US President Joe Biden urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to minimise harm to civilians in Lebanon, especially in the populated areas of Beirut, while reiterating support to target Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah militants, the White House said after their call. The plea came after Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said that Israel will carry out “lethal, precise and surprising” retaliation against anyone who attacks it, while discussing Iran’s October 1 missile strike on Israel. Read our live blog to see how the day's events unfolded.
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Summary:
Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday that Israel will carry out “lethal, precise and surprising” retaliation against anyone who attacks it, while discussing Iran’s October 1 missile strike on Israel.
France will host an international ministerial conference over the crisis in Lebanon on October 24 focusing on the domestic political situation and humanitarian aid, the foreign ministry said.
Two people were killed in the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona by Hezbollah rockets fired from Lebanon, Israeli authorities said, marking Israel’s first civilian deaths caused by Hezbollah since Israel sent ground troops into southern Lebanon.
United Nations officials warned that Lebanon was staring down a "catastrophic" humanitarian crisis as the number of internally displaced people hit 600,000.
More than 42,010 Palestinians have been killed and 97,720 injured in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since October 7, 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement.
Israeli military says it intercepted drone that approached Israel over Red Sea
The Israeli military said on Wednesday it intercepted a drone that approached Israel over the Red Sea but did not cross into Israeli territory, minutes after the Islamic Resistance in Iraq said it targeted Israel's Eilat with drones.
Biden urges Netanyahu to minimise civilian harm in Lebanon, White House says
US President Joe Biden urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to minimise harm to civilians in Lebanon, especially in the populated areas of Beirut, while reiterating support to target Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah militants, the White House said after their call.
On Gaza, the leaders discussed "the urgent need to renew diplomacy to release the hostages held by Hamas", the White House said in a statement.
Biden also discussed the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the imperative to restore access to the north, including by reinvigorating the corridor from Jordan immediately, according to the White House.
Biden and Netanyahu agreed to stay in "close contact" in coming days, the White House said
Dozens killed as Israeli troops pound central and northern Gaza
Israel’s bombardment of central and northern Gaza has killed dozens of people and trapped thousands in their homes, Palestinian officials said Wednesday, as the death toll in the yearlong war passed 42,000.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said it recovered 40 bodies from Jabaliya from Sunday until Tuesday, and another 14 from communities farther north. The toll is likely higher as there are bodies buried under the rubble and in areas that can’t be accessed, it said.
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the military spokesperson, said that Israeli forces were operating in Jabaliya to prevent Hamas from regrouping and had killed about 100 militants, without providing evidence. Israel says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas because it fights in residential areas.
Lebanon says five civil defence personnel dead in Israeli strike
Lebanon's state civil defence body said an Israeli strike on Wednesday killed five of its personnel in the country's south, with the health ministry condemning the latest deadly strike on rescue workers.
Five personnel "were killed in an Israeli strike that targeted the civil defence centre in the village of Derdghaiya as they were inside on the alert to receive emergency calls," a statement from the body said.
Lebanon's health ministry said the toll of five was provisional, calling on the international community to take a "firm position" after Israel "renewed its targeting of rescue and ambulance teams".
Israel army says killed Hezbollah figure in Syria strike
The Israeli army on Wednesday said its forces killed a Hezbollah figure inside Syria, as the military continues to target the group's positions and fighters.
Israel's air force "struck and eliminated Adham Jahout, a terrorist in Hezbollah's 'Golan Terrorist Network', Hezbollah's terror cell in Syria", the army said in a statement, describing Jahout as an intermediary that "relayed information from Syrian regime sources to the Hezbollah".
Mossad chief says any Hezbollah ceasefire deal must include hostage release, says Israeli media.
Israel’s Mossad chief David Barnea has told his US counterpart that any ceasefire deal with Hezbollah in Lebanon must also include the release of the hostages being held in Hamas, according to Israeli media.
The strategy is aimed at getting Iran and Hezbollah — who have indicated they are open to a ceasefire in the north — to exert additional pressure on Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar to agree to a deal in Gaza that has proved elusive for many months.
FRANCE 24's Irris Makler reports from Jerusalem.
Lebanon facing 'catastrophic' situation as 600,000 displaced, UN says
United Nations officials warned Wednesday that Lebanon was staring down a "catastrophic" humanitarian crisis as the number of internally displaced people hit 600,000 and Israel presses its offensive against Hezbollah militants.
"Lebanon finds itself facing a conflict and a humanitarian crisis of catastrophic proportions," Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, told a briefing.
She expressed "hope that Israel too will now be ready to add its support to the many calls and appeals that are out there" for de-escalation.
But as fighting raged, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doubled down, warning Lebanon could face "a long war ... like we see in Gaza."
Israel has refused to rule out strikes on Beirut's civilian airport and its access roads, even as thousands of people continue to flee the country by air and road every day.
Two people killed in northern Israel by Hezbollah rocket fire, medics say
Two people were killed in a town in northern Israel that was hit by rocket fire from Hezbollah in Lebanon on Wednesday, Israeli authorities said.
Israel's ambulance service said that a man and a woman had been killed in the town of Kiryat Shmona.
The military said about 20 projectiles had been launched from Lebanon in the barrage.
France 24's Irris Makler reports from Jerusalem.
Lebanese army announces arrest of two Syrian nationals suspected of spying for Israel
The Lebanese army announced on its X account on Wednesday that it had arrested two Syrian nationals suspected of spying for Israel.
The two suspects, “recruited via social networks”, were “photographing various places” bombed by the Israeli army and “documenting the effects of enemy attacks”.
Biden's call with Israel's Netanyahu was direct and productive, White House says
US President Joe Biden's call on Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was "direct" and "productive" and included discussions on a potential attack on Iran, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said.
"It was 30 minutes long. It was direct, it was productive," Jean-Pierre said.
The call comes amid tensions between Biden and Netanyahu and was their first since August 21, a seven-week gap during which Israel also launched an offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Lebanon studying prefab 'villages' for war displaced
The Lebanese government said Wednesday it was mulling establishing at least two pre-fabricated "villages" to help shelter some of the hundreds of thousands of civilians displaced by intense Israeli bombing.
Environment Minister Nasser Yassin, who heads the government's disaster management unit, said a "working paper" outlined options for shelters, including "setting up ready-made homes on some open, public land".
It is the first time such a proposal has been floated since nearly a year of cross-border exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah escalated dramatically last month.
A year of violence has prompted some 1.2 million people to flee, mostly since September 23, according to Lebanese officials. Many of those displaced inside Lebanon are staying with relatives or renting accommodation, but those with no alternative are sleeping on the streets.
Israeli military should not act in Lebanon as it has in Gaza, says US State Department
Israel must avoid conducting military operations in Lebanon like it has in Gaza, the US State Department said Wednesday, while also expressing concern over the humanitarian situation in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.
"I'm making very clear that there should be no kind of military action in Lebanon that looks anything like Gaza and leaves a result anything like Gaza," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told journalists.
Israel police say six wounded in stabbing rampage in central town
Israeli police said at least six people were wounded in a stabbing rampage in four different locations in the central town of Hadera on Wednesday before the assailant was "neutralised".
"The attack took place on four different sites where six people were stabbed... A short time ago, the police located the suspect and neutralised him by shooting," a police statement said.
Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said the security forces remain on "high alert" after the stabbing, which he blamed on incitement by Hamas.
Hamas later praised the attack, saying it was a "heroic stabbing operation" and calling "for more painful strikes against the occupation".
Israeli media identified the suspect as Ahmad Jabareen, 36, an Israeli citizen from the Arab town of Umm al-Fahm.
US helping Americans get out of Lebanon ahead of potential Israeli strike, White House says
The US is working to get Americans out of Lebanon ahead of a potential Israeli attack, White House press spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said on Wednesday.
The US embassy in Beirut remains open and the US will continue to make airplanes available as long as the Beirut airport remains open, Jean-Pierre said.
US says 'incredibly concerned' about north Gaza humanitarian situation
The United States is "incredibly concerned" about the humanitarian situation in north Gaza, the State Department said on Wednesday, as Israel conducts renewed operations in the war-racked area.
"We are incredibly concerned about the humanitarian situation in all of Gaza, and particularly concerned about the humanitarian situation in north Gaza, and I can tell you, it has been the subject of some very urgent discussions between our two governments," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told journalists.
Israel army chief says will keep hitting Hezbollah 'without respite'
Israel's military chief Herzi Halevi vowed on Wednesday to keep targeting Hezbollah, saying strikes would continue "without respite" to prevent the group from recovering.
"We will continue to strike Hezbollah with intensity, without allowing them any respite or recovery," Halevi said in a statement.
Israeli retaliation against Iran to be 'lethal, precise and surprising,' defence minister says
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant appeared on Wednesday to say that retaliation against Iran for its missile attack will be "lethal, precise and surprising," in a video published on Israeli media on Wednesday.
After describing Iran's October 1 missile attack as a failure, Gallant said: "Whoever attacks us will be hurt and will pay a price. Our attack will be deadly, precise and above all surprising, they will not understand what happened and how it happened, they will see the results," he said.
Israel police kill at least four Palestinians in West Bank
Israeli police killed at least four Palestinians in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus on Wednesday, Palestinian health authorities and Israeli security forces said.
The Palestinian health ministry reported in a statement Wednesday that "four martyrs shot by the occupation in Nablus have been transferred to Rafidia Government Hospital". It later said the men were aged between 31 and 43 years old.
The Palestinian Red Crescent also reported the deaths of four people, but Israeli security forces said five "wanted terrorists" were killed Wednesday.
Nablus governor Ghassan Daghlas however told AFP that "the four martyrs are ordinary citizens who were among the people and were killed among the people in cold blood".
Hezbollah says it pushes back Israeli troops along Lebanese border
Lebanon's Hezbollah said on Wednesday its fighters had pushed back advancing Israeli forces in clashes along the length of the border, including in a village where Israeli troops had been filmed hoisting an Israeli flag.
The Iran-backed group said it had fired several rocket salvoes at Israeli troops near the village of Labbouneh in the western part of the border area, close to the Mediterranean coast, and had managed to push them back.
Further east, it said it had attacked Israeli soldiers in the village of Maroun el-Ras and unleashed missile barrages at Israeli forces advancing towards the twin border villages of Mays al-Jabal and Mouhaybib.
Video footage posted on social media showed three Israeli soldiers raising their country's blue and white flag in Maroun el-Ras. Amin Sherri, a Hezbollah politician visiting displaced people in schools in Beirut on Wednesday, told reporters that the Israeli flag raised in the south was up only briefly.
Iran foreign minister in Saudi Arabia for talks on Lebanon and Gaza
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi travelled to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for talks that were expected to cover efforts to end fighting between the Israeli military and Iran-backed groups in Gaza and Lebanon.
"I hope that these consultations can lead to better conditions for Palestine and Lebanon and establish peace in the region," Araghchi told Iranian state television upon his arrival in Riyadh.
Araqchi met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman while in Riyadh, the Saudi state news agency reported.
Yesterday's key developments:
Israeli forces have killed the would-be successors of late Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday. Earlier, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said it appeared the presumed replacement for Nasrallah had also been "eliminated". Top Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine had not been heard from publicly since an Israeli air strike late last week.
The Israeli army said it had killed the commander of Hezbollah’s headquarters, Suhail Hussein Husseini, in a strike on Beirut.
More than 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon since Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7 last year, with 1,000 of those occurring in the last week. The Lebanese government estimates that roughly 1.2 million people have been displaced. Nine Israeli soldiers have been killed in southern Lebanon since Israel launched a ground operation across its northern border on October 1.
(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP, and Reuters)
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