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This live blog has now wrapped up. °®Âþµº will return at 9am with live updates from Gaza and Lebanon.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday expressed "deep concern" to his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant over strikes on the Lebanese army after three soldiers were killed over the weekend.

Lebanon's military said Sunday that an Israeli strike had targeted the soldiers' vehicle in the country's south.

The deaths brought the number of Lebanese troop casualties to eight killed since all-out war erupted between Israel and Hezbollah last month.

In a call with Gallant on Wednesday, Austin "expressed his deep concern about the reports of strikes against the Lebanese Armed Forces," Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder said in a statement.

He added that Austin "emphasized the importance of taking all necessary measures to ensure the safety and security of the Lebanese Armed Forces and UNIFIL forces," referring to the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon.

Syrian state media on Thursday said Israel struck a residential building in Damascus, with a war monitor reporting deaths.

"Initial reports indicate that an Israeli attack targeted a residential building in the Kafr Sousa area of Damascus," said the Sana news agency, without providing a toll. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights however said there had been "human losses".

The Israeli army on Wednesday accused six Al Jazeera journalists covering the war in Gaza of also being current or former paid fighters for Palestinian militant groups. Al Jazeera rejected the claims.

Israel cited documents it purportedly found in Gaza, and other intelligence it gathered, in making the accusations against the journalists, all of whom are Palestinian men. It said four are or have been affiliated with Hamas , and two with Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Al Jazeera said the accusations were “fabricated� and “part of a wider pattern of hostility� toward the pan-Arab network. It said the claims were “a blatant attempt to silence the few remaining journalists in the region, thereby obscuring the harsh realities of the war from audiences worldwide.�

Lebanon state media reported 17 Israeli raids on Beirut's southern suburbs, with six buildings levelled and the vacated offices of broadcaster A l Mayadeen hit on Wednesday, as the Iran-Hezbollah war reached its one-month mark.

AFPTV footage showed a massive explosion followed by smaller blasts in the embattled southern suburbs after the Israeli army issued an evacuation warning for the area, where Hezbollah holds sway.

The official National News Agency (NNA) reported at least 17 Israeli raids, marking one of the most violent nights in the area since the Israel-Hezbollah war erupted on September 23.

Six buildings were destroyed around the suburb of Laylaki, NNA said, calling the raids "the most violent in the area since the beginning of the war".

The strikes came shortly after the Israeli military's Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, issued evacuation warnings on social media platform X.

There was no warning, however, for a strike that hit the Jnah neighbourhood in southern Beirut.

That strike killed one person and wounded five others, according to Lebanon's health ministry.

Pro-Iran broadcaster Al-Mayadeen on Wednesday said an Israeli strike targeted an office it had vacated there, adding that it holds the Israeli army "responsible".

Hezbollah’s operations room said on Wednesday its fighters had killed more than 70 Israeli troops in its clashes with Israeli forces, updating from a statement last week saying 55 were killed.

It did not say in what time frame they were killed. Israel has said it has lost around 20 soldiers inside Lebanon since its ground operations began, and around 30 more in Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel. 

The Israeli army on Wednesday issued a new evacuation call for southern Beirut, telling residents in parts of the Burj al-Barajneh neighbourhood to immediately leave as the military prepares to target Hezbollah positions there.

"You are located near Hezbollah facilities and interests, against which the IDF (army) will operate in the near future," said the Israeli military's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee in a post on X that included a map of the targeted area.

Sirens have been activated in several areas of central Israel, according to the Israeli military.

The military reported that some projectiles were intercepted, and “fallen projectiles were identified.� It added that the details of the attack are still under review. “Sirens were sounded in a number of areas in central Israel due to projectiles fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory,� the statement said.

Israel's bombing of branches of an alleged Hezbollah-linked financial firm in Lebanon this week was a clear violation of international law, an independent United Nations expert said Wednesday.

"Israel's multiple bombings of a financial institution in Lebanon were illegal attacks on civilian objects under international humanitarian law," said Ben Saul, the United Nations special rapporteur on the protection of human rights while countering terrorism.

Israel's military said Monday that it had hit nearly 30 targets belonging to Hezbollah-linked financial firm Al-Qard al-Hassan.

The firm is seen as a lifeline for many Shia Muslims and other Lebanese in the face of a years-long financial crisis.

"International humanitarian law does not permit attacks on the economic or financial infrastructure of an adversary, even if they indirectly sustain its military activities," Saul said in a statement.

Western countries have floated the idea of deploying international forces to Lebanon alongside the country's army in case of a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, a Western diplomat said Wednesday.

Some 10,000 peacekeepers with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) are already deployed in the country's south, but the diplomat said a separate multi-national troop deployment was under consideration.

"What is needed right now is a ceasefire and a presence trusted by both sides -- this could be the Lebanese army with international forces," the diplomat told AFP, requesting anonymity as the matter is sensitive.

"Partners of Lebanon have already been supporting the Lebanese army and are looking very concretely into how they can support it further... in the context of a ceasefire and long-term diplomatic agreement," the diplomat added.

The Turkish parliament has extended its troops' participation in the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon by a year, state news agency Anadolu reported on Wednesday.

Turkey has contributed to UNIFIL since 2006 and currently has 97 troops deployed in Lebanon, where the Israeli army is locked in conflict with Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

"Turkey has undertaken an important task in the efficient execution of peacekeeping operations thanks to its contributions to UNIFIL," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

In a motion submitting the proposal to renew Turkey's participation to parliament, Erdogan argued that "pursuing our contribution is important".

Hezbollah mourned the death of the head of its Executive Council, Hashem Safieddine, stating that he had "departed to his Lord with the best of his fellow fighters, content and accepted, patient and anticipating divine reward, in a criminal and aggressive Zionist airstrike."

In a statement, the group added, "Sayyed Hashem has now joined his brother, our most esteemed and beloved martyr, His Eminence, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, to whom he was a true brother".

The statement continued, "Sayyid Hashem Safieddine dedicated the entirety of his life to serving Hezbollah, the Islamic resistance, and its community. For many long years, he responsibly and effectively managed the Executive Council, its various institutions, and its working units across different fields, staying close to the fighters of the resistance, intimately connected to its supporters, and loving to the families of its martyrs, until God blessed him with the honour of martyrdom in the convoy of the shining martyrs of Karbala."

The statement concluded by pledging to "our great martyr and his fellow martyrs that we will continue on the path of resistance and jihad until we achieve its goals of freedom and victory."

French President Emmanuel Macron received Prime Minister Najib Mikati at the Elysee Palace, and for an hour and a half they discussed the current situation in Lebanon and French efforts to achieve a ceasefire, in addition to preparations for the "International Conference to Support Lebanon" called for by President Macron tomorrow.

Macron and Mikati held a meeting at the French President's office, which was attended by Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, after which the two presidents held an extended private meeting.

During the meeting, Macron stressed "the continuation of his efforts and endeavors in cooperation with the United States towards a ceasefire and to discuss ways to pressure Israel to do so."

In turn, the Prime Minister expressed his great thanks to President Macron for "his longstanding and continuous support for Lebanon." He also thanked him for "all the endeavors  he is making towards a ceasefire and to stop the Israeli aggression."

Hezbollah said it launched drones towards a military base near the north Israel city of Haifa on Wednesday, dedicating the attack to the group's slain chief Hassan Nasrallah.

Hezbollah fighters launched "an air attack with a swarm of explosives-laden drones" on the base south of Haifa, a statement from the Iran-backed group said, adding it came "in response to" Israel attacks and dedicating it to Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli strike last month.

Fighting in Lebanon could further destabilize the country's economy, already devastated by years of crisis, the UN warned Wednesday, predicting a 9.2 percent drop in GDP in 2024 if the conflict continues.

After a year of border skirmishes, Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah are now engaging in open conflict. Late last month, Israel launched a ground offensive in southern Lebanon.

Lebanon's Ministry of Health has announced that 28 people have been killed and 139 more have been wounded by Israel in the last 24 hours as it continues its bombardment across the country.

The ministry added that 2,574 have been killed and 12,001 have been wounded in total.

A doctor working for Doctors without Borders (MSF) has said that the situation in the Kamal Adwan Hospital in north Gaza is "disastrous".

Describing the situation Dr Mohammed Obeid, an orthopaedic surgeon at MSF, said "there are injuries in the roads, in all areas. We can't reach the bodies of the killed and we can't save the injured." 

"Kamal Adwan Hospital is full of patients and full of displaced people. We don't have the means to treat the injured, we don't have the medical staff or surgical equipment.

Obeid issued an urgent appeal to the world to help North Gaza, saying: "We appeal to all the countries of the world and the World Health Organisation to consider the northern part of Gaza and to lift the blockade that has led to the death of many people in the northern part of Gaza. The situation is generally disastrous."

"I don't know what to say," he added.

A Hamas delegation led by a top official in the movement arrived in Russia's Moscow on Wednesday for talks on the war in Gaza and efforts to halt it, an official with the group told AFP.

The delegation, led by Hamas official Musa Abu Marzuk, was set to meet with Russian authorities to discuss "ways to stop the aggression and war on Gaza and the region", the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Abu Marzuk is a senior member of Hamas's political bureau based in Qatar and has been considered to have a pragmatic approach to negotiations to end the war, including backing a long-term ceasefire with Israel.

Earlier this week, two Hamas sources said the Palestinian militant group was moving towards appointing a Qatar-based ruling committee rather than a single successor to its chief Yahya Sinwar, who was killed by Israeli troops last week.

Hezbollah has announced the killing of the head of its executive council Hashem Safieddine in an Israeli airstrike, which occurred on 3 October. 

Safieddine was rumored to succeed Hezbollah's former Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, who himself was killed in an Israeli airstrike on 27 September.

The Israeli army is prepared to keep fighting in Gaza and Lebanon "for months" after more than a year of war, an Israeli security source said Wednesday during a briefing with media outlets.

"We are prepared for months, and we will stay as long as necessary to ensure (Israel's) security," said the source, referring to the ongoing military operations in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. Israel has also vowed to respond to Iran's missile barrage earlier this month.

The source said Israel was not waging "a war against Gaza, nor another war against Lebanon", but rather against Iran-backed militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah. 

It was "a war against Iran, sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly, via Iran's proxies," the source said.

However, Israel has consistently targeted civilians in its war effort, killed over 42,000 in Gaza alone, as well as displacing millions in both Lebanon and Gaza. In Gaza it has targeted civilian infrastructure including hospitals and schools, as well as killing aid and medical workers.

A senior member of Hama, Mousa Abu Marzouk, has arrived in Moscow on a planned visit, Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported on Wednesday, citing a diplomatic source.

Hamas politburo member, Abu Marzouk, intends to hold a series of meetings with Russian officials, RIA said without providing any further details.

Russia has ties to all key players in the Middle East, including Israel, Iran, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.

Moscow has repeatedly blamed the current crisis in the Middle East on the failure of US diplomacy, and called for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the resumption of talks aimed at finding a peace settlement.

(Reuters & °®Âþµº staff)

Hezbollah said it fired rockets at a military base in the Haifa area in northern Israel on Wednesday in response to Israeli raids on Lebanon.

The Iran-backed group said it targeted a military industrial base around Haifa "in defence of Lebanon and its people".

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday that after Israel strikes in Iran, the world will understand the preparations that went into such an operation.

"After we attack in Iran, they will understand both in Israel and in other places what your preparation process includes, and the arrangements and your readiness," Gallant said in a video statement during a visit to an air force base.

Israel has said it would retaliate against Iran for its massive missile attack on Israel on 1 October.

(Reuters)

Turkish-owned carriers Turkish Airlines and Pegasus have suspended flights to Iran until 1 November, local media said on Wednesday, as Iran braces for a promised retaliatory attack by Israel.

Both airlines have cancelled flights to multiple Iranian cities including the capital Tehran, Shiraz and Isfahan for "security reasons", Turkish broadcaster NTV reported.

The firms have yet to confirm the decision on their websites and social media.

But Turkish Airlines travel to Iran was showing as "cancelled" on the website of Istanbul's airport, while Pegasus closed online bookings to Iran.

Iran has been bracing for retaliatory attack vowed by Israel after Tehran launched a barrage of around 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on 1 October.

Turkish Airlines in August cancelled night flights to Tehran, as fears mounted of an escalation in the Middle East, without officially announcing the decision.

Several carriers including German group Lufthansa have stopped flying to Tehran and the Lebanese capital Beirut.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday that he had not seen evidence that there was a Hezbollah bunker filled with cash built under a hospital in Beirut, adding that Washington would continue to work with Israel to get a better insights.

Israel's military said that Hezbollah has stashed hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and gold in a bunker built under a hospital in Beirut, adding that it would not strike the facility as it keeps up attacks against the group's financial assets.

"We have not seen evidence of that at this moment. But, you know, we will continue to collaborate with our Israeli counterparts to gain better fidelity on exactly what they are looking at," Austin told reporters in Rome.

Fadi Alameh, a Lebanese lawmaker with the Shia Amal Movement party and the director of the hospital in question, Al-Sahel, has told Reuters that Israel was making false and slanderous claims and called on the Lebanese Army to visit and show it had only operating rooms, patients and a morgue.

In a televised statement on Monday, the Israeli military's chief spokesman said Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, killed by Israel last month, had built the bunker which was designed for lengthy stays.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian urged Wednesday members of the BRICS grouping to help "end the war" in Gaza and Lebanon.

"I call on all members of the influential BRICS group to use all their collective and individual capacities to end the war in Gaza and Lebanon, " said Pezeshkian during a speech at BRICS summit in Russia.

During his speech, he described the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon against Israel as "the most cruel and painful."

Iran has formally this year joined BRICS grouping which takes its name from the initial letters of the five members who joined in 2009 -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Pezeshkian's remarks came as Iran intensified diplomatic efforts to push for ceasefires in Lebanon and Gaza as well as ways to contain the conflicts.

Iran itself is braced for Israel's promised retaliatory attack after Tehran launched a barrage of around 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on October 1.

That attack was in retaliation for the killing of various Iran-backed militant leaders and a Revolutionary Guards commander.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that "the Israeli army had significantly weakened Hezbollah, and now the need is to reach a viable diplomatic solution between Israel and Lebanon."

Baerbock arrived today in Beirut, where she is meeting with Lebanese officials to discuss the rapidly escalating military developments, a month after the expanded Israeli aggression on Lebanese territory. 

Baerbock pointed out that "hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced in Lebanon, and the complete destabilisation of the country would be disastrous for the most religiously diverse society in the region."

In a statement, the German minister also emphasised that "the current priority is to work with our partners in the United States, Europe, and the Arab world to find a viable diplomatic solution that protects the legitimate security interests of both Israel and Lebanon."

On the eve of her visit, Hezbollah's Head of Public Relations, Mohammed Afif, launched an attack on the German FM, strongly condemning her statements that "justify the Zionist enemy's killing of civilians".

He added: "The new Nazism in Germany justifies Zionist fascism's crimes. If your memory is burdened with crimes against humanity, then you and those you represent are once again complicit in a crime against humanity."

Hezbollah is continuing to maintain its silence on the fate of Hashem Safieddine, despite the Israeli confirmation that he was killed in an air strike in southern Beirut three weeks ago.

There has been no comment from Hezbollah officials nor its media outlets either denying or confirming the announcement.

Gaza's ministry of health has said that in the last 24 hours 74 people have been killed and 130 wounded in Israel's war on Gaza.

The ministry added that the total death toll has risen to 42,792 killed and 100,412 wounded.

The spokesman for Hamas's military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, has hailed an attack claimed by the Lebanese Hezbollah on the holiday home of the Israeli prime minister.

"Hezbollah's targeting of Netanyahu's home sends a message to the criminal occupation leaders that even if they can escape from the one-eyed international justice, they will not escape the just retribution of the free and resistant people of the nation," the Hamas-run Shehab News website quoted Abu Ubaida as saying yesterday.

Earlier yesterday, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a drone attack last week on Netanyahu's holiday residence in Caesarea in northern Israel.

Hamas has urged the international community to stop the "forced displacement, ethnic cleansing and massacres" carried out by Israeli troops in northern Gaza where about 400,000 people are believed to be trapped.

"The fascist [Israeli] occupation army continues its attempts to implement its criminal plan, known as the Generals' Plan, in the northern Gaza Strip, besieging schools and hospitals, committing massacres against defenceless and displaced citizens and carrying out the most heinous forced displacement operation live on air and in full view of the entire world," Hamas said in a statement posted on Telegram yesterday.

The group said Israel's "flagrant violation of all laws" would not have been possible "without the silence and inaction of the international community and complicity of the US administration".

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Riyadh on Wednesday as he renews his bid to broker diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

"There remains, despite everything that's happened, an incredible opportunity in this region to move in a totally different direction," he said before leaving Tel Aviv.

"Saudi Arabia would be right at the heart of that, and that includes potentially normalisation of relations with Israel," he added.

Blinken's visit to the region is his 11th since the start of the Israel's war on Gaza and his first since Israel escalated its war against Hezbollah in Lebanon last month.

The Gaza war halted tentative moves towards an agreement dubbed the "mega-deal", under which Saudi Arabia would recognise Israel in exchange for a defence pact and help on a civil nuclear programme.

After meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials in Israel, Blinken said "now is the time" to end the conflict in Gaza.

"Since October 7 a year ago, Israel has achieved most of its strategic objectives when it comes to Gaza... Now is the time to turn those successes into enduring, strategic success," he said.

The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that intense bombardments, mass displacements and lack of access in northern Gaza have forced the postponement of a polio vaccination campaign.

This final phase of an ongoing polio vaccination campaign, due to begin on Wednesday, aimed to vaccinate over 119,000 children in northern Gaza, according to the agency.

(Reuters)

 Lufthansa extended the suspension of its flights to Tehran and Beirut until early next year for operational reasons, the German flagship airline said on Wednesday.

For Lufthansa Airlines, this means flights to Tehran will be suspended up to and including Jan. 31, 2025, while those to Beirut are suspended up to and including Feb. 28, 2025, it said.

Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings are all part of the Lufthansa Group.

SWISS said in a separate statement that flights to Beirut would be cancelled up to and including Jan. 18, 2025, to provide greater planning certainty for both its passenger and crew.

(Reuters)

Israel began striking on Wednesday in the historic Lebanese port city of Tyre according to Reuters witnesses.

(Reuters)

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI) group has claimed seven new drone attacks on various Israeli sites.

The group reported on Telegram yesterday and this morning three attacks on the occupied Golan Heights, two other attacks on Eilat, another attack on the Jordan Valley and a seventh one against a "vital" target inside Israel.

IRI released four videos on Telegram this morning and yesterday, which showed the launch of the drones used in the attacks.

The group said that the attacks were "in support of our people in Palestine and Lebanon".

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed efforts to halt the escalation in the region Jordan's King Abdullah II during his visit to Riyadh yesterday.

Bin Salman had received the Jordanian monarch at the Al Yamamah Palace in the Saudi capital where they discussed developments in the Middle East and efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon, according to a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency.

Both sides stressed their "full support for the brothers in Palestine and Lebanon" and would continue to provide humanitarian assistance to ease their suffering but did not give further details on the discussions.

The meeting was attended by a number of senior Saudi and Jordanian officials.

Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have called for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon and Gaza, emphasising the need for regional de-escalation and for "avoiding practices that would push the region towards further crises".

According to a statement yesterday, Sisi met Putin on the sidelines of his visit to Russia to participate in the Brics summit held in Kazan City on 22-24 October. 

This is Egypt's inaugural participation at the summit after becoming a Brics member earlier this year.