Middle East crisis live: Israeli military issues new evacuation alerts for areas in southern Lebanon after pounding Beirut overnight

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20,000 Palestinian refugees forcibly displaced by Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon

The UN has said 20,000 Palestinian refugees have been forcibly displaced by Israeli airstrikes on camps in Lebanon.

The UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) said it has activated emergency shelters for over 4,300 displaced people, including Palestinian refugees, Lebanese and Syrians.

“We have been preparing for this emergency for weeks and months,” Dorothee Klaus, UNRWA’s director in Lebanon, said.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq group has said it launched three separate attacks on Israeli positions in the occupied Golan Heights, according to reports by the BBC.

This comes after the group launched two drones at a military base in the occupied territory earlier this week, killing two Israeli soldiers and wounding 24.

The Islamic Resistance is a group allied to Hezbollah and Iran who are opposed to Israel in the region.

The IDF has not commented and it remains unclear if any damage has been caused.

Iran’s oil minister has visited an oil facility on Kharg Island amid growing concerns over possible Israeli air strikes targeting the region, according to the ministry’s news agency.

Israeli officials have warned the country is preparing a response after Iran launched a barrage of missiles this week. Iran said the missiles were fired in response to the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Iranian general Abbas Nilforoushan in a September 27 strike on Beirut.

Oil minister Mohsen Paknejad said on state television: “We are not afraid that our enemies will ignite a crisis, and visiting the region is a normal business trip.”

Kharg Island is home to Iran’s largest crude oil export terminal.

On Friday US president Joe Biden advised Israel against striking Iran’s oil facilities, after previously stating he was in “discussions” with Israel over possible air strikes.

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi warned Iran would respond to Israeli strikes in Iran with a “a proportional and similar reaction…and even stronger.”

Lisa O’Carroll is a senior correspondent for the Guardian

Ireland’s president has said it is “outrageous” for the Israeli Defence Force to have “threatened” the UN peace keeping mission on the border between Lebanon and Israel.

But his comments drew the ire of Israel which responded through a statement from its embassy in Dublin saying it did not threaten troops but merely asked them to move for their own safety.

“It is outrageous that the Israel Defense Forces have threatened this peacekeeping force and sought to have them evacuate the villages they are defending. Indeed, Israel is demanding that the entire Unifil operating under UN mandates walk away,” Michael D Higgins said, in relation to the 10,000 strong peace keeping mission.

The embassy said the IDF “made a request through different channels to have some Unifil troops move from areas of military activity for their own protection and safety.”

“Let it be clear that the safety of peacekeeping forces is of immense importance to Israel. To attempt to characterise this as a threat to Unifil forces is another unfounded and inflammatory accusation levelled at Israel, as we have seen in the past months.”

Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, has visited the Nevatim airbase, in the Negev desert, which was struck by Iranian missiles in Tehran’s attack against Israel on Tuesday.

He said no aircraft was damaged in last week’s Iranian attack on the facility, which was directly hit at least 32 times, according to expert analysing social media and satellite footage.

Gallant was quoted by Hareetz as having said earlier today:

The Iranians haven’t even scratched the capabilities of the air force. There has been no disruption in our operations.

Those who think that attempting to strike Israel will deter us from responding should look at what’s happening in Gaza and Beirut.

We are strong in both defence and offense, and we’ll demonstrate this in the manner, time and place of our choosing.

IDF says they have killed Hezbollah commander

The Israeli foreign ministry has said its air force has killed Hezbollah commander, Hader Ali Taweel.

The statement said Taweel, along with Mohamed Hader and Hassan Nteer el Rasheeni who were killed earlier in the week, were responsible for an anti-tank missile that hit Israel’s northern border in January.

The missile resulted in the deaths of a member of Kfar Yuval’s emergency response squad, Barak Ayalon, and his 76-year-old mother.

Hezbollah is yet to comment on the statement.

Israeli military issues new evacuation alerts for areas in southern Lebanon

The Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson has issued new evacuation alerts for residents of about 25 areas in southern Lebanon, calling on them to head immediately to the north of the Awali river (which is north of the southern Lebanese city of Sidon).

“Anyone who is near Hezbollah members, installations or weapons is putting his life in danger,” Avichay Adraee said. “Village residents, you must evacuate your homes,” he said. Houla, Meiss el-Jabal and Bilda are among the villages told to evacuate.

“We will inform you of the appropriate and safe time to return to your homes,” Adraee added.

The UK prime minister has warned the conflict in the Middle East risks lighting the “touchpapers in our own communities” and condemned the spread of “vile hatred” since the 7 October attacks.

Writing for the Sunday Times, ahead of the first anniversary of the 7 October attacks, Keir Starmer said:

The flames from this deadly conflict now threaten to consume the region. And the sparks light touchpapers in our own communities here at home. Because Israel and the Middle East are not just inseparable from our nation’s history. They have a deep relationship with our multicultural society. Millions have family ties to the region…

Since October 7, we have watched vile hatred against Jews and Muslims rise in our communities. So we will not look the other way as Jewish children are afraid to wear their school uniforms, Jewish shops are defaced, or Jews targeted on the streets.

And we will not ignore it when mosques are attacked, and British Muslims are assaulted or told to “go home”. Any attack on a minority is an attack on our proud values of tolerance and respect. We will not stand for it.”

Starmer reiterated calls for the release of the hostages, an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the removal of restrictions on all humanitarian aid.

As we reported in an earlier post, the Israeli military has said its forces have surrounded the Jabalia area of northern Gaza because of what is claiming is the presence of “terrorists” and their “infrastructure”. Israeli forces have regularly targeted Jabalia, displacing most residents there.

Moath al-Kahlout, reporting for Al Jazeera, was broadcasting a news update near Kamal Adwan hospital in Jabalia when he was interrupted by what appeared to be an airstrike. Shortly afterwards, a van rushed to the hospital bringing injured people, Al Jazeera reported.

“The situation here in northern Gaza is deteriorating as the Israeli army intensifies its bombing,” al-Kahlout said.

He added:

An entire family was killed by the Israeli army in the overnight attacks.

The Israeli army dropped leaflets on the Jabalia refugee camp ordering them to flee their homes, and this alarming development suggests that the Israeli army is preparing for further attacks.

This may lead to more civilian casualties and injured people.

The Lebanese government has said schools will postpone the start of the academic year due to intensifying Israeli airstrikes against the Hezbollah militant group.

Education minister, Abbas Halabi, has said the new start date for the more than one million Lebanese students will be 4 November due to “security risks”, according to news agency AFP.

Israeli military preparing for possible rocket launches ahead of 7 October anniversary

Israel’s military has said it anticipates possible long-range rocket fire from the Gaza Strip ahead of the anniversary of the 7 October attacks, according to reports from the Times of Israel.

Military sources told the newspaper it is bolstering its defences along the Gaza border and in the Netzarim Corridor area in the Strip’s centre, where the IDF maintains a semi-permanent presence, in anticipation of possible attacks.

The IDF said it is also coordinating with police and medical services in Israeli border towns.

“The Southern Command is prepared in defence and attack for several scenarios during the coming month, along with allowing memorial events in the [Gaza border communities] to be carried out safely,” the IDF said in a statement seen by the newspaper.

Although much of Hamas’ military organisation has been dismantled, Israeli operatives said it can still carry out rocket attacks.

This week marks one year since the 7 October attacks on Israel, where Hamas militants and allied groups killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostage.

Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has reiterated calls for a ceasefire in Gaza ahead of the first anniversary of Israel’s war on the territory, which broke out after the Hamas-led 7 October attacks, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage.

“Unfortunately, on this first anniversary of Hamas’s terror attack on Israel, peace or even reconciliation in the Middle East seem more distant than ever,” Scholz said in a video message.

The German government “continues to persistently advocate for a ceasefire, which must now finally come about,” he added.

“We are in close contact with our international partners to prevent a further escalation of the conflict,” Scholz said.

He went on to warn against rising anti-Jewish sentiment in Germany, which has been one of Europe’s most unconditional backers of Israel since last October.

“It must never be the case that Jewish citizens here in Germany have to live in fear and terror,” Scholz said.

“We will never accept antisemitism and blind hatred of Israel. The Jewish people here in Germany have the full solidarity of our state,” he added.

More than 5,000 antisemitic incidents were recorded in Germany in 2023, half of them after the 7 October attacks, according to Felix Klein, the government’s commissioner for the fight against antisemitism.

There were a record 1,926 anti-Muslim incidents registered in Germany last year by the CLAIM network of NGOs monitoring Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred. That marked a 114% rise on 2023, with incidents shooting up in particular after 7 October.

The Israeli military are reported to have detained at least 15 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank during the last 24 hours, including a journalist and former prisoners.

The arrests were made across the areas of Hebron, Bethlehem, Tulkarem and Tubas, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society and the Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission said.

Over 11,000 Palestinians have been detained in Israeli raids across the occupied West Bank since last October, the groups said.

Human rights groups and international organisations have alleged widespread abuse of inmates detained by Israel in raids in the occupied West Bank.

They have described alleged abusive and humiliating treatment, including holding blindfolded and handcuffed detainees in cramped cages as well as beatings, intimidation and harassment.

A member of the UK government has said it is on “standby” should there be more demand for Britons to get out of Lebanon.

Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, science and technology secretary Peter Kyle said the government would use “whatever is needed whether it’s more chartered flights or whether it’s the military” to get people out.

Kyle said: “We’ve already laid on three flights which have brought people out, there’s a fourth one leaving today. And we’re on standby: if the demand is there we will use whatever is needed, whether it’s more chartered flights or whether it’s the military.”

Nations around the world have begun evacuating their citizens from Lebanon due to escalating tensions and conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese armed movement, Hezbollah.

The U.S. deployed dozens of troops to Cyprus to prepare for an evacuation of Americans. It is also working with airlines to ensure additional flights are available for Americans to leave the country.

Other countries coordinating evacuation efforts include: Brazil, China, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Australia and Turkey.