2 weeks ago
Masnaa border crossing between Syria and Lebanon 'significantly bombed', UN says
As we reported in an earlier post, we mentioned reports of an Israeli airstrike leading to the closure of the road near the busy Masnaa border crossing, from which tens of thousands of people fleeing war in Lebanon have crossed into Syria over the past two weeks.
Speaking from Beirut, the World Food Programme’s country director for Lebanon, Matthew Hollingworth, said the crossing between Syria and Lebanon has been “very significantly bombed”, limiting people’s ability to flee.
“It will mean that goods that would normally come overland through that crossing - the cheapest, most effective way to bring commodities into the country - will also not be able to be to be received here,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) had accused Hezbollah on Thursday of using the crossing with Syria to transport military equipment into Lebanon.
Associated Press video footage showed that the strikes near the Masnaa crossing left two huge craters on each side of the road. People carrying bags were seen crossing on foot after being dropped off by cars that were unable to pass the site of the airstrike.
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Iran's supreme leader delivers rare sermon in Tehran
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is delivering Friday prayers in Tehran’s Grand Mosalla mosque - the first time he has done so in about five years.
Khamenei – the ultimate authority in Iran – is speaking to thousands of worshippers, some of whom are carrying portraits of slain leaders of Iran’s so-called “axis of resistance” against Israel and the US. We will bring you the key lines as soon as we get them.
The UK government said it will provide a further £10m in humanitarian support for Lebanon. It is being delivered due to the widespread lack of shelter and access to clean water, hygiene and healthcare faced by people in Lebanon displaced by Israeli attacks.
“The announcement follows the £5 million humanitarian package delivered through Unicef to support access to clean water and sanitation, health, and nutrition supplies,” the foreign office said.
Foreign Office minister Anneliese Dodds said:
The human cost of the conflict in Lebanon is clear for all to see. This additional funding from the UK will help to address the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation, providing relief for people displaced by the continuing violence.
This lifesaving aid is vital, but not a long-term solution. The only way to truly address the growing humanitarian crisis is an immediate ceasefire adhered to by both sides.
We continue to urge British nationals in Lebanon to leave immediately.
Lebanon’s health ministry says 37 people have been killed in Israeli ground and air attacks over the last day, with the Israeli military having launched a series of strikes on southern Beirut on Thursday night.
According to the Lebanese government, more than 300,000 people – a vast majority of them Syrian – have crossed from Lebanon into Syria over the past 10 days to escape escalating Israeli bombardment.
Masnaa border crossing between Syria and Lebanon 'significantly bombed', UN says
As we reported in an earlier post, we mentioned reports of an Israeli airstrike leading to the closure of the road near the busy Masnaa border crossing, from which tens of thousands of people fleeing war in Lebanon have crossed into Syria over the past two weeks.
Speaking from Beirut, the World Food Programme’s country director for Lebanon, Matthew Hollingworth, said the crossing between Syria and Lebanon has been “very significantly bombed”, limiting people’s ability to flee.
“It will mean that goods that would normally come overland through that crossing - the cheapest, most effective way to bring commodities into the country - will also not be able to be to be received here,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) had accused Hezbollah on Thursday of using the crossing with Syria to transport military equipment into Lebanon.
Associated Press video footage showed that the strikes near the Masnaa crossing left two huge craters on each side of the road. People carrying bags were seen crossing on foot after being dropped off by cars that were unable to pass the site of the airstrike.
Khalil al-Hayya, the most senior leader of Hamas outside Gaza, has sat down for an interview with the BBC’s international editor Jeremy Bowen in Doha, where the majority of the Palestinian militant group’s political leadership is based.
He was questioned on why Hamas carried out the 7 October attacks, in which about 1,200 Israelis and foreigners - mostly civilians - were killed and about 250 people taken as hostages.
Al-Hayya, who is Hamas’ deputy leader, said:
We had to sound an alarm to the world to tell them that we are a people with a cause and demands. It was a blow to Israel – the Zionist enemy and a wake up call to the international community.
We had to do something that would tell the world that there is people who have been under occupation for decades.
When pressed on why Hamas killed so many civilians, including children, he claimed that the Palestinian militant group’s fighters were ordered not to target civilians.
“On the ground there were certainly personal mistakes and actions – the fighters may have felt like their lives were in danger,” he said. Bowen said Hamas fighters were not in danger as evidence shows militants with weapons were standing over terrified civilians. “That is not a battle,” Bowen said.
Many of the Israeli victims were civilians who were murdered in their homes, on the streets of their communities and at other locations along a broad swathe of territory bordering Gaza.
Bowen: Almost a year later, Gaza is in ruins. There are more than 40,000 dead, many, many of them are civilians. Your capacity to fight Israel has been massively diminished. Was it worth all of that?
Al-Hayya: Who is responsible for this? It was the occupation and its army. Who destroys Gaza? Who killed its people? Who is now killing civilians in shelters, schools and hospitals?… If 1,200 people from the occupation are killed, how does that justify Israel killing 50,000 people and destroying all of Gaza? Isn’t that enough for them. But they are motivated for the lust to kill, to occupy and the lust to destroy.
Al-Hayya said reaching a ceasefire deal was “within reach” on the 2 July, but these talks failed after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu set out “new conditions” (a major impasse in the negotiations has been the Philadelphi corridor along Gaza’s border with Egypt and the Netzarim east-west corridor across the territory. Netanyahu has insisted that Israel retain control of the corridors to prevent smuggling and catch militant fighters. Hamas, however, is demanding the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza).
Al-Hayya said Israel wants to “eliminate” Hamas and all Palestinian people. “Give us our rights, give us a fully sovereign Palestinian state,” he told the BBC. It was reported over the summer that al-Hayya was leading indirect negotiations with Israel for a Gaza ceasefire with guidance from the group’s leader, Yahya Sinwar.
Israeli attacks continue across Gaza, including in the city of Deir al-Balah, where an Israeli strike on a home has killed at least four people, according to Wafa, the Palestinian news agency.
The military also launched bombs that ignited fires in homes in the Nuseirat refugee camp, while Israeli warplanes struck several sites in the southern city of Khan Younis, “resulting in further casualties and injuries”, Wafa reports.
Gaza’s health ministry said on Thursday that Israel’s war on the enclave has killed at least 41,788 Palestinian people and injured 96,794 since last October.
We reported in an earlier post that officials have said at least 18 people were killed in an Israeli strike on the Tulkarm refugee camp in the occupied West Bank last night.
Daliya Hadaydeh, a medic from the Red Crescent, has spoken to Al Jazeera. She described the attack on a coffee shop in the camp as “horrific”.
She said:
We heard a huge explosion in the camp. We headed towards the area. We saw the whole building destroyed and engulfed in flames.
Body parts were scattered all over the place. It was a horrific scene. Five of the bodies were almost intact. But between 15 and 20 were dismembered.
Iran’s foreign minister lands in Beirut
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has reportedly landed in Beirut.
“An Iranian plane has landed at the Rafik Hariri international airport with foreign minister Abbas Araghchi on board,” the Lebanese national news agency said of the first visit by a top Iranian official since an Israeli strike killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut last week.
Araghchi is set to meet Lebanon’s prime minister, Najib Mikati, and speaker of parliament Nabih Berri.
The assassination of Nasrallah was a huge blow to Iran, which considers Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group it has funded and trained, to be its closest and most long-standing ally. Iran has relied on Hezbollah to be a major deterrent preventing direct attacks on their country by Israel.
Here are some of the latest images coming out of Beirut, which show how Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon’s capital and its suburbs are intensifying:
In the post on X, Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee warned people living in 20 villages in south Lebanon, including al-Bas, Majdal Salm and Toulin, to evacuate their homes immediately.
“Anyone who is near Hezbollah elements, installations, and combat equipment is putting his life at risk,” he wrote.
Adraee said that civilians must head north of the Awali river, which meets the coast about 50km (30 miles) from the border with Israel, and avoid going any further south if they want to escape Israeli attacks.
#عاجل ‼️ انذار إلى سكان القرى التالية في جنوب لبنان: حنيه, السماعيه, رشيديه, معشوق, البص, زقوق المفدي , شملايه, شبريحا, البرغليه, مخيم قاسميه, نبي قاسم, جبال البطم, عين بعال, البازوريه, طير دبا, مزرعة شدعيت, برج رحال, صربين, بياض ,بافليه, ظهر برية جابر, جبل العدس, بستيت, ارزون,… pic.twitter.com/55YlY07LJs
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) October 4, 2024In a sign that Israel’s invasion of Lebanon is widening, the Israeli military this week issued evacuation orders for large swathes of the south of the country, as well as areas north of Tyre, a long way from the border.
Israeli military warns residents of over 20 more southern Lebanese towns to evacuate
The Israeli military has just told the residents of over 20 more southern towns in Lebanon to evacuate immediately, spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote in a post on X. More details to follow…
Masnaa crossing: Israeli strike cuts off key road connecting Lebanon to Syria - report
There are reports coming in this morning that a key road connecting Lebanon with Syria – used by hundreds of thousands of people to flee Israeli bombardments - has been hit by an Israeli strike.
Lebanon’s transport minister, Ali Hamieh, told Reuters that the strike hit inside Lebanese territory near the Masnaa border crossing, creating a four-metre (12 ft) wide crater. No casualties or injuries have been reported so far.
An Israel Defence Forces (IDF) military spokesperson had accused Hezbollah on Thursday of using the crossing to transport military equipment into Lebanon.
According to Lebanese government statistics, more than 300,000 people - a vast majority of them Syrian - had crossed from Lebanon into Syria over the last 10 days to escape escalating Israeli bombardment.
Some of the images of the overnight Israeli strikes on Beirut:
