Page 5 - Israel

Airstrikes hit central Beirut's Basta, destroying at least one building

A series of Israeli airstrikes hit central Beirut's Basta neighbourhood early Saturday, destroying at least one building and leaving a crater in the ground. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said Israeli war planes completely destroyed an eight-story residential building with five missiles. It was not immediately clear how many people were injured or killed, but ambulances rushed to the scene. The Israeli military did not issue a warning for residents to evacuate prior to the strike and did not immediately issue a statement on it. The strikes, which occurred around 4 am local time, came after a day of heavy bombardment of Beirut's southern suburbs and the southern coastal city of Tyre. The Israeli military had issued evacuation notices prior to those strikes. Heavy ground fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants was ongoing in southern Lebanon as Israeli troops have pushed farther from the border. The escalation comes after US envoy Amos Hochstein travelled t

UN reports heavy clashes between Israeli troops, Hezbollah in south Lebanon

Israeli troops fought fierce battles with Hezbollah fighters on Friday in different areas in south Lebanon, including a coastal town that is home to the headquarters of UN peacekeepers. A spokesman for the UN peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL told The Associated Press that they are monitoring heavy clashes in the coastal town of Naqoura and the village of Chamaa to the northeast. UNIFIL's headquarters are located in Naqoura in Lebanon's southern edge close to the border with Israel. We are aware of heavy shelling in the vicinity of our bases, UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti said. Asked if the peacekeepers and staff at the headquarters are safe, Tenenti said: Yes for the moment. Several UNIFIL posts have been hit since Israel began its ground invasion of Lebanon on October 1, leaving a number of peacekeepers wounded. The fighting came a day after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defence minister and a

What is the International Criminal Court that issued Netanyahu's warrant?

International Criminal Court issued warrants for the Israeli Prime Minister and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of crimes against humanity related to the 13-month war in Gaza

Israel-Gaza war: Hungarian PM Orban defies ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu

International Criminal Court issued warrants for the Israeli Prime Minister and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, accusing them of crimes against humanity related to the 13-month war in Gaza

US rejects ICC arrest warrants against Israeli PM, defence minister

Prime Minister Netanyahu condemned the 'antisemitic' decision of the ICC in a statement on his social media platform comparing it to the infamous Dreyfus trial

Airline exodus leaves Israelis and companies isolated amid Hamas war

Direct routes to dozens of major cities - Washington D.C., San Francisco, Toronto, Hong Kong, New Delhi - have been suspended, reducing face-to-face business meetings

US aid for Ukraine, Israel eating into weapons stockpiles, says commander

The wars in Ukraine and the Middle East are eating away at critical US weapons stockpiles and could hamper the military's ability to respond to China should a conflict arise in the Indo-Pacific, the top US commander for that region said on Tuesday. Head of US Indo-Pacific Command Adm Samuel Paparo cautioned that the US providing or selling billions of dollars worth of air defences to both Ukraine and Israel is now impeding his ability to respond in the Indo-Pacific, such as if China invades Taiwan. "Up to this year, where most of the employment of weapons were really artillery pieces and short-range weapons, I had said, 'not at all'," when asked if the conflicts were hampering US ability to respond to threats in the Indo-Pacific, Paparo said. "It's now eating into stocks, and to say otherwise would be dishonest," he told an audience at the Brookings Institution in Washington. China has ramped up its military pressure against Taiwan, including a massive military exercise that involv

Israel PM Netanyahu offers $5 mn reward to Gazans for each hostage returned

It's the latest twist in Netanyahu's frustrated attempts to deliver on pledges to the families of hostages to bring home those seized when Hamas militants attacked Israel more than a year ago

Israel-Hezbollah truce 'within grasp' as Gaza food crisis worsens: US envoy

A US envoy said an agreement to end the Israel-Hezbollah war is "within our grasp" after talks in Lebanon on Tuesday. However, there was no such optimism in the Gaza Strip, where the looting of nearly 100 aid trucks by armed men worsened an already severe food crisis. Amos Hochstein, the Biden administration's pointsman on Israel and Lebanon, arrived as Hezbollah's allies in the Lebanese government said the militant group had responded positively to the proposal, which would entail both its fighters and Israeli ground forces withdrawing from a UN buffer zone in southern Lebanon. The buffer zone would be policed by thousands of additional UN peacekeepers and Lebanese troops. Israel has called for a stronger enforcement mechanism, potentially including the ability to conduct military operations against any Hezbollah threats, something Lebanon is likely to oppose. An Israeli airstrike on Tuesday hit a Lebanese army base in the southern town of Sarafand, killing three soldiers, the arm

Israeli strike kills 5 as Lebanon, Hezbollah accept US ceasefire proposal

World powers say a ceasefire must be based on U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 which ended a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. Its terms require Hezbollah to move weapons and fighters north

At least 11 killed, 48 injured in Israeli strikes on Lebanon's Tyr region

The strikes in the Tyr region come weeks after Israel had conducted earlier military operations in the area

Israeli strike in Beirut kills Hezbollah spokesman, strike in Gaza kills 30

A rare Israeli airstrike on central Beirut killed Hezbollah's chief spokesman on Sunday, an official with the militant group said. Earlier, officials said Israeli strikes killed at least 12 people in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has been at war with the Palestinian Hamas for over a year. The latest in targeted killings of senior Hezbollah officials came as Lebanese officials considered a United States-led cease-fire proposal. Israel also bombed several buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has long been headquartered, after warning people to evacuate. Mohammed Afif, the head of media relations for Hezbollah, was killed in a strike on the Arab socialist Baath party's office in central Beirut, according to a Hezbollah official who was not authorized to brief reporters and spoke on condition of anonymity. Afif had been especially visible after all-out war erupted between Israel and Hezbollah in September and the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an Israe

Pope Francis demands probe on genocide claims over Israel's attacks on Gaza

Pope Francis has called for an investigation to determine if Israel's attacks in Gaza constitute genocide, according to excerpts released on Sunday from an upcoming new book ahead of the pontiff's jubilee year. It's the first time that Francis has openly urged for an investigation of genocide allegations over Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip. In September, he said Israel's attacks in Gaza and Lebanon have been immoral and disproportionate, and that its military has gone beyond the rules of war. The book, by Hernn Reyes Alcaide and based on interviews with the Pope, is entitled Hope never disappoints. Pilgrims towards a better world". It will be released on Tuesday ahead of the pope's 2025 jubilee. Francis' yearlong jubilee is expected to bring more than 30 million pilgrims to Rome to celebrate the Holy Year. According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide, the pope said in excerpts published Sunday by the Italian daily La Stampa. We sho

Israeli strikes kill 12 in Gaza; 3 arrested over flares at Netanyahu's home

It was noted that neither Netanyahu nor his family was present at the residence during the time of the attacks

G20 resolution on Middle East must recognise our right to defend: Israel

Foreign Affairs Minister Gideon Sa'ar said that he held telephonic conversations with his counterparts participating in the forum regarding the matter

Israeli troops reach deepest point in Lebanon since Oct 1 invasion

Israeli ground forces reached their deepest point in Lebanon since they invaded six weeks ago before pulling back Saturday after battles with Hezbollah militants, Lebanese state media reported. The clashes and further Israeli bombardment of Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, came as Lebanese and Hezbollah officials study a draft proposal presented by the U.S. earlier this week on ending the war. Israeli troops captured a strategic hill in the southern Lebanese village of Chamaa, about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Israeli border, the state-run National News Agency reported. It said the troops were later pushed back. The agency added that Israeli troops blew up the Shrine of Shimon the Prophet in Chamaa as well as several homes before they withdrew, but the claim could not be immediately verified. Israel's military did not immediately respond to requests for comment but said in a statement that its troops continue their limited, localized and targeted operational .

Muslims who voted for Donald Trump upset by his pro-Israel cabinet pick

Muslim support for Trump helped him win Michigan and may have factored into other swing state wins

Israel's conduct in Gaza consistent with characteristics of genocide: UN

The UN Committee alleged Israel of intentionally causing death, starvation and serious injury

Hezbollah considers peace proposal as efforts to end conflict intensify

The US-Israeli proposal aims for a 60-day peace and is being portrayed as the basis of a lasting ceasefire, according to the first Lebanese official

Israeli strikes kill 11 as Lebanon cease-fire efforts appear to gain steam

Israeli strikes killed at least 11 people across Lebanon on Friday including a mother, father and their three kids in a home as rescue workers called off their search for survivors a day after an Israeli strike on a civil defence centre killed 14 emergency workers and volunteers. The airstrikes come as Lebanon's prime minister apparently urged Iran to convince the Hezbollah militant group to agree to a cease-fire deal with Israel, which could require the group to pull back from the Israel-Lebanon border. Since late September, Israel dramatically escalated its bombardment of Lebanon, vowing to cripple Hezbollah and end its barrages in Israel. More than 3,400 people have been killed in Lebanon by Israeli fire 80 per cent of them in the past month Lebanon's Health Ministry says. The Israel-Hamas war began after Palestinian militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people mostly civilians and abducting 250 others. Lebanon's Hezbollah group began firing .