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Strikes hit Lebanon’s Baalbek and Bekka after Israel evacuation call
Strikes rocked the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek and its outskirts on Wednesday, an Agence France-Presse (AFP) correspondent reported, hours after Israel issued an evacuation call for the area.
Baalbek mayor Mustafa al-Shall confirmed strikes hit the city and surrounding areas, without providing further details.
Reuters reports, citing security sources, that Israel launched heavy airstrikes on Baalbek and surrounding villages in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa region.
The news agency reports that thousands of people have fled the city since the evacuation order was issued, approximately four hours before the strikes began. There was no immediate word on casualties, it said.
Key events
Two German naval ships are avoiding the Red Sea, where Yemen’s Houthi rebels have attacked passing maritime traffic, and are instead sailing around Africa, the defence ministry said on Wednesday.
Defence minister Boris Pistorius had ordered the longer route for the frigate and supply ship on their way back from an Indo-Pacific deployment, ministry spokesperson Col Mitko Mueller told a press conference, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“The threat level is quite high” in the Red Sea, Mueller told a Berlin press briefing, citing the “very complex attacks” carried out there in recent months involving tactical ballistic missiles, drones and other weapons.
He said that, unlike other German naval vessels, the two ships are not “specifically designed to carry out air defence operations” to protect themselves as well as fleets of nearby vessels.
According to AFP, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had during an India trip last week visited the two ships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and supply ship Frankfurt am Main, in the south-western state of Goa.
The frigate will next head into the Mediterranean to join a mission for Unifil, the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, while the supply ship will sail back to Germany, Mueller said.
Most major shipping companies are avoiding the Red Sea route towards Egypt’s Suez canal and the Mediterranean Sea, forcing them to instead make the longer and more costly journey around Africa.
Hezbollah’s new leader, Naim Qassem, on Wednesday warned Israel it would pay a heavy price if its forces remain in Lebanon, stressing his group was ready for a prolonged conflict, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“Get out of our land to reduce your losses. If you stay, you will pay more than you have ever paid in your life,” Qassem said in a pre-recorded speech, asserting Hezbollah could sustain fighting “for days, weeks and months”.
Saudi Arabia on Wednesday hosted the first meeting of a new “international alliance” to press for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Unveiled last month on the sidelines of the UN general assembly, the “international alliance to implement the two-state solution” brings together nations from the Middle East, Europe and beyond.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports that Saudi foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said nearly 90 “states and international organisations” were taking part in the two-day meeting in Riyadh.
“A genocide is happening with the goal of evicting the Palestinian people from their land, which Saudi Arabia rejects,” he said, describing the humanitarian situation as “catastrophic” and denouncing the “complete blockade” of northern Gaza.
The Riyadh meeting was expected to focus on humanitarian access, the embattled UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) and measures to advance a two-state solution, diplomats said.
The European Union was set to be represented by Sven Koopmans, the special representative for the Middle East peace process, diplomats said.
The US, Israel’s most important military backer, sent Hady Amr, the state department’s special representative for Palestinian affairs, reports AFP.
The hard-right Israeli government of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains implacably opposed to Palestinian statehood.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter and custodian of Islam’s two holiest sites, paused US-brokered talks on recognising Israel after the Gaza war broke out between Palestinian militants Hamas and Israel.
In September, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, said an “independent Palestinian state” was a condition for normalisation. Prince Faisal reiterated that position on Wednesday, reports AFP.
Ireland, Norway and Spain announced their recognition of a Palestinian state in May, prompting an angry response from Israel. Slovenia soon joined them, bringing the number of countries that recognise a Palestinian state to 146 out of the 193 UN member states.
Strikes hit Lebanon’s Baalbek and Bekka after Israel evacuation call
Strikes rocked the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek and its outskirts on Wednesday, an Agence France-Presse (AFP) correspondent reported, hours after Israel issued an evacuation call for the area.
Baalbek mayor Mustafa al-Shall confirmed strikes hit the city and surrounding areas, without providing further details.
Reuters reports, citing security sources, that Israel launched heavy airstrikes on Baalbek and surrounding villages in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa region.
The news agency reports that thousands of people have fled the city since the evacuation order was issued, approximately four hours before the strikes began. There was no immediate word on casualties, it said.
Hezbollah’s new leader, Naim Qassem, said on Wednesday that the Iran-backed group is fighting Israel to defend Lebanese territory, not as a result of foreign influence, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
In a pre-recorded speech, his first as Hezbollah leader, Qassem said the movement was not “fighting on anyone’s behalf,” adding that Iran “supports us but doesn’t want anything” in return.
Here are some of the latest images coming in via the news wires:
Hezbollah’s new leader vows to uphold predecessor Nasrallah’s ‘war plan’
Hezbollah’s new leader, Naim Qassem, said on Wednesday he would stick to the war strategy laid out by his predecessor, Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed by Israel last month after full-scale fighting broke out.
“My work programme is a continuation of the work programme of our leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah,” Qassem said in his first remarks as Hezbollah leader, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Qassem pledged to press on with “the war plan that he (Nasrallah) developed with the leadership” of the Iran-backed group.
Here is an image of Nabatieh, southern Lebanon, shared on the news wires today:
Israel army says it killed deputy head of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force
The Israeli army said Wednesday it has killed the deputy head of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force, Mustafa Ahmad Shahadi, in a strike in the Nabatieh area of south Lebanon, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“In an intelligence-directed strike, the Israeli air force struck and eliminated Mustafa Ahmad Shahadi, deputy commander of Hezbollah’s Radwan forces, in the area of Nabatieh,” the army said in a statement, adding that Shahadi had previously run Radwan operations in Syria and overseen “terror attacks in southern Lebanon”.
There has been no response yet from Hezbollah.
Israel issues evacuation call for Lebanon’s Nabatieh region
The Israeli army urged residents of several villages in the Nabatieh area of south Lebanon to leave immediately on Wednesday, warning it was poised to attack Hezbollah targets, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“Hezbollah’s terrorist activities force the (Israeli army) to act forcefully against it in these areas”, military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a post on X, with Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reporting strikes had already begun on the city of Nabatieh.
The Washington Post reports that the US government has received about 500 reports that American weapons are killing Palestinians.
The reports are received from across the government, global aid organisations, nonprofits groups, media reports and other eyewitnesses. Despite the number of reports, no single case has been acted on.
“They’re ignoring evidence of widespread civilian harm and atrocities to maintain a policy of virtually unconditional weapons transfers to the Netanyahu government,” said John Ramming Chappell, a legal and policy adviser focused on US security assistance and arms sales at the Center for Civilians in Conflict.
“When it comes to the Biden administration’s arms policies, everything looks good on paper but has turned out meaningless in practice when it comes to Israel.”
State department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that the United States was “deeply concerned by the loss of civilian life” and that Washington was seeking a “full explanation”. The Israeli military said it was “aware of reports that civilians were harmed”.
Hezbollah announces that its newly appointed leader, Naim Qassem, will deliver his maiden speech as secretary general today at 1pm GMT.
Hezbollah appointed Qassem on Monday, following Israel’s assassination of his predecessor, Hassan Nasrallah, in Beirut last month and of his presumed successor, Hashem Safieddine, earlier this month.
Photograph: Wael Hamzeh/EPA
American diplomats are developing a plan to pause the fighting between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, starting with a 60-day ceasefire, Reuters reports as the war enters its fourth week.
The sources – a person briefed on the talks and a senior diplomat working on Lebanon – told Reuters the two-month period would be used to finalise full implementation of UN security council resolution 1701, adopted in 2006 to keep southern Lebanon free of arms outside state control.
“We’d like to reiterate that we seek a diplomatic resolution that fully implements 1701 and gets both Israeli and Lebanese citizens back to their homes on both sides of the border,” said Sama Habib, spokesperson at the U.S. embassy in Beirut.
Meanwhile, Israel’s invasion of Lebanon continues to intensify. On Wednesday the Israeli army ordered residents of Baalbek, where tens of thousands of mostly Shia Muslim Lebanese people, including many who had fled other areas, were living.
Iran said on Wednesday that its production of missiles remained intact, after Israeli airstrikes targeting military facilities last week, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“There has been no interruption in the process of producing offensive systems such as missiles,” defence minister Aziz Nasirzadeh told reporters. “The enemy tried to damage both our defensive and offensive systems,” he added.
Israel launched strikes on military sites in Iran on Saturday, citing Tehran’s 1 October missile attack that followed the killing of Iran-backed militant leaders and a Revolutionary Guards commander. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said later that the strikes “hit Iran’s defence capabilities and missile production”.
Iran’s armed forces said the attack killed four soldiers and caused “limited damage” to a few radar systems. Iranian media said a civilian was also killed.
Israel has warned Iran against retaliating, while Tehran, asserting it does not seek war, vowed an “appropriate response”.
Western governments have long criticised Iran’s missile programme which has come under severe sanctions in recent years.
In September, the European Union imposed sanctions on prominent Iranian officials and entities over their alleged involvement in transferring missiles and drones to Russia to use in its war against Ukraine, reports AFP.
Tehran has repeatedly denied the accusations.
Hezbollah’s new leader is to give a speech on Wednesday, a source close to the group said, his first since he was appointed earlier this week.
“A speech by the new secretary general of Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, is scheduled for Wednesday,” the source told Agence France-Presse (AFP), requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.