DUBAI: Sounds of explosions were heard on the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus on Monday, witnesses told Reuters.
Sound of explosions heard on outskirts of Damascus, say witnesses
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More than 100,000 people cross from Lebanon into Syria, UN refugee agency says
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.
EU to hold emergency talks on Lebanon escalation
- International powers are scrambling to prevent the conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group from spiralling into a broader conflict
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
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
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
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.
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