Middle East latest: Netanyahu says he will 'not accept' Iran's attack; frontrunner to replace Hezbollah leader 'unreachable' - report (2024)

Key points
  • Blasts heard after Israeli military tells part of Beirut to evacuate 'immediately'
  • Israel continues to bomb neighbouring Lebanon in its attacks on Iran-backed Hezbollah militants, hitting key road used to flee country
  • Netanyahu says he will 'not accept' Iran's attack
  • IDF 'has killed 440 Hezbollah members'
  • Who is Hashem Safieddine – touted to become Hezbollah's next leader but now 'unreachable'?
  • Live reporting by Bhvishya Patel
Expert view
  • Alex Crawford:Eyewitness: Widespread panic as more than million flee homes in Lebanon
  • Dominic Waghorn:Crisis is failure of US and Western diplomacy

20:50:42

Evacuation order issued in Beirut

The IDF has issued an evacuation order in Beirut.

In a statement on X, it has urged residents in the southern suburb to leave the area.

"You are located near Hezbollah facilities and interests, against which the IDF will operate in the near future," IDF spokesperson for the Arab Media Avichay Adraee said in a statement.

"For your safety and the safety of your family members, you must evacuate the specified buildings and those adjacent to them immediately and stay away from them for a distance of no less than 500m."

20:20:38

Israel announces changes to defensive guidelines

The Israeli military has announced changes to its defensive guidelines in several areas, including in some communities north of Tel Aviv, near the Gaza strip, and parts of the occupied West Bank.

The changes allow gatherings of up to 2,000 people, up from 1,000, the military said in a statement.

They have also announced that the activity scale would be changed to "partial activity" in several communities of the Central Galilee.

19:47:44

Reports of Israeli strikes on health facilities 'deeply disturbing', Lammy says

Reports that Israeli strikes have hit health facilities and support personnel in Lebanon are "deeply disturbing", Foreign Secretary David Lammy has said.

The comments come as Israel expands its bombardment in Lebanon, hitting Beirut's southern suburbs with a dozen airstrikes and striking a Palestinian refugee camp deep in the north for the first time, as it targeted both Hezbollah and Hamas.

Here is Mr Lammy's statement on X...

19:17:25

Netanyahu says he will 'not accept' Iran's attack

Benjamin Netanyahu has recorded a statement on the conflict in the Middle East.

In the statement he says that a month ago he had promised he would "change the balance of powers in the north of Israel" and "this is what we have been doing ever since".

"A month ago as we almost finished defeating Hamas in Gaza, we carried out our promise to the people of the north and killed Nasrallah and all the commanders of Hezbollah," he says.

"We managed to destroy the system of rockets and missiles that were developed by Hamas through the years.

"Now, our soldiers are also ruining the tunnels that were developed by Hezbollah.

"Even though we haven't finished lifting these threats we have clearly changed the course of the war and the balance of the war."

He also says Israel "is prepared to defend itself".

"Including the threat coming from Iran because Iran is behind all of these attacks on us. From Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen and Syria and Iran itself.

"Iran has already launched into Israel hundreds of missiles in a ballistic missile attack which was one of the biggest such attacks in history.

"No other country in the world would accept such an attack on its citizens and neither will Israel."

19:14:58

What has happened since last night?

There have been several explosions in the Lebanese capital Beirut overnight after an evacuation order was issued by Israel's military.

Here is what has happened since yesterday...

Senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine, the cousin and presumed successor of Hezbollah's former leader Hassan Nasrallah, has been "unreachable" since the Israeli airstrike on Beirut on Friday.

The Salah Ghandour Hospital in southern Lebanon was hit during another strike.

The IDF said it was targeting a Hezbollah command centre located in a nearby mosque.

And the northern city of Tripoli was hit for the first time since this conflict began.

A senior Hamas official was killed in a refugee camp there.

Today in Gaza, residents in the Nuseriat and Bureij refugee camps were urged to evacuate.

19:00:33

What did Hagari say about the underground Hezbollah command centre that was destroyed?

In his statement IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari described how Israeli troops had infiltrated a Hezbollah command centre in Lebanon and "completely destroyed it".

He also shared footage of troops walking through the underground tunnel.

Here is what he said...

"They entered a tunnel which is 250m long and 300m from the border but does not cross into Israel.

"Our forces found a kitchen and rooms which allowed for Hezbollah terrorists to stay for a long time underground.

"They found combat rucksacks and food.

"The tunnel did not cross into Israel and was completely destroyed."

18:27:34

IDF 'has killed 440 Hezbollah members'

IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari is giving a statement.

He says soldiers are "continuing to fight and operate in Lebanon" and two divisions are manoeuvring in urban and other terrains.

"So far 2,000 Hezbollah targets have been destroyed," he says.

"Our soldiers are collecting a lot of intel and many weapons from Hezbollah."

He says troops recently raided a command and control centre belonging to Hezbollah and "completely destroyed it".

Mr Hagari goes on to say they are "pushing Hezbollah further to the north".

He also says the IDF "managed to kill 440 Hezbollah members".

The IDF spokesperson goes on to say Hamas "may try to carry out attacks" on the anniversary of the 7 October attacks.

"We assume that on the date of the anniversary they will try to carry out terrorist attacks against the home front command," he adds.

He adds that Israel's response to Iran's missiles "will come at a time Israel decides is best".

"We will respond in the manner and time and fashion in which we decide on," he says.

"We need to respond with actions not words."

17:58:07

'At night I do wake up and hear the bombs dropping'

The co founder and chief executive of the Alsama Project, which sets up education centres, sports hubs and social enterprises in refugee camps in Lebanon, has been speaking to Sky's Mark Austin.

Meike Ziervogel, who lives in Beirut, said: "At night I do wake up and hear the bombs dropping and my husband wakes me up every morning to make sure I am okay. I am fine."

Ms Ziervogel explained her students were Syrian refugees predominantly and the teachers were Syrian, Lebanese and Palestinians.

A lot of them had been displaced, she said.

"We have moved straight into WhatsApp. We are teaching them through WhatsApp," she explained.

"The teachers can put their lessons onto WhatsApp and then the students can access that when they have an opportunity."

She said it was "vital" that education continues during this conflict.

"Education is always the first thing that goes during the war," she said.

"All our students come to us as illiterate teenagers and the hunger they have for education is phenomenal.

"We have students who have been with us for four years and they will graduate from Alsama in 2026 to go to international universities.

"It is that hunger they have."

17:21:55

Man arrested at demonstration for 'wearing what appears to be a parachute'

A man has been arrested at today's pro-Palestine demonstrations for wearing what appeared to be a parachute, the Metropolitan Police has said.

In a statement on X, the force said officers spotted a man in Whitehall wearing "what appeared to be a parachute".

He has been arrested "on suspicion of wearing or displaying an article indicating support for a proscribed organisation."

Parachutes and paragliders were used by militants from Hamas to launch their aerial assault to enter Israel from Gaza on 7 October.

16:37:24

No common ground between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protests in London

By Tom Cheshire, data and forensics correspondent

The march started with drums and these protests have kept up a steady rhythm over the past year: this was the 20thheld in London.

But it was as loud as ever – perhaps louder. There were thousands of people, in full voice.

That's partly because this was to mark a year of the conflict. But also because that conflict has now widened.

There were new signs: "Hands off Lebanon". And we spotted a new, surprising flag: Iran's.

The marches have been controversial from the start and they remain so.

Not just the chants of "from the river to the sea" but the organisers said this was a march to mark "a year of genocide" – a charge that Israel vehemently rejects.

And there was little mention of Hamas or the Israeli hostages it still holds.

I asked John Rees, national officer at Stop the War Coalition, one of the organisers of the march, why - given that Hamas launched the attack on 7 October - there were no calls for it do anything.

"I think people have got longer memories than a year.

"What you have to remember is every year since the state of Israel was founded more Palestinians have been killed than Israelis... when people look at the full history they don't have 7 October as the main starting point."

In response, I asked whether they think what Hamas did almost one year ago was unacceptable.

"Yes but in a war, the aim is to stop the war. You can just say what one side is doing, especially when it's so disproportionate."

There was a pro-Israel counter-protest – much smaller but just as passionate.

Here too, the wider war has led to new attitudes, new points of difference.

One of the protestors, who had her name as Eve, told us: "On the 8 October they started rocket attacks on Israel. They are the aggressor, 70,000 Israelis had to leave their homes.

"There are fires raging throughout the whole of northern Israel. And we don't hear anything about it!"

There were other isolated pockets of confrontation along the march and a few arrests, although the march was peaceful, especially given its large size.

But the feeling on both sides remains visceral: no common ground here, even thousands of miles away from conflict.

Middle East latest: Netanyahu says he will 'not accept' Iran's attack; frontrunner to replace Hezbollah leader 'unreachable' - report (2024)
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