gaza and Lebanon on Saturday as he held talks with his country's Syrian ally.

"The most important issue today is the ceasefire, especially in Lebanon and in Gaza," he told reporters.

"There are initiatives in this regard, there have been consultations that we hope will be successful."

Araghchi's visit to Damascus, his first since he took office in August, comes almost a year after Israel began waging its war in the Gaza Strip last year on October 7.

"The purpose of my trip to Damascus is to continue consultations regarding the developments in the region," Araghchi said.

His meetings in the Syrian capital follow a visit to Beirut Friday during which he voiced support for a truce in Lebanon acceptable to Hezbollah "simultaneously with a ceasefire in Gaza".

Dubai-based airline Emirates has banned pagers and walkie-talkies onboard its planes following sabotage attacks in Lebanon, and extended flight cancellations for Middle East destinations due to regional escalation.

"All Passengers travelling on flights to, from or via Dubai are prohibited from transporting pagers and walkie-talkies in checked or cabin baggage," the carrier said, weeks after a wave of exploding communication devices used by the Iran-backed Hezbollah group, which blamed Israel for the attacks.

In a statement posted on its website on Friday, Emirates said that "such items found in passengers' hand luggage or checked baggage will be confiscated by Dubai Police."

The blasts last month killed at least 37 people and wounded nearly 3,000 across Lebanon.

The Israeli army warned residents to evacuate part of central Gaza on Saturday, saying the military was preparing to use "great force" against Hamas fighters in the area.

The evacuation call is the first in weeks for Gaza as the Israeli military has largely shifted its focus to fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon.

"Hamas and the terrorist organisations continue their terrorist activities within your area and, as a result, the IDF (military) will act with great force against these elements," the evacuation order posted by the Israeli army said, with an attached map listing the blocks to be evacuated.

Palestinians living in areas near the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza have been warned to evacuate under the latest order posted on X.

Israel has destroyed large swathes of Gaza since Hamas's October 7 attack last year, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeatedly pledging to secure total victory over the militants.

Israeli air strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs since Friday have kept rescue workers from searching the site of an Israeli strike suspected to have killed Hezbollah’s anticipated next leader, three Lebanese security sources told Reuters on Saturday.

One of the sources said Safieddine, widely expected to succeed slain leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, had been unreachable since the strike on Friday.

Hezbollah said its militants launched Fadi-1 rockets on Saturday at Israel's Ramat David air base near the northern city of Haifa, about 45 kilometres (30 miles) from the Lebanese border.

In a statement, the Iran-backed group also said its fighters hit an Israeli tank in south Lebanon, near the border, with a missile.

The Israeli military said Saturday its forces struck Hezbollah fighters inside a south Lebanon mosque overnight, the first such strike since clashes erupted between Israel and the militants last year.

"Overnight, with the direction of IDF (army) intelligence, the IAF (air force) struck Hezbollah terrorists who were operating within a command centre that was located inside a mosque adjacent to the Salah Ghandour Hospital in southern Lebanon," the military said in a statement.

The death toll in Gaza has risen to 41,825, the health ministry in the territory said on Saturday.

The toll includes 23 deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to the ministry, which said 96,910 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began on October 7

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Damascus to discuss regional developments and bilateral relations with Syrian officials, the Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson said on Saturday.

A South Korean military transport aircraft returned 97 citizens and family members from Lebanon on Saturday as Middle East tensions rise, the foreign ministry said.

A KC-330 aircraft left Beirut on Friday afternoon with the evacuees, who include Lebanese family members, and arrived at a military airfield on the south of Seoul, the ministry said.

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday ordered military aircraft to be deployed to evacuate South Korean citizens from parts of the Middle East as conflict escalates between Israel and Hezbollah, as well as the armed group's backer, Iran.

South Korea's defence ministry said it flew a C130J transport plane as backup, which is capable of operating on shorter runways and under fire, as a precaution, and sent 39 military personnel, including mechanics and diplomats.

The government will take further actions to ensure the safety of its citizens, the foreign ministry said without elaborating.

South Korean diplomats stationed in Lebanon remained in the country, Yonhap news agency reported. 

The United Nations peacekeeping force it Lebanon said on Saturday it would not leave positions in the country's south despite what it said was an Israeli request to "relocate".

"On September 30, the IDF (Israeli military) notified UNIFIL of their intention to undertake limited ground incursions into Lebanon. They also requested we relocate from some of our positions," the UN Interim Force in Lebanon said in a statement, adding that "peacekeepers remain in all positions and the UN flag continues to fly."

Palestinian group Hamas said an Israeli strike killed one of its commanders in a refugee camp in north Lebanon Saturday, the first time the area had been hit since the start of the Gaza war.

"Commander" Saeed Attallah Ali, his wife and two daughters were killed in "Zionist bombardment of his house in the Beddawi camp" near the northern city of Tripoli, it said.

Israel has repeatedly targeted Hamas officials in Lebanon since the Gaza war erupted almost a year ago.

Hamas has announced the deaths of at least 18 of its militants in Lebanon since then.