More than 100,000 people cross from Lebanon into Syria, UN refugee agency says
More than 100,000 people cross from Lebanon into Syria, UN refugee agency says/node/2573330/middle-east
More than 100,000 people cross from Lebanon into Syria, UN refugee agency says
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Syrians, who were living in Lebanon and returned to Syria due to ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, wait with their belongings at the Syrian-Lebanese border, in Jdaydet Yabous, Syria, September 25, 2024. (Reuters)
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A displaced family from Syria seeks to be transferred to a safe place, after spending the night at Beirut's central Martyrs' square fleeing the overnight Israeli strikes in southern Beirut, in Lebanon September 28, 2024. (Reuters)
More than 100,000 people cross from Lebanon into Syria, UN refugee agency says
Updated 39 sec ago
Reuters
GENEVA: More than 100,000 people have crossed into Syria from Lebanon since a conflict between Israeli forces and the Hezbollah militia escalated this month, the UN refugee agency chief said on Monday.
Filippo Grandi said on social media platform X that those fleeing included both Lebanese and Syrian nationals. The UN agency is assisting those arriving at four crossing points, he added.
International powers are scrambling to prevent the conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group from spiralling into a broader conflict
Updated 12 sec ago
AFP
BRUSSELS: European foreign ministers will hold emergency talks Monday on the situation in Lebanon, Brussels said, as Israel presses on with air strikes after killing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. A spokesman said the bloc’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell had convened a video meeting at 1500 GMT “to discuss the EU’s response to the latest escalation in Lebanon.” International powers are scrambling to prevent the conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group from spiralling into a broader conflict. The 27-nation European Union has so far struggled to speak with one voice — or exert much influence — to curb the violence that has roiled the region over the past year. Israel on Monday carried out its first air strike in the heart of Lebanon’s capital Beirut since the outbreak of the war in Gaza last year, killing four people. That raid was the latest in an aerial campaign that saw Israel kill Hezbollah’s long-time chief Nasrallah on Friday in a major ratcheting up of tensions. Israeli attacks have killed hundreds in Lebanon since last Monday, the deadliest day since the country’s 1975-1990 civil war. In the last week, Israeli bombardment has killed more than 700 people, including 14 paramedics over a two-day period, the ministry said. UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi said well over 200,000 people are displaced inside Lebanon and more than 100,000 have fled to neighboring Syria. Israel has increasingly switched its focus to tackling Hezbollah after almost a year of waging a devastating offensive in the Gaza following last year’s October 7 attack by Hamas. Hezbollah, a close ally of Hamas, stepped up barrages of northern Israel in the wake of the Hamas attack, displacing tens of thousands of people.
UAE president pledges $100 million aid to Lebanon - WAM
Updated 2 min 50 sec ago
Arab News
DUBAI: UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has directed the delivery of an urgent US$100 million relief package to the people of Lebanon, WAM news agency reported Monday.
“This initiative is part of the UAE’s continuous efforts to support Lebanon through its current challenges, underscoring the nation's unwavering commitment to assisting the Lebanese people,” the statement said.
Israeli strikes kill Hamas leader in Lebanon and three Palestinian leaders in Beirut
Hamas says Israeli strike kills its leader in Lebanon
Lebanon’s Health Ministry reports over 1,000 killed, 6,000 wounded in two weeks
Updated 30 September 2024
Reuters
Beirut: Palestinian militant group Hamas said an Israeli strike killed its leader in Lebanon on Monday, while another Palestinian militant group said three of its leaders were killed in a strike on Beirut, the first attack within the city limits.
Hamas said its leader in Lebanon, Fateh Sherif Abu el-Amin was killed, along with his wife, son, and daughter, in a strike that targeted their house in a Palestinian refugee camp in the southern city of Tyre in the early hours of Monday.
As Israel escalates hostilities against Iran’s allies in the region, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) said three of its leaders were killed in a strike that targeted Beirut’s Kola district.
The strike hit the upper floor of an apartment building, Reuters witnesses said.
There was no immediate comment from Israel’s military.
Israel’s increasing frequency of attacks against the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon and the Houthi militia in Yemen have prompted fears that Middle East fighting could spin out of control and draw in Iran and the United States, Israel’s main ally.
The PFLP is another militant group taking part in the fight against Israel.
Israel on Sunday launched airstrikes against the Houthi militia in Yemen and dozens of Hezbollah targets throughout Lebanon after earlier killing the Hezbollah leader.
The Houthi-run health ministry said at least four people were killed and 29 wounded in airstrikes on Yemen’s port of Hodeidah, which Israel said were a response to Houthi missile attacks. In Lebanon, authorities said at least 105 people had been killed by Israeli air strikes on Sunday.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry has said more than 1,000 Lebanese have been killed and 6,000 wounded in the past two weeks, without saying how many were civilians. The government said a million people — a fifth of the population — have fled their homes.
The intensifying Israeli bombardment over two weeks has killed a string of top Hezbollah officials, including its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
Israel has vowed to keep up the assault and says it wants to make its northern areas secure again for residents who have been forced to flee Hezbollah rocket attacks.
Israeli drones hovered over Beirut for much of Sunday, with the loud blasts of new airstrikes echoing around the Lebanese capital. Displaced families spent the night on benches at Zaitunay Bay, a string of restaurants and cafes on Beirut’s waterfront.
Many of Israel’s attacks have been carried out in the south of Lebanon, where the Iran-backed Hezbollah has most of its operations, or Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Monday’s attack in the Kola district appeared to be the first strike within Beirut’s city limits. Syrians living in southern Lebanon who had fled Israeli bombardment had been sleeping under a bridge in the neighborhood for days, residents of the area said.
The United States has urged a diplomatic resolution to the conflict in Lebanon but has also authorized its military to reinforce in the region.
US President Joe Biden, asked if an all-out war in the Middle East could be avoided, said “It has to be.” He said he will be talking to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
French FM in Beirut, despite air strikes: ministry
Israel's military on Sunday said it struck more targets of Lebanon's Iran-backed group Hezbollah, after its leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in a Beirut air raid on Friday
Updated 30 September 2024
AFP
BEIRUT, Lebanon: French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot arrived in Lebanon on Sunday night, his ministry said, making him the first high-level foreign diplomat to visit since Israeli air strikes intensified one week ago.
The arrival of Barrot, who earlier called for an immediate halt to the strikes, came as the foreign ministry announced that a second French national had been killed in Lebanon, though details were unclear.
Barrot oversaw delivery of 11.5 tonnes of French humanitarian aid, Lebanon's Health Minister Firass Abiad said.
After a meeting about the status of French nationals, Barrot on Monday will meet officials including Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
He is also due to meet the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon and members of the UN peacekeeping force in the south.
"We confirm the death of a second French national," his ministry said Sunday, adding that further details will be supplied later.
The death comes after an 87-year-old French woman died last Monday after a blast in a village in south Lebanon.
Israel's military on Sunday said it struck more targets of Lebanon's Iran-backed group Hezbollah, after its leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in a Beirut air raid on Friday.
The violence has raised strong fears of even further escalation in the Middle East.
French President Emmanuel Macron has also appointed a former foreign and defence minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, as special envoy to Lebanon.
Le Drian has visited the country six times, most recently at the beginning of the week.
4 killed as Israel strikes apartment in central Beirut, first hit outside Hezbollah-controlled Dahiyeh
Video footage showed the partially flattened floor of the building targeted by the strike, in the predominantly Sunni neighborhood of Kola
Reports on the affiliation of those killed were conflicting: some said Jamaa Islamiya, others said Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)
Updated 30 September 2024
Najia Houssari & Agencies
BEIRUT: Four people have been killed in an Israeli strike targeting an apartment in Beirut’s Kola district on Sunday, witnesses said, in the first such attack in central Beirut in nearly a year of conflict.
There have been conflicting reports on who the intended targets were, with some news outlets claiming they were officials of The Islamic Party or Islamic Group — also known as Jamaa Islamiya — and others claiming they were members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
Sources close to Arab News identified those killed in the strike as senior Jamaa Islamiya members Zakariya Bazzi and Ali Rahal and two others.
Agence France Presse also quoted its own source, and The Associated Press, quoting an unnamed official with Lebanese Civil Defense, said the targets were Jamaa Islamiya members.
Reuters, also quoting unnamed sources, said the PFLP had admitted that three of its leaders were killed the strike.
Formed in 1960, Jamaa Islamiya, like Hamas, traces its origins to the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood. It has been the target of several Israeli strikes since the escalation began on the Israeli-Lebanese border.
The PFLP said the three leaders were killed in a strike that targeted Beirut’s Kola district.
The PFLP, a Marxist–Leninist and revolutionary socialist organization, is the second-biggest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation Organization, next to Fatah.
The strike marks the first time Israel has carried out attacks within Beirut’s city walls since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel last year.
Television footage showed the partially flattened floor of the building targeted by the strike, in the predominantly Sunni neighborhood of Kola, near the road linking the capital to Beirut airport.
The strike happened hours after Israel hit targets across Lebanon and killed at least 105 people as Hezbollah sustained heavy blows to its command structure, including the killing of its leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
In the past week, Israel has frequently targeted Beirut’s southern suburbs, where the militant group Hezbollah has a strong presence — including a major strike on Friday that killed Nasrallah — but had not hit locations near the city center.
There was no immediate comment from Israeli officials.
Earlier, Hezbollah confirmed that Nabil Kaouk, the deputy head of the militant group’s Central Council, was killed Saturday, making him the seventh senior Hezbollah leader slain in Israeli strikes in a little over a week. They include founding members who had evaded death or detention for decades.
Hezbollah also confirmed that Ali Karaki, another senior commander, died in an airstrike Friday strike that killed Nasrallah. Israel says at least 20 other Hezbollah militants were killed, including one in charge of Nasrallah’s security detail.
The Lebanese health ministry documented at least 105 people killed around the country in airstrikes Sunday. Two strikes near the southern city of Sidon, about 45 kilometers (28 miles) south of Beirut, killed at least 32 people, the Lebanese health ministry said. Separately, Israeli strikes in the northern province of Baalbek Hermel killed 21 people and injured at least 47. There were other strikes.
The Israeli military previously said it also carried out another targeted strike on Beirut, but did not immediately provide details.
Lebanese media reported dozens of strikes in the central, eastern and western Bekaa and in the south, besides strikes on Beirut. The strikes have targeted buildings where civilians were living and the death toll was expected to rise.
In a video of a strike in Sidon, verified by The Associated Press, a building swayed before collapsing as neighbors filmed. One TV station called on viewers to pray for a family caught under the rubble, posting their pictures, as rescuers failed to reach them. The Lebanese health ministry reported at least 14 medics were killed over two days in the south.
Meanwhile, wreckage from the strike on Friday that killed Nasrallah was still smoldering. AP journalists saw smoke over the rubble as people flocked to the site, some to check on what was left of their homes and others to pay respects, pray or simply to see the destruction.
In response to the dramatic escalation in Israeli strikes on Lebanon, Hezbollah significantly increased its attacks in the past week, from several dozen to several hundred daily, the Israeli military said. The attacks injured several people and caused damage, but most of the rockets and drones were intercepted by Israel’s air defense systems or fell in open areas.
The army says its strikes have degraded Hezbollah’s capabilities and the number of launches would be much higher if Hezbollah had not been hit.
