Israel has said it has launched further airstrikes against Hezbollah positions in Lebanon, a day after more than 550 people were killed in similar attacks. Media has the latest.
Beirut has been struck several times by Israeli airstrikes in the past two days© Amr Abdallah Dalsh/REUTERSIsrael has continued to launch airstrikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon Israel said it has killed another senior Hezbollah commander in a strike on Beirut The UNHCR said two of its staff were among the more than 550 killed in Israeli strikes on Monday UN chief Antonio Guterres, and other world leaders, have warned against further violence in Lebanon
Here are the main events happening in the Israel-Hamas war and the wider Middle East on Tuesday, September 24, 2024:
Israel says it has launched new wave of ‘extensive’ strikes in Lebanon
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they had launched a new wave of strikes against Hezbollah positions in Lebanon on Tuesday evening.
“The IDF is currently conducting extensive strikes on Hezbollah terror targets in Lebanon. Details to follow,” a military statement said on X, formerly Twitter.
The announcement comes a day after Israeli airstrikes killed at least 558 people, including 50 children, according to Lebanese authorities.
UNHCR says two colleagues killed in Israeli strikes
Filippo Grandi, the head of the UN’s High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), said two of the agency’s workers were killed by Israeli strikes — which he described as “relentless” — in Lebanon on Monday.
“I am very saddened to confirm that two UNHCR colleagues were also killed yesterday,” he said on X, formerly Twitter. “On behalf of all us at UNHCR, heartfelt condolences to their families, friends and colleagues.”
Numerous UN staff have been killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza, including six UNRWA employees who were killed in early September in an Israeli strike on a school that was being used as a shelter.
UNRWA is the UN agency set up to provide services to Palestinian refugees specifically. Israel accused the organization — without providing evidence — of having been involved in the October 7 attacks which led a number of key donors to suspend funding.
UK’s Starmer calls for de-escalation in Lebanon
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called for “restraint and de-escalation” between Hezbollah and Israel.
“I call again for restraint and de-escalation at the border between Israel and Lebanon in the Middle East today. I call again for all parties to step back from the brink,” Starmer said in a speech at the Labour Party’s conference in Liverpool.
While speaking, Starmer was interrupted by an apparent pro-Palestinian protester. Finance Minister Rachel Reeves was also interrupted during her conference speech on Monday when someone stood up to protest UK weapons sales to Israel.
The UK has been a major supporter of Israel, and Starmer has repeatedly said that Israel has the right to self-defense following the October 7 Hamas attacks.
UN chief Guterres: Lebanon cannot ‘become another Gaza’
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opened the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly by warning that Lebanon was “at the brink” following Israel’s escalation of attacks against Hezbollah.
“We should all be alarmed by the escalation. Lebanon is at the brink. The people of Lebanon, the people of Israel, and the people of the world cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza,” he said. “Gaza is a non-stop nightmare that threatens to take the entire region with it.”
He went on to reiterate his condemnation of the Hamas terror attacks against Israel on October 7, but added that “nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”
Israel says targets Hezbollah commander in Beirut
An Israeli airstrike on Tuesday once again targeted a suburb of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, the Israeli military said.
Eyewitnesses reported that two floors of a building were destroyed, while videos showed smoke rising from the Ghobeiri neighborhood, which lies in the south of the city and is home to mainly Shiites.
The Lebanese Health Ministry said the Israeli strike killed six people and injured another 15.
The Israeli military said it had carried out a “targeted attack” but gave no further information.
It was not immediately clear who was being targeted with the strike. Reuters news agency cited Lebanese security sources who said it was a Hezbollah commander, while German news agency DPA pointed to the Amal movement — allied with Hezbollah — who are particularly active in Ghobeiri.
On Monday, an Israeli strike on another suburb of Beirut reportedly targeted senior Hezbollah commander Ali Karaki, although the group later said he had not been harmed and had been taken to safety.
Several other leading Hezbollah members have been killed by Israeli strikes in recent weeks.
White House urges US citizens in Lebanon to leave
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday that Americans in Lebanon should try to leave now while flights are still available.
“We want to make sure that there are still commercial options available for Americans to leave, and they should be leaving now while those options are available,” Kirby told US broadcaster ABC News’ “Good Morning America” program.
He added that US officials have been in constant communication with Israeli counterparts regarding the conflict.
“We don’t believe it is in Israel’s interest for this to escalate,” Kirby said. “They do have a right to defend themselves, but what we’re going to keep doing is talking to them about finding a diplomatic solution here, a way to descalate the tensions.”
Israel vows to continue attacks on Hezbollah
Israel’s Military Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi said on Tuesday that attacks on Hezbollah would be accelerated.
“The situation requires continued, intense action in all arenas,” Halevi said after holding a security assessment.
Halevi said Monday’s strikes hit combat infrastructure that Hezbollah had been building for two decades.
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant also lauded Monday’s events as “a significant peak” in the Israeli military operation against Hezbollah.
“This is the most difficult week for Hezbollah since its establishment … the results speak for themselves,” Gallant said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was acting to change the “security balance” in the north.
Lebanon officials say over 550 dead in strikes
Lebanon’s health minister, Firass Abiad, said the death toll from Israeli strikes on the country’s south had climbed to 558, including 50 children and 94 women.
Some 1,835 have been wounded, he added. Abiad said that emergency personnel were among the dead, with four paramedics among those killed and 16 paramedics and firefighters were among the wounded.
“The vast majority, if not all, of those killed in yesterday’s attacks were unarmed people in their homes,” Abiad said.
China condemns Israel strikes as world reacts
World leaders have voiced concerns over the rapid escalation between Israel and Hezbollah. UN chief Antonio Guterres’s spokesman said he was “gravely alarmed,” and the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell warned, “We are almost in a full-fledged war.”
France and Egypt called on the UN Security Council to intervene, while Iraq requested an urgent meeting of Arab states on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
A US official said the country is presenting “concrete ideas” at the UN in a bid to ease tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.
The official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, said that Washington and several other nations were keen to present an “off-ramp” for both Israel and Hezbollah to reduce tensions.
Meanwhile, China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, expressed support for Lebanon and condemned what he termed “indiscriminate attacks against civilians,” Beijing’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
“We pay close attention to developments in the region, especially the recent explosion of communications equipment in Lebanon, and firmly oppose indiscriminate attacks against civilians,” Wang said in New York at the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting.
“No matter how the situation changes, we will always stand on the side of justice, on the side of our Arab brothers, including Lebanon,” Wang told Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib.
Qatar suspends flights to Lebanon
Qatar Airways said on Tuesday that it had suspended flights to Beirut for the day as tensions escalated between Israel and Hezbollah.
“Due to the ongoing situation in Lebanon, Qatar Airways has temporarily suspended flights to and from Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport until September 25,” the Qatari national carrier said in a statement. “The safety of our passengers remains our highest priority.”
Last week, Qatar Airways announced a ban on pagers and walkie-talkies on its Beirut flights following the communications device explosions that killed 37 people and wounded thousands over two days.
Lufthansa, Germany’s national carrier, and Air France have also suspended or extended their suspension of flights to Beirut in recent days.
Hezbollah says rockets strike Israel explosives factory
Hezbollah said on Tuesday that it had attacked several Israeli military targets with rockets Tuesday morning, including an explosives factory 60 kilometers (37 miles) into Israel.
The militant group said it had attacked the explosives factory around 4 a.m. (0100 UTC) and the Megiddo airfield three separate times overnight.
Israel’s military said that sirens warning of Hezbollah rocket fire sounded across northern Israel, including in the port city of Haifa, and in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, the military said.
Some 60,000 people have been evacuated from northern Israel as a result of the cross-border fighting.
Thousands flee southern Lebanon amid Israeli strikes
Thousands in southern Lebanon packed family members and belongings into cars, vans and trucks in a rushed attempt to evacuate their homes.
A Lebanese official coordinating the crisis response told Reuters news agency that 89 temporary shelters in schools and other facilities had been set up, with the capacity for more than 26,000 people as civilians fled.
In the southern port city of Sidon, cars heading north toward Beirut packed the main north-south highway linking the capital with southern communities.
The last time that Lebanon saw such a large wave of displacement was in 2006, when Israel clashed with Hezbollah, causing hundreds of thousands to flee their homes in the south.
On Monday, Israel warned residents in southern and eastern Lebanon to leave areas close to sites where Hezbollah is thought to be hiding weapons.
Hundreds reported killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon
The Israeli army confirmed it had launched airstrikes against Hezbollah sites in Lebanon on Monday. Lebanese authorities said the strikes had killed 492 people.
“Israel’s war is not with you. It’s with Hezbollah. For too long, Hezbollah has been using you as human shields,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a short video statement addressed to the Lebanese people.
Israel had warned people in Lebanon to evacuate areas where it said Hezbollah was storing weapons.
Hezbollah launched more than 100 projectiles toward Israel on Monday, the military said.
Several countries, including the United States in 1997 and Germany in 2020, have designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. The European Union designated its armed wing as a terrorist group in 2013.
