Israel attacks Lebanon live: Strikes targets PFLP members in Beirut
- Israel has bombed the Kola area of Beirut in its first attack on the Lebanese capital beyond the southern suburbs, killing three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine group.
- Lebanon’s Health Ministry says Israeli attacks have killed 105 people in the last 24 hours as army jets continue their bombardment across the country.
Australia threatens to cancel visas of those protesting attacks on Lebanon
Australia’s Labor government has threatened to cancel visas of anyone inciting “discord” in the country following protests over the weekend against Israel’s attacks on Lebanon.
“Any indication of support for a terrorist organisation is unequivocally condemned,” Australia’s Home Affairs minister, Tony Burke, said in a statement.
“There is a higher level of scrutiny if anyone is on a visa. I have made clear from day one that I will consider refusing and cancelling visas for anyone who seeks to incite discord in Australia.”
Australia’s opposition has speculated that people carrying pictures of Nasrallah at the rallies were visa holders and called for their cancellations. However, no evidence has been provided for that claim.
PM Anthony Albanese also issued a statement this morning, saying “we do not want people to bring radical ideologies of conflict here”.
Two people killed in Israeli attack on Beit Lahia
At least two people have been killed after an Israeli warplane bombed another school housing displaced people west of Beit Lahiya in the north of the Gaza Strip, Wafa reports.
Four people killed in an Israeli attack on a school-turned-shelter yesterday in northern Gaza.
Smoke rising in southern Beirut suburbs
Reuters news agency is reporting smoke from Beirut’s southern suburbs after a suspected Israeli strike.
There have already been Israeli strikes near to central Beirut earlier this morning, killing at least three people.
We will bring you more on the latest attacks as soon as we can.
Netanyahu ‘lost interest’ in ceasefire deal, freeing captives
As Netanyahu continues to push for attacks in Gaza, Lebanon and Yemen, Israeli news outlet Haaretz reports that the PM appears to have “completely lost interest” in ceasefire negotiations with Hamas to secure the return of the captives.
“He still pays lip service to bringing the hostages home, but in practice, he is wholly focused on the fronts with Hezbollah and Iran, which are heating up,” Haaretz said.
The analysis into Netanyahu’s latest decisions found that the Israeli leader, who is receiving praise for his decisions in Lebanon, seems to be “determined” to continue attacks on all fronts, with a ceasefire being the least of his priorities.
What we know about Israel’s attack on Kola in Beirut
Overnight on Sunday and into early Monday morning, the Israeli military carried out an attack in the Kola area of Beirut, striking the upper floor of an apartment building.
- No official death toll has been confirmed for the attack, which was the first within the Lebanese capital’s city limits since Israel began its bombing campaign on Lebanon.
- The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a Marxist-Leninist and Arab nationalist group founded in 1967, has said three of its leaders were killed
- Muhammad Abdel Aal, a member of the PFLP’s political bureau and the head of its military security department; Imad Odeh, a member of the PFLP’s military department and a military commander in Lebanon; Abdul Rahman Abdel Aal, who it described as a “comrade martyr hero”.
- There has been no comment from Israel’s military.
We have reached a point where there are no red lines for Israel
The attack on Kola is a significant Israeli strike in terms of location, target and messaging.
This is the first time an area in the capital has been hit. Earlier attacks were on its southern suburbs. So this is Israel, very empowered, feeling that it can act with little restraint and that there are no red lines.
But at the same time, even if Hezbollah needs time to regroup, if it does hit Tel Aviv, they don’t know Israel’s counterresponse. Will there be carpet bombing?
Now the target – members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. This is a Palestinian group that really has not been involved in the cross-border violence that began 11 months ago.
So this is Israel being empowered to go after its enemies. We have reached a point where there are no red lines in this campaign against Hezbollah and groups that support it.
Saudi Foreign Ministry says following Lebanon situation with ‘great concern’
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry has said it is following developments in Lebanon with “great concern”.
In a statement released on Monday, it stressed the need to “preserve Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” and announced it would send medical aid and humanitarian assistance.
Hamas leader killed in Israeli air strike in Lebanon
Hamas says its leader in Lebanon has been killed in an air attack in the country’s south as official media reported a strike on a Palestinian refugee camp.
“Fatah Sharif Abu al-Amine, the leader of Hamas … in Lebanon and member of the movement’s leadership abroad” was killed in a strike on his “home in the Al-Bass camp in south Lebanon”, a Hamas statement said.
Lebanon’s National News Agency reported an air raid on the camp near the southern city of Tyre.
Photos: Israelis rally in Tel Aviv demanding Gaza ceasefire deal to free captives
Israeli protesters took to the streets of Tel Aviv, calling for the government to refocus on securing the release of captives from Gaza as the military killed Hezbollah chief Nasrallah on Friday in an offensive in Lebanon.
Those critical of PM Netanyahu’s government argue that efforts should be concentrated on freeing those still held captive by Hamas rather than opening a new war front with Hezbollah in the country’s north.
The number of attendees on Saturday evening was noticeably lower than in previous protests but exceeded the limit of 1,000 in gatherings in central Israel.
The stricter guidelines came after air raid sirens sounded across the centre of the country after it was announced that Nasrallah had been killed.
Death toll rises in Deir el-Balah
At least four people are now confirmed killed following an Israeli strike on the al-Adini family home in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, according to local media reports.
Earlier, we reported that a woman and her child were killed in the attack, which took place in the Hakr al-Jami area of the city.
French foreign minister calls for ‘immediate halt’ to Israeli attacks on Lebanon
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot is in Lebanon.
He’s the first senior foreign diplomat to visit the country since Israel stepped up its attacks a week ago.
He met Prime Minister Najib Mikati after arriving on Sunday night and said Paris sought “an immediate halt” to Israeli strikes.
Barrot is due to meet the UN special coordinator for Lebanon and members of the UN peacekeeping force in the south. He arrived shortly after France confirmed a second French citizen had been killed in Lebanon.
If you’re just joining us
Here’s what you need to know:
- At least five people have been killed after Israeli fighter jets launched a wave of attacks on sites in the Bekaa Valley in southern Lebanon, where it claimed Hezbollah weapons were being stored.
- Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine has said three of its senior members were killed in Israel’s attacks on the Kola area of central Beirut early Monday morning.
- Lebanon’s Health Ministry says Israeli attacks in the southern districts of Marjayoun and Nabatieh killed at least seven people and injured about 40 more over the past 24 hours.
- In Gaza, the Israeli military has claimed that it bombed a school housing displaced people in Beit Lahiya as it was being used as a Hamas “command and control centre”. Two people were killed in the attack.
