Live blog: Gaza death toll nears 41,600; Israel kills medics in Lebanon

Saturday, September 28, 2024

0855 GMT — The Israeli army killed 52 more Palestinians in attacks in Gaza, taking the overall death toll to 41,586 since last October 7, the Health Ministry in the enclave said.

A ministry statement added that some 96,210 other people have been injured in the assault.

“Israeli forces killed 52 people and injured 118 others in four ‘massacres’ against families in the last 48 hours,” the ministry said.

“Many people are still trapped under rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” it added.

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0930 GMT — Israeli air strikes kill 11 medical personnel in Lebanon

Eleven medical personnel were killed and ten injured in Israeli air strikes targeting Islamic Health Authority offices in the towns of Taybeh and Deir Seryan, according to official media.

Casualties were also reported as Israel bombed several buildings in El-Khodr town in the Baalbek district of eastern Lebanon, according to the Lebanese News Agency.

0915 GMT — Israeli army claims air strike killed Hamas infrastructure chief in southern Syria

The Israeli army announced that it conducted an air strike targeting Ahmed Muhammad Fahd, claimed to be the Hamas infrastructure chief, in southern Syria.

In a statement on X, the Israeli army claimed that Fahd was responsible for launching rocket attacks against Israeli positions in the Golan Heights.

There was no immediate comment from Hamas on the Israeli claims.

0850 GMT — Israel says it 'eliminated' Hezbollah chief in Beirut strike

Israel's military said it had "eliminated" Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an air strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, though the group has yet to comment on his fate.

If confirmed, Nasrallah's death would deal a massive blow to the Iran-backed group which he has led since 1992, potentially destabilising Lebanon as a whole.

A source close to Hezbollah told AFP that contact with Nasrallah had been "lost" since Friday night.

"Hassan Nasrallah is dead," Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani announced on X.

Another military spokesman, Captain David Avraham, also confirmed to AFP that the Hezbollah chief had been "eliminated" following strikes Friday night on Beirut.

0844 GMT — Israeli army hacks into Beirut Airport control tower, threatens Iranian civilian plane

The Israeli army hacked into the control tower of Beirut's Rafic Hariri International Airport, issuing threats against an Iranian civilian aircraft attempting to land, according to official sources.

The Lebanese Ministry of Transport instructed airport authorities to prevent the Iranian plane from entering Lebanese airspace following Israeli threats to target the aircraft if it landed at the airport.

Sources within the ministry confirmed to Anadolu that the directive was issued after the Israeli army’s aggressive posturing.

There was no comment from the Israeli side on the reports yet.

0520 GMT — Hospitals in Beirut's south to be evacuated amid Israeli strikes

The Lebanese Lebanese Health Ministry has issued a statement urging hospitals in Beirut, Mount Lebanon, and unaffected areas to halt the admission of non-urgent cases until the end of next week.

According to the statement, this measure aims to free up resources for patients being transferred from hospitals in the southern suburbs of Beirut, which will be evacuated due to ongoing Israeli strikes.

The ministry added that it has called on hospitals and health centres to prepare for an influx of displaced patients arriving from the suburbs, anticipating that responsibilities and demands will increase as numbers continue to rise.

0320 GMT — Israeli strikes pound southern Beirut suburbs

Israeli fighter jets bombarded the southern suburbs of Lebanon's capital Beirut overnight, sending panicked families fleeing massive strikes reportedly targeting Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.

Israel said it was attacking Hezbollah's headquarters, while Israeli television networks reported that Nasrallah was the target, although a source close to the group said he was "fine".

The explosions that shook southern Beirut were the fiercest to hit the group's stronghold since Israel and Hezbollah went to war in 2006.

2140 GMT — Israel launches fierce new wave of air strikes on Beirut

A violent wave of air strikes hit Beirut's southern suburbs early on Saturday as Israel intensified its bombardment, after a massive strike on Hezbollah's command centre. An unprecedented five-hour barrage of strikes early Saturday followed Friday’s assault, marking Israel’s most intense attack on Beirut yet.

Reuters witnesses heard more than 20 air strikes before dawn on Saturday. Abandoning their homes in the southern suburbs, thousands of Lebanese congregated in squares, parks, and sidewalks in downtown Beirut and seaside areas.

"They want to destroy Dahiye, they want to destroy all of us," said Sari, a man in his 30s who gave only his first name, referring to the suburb he had fled after an Israeli evacuation order.

2140 GMT — Israeli airstrikes hit southern Beirut, level buildings

Israel's army bombed the southern suburbs of Beirut early Saturday hours after another airstrike destroyed several buildings, killing and injuring scores of people.

The new airstrikes came shortly after an Israeli military spokesman warned the residents of some localities to evacuate.

Israel confirmed that the air forces are striking areas south of Beirut.

Separately, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said six people were killed and 91 injured in several Israeli strikes that struck on Friday. The toll is likely to rise significantly as teams are still combing through the rubble of six buildings.

2115 GMT — Biden ready to 'adjust' US forces in Mideast amid tensions: White House

US President Joe Biden ordered US forces in the Middle East to be adjusted "as necessary," the White House said on Friday, after Israel launched a wave of strikes on Lebanon's capital Beirut.

"He has directed the Pentagon to assess and adjust as necessary US force posture in the region to enhance deterrence, ensure force protection, and support the full range of US objectives," the White House said in a statement.

Biden also ordered US embassies in the region to "take all protective measures as appropriate," it said.

2040 GMT — Israel attack on Beirut is 'flagrant war crime': Iran

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian condemned Israel's air strikes on the Lebanese capital's densely populated southern suburbs Friday as a "flagrant war crime."

"The attacks perpetrated ... by the Zionist regime in the Dahiya neighbourhood of Beirut constitute a flagrant war crime that has revealed once again the nature of this regime's state terrorism," Pezeshkian said in a statement carried by the official IRNA news agency early Saturday.

Pezeshkian vowed Iran "will stand with the Lebanese nation and the axis of resistance".

For our live updates from Friday, September 27, 2024, click here.