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The Israeli military said it killed Suhail Hussein Husseini, the commander of Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut on the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s 7 October attack on southern Israel.
Sirens have sounded in central Israel after five projectiles were launched from Lebanon. The Israeli military said some of the projectiles, which were identified as crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory, were intercepted, while the rest fell in open areas.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah later issued a statement saying it launched a missile operation targeting a military intelligence unit near Tel Aviv.
Earlier, the Israeli military said it would launch operations on Lebanon’s southern coast as it told residents on a 60-kilometre stretch along the Mediterranean to stay off the beaches.
More than 2,080 have been reported killed in total, and a further 9,869 wounded, since Israel began its bombing operations in Lebanon last month.
On Monday, Israeli citizens marked the anniversary of Hamas’s deadly 7 October attacks, during which 1,205 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage. Of those, 101 remain in Gaza. Nearly 42,000 Palestinians have since been killed by Israel’s retaliatory air and ground attacks, according to the local, Hamas-run health ministry.
Israel claims killing of Hezbollah HQ commander
The Israeli military today said it killed Suhail Hussein Husseini, the commander of Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut.
The military claimed Husseini was a partner in the weapons transfer agreements between Iran and Hezbollah and was responsible for the distribution of the smuggled weapons between the various units in Hezbollah.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar8 October 2024 05:59
US warns Israel not to attack Beirut airport
The US warned Israel not to attack the airport in Lebanon’s capital or the roads leading to it after Israel intensified its bombardment of southern Beirut around the one-year anniversary of the 7 October Hamas attack.
“We think it’s very important that not only the airport be open, but that the roads to the airport be open,” state department spokesperson Matthew Miller said yesterday.
He added the airport and the road around it needed to be spared so that the American and other foreign citizens “who want to leave can get out” of Lebanon safely.
The Israeli air force yesterday struck the southern suburbs of Beirut, near the international airport, security sources told AFP.
Mr Miller said some 8,500 Americans have contacted the state department to inquire about departure conditions, but this does not mean they all wish to leave.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar8 October 2024 05:26
Trump says Israel has ‘to get smart’ and back him
One year on from the Hamas terrorist attack that sparked 12 months of intense conflict in the Middle East, Donald Trump has said that Israel needs to “get smart” and support him.
The former president appeared to complain that he was not being backed by Israel, claiming in typical fashion that he had done more for the nation and Jewish people “than anybody.”
Trump phoned into conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt’s show, and was asked if he thought Israel would be able to fully recover after its war. The former president replied that Israel “would be good.”
“I think that Israel has to do one thing. They have to get smart about Trump, because they don’t back me,” he said.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar8 October 2024 05:00
Over 100 Palestinian journalists detained by Israel in a year
Israel has detained at least 108 Palestinian journalists from Gaza and the occupied West Bank since it launched its war on Gaza a year ago, a rights group has said.
About 58 journalists still remain in Israeli custody, including six women journalists and 22 from Gaza, said the Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, also known as Addameer.
The group said at least 16 journalists were being held under administrative detention.
More than 9000 orders of administrative detention have been issued since 7 October last year, including orders against children and women, the group claimed.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar8 October 2024 04:30
Israeli strikes in Gaza kill 21, including five children
At least 21 people, including five children and two women, were killed in Israeli airstrikes in central Gaza last night, according to Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital.
The strikes took place on the anniversary of the 7 October Hamas attack in southern Israel.
Two strikes hit houses in the Bureij refugee camp as emergency responders said more people are thought to be under the rubble.
The Palestinian death toll in the war in Gaza is nearing 42,000, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run Strip.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar8 October 2024 04:15
Full story: Keir Starmer takes aim at ‘malign’ Iran and vows never to ban all arms sales to Israel
In a carefully crafted statement in the Commons to commemorate the 7 October atrocity, which sparked war in the Middle East, Sir Keir’s message to MPs was that the ayatollahs who rule Iran must be held to account and forced to take responsibility for the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the region.
He said his government “will never stop selling weapons to Israel”, despite calls from French president Emmanuel Macron for a full arms embargo.
His words came as Sir Keir resisted calls to distance himself from Israel after its prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu opened up a new front in the north against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists in southern Lebanon.
David Maddox8 October 2024 03:30
NHS medics volunteering in Gaza warn of catastrophic collapse of healthcare system
NHS medics volunteering in Gaza have warned of the “catastrophic” collapse of the healthcare system one year into the war, as they described trying to treat the wounded and sick amid shortages of everything from paracetamol to surgical gauze.
Nurses and doctors working in field hospitals run by the British medical charity UK-Med have called for immediate delivery of supplies and for health workers and facilities to be protected, as the world marks the grim milestone of one year at war.
Athena Stavrou8 October 2024 03:00
Wife of journalist killed in Gaza wears husband’s press vest as she continues his work
Her husband, journalist Roshdi Sarraj, was hit in the head by shrapnel after an Israeli strike hit his family home in Gaza City and died of his injuries.
Ms Aila decided to carry on her husband’s work documenting the strikes.
She told the BBC: “Every time I wear the vest I remember my husband.
“It crosses my mind lots of times that Dania might lose me the same way she lost her father.”
Wife of journalist killed in Gaza wears husband’s press vest as she continues work
The wife of a Palestinian journalist described how she feels close to her husband by wearing his press vest as she continues his work in Gaza under Israeli bombardment. Filmmaker Shrouq Aila spoke to BBC Panorama for the programme’s episode commemorating the first anniversary of the October 7 attack. Her husband, journalist Roshdi Sarraj, was hit in the head by shrapnel after an Israeli strike hit his family home in Gaza City and died of his injuries. Ms Aila decided to carry on her husband’s work documenting the strikes. She told the BBC: “Every time I wear the vest I remember my husband. “It crosses my mind lots of times that Dania might lose me the same way she lost her father.”
Athena Stavrou8 October 2024 02:00
Israel state ceremony performs dramatisation of moment October 7 attack begins
Video played during the pre-recorded ceremony displayed the date as 7 October 2023 and the time as 6am.
Women in white dresses danced to heavy music before screaming was heard and gunfire sounds played.
Later in the sequence, the dancers fell to the floor.
On Monday, Israel marked one year since Hamas‘ attack, during which the group killed around 1,200 people and took 251 more hostage in Gaza, 101 of which remain in the enclave.
Nearly 42,000 Palestinians have since been killed by Israel’s retaliatory air and ground attack in Gaza, according to the local, Hamas-run health ministry.
Israel state ceremony performs dramatisation of moment October 7 attack begins
A dramatisation of the moment the October 7 attack began was performed at an official Israeli state memorial on the first anniversary. Video played during the pre-recorded ceremony displayed the date as 7 October 2023 and the time as 6am. Women in white dresses danced to heavy music before screaming was heard and gunfire sounds played. Later in the sequence, the dancers fell to the floor. On Monday, Israel marked one year since Hamas’ attack, during which the group killed around 1,200 people and took 251 more hostage in Gaza, 101 of which remain in the enclave. Nearly 42,000 Palestinians have since been killed by Israel’s retaliatory air and ground attack in Gaza, according to the local, Hamas-run health ministry.
Athena Stavrou8 October 2024 01:30