Live blog: Latest Israeli airstrikes hit southern Beirut, level buildings

Saturday, September 28, 2024

2140 GMT — Israel's army bombed 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’s military 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.

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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.