Israel attacks Lebanon live: New strikes target Beirut

26/09/2024

Israeli army says it has launched strikes on Beirut with sources saying a Hezbollah commander was the target.
The Israeli PM’s office has released a statement on Netanyahu’s X page saying the “news about a ceasefire is not true” and he vows to carry on attacks on Lebanon.

Gallant approves continued ‘offensive activity’ against Hezbollah
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant approves “the continued [Israeli military] offensive activity” in Lebanon against Hezbollah, the Time of Israeli reports, citing Gallant’s office.

According to his office, Gallant met with the army’s chief of staff, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, head of the Operations Directorate, Major-General Oded Basiuk, and head of the Intelligence Directorate, Major-General Shlomi Binder to approve the continuation of the army’s plans against Hezbollah.

During the meeting, four officials also observed the air raid in Beirut, which Israeli Army Radio reported was targeting a senior Hezbollah commander.
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At least 15 people were killed in Israel’s attack on Jabalia’s Hafsa al-Faluja School, according to Gaza’s civil defence.

The Israeli military said it was carrying out raids in Beirut, shortly after a large blast was heard in the southern suburb of the Lebanese capital.

Luna Hammad, the medical coordinator for Doctors Without Borders (MSF), told Al Jazeera that the Israeli attack on Lebanon is putting “immense pressure on an already fragile health system”.

The Israeli army says it hit Hezbollah infrastructure on the Syria-Lebanon border used by the group to transfer weapons from the neighbouring country.

Israeli forces have withdrawn from Jenin in the occupied West Bank after a raid that lasted nearly 15 hours, Wafa reported.

Ben-Gvir threatens to quit if permanent ceasefire is reached with Hezbollah

The far-right partner in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has threatened to quit the coalition if a permanent ceasefire is reached with Hezbollah.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, head of the Jewish Power party, threatened to suspend cooperation with the coalition if a temporary deal is reached.

“If a temporary ceasefire becomes permanent, we will resign from the government,” he said.

It was the latest sign of displeasure from Netanyahu’s hardline government towards international ceasefire efforts.

If Ben-Gvir leaves the coalition, Netanyahu would lose his parliamentary majority and could see his government come toppling down, though opposition leaders have said they would offer support for a ceasefire deal.

Young chef Renad inspires Gaza with viral cooking videos

Ten-year-old Renad Ataullah from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza has more than 450,000 followers on Instagram.

Her cookery posts have an immense following within Gaza itself – her resilience and infectious, bright smile are seen as a beacon of hope for the children of Gaza caught in the brutal chaos.

Renad has always loved cooking, she says. Even before the war began in October last year, she watched cooking videos with a passion. But when the war broke out, she began cooking with her family using whatever ingredients were available – often those from aid boxes containing mainly dried goods and canned food.

A ground invasion in Lebanon ‘would be a humanitarian catastrophe’: NGO

A ground invasion in Lebanon “would be a humanitarian catastrophe”, international nongovernmental organisation Action For Humanity has said in a statement, adding that it called on leaders to take a stand against such a move at the UN General Assembly.

“We are calling on the US and Western governments to do more to stop Gaza being erased and Lebanon being dragged into a bloody war,” Chief Executive Officer Othman Moqbel said.

“For the sake of the entire region and for the sake of humanity, we need to halt all arms to Israel and bring about a ceasefire.”

Israel making precision strikes based on intelligence

This is the fourth targeted strike in under a week.

The Israeli army is saying that an F-35 fired at least three missiles, and what they are claiming is that the target was the head of Hezbollah’s drone unit.

So this is becoming more frequent, these attacks on Beirut’s southern suburbs. On Monday, Israel launched intensive and extensive air strikes in areas where Hezbollah has a presence in the south of the country, in the east of the country, and even in some locations north of Beirut and south of Beirut.

But Beirut’s southern suburbs, this densely populated area, they haven’t been carrying out those intensive strikes. What they’ve been doing are these targeted assassinations.

So this appears to be very much a precision strike based on intelligence information, and really, this has raised a lot of questions about the amount of intelligence information Israel has gathered about the group.

Israel’s military confirms attack on Jabalia school

Israel’s military claims the Hafsa al-Faluja School in Gaza’s Jabalia that it targeted was being used as a Hamas “command and control centre”.

Without sharing any evidence, the military said it targeted Hamas members who had previously planned attacks against Israel.

As we’ve been reporting, the attack has killed at least 15 people and injured others in the school, which serves as a shelter for displaced Palestinian families.

Israel has repeatedly attacked schools-turned-shelters during its war on Gaza, often giving no evidence for its claims Hamas fighters are embedded in the facilities.

One of its latest such attacks targeted a Gaza City school on September 21, killing 22 people, including 13 children, six women and a three-month-old baby, according to the Gaza Government Media Office.

As Israel attacks, displaced Lebanese seek shelter in schools

With hundreds of thousands of displaced Lebanese in need of refuge, schools in Beirut have turned into makeshift shelters.

“We suffered on the way to Beirut,” one displaced man, Ali Karaki told Al Jazeera after a nine-hour journey to a school shelter in the capital. “I’m not afraid of war for myself, but I’m afraid for the children.”

26/09/2024

Gallant approves continued ‘offensive activity’ against Hezbollah

In case you’re just joining us

Ben-Gvir threatens to quit if permanent ceasefire is reached with Hezbollah

Young chef Renad inspires Gaza with viral cooking videos

A ground invasion in Lebanon ‘would be a humanitarian catastrophe’: NGO

Israel making precision strikes based on intelligence

Israel’s military confirms attack on Jabalia school

As Israel attacks, displaced Lebanese seek shelter in schools

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