Hezbollah says it has killed and injured Israeli soldiers crossing the Lebanese borderWilliam Christou
William Christou has been reporting for the Guardian from Beirut
Hezbollah has claimed in a statement to have killed and injured Israeli soldiers crossing the Lebanese border near a UN position near the al-Labouneh forest, in the western section of the border area. Hezbollah said that the attack forced Israeli soldiers to withdraw behind the border. These claims have not been independently verified yet.
Israel deployed a fourth division to its northern border today in support of its “Operation Northern Arrow”, which started with an intense aerial campaign on 23 September and expanded on Monday to include ground offensives across the border.
The Hezbollah attack came after its deputy secretary general Naim Qassem said in a speech today that the group is still capable of repelling an Israeli advance into Lebanese territory in the south.
Israel’s military operation in LebanonIsrael has said it is expanding its ground operation there with the deployment of a fourth division.
The leaders of the US, UK, France and Germany are set to hold talks on the Middle East and Ukraine in Berlin on Saturday, the spokesperson for British prime minister Keir Starmer has said.
“The prime minister will travel to a meeting of the Quad in Berlin on Saturday. Leaders will discuss the situation in Ukraine as well as the concerning developments in the Middle East,” Starmer’s spokesperson told reporters, referring to the ‘Quad’ grouping of the UK, the US, France and Germany.
Starmer has rejected repeated calls for a complete ban on UK arms exports to Israel. Addressing the House of Commons on the anniversary of the 7 October Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed, Starmer said yesterday that “to do so would include a ban on arms for defensive purposes”, something he opposed.
“Over 41,000 Palestinians have been killed, tens of thousands orphaned, almost 2 million displaced, facing disease, starvation, desperation, without proper healthcare or shelter,” Starmer said. “It is a living nightmare and it must end,” he said, as he reiterated calls for a ceasefire and for Israel to allow more aid into the territory ahead of the winter.
UN warns Lebanon could face same ‘spiral of doom’ as seen from Israel’s war in GazaUN humanitarian officials have warned that urgent action is needed to prevent the escalating conflict in Lebanon from spiralling into a similar scene of devastation that has resulted from Israel’s war on Gaza.
“We need to do everything we can to stop that from happening,” Matthew Hollingworth, Lebanon country director for the UN’s World Food Programme, told reporters.
Hollingworth said he had spent the first half of the year coordinating WFP’s operations in Gaza before taking the helm of its Lebanon office, and was deeply concerned by the similarities.
He said:
It is in my mind from the time I wake until the time I sleep, that we could go into the same sort of spiral of doom… We shouldn’t allow that to happen.
Almost 42,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli airstrikes on Gaza since last October, according to the territory’s health ministry. Much of Gaza’s health care system has been destroyed in the attacks, along with its infrastructure and schools. The destruction has not only forced millions of people to leave their homes but also made it impossible for many to return.
Israel says the aim of its assault on Lebanon is to allow approximately 60,000 displaced people to return to their homes across northern Israel.
Summary of the day so far… The Israeli military said its soldiers had begun a ground offensive in southwestern Lebanon, marking a shift as previously its invasion had focused on the eastern side of the border.
Three weeks of intense Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed more than 1,400 people and displaced another 1.2 million, according to Lebanese authorities.
The deputy leader of Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, accused the US of being a partner in what he described as crimes taking place in Gaza. He also said that Israel’s ground invasion of Lebanon had been a failure, that the group’s military capabilities were intact, pledging that its attacks would force more people in northern Israel from their homes.
Two Israeli airstrikes hit Beirut’s Shia-majority southern suburbs almost immediately after Qassem’s speech.
Israeli media reported that a 70-year-old woman has received a shrapnel wound to her hand in Haifa after an earlier barrage of about 85 rockets fired at the northern Israeli city.
The situation in Lebanon is getting worse by the day, the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, told the European Parliament, as he reiterated calls for a ceasefire. About 20% of the Lebanese population had been forced to move due to Israeli airstrikes, he said.
Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, warned Israel that any attack on Iran’s infrastructure will be met with retaliation, a week after Tehran fired a barrage of missiles at Israel.
The Israeli military said it killed Suhail Hussein Husseini – commander of Hezbollah’s logistical headquarters – in a strike in an area of Beirut, where Israeli airstrikes continued overnight.
In Gaza, Israeli airstrikes killed 17 people in a refugee camp in the centre of the Palestinian territory on Tuesday, medics said. The health ministry said Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip has killed at least 41,965 Palestinian people and injured 97,590 since 7 October 2023.
Israeli forces have detained at least 30 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank over the past day, including a journalist, Wafa, the Palestinian news agency, reports, citing updates from the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society and the Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs.
23 detentions were reported to have taken place in Hebron, while the others were in Nablus, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem.
Over 11,000 Palestinians have been detained in Israeli raids across the occupied West Bank since last October, the groups have said.
Human rights groups and international organisations have alleged widespread abuse of inmates detained by Israel in raids in the occupied West Bank. They have described alleged abusive and humiliating treatment, including holding blindfolded and handcuffed detainees in cramped cages as well as beatings, intimidation and harassment.