Live blog: US opposes Israel's Lebanon invasion yet sends more troops to ME

Monday, September 30, 2024

1544 GMT — US President Joe Biden has called for an end to all hostilities as Israel prepares for what it is calling a "limited" ground invasion in Lebanon amid fears of a spiralling regional war.

Asked by a reporter if he is aware of and comfortable with Israel beginning its offensive, Biden said: "I'm more aware than you might know, and I'm comfortable with them stopping. We should have a ceasefire now."

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1602 GMT — US sending few thousand more troops to the Middle East: Pentagon

The US is sending an additional “few thousand” troops to the Middle East to bolster security and to be prepared to defend Israel if necessary, the Pentagon said Monday.

The increased presence will come from multiple fighter jet squadrons, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters.

1602 GMT — Houthis to escalate operations in response to Israeli attacks: official

Houthis have said that they will escalate military operations against Israel in response to its attacks on the country, a day after an Israeli attack against Houthi targets which the Yemeni group's spokesperson said left five killed and 57 injured.

1546 GMT — France urges Lebanon ceasefire amid reports of looming Israeli ground invasion

France has urged both Israel and Hezbollah to de-escalate the situation and agree on a ceasefire that ends the ongoing hostilities.

Addressing a press conference in Beirut, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noal Barrot urged Israel "to refrain from any ground incursion (into Lebanon)."

Several Israeli media reports suggest a possible ground invasion in southern Lebanon amid massive air strikes across the country.

1558 GMT — We want de-escalation in Middle East: US to UN

The United States does not want to see violence spread in the Middle East and wants to see a de-escalation, the US envoy to the United Nations said.

"We want to find a path to peace so that Palestinians and Israelis have safety and Lebanese and Israelis living on the northern border find security and safety as well," US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters.

When asked if Israel had told the US that it was going to carry out an incursion into Lebanon, Thomas-Greenfield said she would not discuss US-Israel talks but that the two countries were in close contact.

1532GMT — Israel's defence minister says ground troops could be used in Lebanon

Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has said ground forces could be used against Hezbollah in Lebanon, adding operations will go on despite the killing of the group's leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Gallant made the comments while speaking to Israeli troops deployed to the northern border where cross-border fire with Hezbollah continued for nearly a year but escalated this month.

"We will use all the means that may be required –- your forces, other forces, from the air, from the sea, and on land," Gallant said.

1428 GMT — Israel informs US about its plans for Lebanon invasion: report

Israel is planning a "limited" ground invasion in Lebanon that may start imminently, Israel told the United States, the Washington Post reports citing an unidentified US official.

The invasion would be smaller than Israel's 2006 war against Hezbollah and focus on security for border communities, the official said.

1236 GMT — Lebanese soldier killed in Israeli strike: army

The Lebanese army said a soldier was killed in an Israeli strike that targeted a motorcycle as it went through an army checkpoint in south Lebanon near the border.

"A soldier was killed when a drone belonging to the Israeli enemy targeted a motorcycle as it was passing through the Lebanese army checkpoint" in the Wazzani area close to the Israeli border, a statement on X said.

It is the first soldier announced killed since Israel began heavily bombing Lebanon last week.

1145 GMT — Death toll from Israeli strike on Lebanon's Ain al-Delb reaches 45

Lebanon has said that an Israeli strike a day earlier near the southern city of Sidon killed 45 people, raising an earlier toll.

In a statement, the health ministry announced "45 dead and 70 wounded in an updated toll for the Israeli enemy attack on Ain al-Delb" on Sunday. At the same time, the official National News Agency said the strike targeted a building that had completely collapsed.

1120 GMT — Lebanon ready to implement UN Resolution 1701, deploy army south of Litani River

Lebanon is ready to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which involves deploying the Lebanese army south of the Litani River, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati has said.

“We affirm our agreement and pledge to implement the cease-fire immediately with Israel,” Mikati said following a meeting with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut.

He added that Lebanon is ready to send its army to the southern region in coordination with the UN peacekeeping mission (UNIFIL).

1054 GMT — Hezbollah ready for any Israel ground offensive: deputy

Hezbollah's deputy leader Naim Qassem has said the group was ready to face any Israeli ground offensive, warning that the battle could last a long time.

In a televised address, Qassem also said Hezbollah would choose a new chief "at the earliest opportunity" after Israel killed its leader Hassan Nasrallah in an air strike.

1030 GMT — Iran won't send forces to confront Israel: ministry

Iran will not deploy forces to Lebanon or Gaza to confront Israel, its foreign ministry has said, as Israeli strikes target its allies in the region.

"There is no need to send extra or volunteer forces of Iran," said foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanani, adding that Lebanon and fighters in the Palestinian territories "have the capability and strength to defend themselves against the aggression".

1002GMT — Israel continues to bomb Gaza, death toll rises to 41,615

The death toll from Israel's war on Gaza since October 7 has risen to 41,615, the Health Ministry in the besieged enclave has said.

0933 GMT — Another journalist killed in Israeli strike in Gaza as death toll rises to 174

Another Palestinian journalist was killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza, bringing the total death toll since last Oct. 7 to 174, the government media office said.

In a statement, the media office identified the new victim as Wafa Aludaini, without giving any details about the circumstances of her death.

It said Aludaini had worked “with several English-speaking media outlets,” calling on the international community to hold the Israeli government accountable for its “crimes against journalists.”

0822 GMT — Over 100,000 people cross from Lebanon into Syria: UN

More than 100,000 people have crossed into Syria from Lebanon since a conflict between Israeli forces and Hezbollah escalated this month, the UN refugee agency chief said.

Filippo Grandi said on social media platform X that those fleeing included both Lebanese and Syrian nationals. The UN agency is assisting those arriving at four crossing points, he added.

0817 GMT — 5 children killed in Israeli strike in southern Lebanon

Five children were killed in an Israeli air strike in Sidon in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanese media.

Lebanon’s state news agency NNA said the deaths occurred in the town of Charqiyeh in eastern Sidon late Sunday.

A Lebanese youth movement in the town, the Imam al-Mahdi Scouts, confirmed that the five were group members and lost their lives in the Israeli attack.

0812 GMT — Iran will not leave Israel's 'criminal acts' unanswered: FM

Iran will not leave any of "the criminal acts" of Israel unanswered, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said, referring to the killing of Hezbollah's chief and an Iranian Guard deputy commander in Lebanon.

"We stand strongly and we will act in a way that is regretful [for the enemy]" Kanaani told a weekly news conference, adding that Iran does not seek war but is not afraid of it.

Kanaani said that Iran is closely following up on matters with the Lebanese authorities, referring to the strikes that killed Nasrallah and Nilforoushan.

0805 GMT — Deputy chief of Lebanon's Hezbollah to give speech, first since Nasrallah's killing

The deputy chief of Lebanon's armed group Hezbollah will give an address at 12 pm local time (0900 GMT), the group's media office said.

It is the first address by a Hezbollah official since the killing of the group's secretary general in an Israeli air attack on Friday.

0748 GMT — Israel says ceasefire in Lebanon ‘only’ after Hezbollah relocated, disarmed

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that Tel Aviv will only accept a ceasefire in Lebanon when Hezbollah is pushed away from the border to the north of the Litani River and disarmed, according to Israeli media.

“The only acceptable way for Israel to agree to a ceasefire is to move Hezbollah north of the Litani River and disarm it,” Katz said in a message to foreign ministers from 25 nations as cited by the Israeli public broadcaster KAN.

He claimed that the full implementation of all UN Security Council resolutions regarding Lebanon “will lead to a ceasefire.”

“For as long as this does not happen, Israel will continue its actions to ensure the security of its citizens and the return of northern residents to their homes,” he added.

0756 GMT — EU foreign ministers hold emergency meeting to discuss response to escalation in Lebanon

The European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell is convening an extraordinary informal meeting of EU foreign ministers to discuss the EU's response to the latest escalation in Lebanon, an EU spokesperson said.

0724 GMT — US boosts air support, increases troop readiness as Israel ramps up attacks across Lebanon

The US announced Sunday it has increased its military presence in the Middle East, enhancing air support and troop readiness as tensions in the region escalate.

"We will further reinforce our defensive air-support capabilities in the coming days," said Pentagon spokesman Major General Patrick Ryder in a statement.

The Pentagon has also raised the readiness of additional forces for rapid deployment if needed.

"The United States is determined to prevent Iran and Iranian-backed partners and proxies from exploiting the situation or expanding the conflict," Ryder added, emphasizing that any attack on US personnel or interests by Iran or its proxies would be met with "every necessary measure."

0644 GMT — Israeli strike in central Beirut kills three Palestinian leaders

Israeli forces launched early on Monday an air strike on Beirut's Kola area, making it the first attack inside the Lebanese capital since the conflict with Hezbollah started last October.

According to an Anadolu correspondent, an Israeli drone targeted a fifth-floor apartment in a building on the road connecting Beirut with Rafik Hariri International Airport.

The strike sparked a fire in the apartment, which was brought under control by firefighters.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) later confirmed that the strike killed three of its leaders: Mohammed Abdel Aal, a political bureau member and head of the military and security division; Imad Ouda, the military commander in Lebanon, and Abdel Rahman Abdel Aal, whose position was not disclosed.

0554 GMT — Hamas confirms killing of leader in Israeli strike

Palestinian resistance group Hamas said that its leader in Lebanon Fateh Sherif Abu el-Amin was killed along with some of his family members in an Israeli strike in the south of the country.

0117 GMT — Israel carried out strikes on dozens of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon: IDF

The Israeli military said its fighter jets launched fresh strikes on dozens of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon's Bekaa region.

Israeli jets "attacked dozens of launchers and buildings where weapons were stored in the Bekaa in Lebanon", it said in a statement on Telegram, adding the sites were linked to the Lebanese group Hezbollah.

Israel "will continue to attack powerfully, damage and degrade Hezbollah's military capabilities and infrastructure in Lebanon", it added.

0020 GMT — Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine says 3 leaders killed by Israel

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) said in a statement that three of its leaders were killed in an Israeli strike that targeted Beirut's Kola district.

2309 GMT — Israel kills over two dozen Palestinians across Gaza

Israel has killed at least 25 Palestinians and wounded many others in heavy strikes on besieged Gaza, the Civil Defence said.

The killings by Israel took place in Beit Lahia, Jabalia, Gaza City, Nuseirat camp and Deir al Balah.

2251 GMT — Israel's attacks against Yemen, Syria, Lebanon is 'dangerous escalation' backed by US: Hamas

The Israeli military's attacks on Yemen, Syria and Lebanon represent a "dangerous escalation" backed by the US, the Palestinian resistance group Hamas said.

In a statement, the group condemned "the terrorist Zionist bombardment of Yemen targeting civilian facilities in the port of Al Hudaida as well as the aggression against Syria, which constitutes a dangerous escalation and an extension of the occupation's aggression and crimes in Palestine, Lebanon and the Arab region with blatant American support".

The group emphasised that "the criminal enemy will not break the morale of our people or the peoples of our region, nor will it undermine the resolve of the resistance".

2206 GMT — Saudi Arabia calls for Lebanon's sovereignty to be respected

Saudi Arabia expressed its "great concern" at the war in Lebanon, calling for the country's "sovereignty and territorial integrity" to be respected.

A foreign ministry statement said: "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is following with great concern the developments taking place in the Republic of Lebanon."

2121 GMT — Israel kills over 100 people across Lebanon

The death toll in Israeli strikes across Lebanon has risen to 105, including 32 in Ain Deleb, a town southeast of the port city of Sidon, 33 in the northeastern district of Baalbek-Hermel and seven more in Marjayoun, a Reuters tally based on Health Ministry statements showed.

For our live updates from Sunday, September 29, 2024, click here.