Middle East crisis live: Israel strikes central Beirut as Lebanon death toll passes 100

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Israeli opposition lawmaker Gideon Saar is rejoining prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, a step that is likely to strengthen Netanyahu politically.

Saar, who has been one of Netanyahu’s most vocal critics in the past few years, is due to serve as a minister without a portfolio and have a seat in the prime minister’s security cabinet, Israeli media reported.

Expanding the government to include Saar’s strengthens Netanyahu by making him less reliant on other members of his ruling coalition, which has been struggling in the polls.

“Difficult and trying days lie ahead,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “This move contributes to our own unity and to our unity in the face of our enemies.”

Saar and Netanyahu said they were putting their past rifts aside.

“We will work together, shoulder to shoulder, and I intend to seek his [Saar’s] assistance in the forums that influence the conduct of the war,” Netanyahu said.

Opposed to Palestinian statehood on security grounds, Saar is seen as further to the right than Netanyahu ideologically, but his joining the government is not widely expected to have a big impact on its security policy.

By joining the government with his four-seat party, Saar will give Netanyahu a solid majority of 68 in the 120-seat parliament. This could help solve one of the biggest political challenges the coalition faces in the next few months – passing a new military conscription law, after Israel’s supreme court ruled in June that the state must begin drafting ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students into the military.

The issue has widened cracks in Netanyahu’s coalition, which relies on two ultra-Orthodox parties that want to keep their constituents in religious seminaries and out of the army.

Saar’s inclusion also reduces the power of the far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has threatened to bring the government down if it ends the war in Gaza.

Saar, 57, was once a senior member in Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party but left after a failed leadership challenge.

We’re getting more information on the Israeli strike on central Beirut. Reuters news agency is reporting that an apartment building was hit in what would be the first attack within the Lebanese capital’s city limits.

The strike hit the upper floor of the apartment building in the Kola district, Reuters witnesses said. A security source told Reuters that at least two people were killed. The area where the strike took place is a primary Sunni district with a busy thoroughfare lined with shops and residential buildings.

There has been no immediate comment from Israel’s military.

A reminder, authorities in Lebanon say at least 105 people were killed by Israeli airstrikes on Sunday. The government says a million people – a fifth of the population – have fled their homes.

The IDF says it has launched new strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon’s Bekaa valley.

In the past, Israel has claimed the group stores thousands of rockets in the region.

The strike on central Beirut came as French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot arrived in Lebanon on Sunday night, making him the first high-level foreign diplomat to visit since Israeli airstrikes intensified one week ago.

The arrival of Barrot, who earlier called for an immediate halt to the strikes, came as the foreign ministry announced that a second French national had been killed in Lebanon, though details were unclear.

After a meeting about the status of French nationals, Barrot on Monday will meet officials including prime minister Najib Mikati. He is also due to meet the UN Special coordinator for Lebanon and members of the UN peacekeeping force in the south.

Iran's president responds to Houthi strikes

Israel should not be allowed to attack countries in the Iran-aligned “Axis of Resistance” one after the other, Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday.

The president’s comments came after Israel said it had bombed Houthi targets in Yemen.

Pezeshkian, in comments carried by state media, said Lebanon should be supported.

“Lebanese fighters should not be left alone in this battle so that the Zionist regime [Israel] does not attack Axis of Resistance countries one after the other,” he said.

An Iranian Revolutionary Guards deputy commander, Abbas Nilforoushan, was also killed in the attack that killed Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in Beirut.

“We cannot accept such actions and they will not be left unanswered. A decisive reaction is necessary,” Pezeshkian said.

Israel launches first strike on central Beirut

William Christou

Israel carried out an airstrike near Kola intersection in central Beirut in the early hours of Monday morning, the first time it has struck Beirut outside the southern suburbs since 2006. The sound of the explosion was heard around the city.

Kola intersection is a popular reference point in Beirut, where taxis and buses gather to pick up awaiting passengers. Initial pictures from the scene of the strike showed two stories of an apartment building completely blown out. A video showed onlookers running towards the building, and a mangled body laying on the sidewalk outside the building, seemingly ejected by the force of the blast.

Prior to Monday morning’s strike, Israel had confined its strikes on Lebanon’s capital city to its southern suburbs. The airstrike threw into doubt which areas of Beirut were still safe from Israel’s expanding aerial campaign.

Israel carries out strike within Beirut's city limits - reports

A blast was heard and smoke seen in Beirut’s Kola district and ambulances can reportedly be heard in the area. It’s being reported that this is likely the first Israeli strike outside of Beirut’s southern suburbs and within the city limits.

The head of the Committee of the Red Cross has called on countries to urgently recommit to respecting international law, pointing to “the number of wounded and dead during the conflicts in Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine”.

Mirjana Spoljaric said international humanitarian law (IHL) was being “systematically trampled underfoot by those who lead military operations”, in an interview with Swiss daily Le Temps.

The ICRC is the caretaker of the Geneva conventions which strives to act as a neutral intermediary in conflicts.

But it was finding its access to populations in need “increasingly constrained”, said Spoljaric.

On Friday the ICRC launched an initiative with six countries – Brazil, China, France, Jordan, Kazakhstan and South Africa – in a bid to galvanising political support for humanitarian law.

The Geneva conventions, adopted in 1949 in the wake of the second world war, “embody humanity’s shared conscience, values that transcend borders and creeds”, they said in a joint statement.

“Yet, the suffering we witness today in armed conflicts around the world is proof that respect for and compliance with their most fundamental rules are not being upheld.”

The initiative will strive to develop concrete recommendations for ways to prevent humanitarian violations and promote increased protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure, said the IHRC.

Interim summary

Here’s a look at where things stand:

More than 100 people have been killed across Lebanon by Israeli strikes on the country. In an update released on Sunday evening (eastern European summer time), the Lebanese health ministry said 105 people had been killed and another 359 injured.

The Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, has broken his silence on Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah. On Sunday, Syria’s state-run outlet Sana quoted Assad as saying: “We are certain that the Lebanese national resistance will continue on the path of struggle and justice in the face of the occupation, and will continue to support the Palestinian people in their struggle for their just cause.”

Saudi Arabia has stressed the “need to preserve Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”. In a statement released on Sunday amid Israel’s deadly airstrikes, the Saudi foreign ministry said it was “following with great concern the developments taking place in Lebanon”.

The Houthi-run health ministry said at least four people were killed and 29 wounded in the airstrikes on Yemen’s port of Hodeidah. The strikes took place as Israel attacked more targets in Lebanon.

While Israeli air strikes have hit Yemen before in response to drone and missile attacks, this appears to have been the largest Israeli raid on Yemen involving a large number of aircraft and hit up to 10 targets. Images from Hodeidah showed parts of the city covered in a massive pall of dust, and towering explosions in the distance.

Lebanese health ministry: over 100 killed in Israeli attacks in last 24 hours

More than 100 people have been killed across Lebanon by Israeli strikes on the country.

In an update released on Sunday evening (eastern European summer time), the Lebanese health ministry said that 105 people have been killed while another 359 have been injured.

Israel’s deadly attacks which took place in the last 24 hours occurred on towns and villages in southern Lebanon, Bekaa, Baalbek-Hermel and the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Syrian president Bashar al-Assad has broken his silence on Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.

On Sunday, Syria’s state-run outlet Sana quoted Assad as saying:

The resistance does not weaken with the martyrdom of its leader, but rather remains firmly rooted in the hearts and minds, because great leaders build in their lives the doctrine of struggle, its approach and its path, and they depart leaving behind them an intellectual system and a practical approach to resistance and honor ...

We are certain that the Lebanese national resistance will continue on the path of struggle and justice in the face of the occupation, and will continue to support the Palestinian people in their struggle for their just cause.

Martyr Nasrallah will remain in the memory of the Syrians, as a sign of loyalty to his standing by Syria in its war against the tools of Zionism, despite the burdens of confrontation that he carried. At the heart of this loyalty, the name of Martyr Hassan Nasrallah will remain immortal.

Saudi Arabia says Lebanon’s sovereignty must be preserved

Saudi Arabia has stressed the “need to preserve Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

In a statement released on Sunday amid Israel’s deadly airstrikes, the Saudi foreign ministry said that it was “following with great concern the developments taking place in Lebanon”.

The ministry added that it “affirms its support for the Lebanese people and the need for humanitarian consequences”. It also said it is currently coordinating efforts to provide aid and relief to the Lebanese people.

The US was not given notice of Israel’s strike that killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, according to a top Biden aide.

The Guardian’s Edward Helmore reports:

The White House said on Sunday it had not been warned in advance of the airstrike that killed Hezbollah’s leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, in a Beirut suburb and assumed it had caused civilian casualties, while reaffirming its “ironclad” support for Israel.

John Kirby, the national security spokesperson, said the US had not been informed of the airstrike, and that the president, Joe Biden, found out about it only once Israeli planes were in the air.

Speaking to CNN, Kirby also said there was “no question” that civilians had been killed in the attack. “We certainly assume there have been civilian casualties. I don’t think we can quantify it right now, but we are in touch with our Israeli counterparts,” he said.

Read the full story here:

The Houthi-run health ministry said at least four people were killed and 29 wounded in the airstrikes on Yemen’s port of Hodeidah.

The strikes took place as Israel attacked more targets in Lebanon, where its intensifying bombardment over two weeks has killed a string of top Hezbollah leaders and driven hundreds of thousands of people from their homes.

US president Joe Biden said on Sunday he would speak with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and believes that an all-out war in the Middle East must be avoided.

“It has to be,” Biden told reporters as he boarded Air Force One for Washington. “We really have to avoid it.”

The president’s statements come as Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon killed dozens of people on Sunday, AP reported. He would not say when he planned to speak with Netanyahu.

Here are some of the latest images coming through the news wires from Lebanon, where Israeli attacks across the country have killed more than 50 people over the past 24 hours:

Lebanese health ministry: Over 50 killed in latest Israeli strikes

Over 50 people have been killed in Israel’s latest strikes on Lebanon, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

On Sunday, the health ministry reported that 21 people have been killed while 47 others wounded in Israeli attacks on Baalbek-Hermel in eastern Lebanon.

The ministry also reported that 32 people have been killed with another 53 wounded in Ain al-Delb, a rise from the ministry’s previously reported numbers of 24 people killed and 29 people wounded in the southern village.

The death toll on Israel’s attack on Ain el-Delb, a southern village in Lebanon, has risen to 32, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

Earlier today, the health ministry said Israeli airstrikes have killed 21 people on Sunday in Baalbek-Hemel, east Lebanon.