Lebanon death toll continues to rise as Israel's onslaught enters second day

We must not give Hezbollah a break, attacks will be accelerated today: Israeli's military chief Herzi Halevi

German airline group Lufthansa said Tuesday it had extended the suspension of flights to and from Israel's Tel Aviv and Iranian capital Tehran up to and including October 14.

Lufthansa continued to "monitor the situation closely and will assess it further in the coming days", the group said on its website as the escalation in the conflict between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah threatened to destabilise the region. Flights to Beirut remain suspended until October 26, Lufthansa added.

Egypt's state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV said on Monday that national carrier EgyptAir canceled flights to and from the Lebanese capital Beirut starting Tuesday, September 24, amid ongoing Israeli strikes on Lebanon.

Lebanon said Tuesday the death toll from Israeli bombardment a day earlier had risen to 558, including 50 children, in the deadliest day of violence since Hezbollah and Israel went to war in 2006.

"So far, the health ministry has recorded 558 deaths, including 50 children and 94 women," Health Minister Firas Abyad said, adding that "the vast majority, if not all of those killed in yesterday's attacks were unarmed people in their homes."

French flag carrier Air France on Tuesday announced it was extending a suspension of flights to and from Beirut to October 1, after the deadliest day of Israeli bombing in Lebanon since 2006.

An Air France spokesman said in a statement to AFP that flights to the Lebanese capital were suspended due to the "security situation". Flights to and from the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, which Air France had suspended last week, were operating "normally" after resuming at the weekend, the spokesman added.

Sending a warning does not make it OK to strike civilians, the UN Human Rights Office said, commenting on Israeli text messages sent to Lebanese on Monday telling them to evacuate.

The United Nations said Tuesday that tens of thousands of people had fled their homes in south Lebanon since Monday, amid Israeli air strikes.

"We are gravely concerned about the serious escalation in the attacks that we saw yesterday," UN refugee agency spokesman Matthew Saltmarsh told reporters in Geneva.

"Tens of thousands of people were forced from their homes yesterday and overnight, and the numbers continue to grow," he said.

"This is a region that has already been devastated by war and a country that knows suffering all too well," Saltmarsh said.

"The toll on civilians is unacceptable."

Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the UN rights office, also said the agency was "extremely alarmed by the sharp escalation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

Shamdasani called on "all parties to immediately cease the violence and to ensure the protection of civilians".

The UN children's agency meanwhile decried the impact on young people in Lebanon.

"We are warning today that any further escalation in this conflict will be absolutely catastrophic for all children in Lebanon," said Ettie Higgins, UNICEF Deputy Representative in Lebanon, speaking via video link from Beirut.

"Yesterday was Lebanon's worst day in 18 years. This violence has to stop immediately, or the consequences will be unconscionable."

The U.N. human rights chief on Tuesday called on anyone with influence in the Middle East or elsewhere to seek to avert any further escalation in hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, voicing alarm at the sharp escalation.

"UN High Commissioner Volker Türk calls on all States and actors with influence in the region and beyond to avert further escalation and do everything they can to ensure full respect for international law," Ravina Shamdasani, the spokesperson for Turk said at a Geneva press briefing. "The methods and means of warfare that are being used raises very serious concerns about whether this is compliant with international humanitarian law," she added.

Asked about reports that Israel had warned people through phone messages ahead of the strikes, she said: "Whether you've sent out a warning you're telling civilians to flee, doesn't make it OK to then strike those areas, knowing full well that the impact on civilians will be huge..." At the same press briefing, Abdinasir Abubakar, a WHO official in Lebanon, said that some hospitals in the country were "overwhelmed" by the thousands of wounded people arriving. Four healthcare workers had been killed on Monday, he added.

"We have some evidence, and we have some documentation that shows that at least there were some attacks on health facilities, even the ambulances as well," he told the briefing, condemning the impact on Lebanon's fragile health sector.

Qatar Airways and flydubai suspended flights to Beirut for two days on Tuesday as tensions escalated between Israel and Hezbollah after the deadliest bombardment of Lebanon since 2006.

Qatar Airways, the national flag-carrier which operates two flights a day to the Lebanese capital, cancelled services on Tuesday and Wednesday.

flydubai, the state-owned, low-cost sister airline to Dubai-based giant Emirates, also cancelled its daily flights on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Kremlin warned on Tuesday that Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon had the potential to completely destabilise the Middle East and widen the conflict there.

When asked about the Israeli strikes, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call:

"This is an event that is potentially extremely dangerous when it comes to the expansion of the conflict, to the complete destabilisation of the region. Of course, this is of extreme concern to us."

Russia has deepened ties with Hezbollah patron Iran since the start of its war in Ukraine and questioned the proportionality of Israel's bombing of Gaza and the number of civilians killed, straining ties with Israel.

The Israeli military said on Tuesday it carried out more air strikes on Hezbollah weapons facilities and warehouses as it bombarded southern Lebanon.

"Over the past few hours, the IAF struck Hezbollah terror targets in southern Lebanon including launchers, terrorist infrastructure sites and buildings in which weapons were stored," the military said in a statement, referring to the Israeli air force.

Gaza's health ministry said on Tuesday that at least 41,467 people have been killed in Israel's offensive, now in its 12th month.

The toll includes 12 deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to the ministry, which said 95,921 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began on October 7.

Israeli firefighting teams are reportedly trying to put out multiple blazes which broke out in the border town of Qiryat Shemona after it was hit by dozens of Hezbollah missiles Tuesday.

#BREAKING #NEWS #HEZBOLLAH

OCCUPATION media:

Fire breaks out in Kiryat Shmona following the latest shelling from Lebanon. pic.twitter.com/bf7HYVa63U

— El'Gido (@Elg1do) September 24, 2024

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq militia grouping has claimed it carried out an attack with Al-Arfad drones on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. 

The Iran-backed militia said in a Telegram statement this morning that the attack comes "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 group also posted a video purportedly showing the launch of the drones used in the attack.

مشاهد من اطلاق المقاومة الاسلامية في العراق طائرات مسيرة "أرفد" باتجاه هدفاً في الجولان المحتل.#هلا_بأولاد_علي pic.twitter.com/4VwUHoSedZ

— علياء الرافضية 🇵🇸🇮🇷 (@Shensawee) September 24, 2024

Some hospitals are "overwhelmed" by thousands wounded in Israeli airstrikes: WHO official in Lebanon

At least 35 children have been killed so far in Israeli strikes on Lebanon, more missing under the rubble: UNICEF official

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tuesday that its ally Hezbollah "cannot stand alone" against Israel, which killed nearly 500 people in Lebanon the previous day in its deadliest bombardment since 2006.

"Hezbollah cannot stand alone against a country that is being defended and supported and supplied by Western countries, by European countries and the United States," Pezeshkian said in an interview with CNN translated from Farsi to English.

Lebanese caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati’s office said he would fly to New York, where the United Nations General Assembly is taking place, "for further contacts" following the escalated wave of Israeli air strikes on Lebanon on Monday.

The Lebanese health ministry says 500 people have been killed and 1,650 injured in Israel's airstrikes since Monday.

Hamas has condemned the recent Israeli  "wide-scale and brutal aggression" against Lebanon.

"It is a war crime, which reflects the Nazi nature of the Zionist enemy and the predicament in which Netanyahu finds himself due to his failed policies and his refusal to halt the genocide in Gaza," Hamas said in a Telegram statement late on Monday.

The group called on the International Criminal Court to take the necessary measures to prosecute and arrest the Israeli leaders as "war criminals".

"We hold the US administration fully responsible for the ongoing massacres committed by the Zionist occupation and its Nazi government in Palestine and Lebanon, as this aggression would not have occurred without the full US support and cover," the group added.

A number of towns in northern Israel were targeted by Hezbollah missiles Tuesday morning in response to the deadly Israeli air campaign in Lebanon.

🇮🇱🇱🇧🚨#BREAKING: HEZBOLLAH LAUNCHES ATTACKS ON SEVERAL ISRAELI CITIES

Rockets have struck several areas in Israel, including direct hits in Kiryat Tivon, southeast of Haifa, Haifa, Tiberias, and Safed.

Fires broke out in Ein Zeitim following rocket attacks, while sirens sounded… pic.twitter.com/QcXmJmKBLL

— Raw Talk (@TalkNewz) September 23, 2024

Hezbollah said it launched dozens of missiles Tuesday morning on the northern Israeli town of Qiryat Shemona, located near the Lebanese border.

Air-raid sirens heard right now in the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Shemona, northern occupied Palestine, following a new wave of rockets from Lebanon. pic.twitter.com/bt89bjKPUG

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) September 24, 2024

Israel conducted a fresh wave of airstrikes Tuesday morning on villages in the Baalbek district in the northern Beqaa governorate, in east Lebanon.

Beirut's international airport says 30 flights have been cancelled to and from the airport due to the security situation.

Palestinian officials say Israel’s strikes early Tuesday killed at least seven people in the Gaza Strip's southern city of Khan Younis. At least 15 others, including women and children, were injured in the strikes, they said.

The civil defense said the dead include five people who were killed in a strike on the Abu Harb family house in the Qizan al-Najjar area. The strike also wounded at least 10 others, it said.

Another strike hit a house in the Tahlia area in Khan Younis, killing at least two people and wounding five others, according to the rescue service. The casualties from both strikes were confirmed in hospital records in Khan Younis.

China's top diplomat Wang Yi expressed support for Lebanon and condemned what he termed "indiscriminate attacks against civilians", Beijing's foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

Meeting his Lebanese counterpart in New York, Wang said: "We pay close attention to developments in the region, especially the recent explosion of communications equipment in Lebanon, and firmly oppose indiscriminate attacks against civilians."

Wang acknowledged the strikes, saying China "strongly condemns any violation of the basic norms governing international relations".

"No matter how the situation changes, we will always stand on the side of justice, on the side of our Arab brothers, including Lebanon," Wang told Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib.

"Armed force does not represent truth, and might only undermines peace," Wang said.

"Countering violence with violence will not solve the problems in the Middle East and will only lead to an even greater humanitarian disaster," he added.

China also urged its citizens to leave Israel on Sunday as tensions with Lebanon grew.

The Israeli military said more than 50 projectiles were fired from Lebanon into northern Israel on Tuesday morning, as it pounded south and east Lebanon with new strikes.

Between 9:36 am (0636 GMT) and 09:44 am, more than 50 projectiles crossed into Israeli territory from Lebanon, the military said. "The majority of the projectiles were intercepted," it said in a statement.

Turkey slammed Israel's recent attacks on Lebanon as "efforts to drag the region into chaos" on Monday, calling for international measures against them and a halt to support for Israel.

In a statement late on Monday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said countries that "unconditionally support Israel" were helping Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "shed blood for his political interests".

"It is imperative that all institutions responsible for maintaining international peace and security, especially the United Nations Security Council, as well as the international community, take the necessary measures without delay," it said.

The escalation between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah is almost a full-fledged war, the European Union's foreign policy chief said on Monday.

"This situation is extremely dangerous and worrying. I can say that we are almost in a full-fledged war," Josep Borrell told reporters.

"If this is not a war situation, I don't know what you would call it," he said, citing the increasing number of civilian casualties and the intensity of military strikes.

Borrell said efforts to reduce tensions were ongoing, but Europe's worst fears about a spillover were becoming a reality.

He said civilians were paying a high price and all diplomatic efforts were needed to prevent a full-blown war.

"Here in New York is the moment to do that. Everybody has to put all their capacity to stop this path to war," he said.

France on Monday requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting to discuss Lebanon after Israel launched a major cross-border attack following nearly a year of clashes with Hezbollah.

"I have requested that an emergency meeting of the Security Council be held on Lebanon this week," French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told the United Nations General Assembly on Monday, calling on all sides to "avoid a regional conflagration that would be devastating for everyone," especially civilians.

The United States is presenting "concrete" ideas to ease the crisis in Lebanon, a US official said Monday, while voicing opposition to any Israeli ground invasion to target Hezbollah.

"We've got some concrete ideas we're going to be discussing with allies and partners this week to try to figure out the way forward on this," the senior US official said as world leaders gathered in New York for the UN General Assembly.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the United States wanted to find an "off-ramp that will first and foremost prevent further escalation in the fighting."

He voiced hope that the US proposals would "reduce tensions and will segue into a diplomatic process that allows communities on both sides of the border - on both sides of the Blue Line - to safely return home in the near future."

The official declined to describe the concrete ideas in detail but said that Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other senior US officials would be discussing them during his meetings at the General Assembly.

The official renewed opposition by the United States to a ground invasion by Israel, which has allegedly been pounding sites in Lebanon associated with the Shia movement Hezbollah.

"I think it is important for everyone to take Israeli preparations seriously," he said.

"We obviously do not believe that a ground invasion of Lebanon is going to contribute to reducing tensions in the region, to preventing an escalatory spiral of violence, and that's in part why we are so focused on utilizing this week to explore these ideas and see if we can develop this off-ramp," he said.

Hamas' armed wing, al-Qassam Brigades, said that its field commander in southern Lebanon, Mahmoud al Nader, was killed in an Israeli air strike on south Lebanon on Monday.

At least 492 were killed and 1,645 wounded in Israeli air strikes on Lebanon since Monday morning, the Lebanese health ministry said, adding that 35 children and 58 women were among those killed.

The toll is expected to climb with continued Israeli attacks.

Lebanon's MTV channel reported last night that the ministry's figures were from three hours earlier, citing information that the toll had risen further.