Six killed in southern Lebanon, including mayor, as north Gaza siege continues

The Lebanese Ministry of Health has reported that Israeli airstrikes across the country have killed 27 people and injured 185 within the past 24 hours, as Israel continues its intense and widespread bombing campaign.

According to the ministry, a total of 2,377 people have been killed and 11,109 injured since the latest phase of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel began last year. The majority of these casualties have occurred in recent weeks, as Israel has escalated its attacks into densely populated areas.

The U.N. mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said its peacekeepers at a position near southern Lebanon's Kfar Kela observed an Israeli Merkava tank firing at their watchtower on Wednesday morning.

Two cameras were destroyed, and the tower was damaged, the UNIFIL said in its statement.

The risk of cholera spreading in Lebanon is "very high", the World Health Organization warned Wednesday, after a case of the acute and potentially deadly diarrhoeal infection was detected in the conflict-hit country.

The WHO highlighted the risk of cholera spreading among hundreds of thousands of people displaced since Israel escalated an air campaign against Hezbollah and launched a ground offensive intended to push the group back from its northern border with Lebanon.

"If the cholera outbreak ... spreads to the new displaced people, it might spread very fast," Abdinasir Abubakar, WHO's representative in Lebanon, told reporters in an online news conference.

Lebanon's health ministry said a cholera case had been confirmed in a Lebanese national who went to hospital on Monday suffering from watery diarrhoea and dehydration.

The patient, from Ammouniyeh in northern Lebanon, had no history of travel, the ministry said.

A UN official on Wednesday mourned Lebanese members of a relief team who died in a "devastating" Israeli strike on the southern city of Nabatiyeh that killed 16 people according to authorities.

"This morning a devastating attack claimed the lives of yet more civilians and local authorities working to provide relief," said the UN humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon, Imran Riza, adding that he mourns four "members of a relief team with whom the UN and humanitarian partners have been working for more than a year".

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday urged Israel to ensure the necessary conditions to finish the job of vaccinating Gaza's children against polio, after reaching more than 150,000 with the required second dose.

Despite continuing Israeli military operations in some areas of the Palestinian territory, the second round of a polio vaccination campaign, aiming to reach more than 590,000 children under the age of 10, got under way on Monday.

"The total number of children who received a second dose of polio vaccine in central Gaza after two days of vaccination is 156,943," WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.

"The vaccination continues today. At the same time, 128,121 children received vitamin A supplements.

"We call for the humanitarian pauses to continue to be respected. We call for a ceasefire and peace," he said.

The total number of children who received a second dose of #polio vaccine in central #Gaza after two days of vaccination is 156,943. The vaccination continues today.

At the same time, 128,121 children received vitamin A supplements.

We call for the humanitarian pauses to… pic.twitter.com/TCWqYF13vn

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) October 16, 2024

Any solution to the rapidly expanding regional conflict that has spread to Lebanon and beyond hinges on a resolution of the original crisis in Gaza, a senior Hamas official said on Wednesday.

"It is so complicated and intermingled, the two fronts, that it is not easy to reach a permanent ceasefire or permanent solution to this conflict without solving the original one, which is in Gaza," Basem Naim told Reuters in Istanbul.

With the war on Gaza now in its second year, fighting has flared in southern Lebanon and risks escalating into a full-scale conflict with Iran.

Diplomatic efforts to halt the fighting have stalled, and attention is now focused on an expected Israeli strike on Iran after Tehran launched its second missile attack on Israel more than two weeks ago.

(Reuters)

Lebanon's health ministry on Wednesday said 16 people were killed and 52 others wounded in Israeli strikes on municipal buildings in the southern city of Nabatiyeh, revising upwards an earlier toll.

"Sixteen were martyred and 52 others wounded in the final toll of the Israeli enemy raid on the buildings of the Nabatiyeh municipality and the union of municipalities," the ministry said in a statement, after earlier reporting six killed.

The World Health Organisation on Wednesday called for the protection of health care facilities in Lebanon, where Israel has intensified its military campaign against Hezbollah in recent weeks.

"WHO calls for an end to attacks on health care facilities," the UN agency said in a statement, adding that heavy bombardment was "forcing a growing number of health facilities to close, particularly in southern Lebanon".

Canada on Wednesday condemned Israeli strikes on civilian infrastructure in northern Gaza and United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon and demanded the attacks stop immediately.

In a statement, the government said the increasingly dire humanitarian situation in Gaza was unacceptable.

(Reuters)

The United States is watching to ensure that Israel's actions on the ground show that it does not have a "policy of starvation" in the northern Gaza Strip, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the Security Council on Wednesday.

She told the 15-member council that such a policy would be "horrific and unacceptable and would have implications under international law and US law."

"The Government of Israel has said that this is not their policy, that food and other essential supplies will not be cut off, and we will be watching to see that Israel's actions on the ground match this statement," Thomas-Greenfield said.

The United States has told Israel it must take steps in the next month to improve the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave or face potential restrictions on US military aid, US officials said on Tuesday.

(Reuters)

Lebanon said on Wednesday that Israeli strikes killed three people and injured dozens a day earlier in Qana, a southern village that suffered heavy civilian casualties from Israeli attacks in 1996 and 2000.

AFP footage showed mass destruction in the village, with entire buildings levelled and rescuers scouring the rubble for survivors a day after the attack.

"Successive Israeli enemy strikes yesterday on the village of Qana killed three people and injured 54," the ministry said in a statement adding that work was still underway to clear the rubble.

Hezbollah said its fighters in southern Lebanon were locked in clashes on Wednesday with Israeli troops "at point-blank range".

The Iran-backed armed group said militants were engaged in "ongoing" and "violent clashes with the Israeli enemy forces in the vicinity of the Al-Qawzah village at point-blank range with various types of machine guns," it said.

Sixteen EU defence ministers meeting Wednesday expressed "the shared will to exert maximum political and diplomatic pressure on Israel" to prevent further "incidents" against UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, Italy said.

Italy and France organised a video conference involving the 16 EU countries that participate in UNIFIL, where the ministers "strongly condemned" attacks the mission has blamed on Israel, the Italian defence ministry said.

Israel will not stop its war on Lebanon before it can safely return its citizens to their homes near the Lebanese border, and any ceasefire negotiations will be held "under fire", Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday.

"Hezbollah is in great distress," Gallant said near the border, according to a statement from his office. "We will hold negotiations only under fire, I said this on day one, I said it in Gaza and I am saying it here."

(Reuters)

Iran's atomic energy agency said Wednesday that a potential Israeli attack on nuclear facilities "will not succeed" or "cause any serious damage", predicting that such an attack was "unlikely" to happen.

The remarks come as the region braces for Israel's retaliation after Iran launched at the start of the month about 200 missiles at Israel in its second ever direct attack on its arch-foe.

"It is very unlikely to happen," said agency spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi in a video interview with the Nournews agency.

"In the event of an attack on a key site: be sure it will not succeed," he said.

"And if they (Israel) do such a stupid thing, it is very unlikely that they will cause serious damage to us and even if we assume that they can cause some damage, the country can quickly compensate for it," he added.

Israel's defence minister on Wednesday called French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to ban Israeli firms from exhibiting at a naval arms show "a disgrace".

"We will continue defending our nation against enemies on 7 different fronts, and fighting for our future - with or without France," Yoav Gallant posted on X.

(Reuters)

French President Macron’s actions are a disgrace to the French nation and the values of the free world, which he claims to uphold. The decision to discriminate against Israeli defense industries in France a second time - aids Israel’s enemies during war. This builds on the…

— יואב גלנט - Yoav Gallant (@yoavgallant) October 16, 2024

Israel sees the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon as playing a key role in the "day after" its war on the region, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday.

"The State of Israel places great importance on the activities of UNIFIL and has no intention of harming the organization or its personnel," Katz said in a statement. "Furthermore, Israel views UNIFIL as playing an important role in the 'day after' following the war against Hezbollah." 

(Reuters)

The 16 EU countries contributing to the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, UNIFIL, believe its rules of engagement need to be more effective, according to an Italian defence ministry statement on Wednesday.

The European Union allies also think pressure must be applied to prevent any more attacks by Israeli forces on UNIFIL positions, the statement said.

The Italian readout followed a call between the defence ministers of the 16 countries, taking place days after Israeli attacks on UN bases in Lebanon and ahead of a Friday visit to the country by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

The statement said a "key point that emerged from the meeting was a shared willingness to exert maximum political and diplomatic pressure on Israel so that no further incidents occur."

It also said "that Hezbollah cannot use UNIFIL personnel as shields in the context of the conflict".

(Reuters)

Israel "remains committed to working with our international partners to ensure aid reaches those who need it" in the Gaza Strip, Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon said on Wednesday after the United States told its ally it must take steps in the next month to improve the humanitarian situation in the enclave

(Reuters)

The Islamic-Christian spiritual summit convened today to address the expanding Israeli war on Lebanon, including the latest massacre in southern Nabatieh earlier.

The summit, held in Bkerki at the invitation of Maronite Patriarch Bechara Al-Rahi, concluded with a call on the UN Security Council to convene immediately and call for a ceasefire in Israel's war on Lebanon.

The gathering called on the Lebanese people to unite, set aside fruitless debates, and work together in solidarity to save the nation, emphasising the need for cooperation, sacrifice, and the strengthening of state institutions to defend Lebanon’s sovereignty and independence against Israeli ambitions.

It urged all Lebanese to fulfil their national duties by re-establishing constitutional institutions, particularly through the immediate election of a president by Parliament, emphasizing unity, and consensus, and prioritising national interests over external ones.

It also called for the immediate implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1071, which includes supporting the Lebanese army, enhancing its capabilities to defend Lebanon, and ensuring its widespread deployment in southern Litani and across Lebanon.

It stressed the importance of unity among all Lebanese people and urged them to work together to serve Lebanon's "best interests", praising initiatives held to help displaced people who were forced to leave their villages and homes.

It concluded by thanking the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) "brotherly Arab nations" for their initiatives towards Lebanon through aid and political support.

"These countries must double their efforts to support Lebanon in stopping the aggression and strengthening the resilience of its people," a statement said, adding that the "central issue that concerns all the Arab region remains the Palestinian cause".

"Palestinians deserve to have a homeland and an independent sovereign state, as proposed in the Arab Peace Initiative at the Beirut Summit in 2002. This would be achieved through the imposition of a fair and lasting solution, under the auspices of the United Nations, key capitals, and Arab brothers, ensuring peace and putting an end to this tragedy."

Over 150,000 children in Gaza received the required second dose of oral polio vaccine in the first two days of the campaign's second round, the WHO chief said Wednesday.

Despite continuing Israeli military operations in some areas of the Palestinian territory, the second round of a polio vaccination campaign, aiming to reach more than 590,000 children under the age of 10, began on Monday.

"The total number of children who received a second dose of polio vaccine in central Gaza after two days of vaccination is 156,943," the World Health Organization's director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.

"The vaccination continues today. At the same time, 128,121 children received vitamin A supplements.

"We call for the humanitarian pauses to continue to be respected. We call for a ceasefire and peace," he said.

As during the initial round of vaccination last month, the second will be divided into three phases, helped by localised "humanitarian pauses" in the fighting: first in central Gaza, then in the south and finally in the hardest-to-reach north of the territory.

France has banned Israeli firms from participating in an upcoming military naval trade show, two sources aware of the matter said on Wednesday, the latest incident highlighting an increasingly tense relationship between the two allies.

Paris had already banned Israeli firms from participating in a military trade show earlier this year. The defence ministry at the time said the conditions were no longer suitable for the companies to take part when President Emmanuel Macron was "calling for Israel to cease operations in Gaza".

The defence ministry, foreign ministry, Israeli embassy and Euronaval, organising the annual naval fair between 4-7 November, did not respond to requests for comment.

(Reuters)

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees warned Wednesday of the risk of famine in Gaza, a day after the United States said Israel had been warned to improve aid deliveries to the territory.

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini told a press conference in Berlin that "there is a real risk today... that we enter a situation where famine or acute malnutrition is unfortunately again a likelihood," pointing to the upcoming winter and Gaza's population's weakened immune systems.

Lazzarini painted a dire picture of the humanitarian situation in Gaza, saying it had "become a kind of wasteland, which I would say is almost unliveable".

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Wednesday that the government was considering sanctions against far-right Israeli ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.

When asked in parliament if the government would sanction the pair, Starmer said, "We are looking at that because there are obviously abhorrent comments along with other really concerning activity in the West Bank."

National Security Minister Smotrich and Ben Gvir, who is the Finance Minister, are vocal supporters of settlements in the West Bank, which are considered illegal under international law.

Smotrich has also triggered an international uproar by suggesting it would be justified to starve two million Gazans to free Israeli hostages in the Palestinian territory.

Earlier this week, former foreign secretary David Cameron revealed that the previous Conservative government had been "working on" sanctions against the "extreme" politicians.

UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said on Wednesday that civilian suffering was reaching an unprecedented level after an Israeli strike in the south killed at least six people and hurt 43, according to Lebanon's health ministry.

(Reuters)

The Lebanese Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday that six people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Nabatieh Municipality and the Federation of Municipalities buildings. 

In a statement reported by the National News Agency, the Ministry's Public Health Emergency Operations Center said: "The Israeli enemy raid... on two buildings, that of the Nabatiyeh municipality and the union of municipalities, killed six people and injured 43," the health ministry said.

The statement added, "The removal of rubble is ongoing."

Al-Araby Al-Jadeed's correspondent reported that Nabatieh Mayor Ahmad Kahil was among those killed.

The UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) is close to a possible breaking point for its operations in the Gaza Strip due to increasingly complicated conditions, its head said on Wednesday.

"I will not hide the fact that we might reach a point that we won't be able anymore to operate," UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini told journalists at a news conference in Berlin.

"We are very near to a possible breaking point. When will it be? I don't know. But we are very near of that," he said.

He said the agency was facing a combination of financial and political threats to its existence and difficulties in day-to-day operations, as aid is even more desperately needed against the danger of disease and famine.

He said there was a real risk that, heading into winter, with people's immune systems weakened, famine or acute malnutrition could become a likelihood.

(Reuters)

Britain's foreign secretary said on Wednesday that his country, along with France and Algeria, had called an urgent meeting at the United Nations Security Council to discuss the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

David Lammy said in a statement Israel must ensure civilians were protected and routes were open to allow life-saving aid through, and that the United Nations meeting would address these issues.

"The humanitarian situation in Northern Gaza is dire, with access to basic services worsening and the United Nations reporting that barely any food has entered in the last two weeks," Lammy added. 

(Reuters)

Palestinian health officials called on Wednesday for a humanitarian corridor to three hospitals in northern Gaza that have come close to collapse as Israeli troops have cut off the area during almost two weeks of bombardment.

Doctors at the Kamal Adwan, Al-Awda and the Indonesian hospitals have refused to leave their patients despite evacuation orders issued by the Israeli military at the start of a major push into the Jabalia area of northern Gaza 12 days ago.

"We are calling on the international community, the Red Cross and the World Health Organization, to play their humanitarian role by opening up a corridor towards our healthcare system and allow the entry of fuel, medical, delegations, supplies and food," said Hussam Abu Safiya, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital.

"We are talking about more than 300 medical staff working at Kamal Adwan Hospital, and we can't provide even a single meal for them to be able to offer medical services safely."

(Reuters)

The UN special coordinator for Lebanon urged the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure after deadly Israeli strikes hit municipality buildings in the southern city of Nabatiyeh on Wednesday.

"Today, Israeli air strikes hit the town of Nabatiyeh in southern Lebanon, yet again," Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said in a statement, adding that "civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected at all times".

Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said on Wednesday divisions between European states over Israel's war on Gaza and Lebanon sent wrong messages to Israel and Arab countries, saying it was unacceptable for splits to continue.

(Reuters)

Two US officials who resigned last year in protest over President Joe Biden's policy on Israel's war on Gaza have launched a lobbying organisation and a political action committee to advocate for a revamp of Washington's long-standing stance on Israel and Palestine.

Josh Paul, a former State Department official and Tariq Habash, who used to work as a policy advisor at the US Department of Education, said the American public is no longer in favour of unconditionally sending US weapons to Israel but that elected officials have lagged.

Their PAC, called "A New Policy", would support candidates whose positions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict centre on aligning US policies with human rights and equality and ensuring that US arms transfers to all countries in the Middle East, including Israel, comply with both US and international law.

(Reuters)

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday called for more pressure on Israel's backers to end the bloodshed in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

"The president... demanded more pressure on the supporters of the Zionist regime (Israel) to stop the killings" in Gaza and Lebanon, Pezeshkian said during a phone call with Oman's Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, according to a presidency statement.

Hezbollah said it targeted an Israeli army tank near a border village with a guided missile on Wednesday, as attacks escalated after Israel intensified its bombing of the country last month.

Hezbollah fighters "targeted a Merkava tank near the village of Ramia... with a guided missile", the Iran-backed group said in a statement, adding the attack was "in defence of Lebanon and its people".

The Israeli army on Wednesday said its forces hit dozens of Hezbollah targets in the Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh as the military presses its air and ground campaign on Lebanon.

"The IDF army struck dozens of Hezbollah terrorist targets in the Nabatiyeh area and dismantled underground infrastructure used by Hezbollah's Radwan Forces in southern Lebanon," the army said in a statement.

Lebanese official media reported on Wednesday that Israeli jets caused two sonic booms over Beirut and the surrounding area, with AFP journalists in the capital hearing loud bangs.

"Enemy aircraft violently broke the sound barrier twice in the airspace of (Beirut's) southern suburbs" and surroundings areas, the National News Agency said.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned deadly Israeli strikes Wednesday on the southern city of Nabatiyeh, saying they intentionally targeted a municipality meeting.

Mikati "condemned the new Israeli aggression against civilians in the city of Nabatiyeh, which deliberately targeted a meeting of the municipal council that was discussing the city's services and relief situation," he said in a statement. A local official said the city mayor was among the dead.

The Gaza Health Ministry said on Wednesday that at least 42,409 people have been killed in the war between Israel and Palestinian militants.

The toll includes 65 deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to the ministry, which said 99,153 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli navy forces say they have struck dozens of Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon in cooperation with troops on the ground, Israel's military said on Wednesday.

(Reuters)

Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi is visiting Jordan, Egypt and Turkey as part of Iran's diplomatic reach-out to countries of the region "to end genocide, atrocity and aggression", the Iranian foreign ministry's spokesperson said on Wednesday in a post on X.

Iran's diplomacy is at work with respect to regional peace and stability.

FM #Araghchi will be visiting #Jordan، #Egypt and #Türkiye as part of our diplomatic reach-out to countries of the region to end genocide, atrocity and aggression. pic.twitter.com/s0hzn80R2D

— Esmaeil Baghaei (@IRIMFA_SPOX) October 16, 2024

(Reuters)

Iran's top diplomat on Wednesday warned UN chief Antonio Guterres it is ready for a "decisive and regretful" response if Israel attacks the Islamic republic in retaliation for a barrage of missiles.

"Iran, while making all-out efforts to protect the peace and security of the region, is fully prepared for a decisive and regretful response to any adventures" by Israel, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said, quoted by his office.

Lebanon’s Civil Defense said the death toll from an Israeli strike on the southern town of Qana has risen to 15.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the strike late Tuesday.

Qana was the site of an Israeli artillery strike on a United Nations compound in 1996 that killed dozens of civilians.

Five people were killed in an Israeli air strike on the municipal building of the southern Lebanese town of Nabatieh, the country's health ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

(Reuters)

The mayor of Nabatiyeh was among those killed Wednesday in Israeli strikes on the municipality of the southern Lebanese city, where Hezbollah and its ally Amal hold sway, authorities said.

"The mayor of Nabatiyeh, among others... was martyred. It's a massacre," Nabatiyeh governor Howaida Turk told AFP, adding he had been in the municipality building. Hezbollah-affiliated rescuers also said several people were killed in the strike on the municipality building, including Mayor Ahmad Kahil.

A Lebanese official said Israel carried out 11 air strikes on Nabatiyeh and surrounding areas on Wednesday, days after strikes destroyed the southern city's marketplace.

"For now, 11 strikes have mainly hit Nabatiyeh but also its surroundings," Nabatiyeh governor Howaida Turk told AFP when asked about Israeli strikes, adding that the intense raids "formed a kind of belt of fire" in the area. She reported casualties but could not provide a precise toll.

European Union countries that contribute to UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL in Lebanon have no intention of pulling back from the south of the country despite Israeli calls to do so, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said.

Since an Israeli ground invasion on 1 October, UNIFIL positions have come under fire, and two Israeli tanks burst through the gates of one of its bases, the UN says. Five peacekeepers have been injured.

Sixteen EU countries, including Austria, contribute to UNIFIL, and the recent incidents have sparked widespread alarm among European governments.

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the UN to withdraw UNIFIL "from Hezbollah strongholds and from the combat zones".

But Schallenberg, summarising a discussion among EU foreign ministers on Monday, said European nations were not minded about pulling troops back or out.

"There was no debate about pulling back or whatever," he told Reuters in an interview in Brussels.

"They are there to stay but the security and the safety of our troops is paramount and has to be ensured by everybody," said Schallenberg, whose country has about 160 soldiers in UNIFIL.

(Reuters)

The Israeli army claims it hit an underground strategic weapons storage depot of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah in its Beirut stronghold of Dahieh on Wednesday.

It said advance warnings were given to civilians before the strike.

(Reuters)

A strike hit south Beirut on Wednesday, AFPTV footage showed, less than an hour after the Israeli military ordered residents to leave part of the Lebanese capital.

Black smoke billowed from between buildings in Haret Hreik after the strike, which followed Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee telling people to leave the area.

The Israeli military on Wednesday ordered residents to leave part of southern Beirut, a warning which usually precedes strikes on the area pinpointed in the Lebanese capital.

"You are located near facilities and interests affiliated with Hezbollah, which the IDF (Israeli military) will work against in the near future" in the Haret Hreik area, Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee wrote in Arabic on X.

#عاجل ‼️ انذار عاجل جديد إلى سكان الضاحية الجنوبية وتحديدًا المتواجدين في المبنى المحدد في الخارطة والواقع في حارة حريك

🔴أنتم متواجدون بالقرب من منشآت ومصالح تابعة لحزب الله حيث سيعمل ضدها جيش الدفاع على مدى الزمني القريب
🔴من أجل سلامتكم وسلامة أبناء عائلتكم عليكم اخلاء هذا… pic.twitter.com/cigjAse6iL

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) October 16, 2024