Israel-Hamas war latest: Israeli airstrike levels apartment building in central Beirut
A Lebanese soldier passes next to damaged cars where an Israeli airstrike hit a building in Beirut early Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
An apparent Israeli airstrike on central Beirut has leveled an apartment building. It came after Israel hit targets across Lebanon and killed dozens of people, as Hezbollah sustained heavy blows to its command structure, including the killing of its leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
The early Monday airstrike — the first to hit central Beirut in nearly a year of conflict — hit a multistory residential building, according to an Associated Press journalist at the scene. Videos showed ambulances and a crowd gathered near the building in a mainly Sunni district with a busy thoroughfare lined with shops.
Separately, an Israeli airstrike early Monday killed a family of four in central Gaza, Palestinian officials said.
In the past week, Israel has frequently targeted Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a strong presence — including a major strike on Friday that killed Nasrallah — but had not hit locations near the city center.
The Lebanese Health Ministry said at least 105 people were killed around the country in airstrikes on Sunday. Two strikes near the southern city of Sidon, about 45 kilometers (28 miles) south of Beirut, killed at least 32 people, the ministry said. Separately, Israeli strikes in the northern province of Baalbek Hermel killed 21 people and wounded at least 47.
Lebanese media reported dozens of strikes in the central, eastern and western Bekaa and in the south, besides strikes on Beirut. Israel says it targets militants, but the strikes have hit buildings where civilians were living and the death toll was expected to rise.
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Here is the latest:
Israeli airstrike kills 6 people, including 2 sisters and a child, in Gaza
DEIR -AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Palestinian medical officials say an Israeli airstrike killed six people, including two sisters and a child, in central Gaza.
The strike early Monday hit a family home in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp, according to the Awda hospital, where the casualties were taken.
The dead include a man, his two daughters and a grandchild, according to the hospital records.
Earlier on Monday, an Israeli strike hit a house in the central town of Deir al-Balah, killing two children and their parents.
Israel says it only targets militants and blames civilian casualties on Hamas because the militant group operates in residential areas. The military rarely comments on individual strikes, which often kill women and children.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says at least 41,615 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war. It does not distinguish between militants and civilians but says women and children make up a little more than half of the fatalities.
The war began on Oct. 7, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim shooting down another US-made MQ-9 Reaper drone
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim they shot down another American-made MQ-9 Reaper drone over the country, with videos purportedly showing a surface-to-air missile striking it. The U.S. military did not immediately acknowledge losing any aircraft.
The claimed attack comes as the one-year anniversary of the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip approaches. The Houthis have targeted ships traveling through the Red Sea over the war as U.S.-led airstrikes pound their positions in Yemen. That’s imperiled a waterway that typically sees $1 trillion of trade pass through it, as well as crucial shipments of aid to war-torn Sudan and Yemen.
The Houthis also continue to launch missiles targeting Israel, drawing retaliatory airstrikes from the Israelis this weekend on the port city of Hodeida.
The Houthi-run broadcaster Al-Masirah claimed shooting down the MQ-9, hours after video footage circulated online showing the purported missile striking the aircraft over Yemen’s Saada province. A single image online also appeared to show wreckage of the drone, with pieces resembling that of an MQ-9.
Hezbollah’s deputy leader vows to fight on after Nasrallah’s death
BEIRUT — Hezbollah’s deputy leader vowed to continue fighting Israel and said the militant group was prepared for a long war after much of its top command was wiped out, including its leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
In his first speech since Nasrallah was killed, Naim Kassem said in a televised statement Monday that if Israel decides to launch a ground offensive, Hezbollah fighters are ready to fight and defend Lebanon.
As deputy secretary-general, Naim Kassem now is the acting leader of Hezbollah until a replacement for Nasrallah is chosen.
Kassem added that despite the killing of Hezbollah’s top military commanders over the past months, Hezbollah is relying on new commanders.
“Israel was not able to affect our (military) capabilities,” Kassem said. “There are deputy commanders and there are replacements in case a commander is wounded in any post.”
France delivers 12 tons of medical aid to Lebanon
PARIS — France has delivered 12 tons of medical aid to Lebanon, including two mobile clinics that will be able to treat 1,000 seriously injured people currently in hospitals’ emergency wards across the country, according to a statement from the French Foreign Ministry on Monday.
French military aircraft also delivered critical supplies of medicine to Lebanese emergency, pediatric and general hospitals and clinics, which have been overwhelmed with thousands of injured people since Israel’s bombardment of the country began over a week ago.
During his visit to Beirut on Monday, France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said that Paris is also releasing 10 million euros ($11.1 million) in emergency humanitarian aid to support the work of local humanitarian organizations, particularly the Lebanese Red Cross.
“In the face of the escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, France stands by Lebanon and remains committed to protecting civilians,” the statement said.
Barrot is scheduled to meet with Lebanese leaders on Monday, including with Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Army chief Joseph Aoun and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
Lebanon asks those who lost relatives in recent airstrikes for DNA samples to match with unidentified remains
BEIRUT — Lebanese officials have asked people who lost relatives in recent Israeli airstrikes to provide DNA samples to match with unidentified remains.
Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces on Monday called on residents across the country to visit police stations with an identity card to give their samples. It said more than one person from each family should provide a sample, if possible.
A wave of Israeli airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon have killed more than 1,030 people — including 156 women and 87 children — in less than two weeks, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.
Satellite images show site of Israeli airstrike that killed Hezbollah leader
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Satellite images analyzed by The Associated Press show the site of the Israeli airstrike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
The images, taken Sunday by Planet Labs PBC, show the site just some 2 kilometers (1.25 miles) northeast of Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport.
The images show multi-story buildings at the site now cratered in the densely populated predominantly Shiite southern Beirut suburb known as Dahiyeh.
Israel said the Friday night strike targeted a meeting at an underground Hezbollah compound located beneath the towers and at least one empty lot at the site.
Israeli airstrike kills family of 4 in central Gaza
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Palestinian officials say an Israeli airstrike early Monday killed a family of four in central Gaza.
The strike hit a house in the central town of Deir al-Balah, according to the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies.
The dead included two children and their parents, according to hospital records. An Associated Press reporter counted the bodies at the hospital morgue.
Israel says it only targets militants and accuses Hamas fighters of hiding among civilians, putting them in danger. It rarely comments on individual strikes, which often kill women and children.
The war began on Oct. 7, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
Hamas says one of its commanders was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon
BEIRUT — The Palestinian militant group Hamas says one of its commanders has been killed in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon.
Fatah Sharif was killed early Monday in an airstrike on the Al-Buss refugee camp in the southern port city of Tyre, the group said in a statement. His wife, son and daughter were also killed in the strike, it said.
Sharif was a commander in Lebanon and a member of Hamas’ command outside the Palestinian territories, Hamas said.
Since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7, Israeli airstrikes have killed several Hamas officials in Lebanon.