LAST UPDATE | 2 Oct 2024
ISRAEL HAS STRUCK central Beirut and at least five people have been killed while the Israeli military ordered more Lebanesse people to flee theirs homes in the capital city and beyond.
Five people were killed in an Israeli air raid on a Hezbollah rescue facility in the heart of Beirut, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
Israeli strikes targeted Bachoura, a district in the centre of the capital, according to a source close to Hezbollah.
AFP journalists in Beirut heard a loud explosion and reported some building had shaken in the second strike targeting the capital’s centre this week.
The Israeli military issued orders in the early hours of this morning telling people to leave densely-populated areas of southern Beirut, where it says it will hit Hezbollah sites.
“You are located near facilities and interests belonging to Hezbollah, which the army will act against in the near future,” Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on social media site X, naming the Haret Hreik, Burj al-Barajneh and Hadath Gharb areas.
Overnight, the son-in-law of the assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was among the nine people who were killed following Israeli strikes on Damascus in Syria, the militant group has confirmed.
A renewed wave of violence has engulfed the Middle East after Israel began a large-scale offensive on Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria after almost a year of clashes between the groups over Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
Earlier a human rights monitor, based in the United Kingdom, confirmed that nine people had died after Israel launched airstrikes in Damascus, targeting security headquarters belonging to Hezbollah and other militant groups.
Meanwhile, in Lebanon, an Israeli ground invasion - crossing the ‘Blue Line’ that was established following a war between Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah in 2007 – has begun after strikes on Beirut last month killed hundreds.
A total of 46 people were killed in Israeli strikes and 85 were injured, according to the Lebanon disaster ministry. In the last hour, Israel has launched at least three missiles into southern Beirut, according to sources who told the AFP news agency.
Eight Israeli soldiers were also been killed in combat in Lebanon in clashes along the country’s southern border.
Irish troops are stationed along the Blue Line as part of a UN peacekeeping mission and all members of the force there have been confirmed “safe and well”.
Calls for ceasefires have been made by many world leaders in recent days as a violence has erupted in the Middle East, following Israeli a wave strikes on Lebanon throughout September, targeting militant group Hezbollah.
Iran last night launched a series of missiles targeting Israel, where warning sirens sounded across the country in retaliation for the killing of the leader of Hezbollah last month.
Speaking yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the missile attack a ‘”big mistake” and vowed to make Tehran “pay”.
The Iranian President said his country could launch a stronger attack if Israel were to retaliate, but is not seeking to go to war with Israel.
The attack by Iran was widely condemned by western leaders. This evening, US President Joe Biden reiterated the need for a ceasefire in the region and said he would not support an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear sites.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strike targeted an apartment in a residential building in the Syrian capital and killed three people. Two of the victims were non-Syrian, it said.
It added that the residence was “frequented by Hezbollah leaders and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards”.
The Observatory said an earlier strike killed six people – three civilians including a television anchor and three Iran-backed fighters, one of them from Hezbollah.
Fighting has been taking place along the border regions on Lebanon, including close to where Irish soldiers are stationed. Combat is taking place in towns adjacent to two Irish peacekeeping bases today.
The Irish troops are part of a the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL).
Firefights broke out in the town of Aitaroun, which is visible from the UN camp where Irish troops are based, and in the towns of Bint Jbeil and At Tiri, near to Camp Shamrock – the main Irish base.
It is understood Irish troops will remain in their base during the fighting, with non-essential staff going ‘groundhog’ or into bunkers, although others will maintain lookout posts.
Lieutenant General Seán Clancy told RTÉ’s Drivetime that all Irish troops in Lebanon are safe and well.
“I think we all can acknowledge there’s been considerable kinetic activity in the Irish area of operations in particular, but the troops on the ground are doing an extraordinary job in most difficult circumstances,” he said.
“I think this generation of Irish soldiers are showing tremendous resilience and commitment, as have previous generations over their time in the Lebanon, their morale is generally good, and they’re keeping safe and secure in their locations.”
He said their primary role at the moment is to provide accurate information about the ongoing fighting, and the be “the eyes and ears of the world”.
“We shelter when we have to and we operate when we can,” he said of the Irish forces.
Clancy said he has been in regular contect with Tánaiste and Defence Minister Micheál Martin, from his position at headquarters.
Asked about the risk of UNIFIL forces coming under attack from Israeli troops and strikes, in light of the more than 220 UN personnel already killed in Gaza, Clancy said it was a concern but that UNIFIL is a long established force in the area and there was “no excuse” for them being targeted.
He said that while the Lebanese Armed Forces have withdrawn from UNIFIL’s Blue Line, the Irish troops have remained to fullfil their UN mandate.
He expressed his gratitude to the family members of the Irish troops for theeir support, saying he understood the “stress and anxiety” they must be feeling.
Earlier today, the Tánaiste confirmed that Irish troops stationed in Lebanon are set to remain there along with the wider UNIFIL contingent.
He told RTÉ News’ Morning Ireland that Irish soldiers have “bunkered down” anytime there has been combat or bombs coming across into Lebanon. “Force protection is the number one priority,” he told RTÉ Radio One.
He added that the Irish Government would assist citizens who are seeking to flee from the region.
Later, Martin said that the UNIFIL peacekeeping mission involved the cooperation of many nations working together and made clear Irish troops would be remaining part of the mission.
“We’re part of a Unifil peacekeeping mission which involves thousands of troops and many, many countries contributing those troops,” Martin said.
An order to withdraw would have to come from the UN Security Council.
Eight Israeli soldiers have been killed in combat in Lebanon today.
Hezbollah said skirmishes had taken place between its militants and Israeli soldiers who tried to “infiltrate” over the Blue Line into Lebanon. It also targeted Israeli troops waiting across the border, the militant group said in a statement.
Shortly after, the Israeli Defence Forces announced that a 22-year-old captain, Eitan Itzhak Oster, had been killed in combat. No further details were provided by a military spokesperson.
In a statement, Hezbollah said its fighters had confronted “an Israeli enemy infantry force that tried to infiltrate into the village of Adaysseh”, just north of where fighting is taking place near to the Irish camp.
It added that Hezbollah fighters also targeted Israeli forces at three different points across the border with rockets and artillery.
Israel announced yesterday that its troops had invaded southern Lebanon in a series of “ground raids”, after the militant group Hezbollah said it had targeted “enemy soldiers” at the country’s border.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency has reported today that an Israeli strike targeted Beirut’s southern suburbs, while an AFP photographer saw more smoke rising from the area.
The Israeli army has told residents in another 20 villages and towns in south Lebanon saying that they should evacuate, but not to go south, adding that “any southward movement” may put them in danger.
Seven Israeli soldiers have been killed in an ambush, the Defence Forces have said. An officer and four soldiers were severely injured.
It brings the Israeli soldier death toll to eight today.
Captain Harel Etinger, Captain Itai Ariel Giat, Sergeant First Class Noam Barzilay, Sergeant First Class Or Mantzur, and Sergeant First Class Nazaar Itkin were killed during the incident.
Hezbollah said it targeted an Israeli unit with an explosive device near a southern border village today. The group claimed the unit were attempting to enter Lebanon at another village, Yaroun, in the south.
A statement detailed that a surprise explosion targeted the soldiers and claimed there were casualties. There are reports that Israel have ordered troops to pull back from some areas along the border.
With reporting by Diarmuid Pepper, Lauren Boland, Niall O’Connor, Muiris Ó Cearbhaill, Valerie Flynn and AFP
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