LAST UPDATE | 28 Oct
ISRAEL HAS LAUNCHED fresh attacks on the Lebanese city of Tyre, after attacks earlier today killed seven people.
According to Lebanese state media, the fresh strikes were launched after the Israeli military told swathes of the southern city to evacuate and following the earlier raid.
The National News Agency (NNA) reported “a series of strikes” on the ancient coastal city, beginning with a raid on a residential apartment.
A video journalist for news agency AFP reported thick clouds of smoke covering parts of Tyre, including rising from a building along the seafront.
The Israeli army had earlier told residents in parts of central Tyre to leave immediately, warning it would attack Hezbollah targets there.
“Hezbollah’s activities force the [Israeli military] to act against it forcefully,” military spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on X, urging residents to “head north”.
The “Israeli enemy strike this morning on a building” in the centre of the coastal city “led to a provisional toll of five dead and 10 wounded”, a Lebanese health ministry statement said.
It added that “work is ongoing to remove the rubble”.
An AFP video journalist saw emergency personnel rush a survivor to an ambulance on a stretcher, while other rescuers worked to put out a heavily smouldering fire at the site, where a residential apartment block had collapsed like a pancake.
Tyre, an ancient coastal city which boasts a UNESCO World Heritage site, was subjected to heavy Israeli strikes last week, leaving swathes of the centre in ruins.
Israel last month escalated air strikes on Hezbollah strongholds and sent ground forces into Lebanon, following a year of cross-border exchanges of fire with the Iran-backed group over the Gaza war.
Today, the UN released footage of interviews with UN peacekeepers in Lebanon who were injured when an Israeli tank fired on their position.
“Hezbollah’s activities force the (Israeli army) to act against it forcefully,” military spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on X that included a map of targeted areas in the coastal city, urging residents to “head north”.
The IDF issues an urgent evacuation warning to residents of Lebanon's Tyre, ahead of airstrikes against Hezbollah sites.
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) October 28, 2024
"Hezbollah's activity forces the IDF to act in the area you are in. The IDF does not want to harm you," Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF's Arabic-language… pic.twitter.com/UBMhNCViM5
The “Israeli enemy strike this morning on a building” in the centre of the coastal city “led to a provisional toll of five dead and 10 wounded”, a Lebanese health ministry statement said.
Tyre, an ancient coastal city which boasts a UNESCO World Heritage site, was subjected to heavy Israeli strikes last week, leaving swathes of the centre in ruins.
Israel last month escalated air strikes on Hezbollah strongholds and sent ground forces into Lebanon, following a year of cross-border exchanges of fire with the Iran-backed group over the Gaza war.
Today, the UN released footage of interviews with UN peacekeepers in Lebanon who were injured when an Israeli tank fired on their position.
Testimonials of peacekeepers in south #Lebanon amid attacks
— UN News (@UN_News_Centre) October 28, 2024
Two UN “Blue Helmets” from #Indonesia describe when their observation post at @UNIFIL_ HQs in Naqoura came under fire pic.twitter.com/yE8Y6O25RW
An accompanying map showed large swathes of the city marked in red, including an area abutting a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The union of Tyre municipalities received a phone call in Arabic, apparently from the Israeli military, urging residents to evacuate several streets in the area, a municipal source told AFP.
The NNA said the union instructed the civil defence and emergency personnel to use loudspeakers to urge residents to leave, “which created a state of panic”.
The fresh strikes came after a raid early on Monday in the centre of the city killed seven people and wounded 17 others, according to a health ministry statement.
The AFP video journalist saw emergency personnel rush a survivor to an ambulance on a stretcher, while other rescuers worked to put out a fire at the site, where a residential apartment block had collapsed.
Israel last month escalated air strikes on Hezbollah strongholds and sent ground forces into Lebanon, following a year of cross-border exchanges of fire with the Iran-backed group over the Gaza war.
Tyre was subjected to heavy Israeli strikes last week, leaving parts of the centre in ruins.
Earlier, Iraq condemned Israel’s use of its airspace to attack neighbouring Iran in a protest letter sent to United Nations chief Antonio Guterres and the UN Security Council, Baghdad said today.
A statement from government spokesman Bassim Alawadi said the letter condemns “the Zionist entity’s blatant violation of Iraq’s airspace and sovereignty by using Iraqi airspace to carry out an attack on the Islamic Republic of Iran on 26 October”.
Alawadi said the Iraqi foreign ministry would also bring up “this violation” in talks with the United States, Israel’s closest ally and top arms provider.
The Israeli strikes took place on Saturday and were the latest episode in an ongoing tit-for-tat exchange between the two regional powers.
Iraq has largely remained on the sidelines of the ongoing wars in the Middle East but some armed groups with links to Iran have launched some drone and missile attacks against Israel since the war in Gaza began last year.
One such group, Kataeb Hezbollah, condemned the Israeli use of Iraqi airspace to attack Iran as a “dangerous precedent”.
It accused the United States of being complicit in the Israeli attack, warning both of a response to this “aggression”.
While Iran has sought to play down the effects of Israel’s attack, especially in the media, the top commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards has warned Israel it would face “bitter consequences” after its attack.
Guards chief Hossein Salami, quoted by Tasnim news agency, said Israel had “failed to achieve its ominous goals”.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said today that Tehran would “respond firmly and effectively” to the strikes.
“We are using all available means to respond firmly and effectively to the aggression of the Zionist regime,” Baghaei told a regular news conference.
“The nature of our response will depend on the nature of the attack.”
Israel struck military sites in response to Tehran’s 1 October missile attack, itself retaliation for the killing of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders and a Revolutionary Guards commander.
Salami said the Israeli attack was a sign of “miscalculation and helplessness”.
“Its bitter consequences will be unimaginable” for Israel, Salami warned according to Tasnim.
With reporting from AFP
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