Israel-Lebanon live updates: Eyewitness describes 'roar then explosion' as Israeli strikes hit central Beirut (original) (raw)

Orla Guerin
Senior international correspondent, reporting from Beirut
Andrea Tenenti, Spokesman for UNIFIL in Lebanon.Image source, Goktay Koraltan
Image caption,
Andrea Tenenti, Spokesman for Unifil in Lebanon
Israeli attacks on UN peacekeeping force bases in southern Lebanon, close to the border with Israel, are a breach of international humanitarian law, according to Andrea Tenenti, a spokesman for the forces which are known as Unifil.
Asked if it was a war crime, he says Unifil is still looking into that but “it’s definitely a very serious development, and a very very serious violation".
He tells the BBC that there were several attacks in recent days, with two people injured yesterday.
“It looks more of a deliberate attack against our troops, who have been in the south to try to bring back stability at the moment, and it's very, very challenging,” he says.
He lists attacks on cameras, on lighting inside a base, and on an observation tower inside the headquarters, adding “how can this be a mistake from an army that is pretty well prepared, and they know what they're doing?"
Unifil says explosions today - close to an observation tower - which injured two people are still being investigated, to determine who was responsible.
The Israeli military asked UN peacekeepers last week to prepare to pull back from the border, which Unifil has refused to do.
Asked if he thinks that Israel is trying to force the peacekeepers to go, Tenenti replies “of course, people can analyse it in this way".
He says the UN has no plans to evacuate any of its 29 posts close to the "Blue Line", which is the UN recognised demarcation line between Israel and Lebanon.

Damian Grammaticas
Political correspondent
A Downing Street spokesperson says the government is "appalled" by reports that Israel has deliberately fired at an observation post belonging to the UN's peacekeeping mission in south Lebanon.
It follows a statement from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon which said an Israeli tank fired on Unifil facilities in southern Lebanon yesterday, hitting an observation tower and wounding two peacekeepers.
Speaking to journalists at the daily Downing Street briefing, the spokesperson says: "We were appalled to hear those reports and it is vital that peacekeepers and civilians are protected.
"As you know we continue to call for an immediate ceasefire and an end to suffering and bloodshed. It is a reminder of the importance of us all renewing our diplomatic efforts to resolve this."
Asked if the prime minister would agree with Ireland's Taoiseach (Irish PM) that Israel had broken international law, the spokesperson says: "All parties must always do everything possible to protect civilians and comply with international law."

Israel's military chief and the head of Israeli's security agency Shin Bet held a situational assessment in southern Lebanon yesterday, the military says.
Lt Gen Herzi Halevi says the army will continue to operate against Hezbollah and "will not stop until we ensure that we can safely return the residents (evacuated from the north), not just now, but with a future outlook".
"If anyone considers rebuilding these villages again, they will know that it's not worth constructing terrorist infrastructure because the IDF will neutralize them again," he adds.

Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati says the 22 people killed in last night's Israeli air strikes in central Beirut were all civilians.
Speaking from Beirut, Mikati said: "This issue is completely unacceptable. Where is the humanity and where is the reality we are living in?”
Mikati also condemned Israeli forces, who have for a second day, fired at a UN peacekeeping observation post in south Lebanon, wounding two soldiers, according to UN sources.
"It is a crime which is directed at the international community. Targeting the United Nations security force violates its sanctity," Mikati said.
The Israeli military has not commented on last night's strikes.

Black smoke rising, with buildings in the foreground and backgroundImage source, Reuters
Image caption,
Smoke rising over northern Gaza yesterday
In Gaza, the Hamas-run health ministry says 61 people have been killed and 231 injured in the last 24-hour reporting period.
Providing its regular update, it says at least 42,126 Palestinians have now been killed and 98,117 injured as a result of Israeli military action in Gaza since the 7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel - when Hamas killed about 1,200 people and took 251 others to Gaza as hostages.
While Israel has described the conflict's "centre of gravity" as having moved north to Lebanon, where it is also fighting Hezbollah, its forces are still fighting Hamas in Gaza, with heaving fighting reported in the north of the strip in the last few days.

Last night we initially reported that the strike hit the Bachoura district of Beirut, based off our reporter’s account there.
We’ve since got a clearer picture of the attack and have clarified that it happened in Basta and Nweiri. These are part of the Mazraa district and are both mixed Sunni and Shia areas.
The maps below show where the targeted areas are:
Map and picture showing neighbourhoods in Beirut hit by Israeli air strikes

Jonathan Head
Reporting from Beirut
Women stand next to damaged vehicles at the site of an Israeli air strike, amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Beirut, Lebanon, October 11, 2024.Image source, Reuters
Security guard Hasan Jaafar was chatting to friends outside on the street in his neighbourhood, between Nweiri and Basta in central Beirut, when the first air strike happened, a little before 8pm on Thursday evening.
“It was like a roar that seemed to grow closer with every second,” he says. “Then came the explosion. The shockwave knocked us off our feet, sending us backward as dust and debris filled the air. For a moment, everything around us vanished in a cloud of ash. I tried to find my friends, who had scattered in panic, but the ash made it hard to see."
As people ran to help, a second bomb struck.
“The mood changed from urgency to panic”, he recalls. “You could see faces with tears pouring down them. The fear was overwhelming. We could hear electricity crackling from damaged buildings, adding to the nightmare atmosphere."
People walk at the site of an Israeli air strike, amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Beirut, Lebanon, October 11, 2024.Image source, Reuters
"Our lively neighbourhood had turned into a battleground in an instant, with buildings all broken. It was clear to me that this area was no longer just a neighbourhood; it was a target.”
Hasan was not seriously injured and did not need treatment. For now he is staying put, but he is not sure for how long. The two powerful airstrikes in an area of Beirut which had assumed it would not be targeted have badly shaken him.
“My family and I no longer feel safe here. The idea of leaving our home is painful, but if a chance came to move to a safer place, I would take it. In a war-torn city like Beirut, safety is just a fragile hope.”

Jonah Fisher
Reporting from northern Israel
The Israeli military (IDF) has clarified the cause of the blast that killed a 27 year old Thai national on the border between Israel and south Lebanon this morning.
The IDF had initially said that an anti-tank missile fired from Lebanon was to blame but now says it was the result of “an explosion of a fallen munition”.
Falling shrapnel from intercepted Hezbollah rockets has killed people here in northern Israel but approached by the BBC for clarification, an IDF spokesperson says the explosion at Kibbutz Yiron was caused by something that was already on or in the ground.
The Israeli military has in recent days been active in southern Lebanon near Kibbutz Yiron - with the stated aim of stopping Hezbollah attacks along the border.
BBC map showing the location of the Kibbutz Yir'on

Hezbollah's military media office says the group launched an aerial attack on a "gathering" of Israeli soldiers in northern Israel at 08:30 local time (06:30 BST) this morning.
In an update on Telegram, the groups says it targeted an Israeli air defence command base in Kiryat Eliezer in Haifa, northern Israel.
It adds that it also targeted more Israeli soldiers with rockets in Kfar Szold, a kibbutz in northern Israel, at 10:50 local time (08:50).

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attends the 14th ASEAN-United Nations (UN) Summit at the National Convention Centre, in Vientiane, LaosImage source, Reuters
United Nations Secretary General António Guterres has condemned Israeli attacks on a UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, calling them a "violation of international humanitarian law".
On Thursday, two Indonesian soldiers were injured when they fell from an observation tower at a UN base in Ras al-Naqoura after an Israeli tank fired towards it.
And in the past few hours, two more peacekeepers have reportedly been injured.
It was not clear which of the two incidents Guterres was referring to.
Yesterday's incident, in which Israel said it was targeting Hezbollah militants near UN posts, was met by condemnation from the UN and several countries.
Speaking at a summit in Laos, Guterres said an escalation of conflict in the Middle East was a "threat to global peace and security," adding everything must be done to avoid "all-out war in Lebanon".

Imogen Foulkes
Reporting from Geneva
UN aid agencies say they are extremely concerned for the second round of polio vaccinations, planned to start in Gaza on Monday.
Although 400 World Health Organization (WHO), UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), and Palestinian Red Crescent teams are ready to go, the increased fighting in northern Gaza poses huge challenges.
Parts of northern Gaza are currently subject to evacuation orders from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), but Unicef said today it was "essential" that people were not forced to move during the vaccination campaign.
The WHO said humanitarian pauses must be agreed, and that everyone must adhere to them. But in the last week the WHO has tried three times to evacuate non-walking patients from hospitals in northern Gaza (which are running out of fuel and water), and has each time been unable to reach them.
The convoys of ambulances were repeatedly stopped at checkpoints for nine hours at a time, and finally had to turn back. UN aid agencies hope to give 591,000children in Gaza a second dose of the polio vaccine, after the virus was discovered there this year for the first time in 25 years.
The first vaccination round, in September, was a success, but aid workers fear this round will be much more difficult.

We've been reporting this morning on Israeli air strikes that took place overnight in Beirut.
The strikes killed 22 people and injured over 100 others.
Here are some of the images that have come through to us from the Lebanese capital in the last few hours as residents asses the damages.
People hold their belongings as they walk among the rubbleImage source, Reuters
The outside of a building where the glass windows have been smashed. Some people stand in a room in the top rightImage source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
Damaged cars line the side of a small street. Some are piled on top of each otherImage source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
An emergency service vehicle and a group of individuals can be seen against the backdrop of a damaged buidling and rubble on the floorImage source, Reuters

Carine Torbey
BBC Arabic correspondent, in Beirut
The Lebanese government has tasked the ministry of foreign affairs to call on the UN Security Council to vote on a resolution asking for an immediate and full ceasefire.
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Miqati says the government is committed to the full implementation of UN resolution 1701, which put an end to the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.
He says the government is ready to deploy the Lebanese army in the border areas in southern Lebanon.
When asked on Hezbollah’s position in this respect, Migati said that they are part of the government and they have agreed on the implementation of the 1701 resoultion.
Although Miqati spoke of diplomatic solutions, on the ground the feeling is that Israel is not letting up on its attacks on the country, the latest of which were yesterday in the heart of the capital, and which killed 22 people and injured more than 100 – all of whom are civilians.

We're now seeing reports that an observation post belonging to the United Nations peacekeeping mission in south Lebanon has been fired at by Israeli forces, according to local media and a UN source speaking to Reuters.
Two peacekeepers have reportedly been injured. The Israeli military has not commented on the reports and the BBC has contacted the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) for more information.
The incident would mark the fourth time in recent days that Israeli troops have fired at Unifil bases.
Yesterday two Indonesian peacekeepers were injured after an Israeli tank fired at a watchtower at the force's headquarters in Ras al-Naqoura.

Jeremy Bowen
International editor
Image of a damaged street in Beirut. A woman on the right carries bread as several people behind her look on. At the rear of thew shot, two men are on mopeds.Image source, EPA
I was in Beirut throughout the 2006 war and do not remember Israel targeting the centre of the city.
They levelled areas of the southern suburbs, but in the centre we felt quite safe. So this is different.
The question we need to ask is: What is their strategy and what are they trying to achieve?
Israel says it is trying to return its citizens to their homes on the northern border with Lebanon, but the scale of what they are doing suggests more than that.
Israel’s tactical successes against Hezbollah have encouraged some to think that there is a chance to reshape the region by severely damaging or destroying all Israel’s enemies.
This is an enhanced military operation – one that is likely to lead to a longer war and possibly even an occupation of southern Lebanon – and it is not clear how this is in the interests of Israeli civilians trying to get back to their homes.
The Israelis will argue very strongly that they are trying to defend themselves, but what their escalation has done is inflame the whole region.

Yolande Knell
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem
As Jewish Israelis prepare to mark Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar - which starts at sunset - they are being urged to take steps to prepare for potential attacks.
The two chief rabbis have approved taking mobile phones to synagogues - something that observant Jews would not normally do. This will enable worshippers to receive alerts warning them of incoming rocket fire.
Dedicated radio channels will also operate, broadcasting silence unless there are emergency messages, so that users will not have to take any action to receive these.
Speaking to the media, a spokesperson for Israel’s Home Front Command encouraged parents to ensure that children - who often ride their bicycles on the empty roads during Yom Kippur - to make sure they know how to seek shelter and react in case of an alarm.
Synagogues in major cities across Israel and in sensitive areas will be under armed guard during Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. Extra police are also being deployed and there will be additional checkpoints in Jerusalem’s Old City around the Western Wall, the holiest place where Jews can pray.
Yom Kippur will not stop Israeli soldiers from taking part in military operations. In response to questions from ultra-Orthodox Jewish troops currently based in Beit Hanoun in Gaza, the Chief Sephardic Rabbi David Yosef reaffirmed existing protocols for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) that prohibit them from taking part in the usual 25-hour fast during the holy day.

Jonah Fisher
Reporting from northern Israel
Israel’s ambulance service Magen David Adom (MDA) says a 27-year-old Thai national has been killed after an anti-tank missile was fired at a kibbutz on the border between northern Israel and southern Lebanon.
Local media is reporting that a second individual was seriously injured at Kibbutz Yi’ron and has been airlifted to hospital.
Regular rocket attacks from Iranian backed militants Hezbollah has led to tens of thousands of people being displaced from areas near the border with southern Lebanon.
But some have stayed behind to look after livestock and crops, while others travel in to work.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has in recent days been active in the part of southern Lebanon that borders Kibbutz Yi’ron.
This sort of attack is what the IDF say their incursions are aimed at preventing.

A little earlier, our colleagues at Radio 4's Today programme heard from Unicef's deputy representative in Lebanon, Ettie Higgins, who is currently in Beirut.
She describes the bombing last night as taking place "less than 1km" from the Unicef office, adding that the "intensification" would have "major humanitarian consequences".
She adds that children died last night although they are trying to verify how many.
Higgins further warns of "new waves of displacement" and homelessness on top of an existing displacement crisis in recent weeks.
That's in addition to the already "extremely concerning humanitarian situation" in a country that has been hosting Syrian refugees and has faced an economic collapse over the last five years.

Jon Donnison
Reporting from Jerusalem
Israel says it’s determined to significantly weaken Hezbollah and it’s not letting up.
At the same time, Hezbollah is firing back. The Israeli military says some 190 rockets were fired from southern Lebanon into Israel yesterday.
Many of them were shot down by Israel’s missile defence system but some got through.
There’s so much going on in the region at the moment, it’s difficult to know where to start.
The big thing that everyone is waiting for here in Israel, in the region and round the world is what will Israel’s response be to that unprecedented Iranian ballistic missile attack just last week.
The response is going to come.
We don't know on what scale and we don’t know with what force but the scale of that attack - when it comes - could determine the direction that this escalating conflict takes in the coming weeks and days.
Streaks of rocket fire fired against a nightsky over Ashkelon in Israel as Israel's missile defense system intercepts Iranian ballistic missilesImage source, Reuters
Image caption,
Iran launched more than 180 ballistic missiles at Israel last week

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent, in Beirut
Cars and rubble piled up on the side of a small street with people walking
More than 12 hours after the Israeli air strike, there is still smoke rising from the rubble of the building that collapsed in Basta, a densely populated area of central Beirut.
A search operation is continuing for five people reported missing, although it is not clear whether they are under the rubble or not.
A massive clean-up effort is also under way with heavy machinery, as residents assess the destruction in nearby buildings.
Some may have been damaged beyond repair.
The attack happened at around 20:00 local time, with no warning. These streets and flats would have been packed with people.
Israel has not commented on last night’s strikes. Reports in Lebanon suggest Wafiq Safa, a senior Hezbollah member described as being the head of the group’s liaison and co-ordination unit, was the target.
He apparently survived the attack.
This could mark a new chapter in Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah. After killing most of its leaders and many military commanders, it could be shifting its focus to other key figures.
It was the first time this area of Beirut, away from the southern suburbs where Hezbollah has a strong presence, came under attack.
There’s growing anxiety in Beirut as many believe nowhere is really safe, with the fear that air strikes could hit at any moment, no matter the place.