Middle East crisis live: Beirut hit by further Israeli bombing while thousands protest worldwide as 7 October anniversary nears
Key events
23 out of 38 hospitals in Gaza now out of service – report
Reporters from Wafa, the Palestinian news agency, have been told by medical sources that 23 out of 38 hospitals in the Gaza Strip are now out of service amid relentless Israeli airstrikes which have targeted healthcare facilities over the nearly year-long war.
Local health authorities further reported that 986 healthcare workers have been killed during the war, with Israeli attacks reportedly rendering 130 ambulances inoperable. These figures have not been independently verified by the Guardian.
The following is from a press release from Doctors without Borders published earlier this week. Citing data from a UN humanitarian update on 23 September 2024, the charity said 17 out of 36 hospitals are partially functional amid crippling shortages of fuel, medicine and essential supplies.
The press release reads:
As medical needs are growing exponentially, people’s options for care are shrinking. Israeli forces have committed widespread and systematic attacks on Gaza’s health care system and other vital civilian infrastructure. The health care system is now on the edge of collapse.
Today, only 17 out of 36 hospitals are partially functional. Warring parties have conducted hostilities near medical facilities, endangering patients, caretakers, and medical staff. Six MSF colleagues have been killed. From October 2023, staff and patients from MSF have had to leave 14 different health structures, due to serious incidents and ongoing fighting.
Each time a medical facility is evacuated, thousands of people lose access to lifesaving medical care. This will have consequences on people’s health, not just in the immediate term, but in the weeks and months to come.
Summary
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Israel strikes hit south Beirut and its outskirts on Saturday night, official Lebanese media reported. “Israeli enemy warplanes carried out four very violent strikes on [Beirut’s] southern suburbs, and one strike on the Chweifat” area, with ambulances rushing to the site, Lebanon’s National news agency said. Correspondents in Beirut reported hearing explosions, and footage from the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency showed plumes of smoke rising from the targeted areas.
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At least 24 people have been reported killed in the strike on a school and mosque in Gaza. Eyewitnesses and a nearby hospital told news agencies that the mosque was being used to house displaced people.
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An Israel military spokesperson said the country would retaliate against Iran for the Iranian missile attack at “the timing which we decide”. “The way in which we respond to this disgraceful attack will be in the manner, at the location and the timing which we decide, according to the political leadership’s instructions,” Rear Adm Daniel Hagari said in a broadcast statement on Saturday.
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Iran said any attack by Israel would be met with an “even stronger” retaliation, as tensions continue to rise between the two countries. “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.”
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Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, was a “disgrace” for calling for a halt on arms deliveries to Israel. “The axis of terror stands together. But countries who supposedly oppose this [axis] call for an arms embargo on Israel. What a disgrace,” Netanyahu said. “Well let me tell you this Israel will win with or without their support but their shame will continue long after the war is won.” Macron’s office responded with a statement of its own later Saturday, describing Netanyahu’s reaction as “excessive and detached from the friendship between France and Israel”. It said France was still “a steadfast friend of Israel”.
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The president of Ireland sharply criticised Israel’s demand that UN peacekeepers leave their positions in southern Lebanon. “It is outrageous that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have threatened this peacekeeping force and sought to have them evacuate the villages they are defending,” Michael Higgins said. The IDF had requested that peacekeepers operating on the “blue line” between Israel and the Golan Heights “relocate”.
Here is our latest wrap of the events overnight.
Heavy consecutive strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs from late Saturday into Sunday, witnesses said, while Gaza’s civil defence agency said 21 people were killed and dozens wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a mosque in central Gaza early on Sunday.
The strike on the mosque, near the Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah, came as the war between Israel and Hamas in the Palestinian territory approaches its first anniversary on 7 October. Witnesses said the number of casualties could rise as the mosque was being used to house displaced people, while the Israeli military said it was being used as a Hamas command centre.
In the Lebanese capital, the Israeli strikes sent booms across the city and sparked flashes of red and white for nearly 30 minutes visible from several kilometres away.
The strikes came after days of Israeli bombing of Beirut suburbs considered strongholds for the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah, killing its leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and possibly his potential successor. A Lebanese security source said on Saturday that Hashem Safieddine, the potential successor, had been out of contact since Friday, after an Israeli airstrike near the city’s international airport that was reported to have targeted him.
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Israel has issued new evacuation orders for Palestinians in the north of the strip.
On Sunday morning it said two evacuation routes from northern Gaza have been reopened to allow for people to move to the southern “humanitarian zone”: one along the Salah al-Din road and the other along the Al-Rashid coastal road.
A spokesperson for the military told residents that Hamas had established “terrorist infrastructure in your region, exploiting the population, shelters, and health facilities as a human shield”, according to Al Jazeera, and ordered people to head south ahead of continued Israeli operations in the north.
Death toll from Gaza mosque strike rises to 24 – authorities
The death toll from the Israeli strike on the Gaza mosque has risen to 24, according to local authorities. The Hamas-run Gaza government media office said 93 people were also wounded in the strikes on the mosque and the school, near the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
The al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital told the Associated Press that the strike hit a mosque sheltering displaced people. Eyewitnesses told Reuters the same. However Israeli forces say the mosque was being used as a Hamas command and control centre “to plan and carry out terrorist operations against the IDF forces and the State of Israel”, and that it took steps to reduce the chance of harming civilians. An AP reporter counted 18 bodies at the hospital morgue, and said hospital records listed all those killed as men.
Israel says it successfully intercepted two surface-to-surface missiles launched from Lebanese territory. Sirens were earlier reported between Haifa and Hadera along the coast.
The Israeli air force has published a statement about the air strikes on Beirut, which appear to be over for the night. The statement, posted to its X account, is in full below:
During the night, Air Force fighter jets under the precise intelligence guidance of the Intelligence Division, carried out a series of targeted attacks throughout Beirut against several munitions warehouses and other terrorist infrastructures in the area. Before the attacks, many steps were taken to reduce the chance of harming those not involved, including advance warnings to the population in the area. The terrorist organization Hezbollah places its weapons and production sites under residential buildings in the heart of Beirut and puts the population in the area at risk. The IDF will continue to attack powerfully, damage and degrade Hezbollah’s military capabilities and infrastructure in Lebanon.
Thousand protest worldwide as 7 October anniversary nears
The Australian protests on Sunday are among many held across the world this weekend.
Thousands also took to the streets in the US and across Europe on Saturday. In London, thousands marched through the capital to Downing Street amid a heavy police presence. The atmosphere was tense as pro-Palestinian protesters and counter-demonstrators, some holding Israeli flags, passed one another. Scuffles broke out as police officers pushed back activists trying to get past a cordon. At least 17 people were arrested, London’s Metropolitan Police said.
In the northern German city of Hamburg, about 950 people staged a peaceful demonstration with many waving Palestinian and Lebanese flags or chanting “Stop the Genocide,” the DPA news agency reported, citing a count by police. Two smaller pro-Israeli counterdemonstrations took place without incident, it said.
Several thousands protesters gathered peacefully at Paris’ Republique Plaza in a show of solidarity with the Palestinian and Lebanese people. Many were waving Palestinian flags while holding posters reading ”stop the genocide,” “free Palestine,” and “hands off Lebanon.”
In Rome police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse demonstrators after a rally turned violent. Several thousands had demonstrated peacefully Saturday afternoon until a smaller group tried to push the rally toward the centre of the city, in spite of a ban by local authorities who refused to authorise protests, citing security concerns.
Some protesters, dressed in black and with their faces covered threw stones, bottles and paper bombs at the police, who responded with tear gas and water cannons, eventually dispersing the crowd. At least 30 law enforcement officers and three demonstrators were injured in the clashes, local media reported.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators also gathered at New York’s Times Square to call for a cease-fire, chanting “Gaza!” to a drumbeat. Some wore keffiyeh scarfs, waved Palestinian and Lebanese flags and held a large cardboard image of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with red paint symbolizing blood across his face.
Gaza’s civil defence agency says an Israeli strike on a mosque-turned-shelter in central Deir al-Balah killed 21 people.
“The number of deaths rose to 21 and a large number of wounded as a result of the occupation (Israel) bombing of a mosque sheltering displaced people in front of the gate of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip,” said agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal.
Israel’s military has said it targeted the mosque because Hamas was using it as a command and control centre.
Australian supporters of Palestine have taken to the streets in Sydney and Melbourne, a day before the first anniversary of the 7 October attacks by Hamas in Israel.
Rallies were scheduled to take place in cities across Australia, with demonstrators warned not to display symbols linked to designated terrorist groups such as Hezbollah.
Police in New South Wales had sought to block the Sunday rally from taking place, but an agreement reached with organisers allowed the event to go ahead with an altered route.
The full story is here:
António Guterres, secretary general of the United Nations, released a video message this morning on the eve of the anniversary of the 7 October attack that sparked this latest round of extraordinary violence.
He said the attacks “scarred souls”.
“On this day we remember all those who were brutally killed and suffered unspeakable violence, including sexual violence as they were simply living their lives. This is a day for the global community to repeat in the loudest voice our utter condemnation of the abhorrent acts of Hamas including the taking of hostages.”
Guterres said he had met many families of hostages and “shared their pain and anguish”, demanding again the immediate and unconditional release.
He said 7 October was “naturally a day to focus on events of the awful day”.
“Since October 7th a wave of shocking violence and bloodshed has erupted. The war that has followed the terrible attacks of a year ago continues to shatter lives and inflict profound human suffering for Palestinians in Gaza and now the people of Lebanon.
I have spoken out about this often and clearly. It is time for the release of the hostages, time to silence the guns, time to stop the suffering that has engulfed the region. Time for peace, international law and justice.”
He said the UN was committed to achieving the goals, and that it was important to “hold on to hope” amidst the bloodshed.
“Let us never stop working for a lasting solution to the conflict, where Israel, Palestine and all other countries of the region can finally live in peace and dignity and with respect for one another.”
Last week Guterres spoke to the UN Security Council, demanding an end to what he called a “deadly cycle of tit-for-tat violence”. It came after a statement by Israel’s foreign minister declaring Guterres persona non grata and barring him from entering Israel, accusing him of failing to “unequivocally” condemn Iran’s missile attack.
The US state department has said it evacuated 145 US citizens, permanent residents and their immediate families from Lebanon on Saturday.
The cohort left on two flights from Beirut to Istanbul. Each flight could take 300 passengers.
A spokesperson for the state department said more than 600 people had been assisted to leave Lebanon via the government-organised flights, and more than 2,600 seats have been made available on those and commercial flights. The department has advised Americans since late September to depart Lebanon “while commercial options still remain available,” and warned those who stay to “be prepared to shelter in place should the situation deteriorate further.”
The death toll at the Gaza mosque strike has risen to 18, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
The Israeli air strike on the Shuhada al-Aqsa mosque, near the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, also reportedly injured dozens of people. Eyewitnesses told Reuters the number of casualties could rise as the mosque was being used to house displaced people.
The Israeli Air Force earlier confirmed that the mosque in Deir al-Balah was a target, saying it was being used by Hamas. It also said it struck another site “that was previously used as the Ibn Rushd school”.
“The command and control complexes were used by Hamas terrorists to plan and carry out terrorist operations against the IDF forces and the State of Israel,” it said in a statement published on the Air Force’s X account.
The IAF did not detail casualties. It said that prior to the attack “many steps were taken to reduce the chance of harming civilians, including the use of precision weaponry, aerial surveillance and additional intelligence information.”
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the crisis in the Middle East. Here’s a recap of the latest news.
In the last few hours Beirut has been under intense air strikes by Israeli forces. Local media have described the strikes as the most severe of the conflict so far, with some landing near the airport where flights are taking off with hundreds of foreign evacuees. Explosions have been reported and photographed across the city.
Israel has also continued to target Gaza and the West Bank, with air strikes on a mosque in Gaza killing at least five people, according to Reuters. Al Jazeera reports up to 18 fatalities at the mosque, which eyewitnesses told Reuters was being used to house displaced people. The Israeli air force said the mosque was being used by Hamas as a command centre, and that it took steps to reduce harm to civilians.
In other developments:
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Israel strikes hit south Beirut and its outskirts on Saturday night, official Lebanese media reported. “Israeli enemy warplanes carried out four very violent strikes on [Beirut’s] southern suburbs, and one strike on the Chweifat” area, with ambulances rushing to the site, Lebanon’s National News Agency said. Correspondents in Beirut reported hearing explosions, and Agence France-Presse footage showed plumes of smoke rising from the targeted areas.
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An Israel military spokesman said the country would retaliate against Iran for the Iranian missile attack at “the timing which we decide”. “The way in which we respond to this disgraceful attack will be in the manner, at the location and the timing which we decide, according to the political leadership’s instructions,” Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a broadcast statement on Saturday, according to a Reuters report.
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Iran said any attack by Israel would be met with an “even stronger” retaliation, as tensions continue to rise between the two countries. “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.”
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Benjamin Netanyahu said Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, was a “disgrace” for calling for a halt on arms deliveries to Israel. “The axis of terror stands together. But countries who supposedly oppose this [axis] call for an arms embargo on Israel. What a disgrace,” the Israeli prime minister said. “Well let me tell you this Israel will win with or without their support but their shame will continue long after the war is won.”
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Macron’s office responded with a statement of its own later Saturday, describing Netanyahu’s reaction as “excessive and detached from the friendship between France and Israel”. It said France was still “a steadfast friend of Israel”.
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The president of Ireland sharply criticised Israel’s demand that UN peacekeepers leave their positions in southern Lebanon. “It is outrageous that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have threatened this peacekeeping force and sought to have them evacuate the villages they are defending,” Michael Higgins said. The IDF had requested that peacekeepers operating on the “blue line” between Israel and the Golan Heights “relocate”.
