Middle East Conflict, Israel Iran War Live: New Israeli strikes have been reported in south Beirut on Monday night, hours after Israeli military issued new evacuation orders for civilians in the Lebanese capital to leave specific buildings. Earlier, Lebanese armed group Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for a series of missile attacks targeting northern Israel, including areas near the city of Haifa. The Palestinian militant group, Hamas in Gaza also fired four rockets into Israel on Monday, that marked year of the war in West Asia which was sparked by the Hamas-led militant attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. The Israeli military said there were no casualties as three rockets were intercepted and a fourth fell in an open area. The forces have also launched a wave of artillery and airstrikes overnight, targetting Hamas launch posts and underground militant infrastructure.
What’s the situation? Israel continued to intensify its attack on Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon as more than 30 airstrikes hit Beirut overnight Sunday. Reuters reported that Israel’s military said about 130 projectiles had crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory. In Gaza, Israel on Monday said it has bombed more than 40,000 targets, found 4,700 tunnel shafts and destroyed 1,000 rocket launcher sites. Having also opened up a new front against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, Israel said it has killed more than 800 “terrorists” there while 4,900 targets have been struck from the air along with about 6,000 ground targets.
Marking a year of war: In Gaza, which is still buckling under the weight of the ongoing war, no formal commemorative event is planned, as per AP. Meanwhile, at 6:30 a.m. — the exact hour Hamas launched its attack — Israeli families of those killed at the Nova music festival were seen gathering at the site where almost 400 revelers were gunned down and from where many others were taken hostage. At that same time, the families of hostages still held in Gaza — about 100, a third of whom are said to be dead — were gathering outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Jerusalem residence to stand during a two-minute siren.
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, right, and second gentleman Doug Emhoff stand after planting a memorial tree on the grounds of the Vice President's residence in Washington on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, to honor the victims and mark one year since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. (AP Photo)
Former US President Donald Trump visited the holy Jewish site Ohel Chabad Lubavitch in New York to mark the October 7 anniversary of attacks on Israel by Gaza based Hamas militant group.
An Ohel is a structure which is built around the grave of some prominent Jewish person. The site at which Trump visited holds Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson and his father-in-law, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, who were rabbis of the Chabad-Lubavitch dynasty, as reported by NBC News.
According to the customs, Republican candidate Trump wrote a letter to the rabbis, then read it quietly and later on tore it up by placing it in the enclosed area. Trump then placed a rock on one of the tombstones, as it is considered a customary way to honour Jewish deceased.
Lebanon based Hezbollah militant group has said that it has briefed its fighters not to engage with soldiers of Israel Defense Forces near an outpost in Maroun Al-Ras as they are posted for security of UN peacekeeping force.
The NBC News reported that one of Hezbollah’s field officers told its forces to avoid any kind of skirmish with Israeli forces and “refrain from engaging” with them as they are observed around the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL.
The UNIFIL had earlier stated that it was deeply concerned about the activity of Israeli forces near its outpost in Lebanon. And added that it is "unacceptable to compromise the safety of UN peacekeepers".
The Israeli forces sounded air alerts siren across the country after it intercepted that a missile was launched from Yemen by Houthi rebels.
The Israel Defense Forces, in a post on X said, “The air force successfully intercepted a surface-to-surface missile launched from Yemen.”
Iran-aligned Houthi rebels have been attacking Israel since past one year using missiles and drones. In response to the attack by Houthi rebels, Israel has also launched airstrikes on Houthi military and its infrastructure sites.
In a major blow to vacationers, boaters and beachgoers, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has issued warnings that soon it will start operating in maritime areas in order to target Lebanon based Hezbollah militant group’s “maritime targets”.
The IDF said that it could start operating south of the Awali River line. Israel completed one year of war hostilities on Monday as on October 7 last year, Hamas attacked Tel Aviv to kill over 1,200 people and reportedly kidnapped 250 others.
The Israeli military in a statement, said, “For your safety, refrain from being in the sea or on the beach from now until further notice. Being on the beach and boat movements in the area of the Awali River line southward pose a danger to your life,” as reported by ABC News.
Israel military’s ground operation of incursion into Lebanese territory to destroy militant group Hezbollah continue to be limited, says State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
Noting that this particular forecast doesn’t reflect on what is going to happen in the operation ahead, Miller said US officials remain engaged in talks about “what the path forward ought to look like” with multiple partners in the Middle East.
“Just because we don't make the details of those conversations public, which we are not at this point, doesn't mean that we are not actively engaged in them,” Matthew Miller said, as reported by ABC News.
The Israeli military issued stern orders for an evacuation of Burj al-Barajneh and Hadath neighborhoods in Beirut, just moments before the country’s military attacked Lebanon based Hezbollah militant group’s intelligence centre.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that fighter jets were involved in the attack on the intelligence centre. The IDF added that it was one of the 70 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon since past 24 hours.
Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris marked the anniversary of the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust as the presidential candidates approach the final weeks of the campaign during a widening conflict in the Middle East.
Hamas killed 1,200 people, including 46 U.S. citizens, and took about 250 hostages during its surprise attack on Oct. 7 last year. Harris described it as “an act of pure evil.” She cited the Kaddish, the Jewish prayer in mourning, to talk about “our enduring belief in God, even in our darkest moments.” Harris said she would remain committed to Israel’s security and the release of hostages held by Hamas, naming several of them in her remarks. She also mentioned a need to to “relieve the immense suffering of innocent Palestinians in Gaza who have experienced so much pain and loss over the year.”
Doug Emhoff, the second gentleman, spoke after Harris to say “this is an incredibly challenging day for Jews around the world, myself included.”“Today feels just as raw as it did one year ago,” he said, describing the attack as “seared into our souls.”A fledgling pomegranate tree was placed in a hole nearby at the Vice President's Residence, and Harris and Emhoff used shovels to cover the roots with dirt.
When they finished, they paused and bowed their heads. On Monday morning, Republican candidate Trump visited the New York City gravesite of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who led the Chabad-Lubavitch movement of Orthodox Judaism from 1951 until his death in 1994.
(AP)
The Israeli military said on Monday that it sounded sirens across Central Israel as five projectiles were fired upon by Lebanon and they were identified crossing into Israeli territory.
The Israeli military further stated that some of the projectiles that were fired were intercepted while a few landed in open areas. The military made no sudden changes in the Home Front Command's guidelines.
Lebanon based Hezbollah militant group later issued a statement acknowledging the attack and said that it launched a missile operation which targeted a military intelligence unit in Tel Aviv.
The statement said, “A missile launch operation (was carried out on) the Glilot base of the military intelligence unit 8200 located in the suburbs of Tel Aviv.”
Israel escalated its air campaign on southern Lebanon on Monday, launching a major offensive involving 100 aircraft that struck around 120 targets in just one hour, as reported by the Israeli military. The attack came after, the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for a series of missile attacks targeting northern Israel, including areas near the city of Haifa.
An urgent warning was issued to civilians by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), urging them to stay clear of beaches and boats along Lebanon’s coast, from the Awali River southward, it announced plans to soon begin operations along Lebanon’s southern coast, advising residents to avoid beaches and the sea for a 60-kilometre (36-mile) stretch along the Mediterranean.
The strikes coincided with Israel’s commemoration of the October 7 attacks by Hamas, which marked the start of a year-long intensification of conflict in the region. The IDF announced the designation of a new closed military zone in northern Israel, the fourth since its ground operations began, covering areas stretching from the Mediterranean inland.
New Israeli airstrikes were reported in southern Beirut on Monday night. According to Lebanese state media, two strikes hit the southern suburbs of the city, with smoke visible rising from the area.
These strikes followed the Israeli military's recent evacuation orders, urging civilians in the Lebanese capital to leave certain buildings for their safety.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has issued a fresh warning for civilians to urgently evacuate areas surrounding specific buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs, in anticipation of imminent Israeli airstrikes.
IDF Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee shared maps highlighting the targeted buildings in the Burj al-Barajneh and Hadath neighborhoods, advising residents to leave immediately and maintain a distance of at least 500 meters from these locations.
Israel’s military announced on Monday that areas around several towns in northwest Israel have been declared off-limits to the public following a security assessment.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated that the newly designated closed military zones along the Lebanese border now include the towns of Shlomi, Rosh Hanikra, Hanita, Arab al-Aramshe, and Adamit.
Significant parts of northern Israel have already been evacuated due to the intense rocket and missile strikes launched by Hezbollah from Lebanon.
Israel's military announced on Monday that it is partially lifting some restrictions for residents in northern areas, which were imposed due to a recent increase in cross-border rocket fire from Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The military stated that the "activity scale will be changed from Limited Activity to Partial Activity," allowing educational activities to resume in areas adjacent to bomb shelters or other safe rooms, according to Reuters.
However, the guidelines for the rest of the country will remain unchanged.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer asserted that he will "never" support a complete ban on arms sales to Israel.
In a statement to the Commons, he said, “If the sale of weapons for defensive use by Israel were banned, that is a position that I could not countenance a year after October 7th. It is not a position I could countenance in the face of attacks by Iran."
He highlighted the recent missile attacks on Israel, emphasizing that it would be "wholly inconsistent" to support Israel's right to defend itself while denying it the means to do so.
Starmer’s comments came in response to SNP MP Brendan O'Hara, who welcomed the Prime Minister’s call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza but questioned why Starmer continues to license 90% of weapon sales to Israel when UK weapons are reportedly used to perpetuate the crisis.
US President Joe Biden had a conversation with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday to commemorate the one-year anniversary of Hamas' attack on October 7, as reported by an Axios journalist on X.
Lebanese MP Melhem Khalaf has condemned Israel's bombardment of Lebanon as “a crime against humanity.”
According to Lebanon’s state-owned National News Agency, Khalaf stated:
“Lebanon is the victim of the biggest war crime, a crime against humanity. Our people sleep on the ground in schools without a means to secure their most basic needs. Our children, our elderly, our families live in anxiety, terror, and fear for the future. The horizon is bleak before them. Without schools. Without work. Without housing.”
Following Israel's intensified aerial strikes on alleged Hezbollah targets, more than 1.3 million people in Lebanon—over a fifth of the population—have been displaced from their homes.
The United States imposed sanctions on a Hamas fundraising network on Monday, accusing it of playing a crucial role in raising money for the Palestinian militant group. This move marks the first anniversary of the Gaza war. The U.S. Treasury Department targeted three individuals, a "sham charity" involved in international financial support for Hamas, and Gaza's Al-Intaj Bank, which is controlled by the group.
The sanctions also applied to a long-time Hamas supporter, a Yemeni national based in Turkey, and nine businesses linked to him. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the department is committed to undermining Hamas’s ability to finance violent acts, including those carried out by other Iranian-backed proxies.
In their attack on Israeli towns near Gaza a year ago, Hamas-led militants killed approximately 1,200 people and took around 250 hostages. The assault exposed serious security failures in Israel, leading to the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.
Israel’s subsequent offensive in Gaza has resulted in the deaths of nearly 42,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities. The Treasury stated that Hamas has used the crisis in Gaza to generate funds through fake charities, receiving up to $10 million a month, especially from Europe.
Among those sanctioned was an Italy-based Hamas member who established a fake charity to fund Hamas’ military wing, as well as senior Hamas representatives in Germany and Austria.
Israel has not yet confirmed the death of Hashem Safieddine, the potential successor to former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, a government spokesperson said.
When asked if Israel could verify Safieddine's death, spokesperson David Mencer responded during an online briefing:
"We don’t have that confirmation yet. When it is confirmed, as and when, it will be on the IDF (Israeli military) website."
Nasrallah, who led Hezbollah for over three decades, was killed in late September during a series of Israeli strikes on the group's underground headquarters in Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahiyeh. Another similar strike allegedly killed Safieddine in the same area, though this has not yet been confirmed.
The Lebanese National News Agency has reported that Israeli airstrikes have targeted more than thirty towns and villages in the Tyre district within the past thirty minutes. Additionally, Lebanese media outlets have reported a fresh Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahiyeh.
Itay Blumental, military correspondent for Israel’s Channel 11, shared an image on social media that is said to be from the site of the strike.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot stressed the need for a diplomatic solution to ensure Israel's security, stating that military force alone would not suffice. Speaking during a visit to Israel on Monday, which marked the first anniversary of the Hamas attack that led to the war, Barrot remarked: "Force alone cannot guarantee the security of Israel, your security. Military success cannot be a substitute for a political perspective."
Barrot further emphasised the need for diplomacy, adding: "To bring the hostages home to their loved ones, to allow the displaced to return home in the north, after a year of war, the time for diplomacy has come."
On the day which marks one year of Hamas militant group's attack on southern Israel, German Chancellor Scholz has said the country stands with Israel. He said that Hamas and Hezbollah must end their attacks on Israel, which are "another escalation in a tense situation"
"Hamas terrorists must be countered," he was quoted as saying by news agency Reuters
Israelis were seen holding vigils and somber ceremonies on Monday to mark a year since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack, which sparked the ongoing war in Gaza.
Israelis were said to have gathered at ceremonies, cemeteries and memorial sites around the country, remembering the hundreds of victims, the dozens of hostages still in captivity and the soldiers wounded or killed trying to save them.
At 6:29 a.m. — the exact minute Hamas launched its attack — the families of those killed at the Nova music festival, joined by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, gathered at the site where almost 400 revelers were gunned down and from where many others were taken hostage. After briefly playing the same trance music that was blared during the festival, hundreds of family members and friends of the victims stood for a moment of silence, according to Reuters
Israel intercepted early on Monday two aerial targets launched from the east after sirens went off in the central areas of Rishon Letsiyon and Palmachim, the military said on the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks.
It gave no further details of the source of the drones.
India’s blossoming relationship with Israel has not led to New Delhi being openly supportive of the Israeli position on Gaza or Lebanon. Rather, India has chosen to silo terrorism as a distinct issue — which needs to be condemned and mitigated — from the political question of Israel and Palestine. This has allowed New Delhi to express sympathy and support for Israel after the October 7 terrorist attacks while refraining from backing it wholesale on the question of Palestinian sovereignty.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Netanyahu on the phone both in October 2023 and 2024, expressing concern and offering solidarity. Modi also spoke to President Mahmoud Abbas of Palestine, reiterating India’s commitment to the two-state solution.
Iran's foreign ministry has summoned the Australian ambassador in Tehran over what it called his country's biased stance regarding Iran's attack on Israel, Iranian news agency Tasnim said on Sunday.
Tehran's missile attack on Tuesday came in retaliation for the killing of several leaders of Iran-aligned armed groups. Israel has vowed to respond.
The Australian envoy, Ian McConville, was summoned on grounds of bias regarding Iran's response to what Tehran called "the Zionist regime", in a reference to Israel.
However, Australia "makes no apology for the views it has expressed about Iran's actions or the actions of its ambassador to Australia", a spokesperson for its department of foreign affairs and trade was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported more than 30 strikes overnight into Sunday, while Israel's military said about 130 projectiles had crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory, news agency Reuters reporterd
This inteisified bombardment on Beirut comes a day after Israel's heaviest bombardment of the southern suburbs known as the Dahiyeh since it escalated its air campaign on September 23. It was not immediately clear if there were casualties.
Israel confirmed the strikes and says it targets Hezbollah. The militant group, the strongest armed force in Lebanon, has called its months of firing rockets into Israel a show of support for the Palestinians.
A separate Israeli strike earlier on Sunday in the town of Qamatiyeh southeast of Beirut killed six people, including three children, Lebanon's Health Ministry said.
Oct 7 marks a year of the terrorist assault by Hamas on Israel.
After flattening parts of Gaza, Israel has taken its retaliation north to Hezbollah. With West Asia on the brink of all-out war, Here's how it began:
The West Asia crisis that began with the terrorist attacks by Hamas on October 7, 2023 has now continued for a year. Israel’s ground operations and aerial bombardment in Gaza and Lebanon have, by conservative estimates, killed more than 41,000 people. Gaza is all but flattened, but Hamas is believed to be still holding 97 of the original 251 hostages.
Israeli military has put out data to mark one year of the October 7 attack by Hamas militan group.
The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has said in a statement that it is deeply concerned regarding the growing attacks of the Israeli military inside Lebanese territory and adjacent to UNIFIL’s centre.
The United Nations body reiterated the obligation of the member states to protect the UN property and its staff members.
In a post on X, the United Nations body said, “UNIFIL is deeply concerned by recent activities by the IDF immediately adjacent to the Mission’s position 6-52, southeast of Marun ar Ras (Sector West), inside Lebanese territory. The IDF has been repeatedly informed of this ongoing situation through regular channels.”
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