Middle East crisis live: IDF ‘preparing response’ to Iran attack as Macron urges halt to arms deliveries to Israel

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Iran reiterated on Saturday that any attack by Israel will be met with an “even stronger” retaliation.

“Our reaction to any attack by the Zionist regime is completely clear,” Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, told reporters in Damascus, Syria.

“For every action, there will be a proportional and similar reaction from Iran, and even stronger,” he said.

He spoke after an Israeli military official told AFP on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorised to discuss the issue publicly, the army was “preparing a response to the unprecedented and unlawful Iranian attack”.

It came as Israel president Isaac Herzog said on Saturday that Iran remains an “ongoing threat” to Israel, a year after the unprecedented October 7 attack by Hamas militants.

“In many senses we are still living the aftermath of October 7... It is in the ongoing threat to the Jewish State by Iran and its terror proxies,” Herzog said in a statement to mark the first anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel.

Speaking to reporters, Araghchi expanded on his remarks earlier on X, when he said Israel could “put our determination to the test”.

Araghchi was in Syria to meet with Bashar al-Assad, the country’s president. Araghchi renewed his call for ceasefires in the Gaza Strip and in Lebanon, saying: “The most important issue today is the ceasefire, especially in Lebanon and in Gaza.”

“There are initiatives in this regard. There have been consultations that we hope will be successful,” Araghchi said.

Earlier on Saturday, Assad’s office quoted him as saying Iran’s missile attack on Israel was “a strong response and taught the Zionist entity a lesson”.

The attack came days after an Israeli air strike in southern Beirut killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets in several major cities around the world on Saturday to demand an end to bloodshed in Gaza, as the conflict in the Palestinian enclave approaches its first anniversary and spreads in the wider region.

About 40,000 pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through central London while thousands also gathered in Paris, Rome, Manila and Cape Town.

Israel’s assault on Gaza, which followed the 7 October Hamas attacks, has killed nearly 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, and displaced nearly all of the enclave’s population of 2.3 million.

“Unfortunately, in spite of all our good will, the Israeli government does not take any notice, and they just go ahead and continue their atrocities in Gaza, now also in Lebanon and in Yemen, and also probably in Iran,” said Agmes Koury, who took part in the London protest.

“And our government, our British government, unfortunately is just paying lip service and carries on supplying weapons to Israel,” she added.

In Paris, Lebanese-French protestor Houssam Houssein said:
“We fear a regional war, because there are tensions with Iran at the moment, and perhaps with Iraq and Yemen”.

“We really need to stop the war because it’s now become unbearable,” he added.

In Rome, around 6,000 protestors waved Palestinian and Lebanese flags, defying a ban to march in the city centre ahead of the 7 October anniversary.

In Manila, activists clashed with anti-riot police after they were blocked from holding a demonstration in front of the U.S. embassy in the Philippine capital in protest at the United States supplying Israel with weapons.

Demonstrations to mark the first anniversary were due to take place later on Saturday in other cities across the world, including the United States and Chile. Some demonstrations in support of Israel are also planned over the weekend.

Iran’s “response to any aggression” by Israel will be “stronger”, Iran’s foreign minister said in a post on X.

Seyed Abbas Araghchi posted a photograph of him and Bashar al-Assad, the president of Syria, following what he said were talks on regional issues.

“Highlighted that Iran will stand with Resistance in any situation. Also made clear that response to any aggression by Israeli regime will be stronger-and they can put our determination to the test,” Abbas Araghchi wrote.

Israel is planning for a “significant and serious” retaliation against Iran for last week’s large-scale ballistic missile attack, my colleague Peter Beaumont reported earlier today.

China has evacuated 215 of its citizens from Lebanon, it said on Saturday, as countries continue to withdraw nationals amid the spiralling conflict.

“So far, 215 Chinese citizens have been safely evacuated from Lebanon in two batches under the organisation and arrangement of the Chinese government,” Beijing’s foreign ministry said in a statement given to AFP.

“The Chinese Embassy in Lebanon continues to carry out its mission in Lebanon and will continue to assist the Chinese citizens there in taking security measures,” it added.

Several countries have launched operations to remove their nationals from Lebanon in the wake of the ground raids, including Russia, France, Spain, Germany and the UK.

On Saturday the UK said it had chartered a new flight to withdraw British nationals from Lebanon on Sunday. More than 250 UK citizens have left Lebanon on government-chartered flights amid the conflict, the Foreign Office said.

Earlier today a South Korean military transport aircraft returned 97 citizens and family members from Lebanon to a military airfield south of Seoul, the South Korean foreign ministry said.

Twenty five people were killed and 127 wounded in Israeli strikes on Lebanon on Friday, the Lebanese health ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

The report of the death toll comes after a series of explosions were heard over Beirut’s southern suburbs overnight, after the Israeli military had demanded evacuations for some areas.

Lebanon faces a “terrible” crisis, Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said.

Grandi said he had arrived in Beirut on Saturday. He said “hundreds of thousands of people” had been left “destitute or displaced” by Israel’s air strikes.

Israel’s attacks on Beirut overnight are part of a wider assault that has driven more than 1.2 million Lebanese from their homes in recent weeks.

A Hezbollah source said it has “lost” contact with Hashem Safieddine, who is considered the most likely candidate to replace Hassan Nasrallah as leader of the organization.

“Contact with Sayyed Safieddine has been lost since the violent strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs” early Friday, the source told AFP, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. The source added: “We don’t know if he was at the targeted site, or who may have been there with him.”

Earlier today three Lebanese security sources told Reuters that Israeli air strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs since Friday have kept rescue workers from searching the site of a strike suspected to have killed Safieddine.

“[Hezbollah] is trying to reach the underground headquarters that were targeted, but every single time Israel starts striking again to impede rescue efforts,” a source told AFP.

Safieddine “was with Hezbollah’s head of intelligence,” known as Hajj Murtada, when the strikes took place, the source said.

William Christou

Three hospitals in south Lebanon were forced to close on Friday after Israeli bombings struck two and the other ran out of supplies, displacing a number of doctors from the area and creating concerns around the state of the Lebanese health sector.

Marjayoun governmental hospital and the Salah Ghandour hospital in Bint Jbeil, large healthcare centres along the eastern and western sections of the Lebanese borders, announced their closure after their premises were struck, killing seven and wounding 14 healthcare workers.

“The main hospital of the entrance was targeted as paramedics were approaching. Seven were killed, five were wounded. We considered this a message, so we decided to close,” said Dr Mones Kalakish, the director of Marjayoun governmental hospital. He added that because of the frequent targeting of paramedics in south Lebanon, wounded people had not been able to reach the hospital for the past three days.

“There was no warning to the hospital before they struck. The warning didn’t come over the telephone, it came via bombing,” Kalakish said.

Mays al-Jabal governmental hospital, 700 metres from the Israel-Lebanon border, said on Friday hospital staff could no longer perform their role due to a cutoff of supplies.

“Medical supplies, diesel, electricity, none of it was available. Unifil was bringing us water, and now they are unable to move. How can a hospital operate without water?” said Dr Halim Saad, the director of Mays al-Jabal hospital’s medical services.

The Israeli military said on Saturday it had killed two militants from the armed wing of Hamas operating in Lebanon.

The military named Muhammad Hussein Ali al-Mahmoud, who it said served as the group’s executive authority in Lebanon, as being killed in an Israeli airstrike, Reuters reported. Said Alaa Naif Ali, a member of Hamas’ Military Wing in Lebanon, was also killed in an Israeli operation overnight on Saturday, it said.

The Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, confirmed the deaths of two of its fighters following Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon, but provided different names for them: Mohammed Hussein Al-Louise and Saeed Attallah Ali.

Faisal Ali

Over the past year, Israel’s military operation across the Gaza Strip has destroyed the majority of its infrastructure.

In its latest analysis released at the end of September, the UN’s satellite image centre estimated that at least 66% of buildings in Gaza had been damaged – 163,778 in total – of which 52,564 buildings have been completely destroyed.

The northern parts of the strip have been the most severely affected, particularly Gaza City. We have gathered these satellite images taken by Planet Labs PBC of the Zeitoun district in Gaza City, its main commercial hub, over the course of the last year.

Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters have gathered in central London, with a “significant” policing operation in place across the capital as events mark the anniversary of the 7 October attacks in Israel.

About 200 pro-Palestinian activists convened in Bedford Square on Saturday morning ahead of a planned march amid a heavy police presence, PA Media reported.

Some were holding Lebanese and Iranian flags and banners stating “we do not stand with genocide” and “Zionism is racism”, with many chanting “free, free Palestine”.

A protest leader told activists: “We don’t engage the police and don’t engage counter-protesters. We definitely don’t talk to the blue bibs.

“We do not talk or interact with the police. If I am arrested, no comment. If I am arrested, no caution. If I am arrested, no duty solicitor.

“We are safer when we are together. Only we can keep each other safe.”

This was followed by chants of: “When Palestine is under attack. What do we do? Stand up. Fight back. When Lebanon is under attack. What do we do? Stand up. Fight back.”

A “significant” policing operation is in place across London in response to planned protest and memorial events, the Metropolitan police said.

Macron urges halt to arms deliveries to Israel for use in Gaza

French president Emmanuel Macron on Saturday urged a halt to arms deliveries to Israel, which has been criticised over the conduct of its retaliatory operation in Gaza.

“I think that today, the priority is that we return to a political solution, that we stop delivering weapons to fight in Gaza,” Macron told broadcaster France Inter, adding that France was not sending any arms to Israel.

IDF indicates it will hit back at Iran as 7 October anniversary looms

The Israeli military has indicated it will expand its operations on multiple fronts around the anniversary of the 7 October attacks on Monday, including a “significant and serious” retaliation against Iran for last week’s large-scale ballistic missile attack on Israel.

“The IDF [Israeli military] is preparing a response to the unprecedented and unlawful Iranian attack on Israeli civilians and Israel,” the military official said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak publicly on the issue.

As Israel said it was planning its response to Tuesday’s Iranian missile strikes, which hit on or near a number of key Israeli bases, the US president, Joe Biden, cautioned against striking Iranian oil facilities, a day after he said Washington was “discussing” such action.

Dubai's Emirates Airlines bans pagers and walkie-talkies after Lebanon attacks

Dubai’s Emirates Airlines has banned passengers from carrying pagers and walkie-talkies on its flights, following last month’s attacks on Lebanese group Hezbollah involving communication devices that exploded, Reuters reported.

“All passengers traveling to, from, or via Dubai are prohibited from transporting pagers and walkie-talkies in checked or cabin baggage,” the airline said in a statement on its website on Friday. It added that any prohibited items found will be confiscated by Dubai Police as part of heightened security measures.

In the deadly September attacks, thousands of booby-trapped Hezbollah pagers and hundreds of radios exploded – attacks that were widely blamed on Israel but which it has not claimed.

The Middle East’s largest airline also announced that flights to Iraq and Iran will remain suspended until Tuesday, while services to Jordan will resume on Sunday.

Flights to Lebanon will remain suspended until Oct. 15 due to escalating Israeli attacks against Iran-backed Hezbollah, including strikes near Beirut’s airport.

Several other airlines have also suspended flights to Beirut and other regional airports amid heightened tensions.

Syrian air defences confronted hostile targets over the city of Homs, Syria’s state news agency SANA said on Saturday.

A slick, high-priced television production. Speeches from top officials. A live audience of thousands. A unified show of collective sorrow and military resolve.

That is how the Israeli government hoped to mark the passing of one year since Hamas’s surprise and bloody attacks last 7 October. But little has gone according to plan.

Many of the families of people killed or taken hostage on that day have come out forcefully against the state-sponsored event, saying pageantry can wait until after the government secures a hostage deal and faces an independent investigation of its own failures before, after and on that day. Some parents have forbidden the government of Benjamin Netanyahu from using their children’s names and images.

Several of the kibbutzim that suffered the greatest losses have said they will boycott. Instead, they will gather in their communities to collectively grieve their loved ones, and remember their hostages, in “intimate, sensitive” rituals. In response, the minister responsible for the ceremony has nixed the live audience while seeming to dismiss the families’ objections as “background noise”. This has led to even fiercer denunciations on social media, with some of Israel’s top celebrities pledging their support to a rival commemoration.

For the government, “everything is a show”, said Danny Rahamim, a member of Kibbutz Nahal Oz.

That may be, but it seems certain that on 7 October, the official show will go on. Indeed it is nearly impossible to imagine a world in which the Netanyahu government – and the legacy Jewish organizations that echo its messaging around the world – would resist the chance to use the potent date as a megaphone to broadcast the same story about the attacks that we have all heard many times before.

Iran’s oil minister Mohsen Paknejad said on Saturday that he was “not worried” about the escalating conflict in the region amid reports that Israel would strike Iran, the ministry’s Shana news site said.

Paknejad’s comments were made during a visit to Assaluyeh, the energy capital of Iran.

Israel 'preparing response' to Iran attack, military official says.

An Israeli official told AFP on Saturday that the military is “preparing a response” to the Iranian missile barrage that targeted Israel earlier this week.

“The IDF (Israeli military) is preparing a response to the unprecedented and unlawful Iranian attack on Israeli civilians and Israel,” the official said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak publicly on the issue. He did not elaborate on the nature or timing of the response.

The Gaza-based Anadolu Agency photographer Ali Jadallah talks about some of the most powerful images he has taken in the year since the 7 October attack by Hamas that triggered the Gaza war: