More than 50 killed in Israeli air strikes in Lebanon's Beqaa, dozens killed in Gaza

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The United States announced Friday the deployment of additional military assets to the Middle East, including ballistic missile defense destroyers and long-range B-52 bomber aircraft, serving as a warning to Iran as it and Israel trade tit-for-tat strikes.

"Should Iran, its partners, or its proxies use this moment to target American personnel or interests in the region, the United States will take every measure necessary to defend our people," Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder said in a statement.

The additional resources build on previous US defense deployments to the Middle East in support of Israel, including a THAAD missile defense system deployed to the country late last month, operated by American troops on the ground.

The new forces "will begin to arrive in coming months," Ryder said.

Lebanon's health ministry said 52 people had been killed in Israeli air strikes on Friday in the country's east, attacks for which the Israeli army had not issued evacuation warnings.

The ministry reported "52 people killed and 72 wounded in an updated toll of today's Israeli enemy strikes on the Baalbek-Hermel governorate". Twelve of the victims were killed in the village of Amhaz, it said, while nine others were killed in Younin and eight in Bednayel.

The vast rural region has seen days of violent Israeli attacks. Tens of thousands have had to flee their homes.

An Israeli strike on Friday near a border crossing between northeast Lebanon and Syria forced the crossing to shut after it had been partly reopened, Lebanese caretaker Transport Minister Ali Hamieh said.

The strike hit the same location within Syria, just past the Syrian border installation, as an Israeli bombardment last month that closed the crossing, Hamieh said. It had been partly reopened for cars but not trucks, and was now closed again.

The UN peacekeeping chief said Friday that the blue helmet force in southern Lebanon will hold its line despite facing attacks in recent weeks, adding that its positions would be "occupied" if it left.

Jean-Pierre Lacroix, under secretary-general for peace operations, said that "UNIFIL peacekeepers are staying, they're holding their line, and they're determined to continue doing what they're mandated to do."

He said the force had rejected an Israeli request that it move five kilometers from the Blue Line.

"First of all, because there is a mandate... we are duty born to the mandate, the peacekeepers need to stay," Lacroix said in an interview with the UN Information Service.

"Second, because we thought that if those positions along the Blue Line are abandoned, then they would likely be occupied by one party or the other. That would be very bad for many reasons, including the perception of impartiality and neutrality of the United Nations," he added.

Commander of the Israeli army’s Northern Command Ori Gordin was injured after a vehicle he was in overturned during a tour inside southern Lebanon, claimed Israel’s Channel 13 on Friday.

This could not be verified by The New Arab.

Trump: There are people in the Middle East and people in the US who are not doing their job

At least 41 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon's Baalbek district on Friday, the regional governor said.

Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump on Friday, speaking to an audience including Arab Americans in the battleground state of Michigan, said it was time to get the Israel-Lebanon conflict over with.

"I know many people from Lebanon and we have to get this whole thing over with," he said.

The Israeli military said in a statement that air raid sirens that sounded in southern Israel's Mefalsim were determined to be a false alarm.

Kamal Kharrazi, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader, said on Friday that Tehran is likely to increase the range of its ballistic missiles and possibly review its nuclear doctrine, amid growing tensions with arch-enemy Israel and tit-for-tat missile and airstrikes.

Asked by Lebanon-based broadcaster Al-Mayadeen whether Iran was ready if conflict were to expand after the recent strikes, Kharrazi said Iran was likely to up the range of its ballistic missiles beyond a self-imposed limit of 2,000 km (1,250 miles).

He said that although Iran has the technical capability to produce nuclear weapons, it is currently held back by a fatwa, or religious decree, issued in the early 2000s by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Kharrazi said Iran would respond to Israel at a time and in a manner of its choosing in retaliation for Israel's airstrikes near Tehran and other areas last week.

Israeli attacks have killed at least 2,897 people and injured 13,150 in Lebanon since 8 October 2023, with 30 fatalities reported in the past 24 hours, Lebanon's health ministry said on Friday.

The Israeli military said on Friday it killed senior Hamas official Izz al-Din Kassab, describing him as one of the last high-ranking members of Hamas responsible for coordinating with other groups in Gaza, in an airstrike in Khan Younis.

(Reuters)

Adnan Abu Hasna, the media advisor for United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Middle East, told The New Arab's Arabic language site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that "the UNRWA will continue its operations in Lebanon and will not abandon its mission", highlighting that "the refugees' hardships had worsened due to the Israeli aggression on Lebanese territories, leading to increased displacement."

Abu Hasna noted that "UNRWA has activated its emergency response in Lebanon, establishing 11 shelter centers across the country, hosting thousands of displaced individuals, including Palestinians, Lebanese, and Syrians. The agency is doing its best to provide essential, life-saving services, focusing on education, psychosocial support, and providing mattresses, blankets, and hot meals."

Addressing Palestinian refugees' protests over UNRWA’s limited service levels and perceived shortcomings, Abu Hasna stated, "This crisis is immense, and the agency cannot single-handedly handle the major challenges posed by the Israeli attacks. The displacement from Rashidieh Camp in Tyre, southern Lebanon, on Thursday has added to the burdens on UNRWA and Palestinian refugees but is part of the larger crisis unfolding in Lebanon."

He added, "UNRWA won’t be able to meet all needs, as seen in Gaza, due to obstacles and funding shortages, yet we’re working hard to support the displaced as much as possible."

UNRWA continues its regular operations, adjusting its interventions as needed in its five main areas: the south, Sidon, central Lebanon (Beirut), Bekaa, and the north.

Activities in Tyre remain suspended, providing only minimal water and sanitation services. Sidon, Bekaa, and Beirut operate under emergency conditions, with limited movement focused on life-saving and essential services. 

The unfolding situation in the northern Gaza Strip is "apocalyptic", the heads of the major UN agencies said Friday, warning that its entire population was at "imminent risk" of death.

"The situation unfolding in North Gaza is apocalyptic... the entire Palestinian population in North Gaza is at imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence," said the joint statement from heads of organisations that form the UN Inter-Agency Standing Committee.

Lebanon's Caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Abdullah Bou Habib met with the head of the UNIFIL mission and its commander Major General Aroldo Lázaro on Friday to discussion peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon and in the wake of Israeli attacks.

Bou Habib said he condemned  "any attack on UNIFIL personnel" and emphasized the "need to ensure the safety and security of its personnel and facilities".

He also reaffirmed "Lebanon's commitment to the role of these forces and their work in maintaining peace and security."

The discussion also touched on "what the Lebanese government can do to facilitate UNIFIL’s mission and assist it in implementing its mandate as stipulated by the Security Council’s founding resolution".

Bou Habib reiterated Lebanon's commitment to Resolution 1701 and its implementation to restore calm to the southern borders.

The foreign minister also met with the US Ambassador to Lebanon Lisa Johnson and discussed the latest developments in Israel's ongoing aggression against Lebanon and ceasefire deals.

Thousands of Yemenis were seen on the streets of Sana'a on Friday in a mass demonstration to show solidarity with Gaza and Lebanon in the wake of Israeli attacks.

Footage shared online showed huge crowds filling the roads and streets of the capital city with large flags of Lebanon, Palestine and Yemen stretched out by the crowds.

Large protests have been taking place every Friday for weeks since the outbreak of war in Gaza and Houthi military action against ships in the Red Sea.

👈صور| حشود مليونية في صنعاء؛ تأكيدًا على دعم غزة ولبنان ومقاومتهما الباسلتين pic.twitter.com/EKnaX3yFCe

— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) November 1, 2024

Experts in Lebanon have told The New Arab they are concerned about the impact of Israeli airstrikes on Beirut's air quality, with near-daily explosions in residential neighbourhoods triggering large fires and emitting potentially harmful chemicals.

Residents say they are worried about possible negative health impacts from fumes that linger in the air for hours after Israeli airstrikes and leave black-coloured dust on balconies.

The health concerns have exacerbated living conditions in an already polluted and densely populated city which has been heavily bombarded missiles Beirut by Israel since 23 September when since it expanded the conflict with Hezbollah into a major ground and air campaign.

Read more here.

A strike hit a building in the coastal city of Tyre in southern Lebanon on Friday, an AFP correspondent said, after other heavy Israeli raids there in recent days.

Friday's strike levelled the building on the city's seafront, where rescuers and paramedics were seen pulling people from under the rubble, the AFP correspondent said.

Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 12 people in the town of Amhaz north of the Lebanese city of Baalbek, according to Lebanon's National News Agency. 

Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Friday criticised Israel's "expansion" of its attacks on his country, saying they indicated a rejection of efforts to broker a truce after more than a month of war.

Mikati's statement came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met visiting US officials to discuss a possible deal to end the war in Lebanon.

"The Israeli enemy's renewed expansion of the scope of its aggression on Lebanese regions, its repeated threats to the population to evacuate entire cities and villages, and its renewed targeting of the southern suburbs of Beirut with destructive raids are all indicators that confirm the Israeli enemy's rejection of all efforts being made to secure a ceasefire," Mikati said.

The Lebanese premier added that Israel's diplomatic behaviour suggested it was rejecting a ceasefire.

"Israeli statements and diplomatic signals that Lebanon received confirm Israel's stubbornness in rejecting the proposed solutions and insisting on the approach of killing and destruction," Mikati said in a statement.

The World Health Organization said on Friday that a second round of child polio vaccinations in northern Gaza would begin on Saturday, after Israeli bombing in the area halted the drive.

"Polio vaccination in northern Gaza is ready to resume tomorrow," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X, adding: "We are assured of the necessary humanitarian pause in Gaza City to conduct the campaign."

France's foreign minister delivered nearly 30 tons of humanitarian aid to Lebanese civilians, including solar lamps provided by the NGO Electricity Without Borders, tents, blankets, and other essential goods on Friday.

According to a statement by the French embassy in Beirut on Friday: "This shipment is the first tangible expression of the commitments made by the President of the Republic during the International Conference to Support the Lebanese Population and Sovereignty, held on October 24 in Paris.

"The conference enabled the mobilisation of the international community to respond urgently and on a large scale to the crisis Lebanon is facing," the statement added.

"In light of the impact of the war, participants in the conference responded to the United Nations’ call, announcing $1 billion in aid, including $800 million for humanitarian assistance and $200 million to support Lebanese security forces. France committed to mobilizing €100 million and dispatching 100 tons of humanitarian cargo."

Before the conference on October 24, France's Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs had already carried out two operations to send humanitarian shipments to Lebanon, one in collaboration with Qatar. 

Nearly 40 tons of medicines, medical equipment, and other essential goods were delivered to Lebanese hospitals and international and local humanitarian NGOs.

The conference stressed the need for a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel and the achievement of a diplomatic settlement based on UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which guarantees the security of the population and the safe return of displaced persons to their homes in Lebanon and Israel.

Some 60,000 people have been displaced within the Baalbek-Hermel governorate, a local MP said on Friday as Israeli raids were reported in several areas in the eastern region.

During a meeting with several ministers and representatives from the region, MP Hussein Hajj Hassan said that "the number of displaced persons inside the Baalbek-Hermel governorate is moving and the official number is about 60,000 distributed among the villages," Lebanese state news agency NNA reported.

The UN has said that some 1.2 million people have been internally displaced in Lebanon since the expansion of Israel's conflict on 23 September.

The Baalbek region has been fiercely hit over the past week by a heavy aerial campaign which prompted thousands to flee.

Airstrikes were being reported in the eastern Baalbek district of Lebanon including in the outskirts of Rasm el Hadath, Makneh and Al-Bazaliyah.

The UN's special coordinator for Lebanon on Friday said the country's cultural heritage was being endangered by Israeli strikes on the ancient Lebanese cities of Tyre and Baalbek, home to UNESCO-designated Roman ruins.

"Ancient Phoenician cities steeped in history are in deep peril of being left in ruins," Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said in a social media post, adding that "Lebanon's cultural heritage must not become yet another casualty in this devastating conflict".

Read more about the threat facing Lebanon's ancient heritage here:

Fifty-five Palestinians were killed and 186 others injured in Israeli attacks in Gaza over the past day, the territory's health ministry said in a statement on Friday.

Since the war started last October, at least 43,259 Palestinians have been killed and 101,827 injured, with the death toll feared to be higher considering the number of people trapped under rubble.

The health ministry also said that three families were hit in Israeli attacks yesterday.

In a statement on Friday morning, Hezbollah said it fired rockets at a gathering of Israeli troops in Hay al Maslakh in southern Lebanon.

The Shia militia group said it fired "a large missile barrage" at around 4:30am local time on Friday.

The World Health Organisation is deeply concerned about rising attacks on health care workers and facilities in Lebanon, a WHO official said on Friday.

While 55 attacks have been verified, the actual number of incidents is likely to be significantly higher, Margaret Harris said at a UN briefing.

The official National News Agency on Friday reported an Israeli strike on the eastern city of Baalbek, following heavy air raids on the area in recent days.

Israeli "enemy aircraft launched a raid on the Zahraa neighbourhood in the city of Baalbek," home to ancient Roman ruins designated a UNESCO World Heritage site, NNA said.

Hezbollah announced that it had killed more than 95 Israeli soldiers and wounded more than 900 in fighting with the Israeli army since the outbreak of the ground invasion over a month ago.

The group also said it had destroyed 42 Israeli Merkava thanks, four bulldozers, two Hummer vehicles and various drones.

Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Friday criticised Israel's "expansion" of its attacks on his country, saying they indicated a rejection of efforts to broker a truce after more than a month of war.

"The Israeli enemy's renewed expansion of the scope of its aggression on Lebanese regions, its repeated threats to the population to evacuate entire cities and villages, and its renewed targeting of the southern suburbs of Beirut with destructive raids are all indicators that confirm the Israeli enemy's rejection of all efforts being made to secure a ceasefire," Mikati said.

Mikati's statement came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met visiting US officials to discuss a possible deal to end the war in Lebanon.

The Lebanese premier added that Israel's diplomatic behaviour suggested it was rejecting a ceasefire.

"Israeli statements and diplomatic signals that Lebanon received confirm Israel's stubbornness in rejecting the proposed solutions and insisting on the approach of killing and destruction," Mikati said in a statement.

A series of Israeli strikes targeted Dahiyeh in Beirut overnight, Lebanese media reported.

A number of "violent" strikes targeted several areas in the southern suburb including al-Ruwais, al-Ghobeiry, the Haret Hreik neighbourhood as well as areas near the Imam al-Mujtaba Complex, leading to what was described as "massive destruction" in Dahiyeh.

State news agency NNA reported that the strikes led to "dozens of buildings being flattened and fires breaking out".

Israel launched "12 violent strikes" on Dahiyeh in addition to strikes targeting various areas in southern and central Lebanon, Al-Mayadeen reported.

The strikes come following "six days of calm" in the capital and residents were only warned of the strikes "half an hour before".

Rocket attacks by Hezbollah targeting areas in northern Israel led to several Israeli casualties yesterday.

The missiles "caused nine deaths and a number of injuries" in the Galilee and Krayot area, north of the city of Haifa, according to Al-Mayadeen.

The report, citing Israeli media, said that the missiles launched from Lebanon "directly hit a gathering of soldiers in Metula".

Meanwhile, the website of the Israeli Channel 13 News reported that seven people were killed by Hezbollah rockets, including five in the northern town of Metula.

Israeli media said that the victims included a mother and son and other agricultural workers.

Central Gaza was hit by heavy airstrikes overnight Thursday which killed at least 47 people and wounded dozens more, Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

The city of Deir Al-Balah, the Nuseirat camp and the town of Al-Zawayda, were among those hit, WAFA said.

The Israeli military said on Friday it "eliminated several armed terrorists who were operating in the area," without providing evidence.

The Thai foreign ministry said four citizens were killed and one person injured by a rocket strike which hit near the Israeli border town of Metula.

The Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangyampongsa wrote on X on Friday that the four nationals, believed to be agricultural workers, were killed.

It is not the first time that foreign workers have been killed by rocket fire from Lebanon in the past few months.

Last year, 46 Thais were among the alleged 1,200 people reportedly killed by Hamas fighters during the 7 October attack, according to the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Thirty Thai nationals were abducted and six are believed to still be in captivity, according to Thai authorities.