Hezbollah commanders killed during meeting ‘planning new Oct 7’

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Hezbollah commanders ******* during meeting ‘planning new Oct 7’

The senior Hezbollah leaders ******* in an ******** strike on Friday were meeting to discuss plans to invade ******* in an October 7-style *******, *******’s president said.

The claims follow IDF statements also claiming Hezbollah were plotting a similar ******* in the north and around Galilea.

Isaac Herzog said: “All of these leaders came together in order to launch the same horrific, horrendous ******* that we had on October 7 by ******, by burning Israelis, by butchering them, ******* their women, abducting and taking ******** people and little *******.”

The ******** airstrike ******* two of Hezbollah’s top leaders and at least 14 others, many of them senior Radwan Force commanders, as they met in the basement of a Beirut residential building.

The airstrikes came after thousands of Hezbollah pagers and other communications devices exploded last week in an ******* blamed on *******.

A source told Al-Monitor, a Middle Eastern news website, the meeting was among members of the elite Radwan Force studying “plans for a ground invasion at the heart of the occupied territories”.

05:30 PM BSTThat’s all for today

Thank you for following our live coverage as Hezbollah and ******* exchanged heavy *****.

We will be back soon with more updates and analysis on the ongoing conflict.

Here’s a quick recap of today’s events:

The senior Hezbollah leaders ******* in an ******** strike on Friday were meeting to discuss plans to invade ******* in an October 7-style *******, *******’s president said.

******** prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that ******* had “landed a series of blows on Hezbollah” after a night of intense cross-border ***** and attacks this week in Lebanon.

Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem said his group was in a “new phase” in its battle against ******* which he described as an “open-ended battle of reckoning”.

******** forces raided Al Jazeera’s Ramallah TV bureau in the West Bank and demanded the broadcaster close for 45 days.

An Iran-backed militia fired drones at ******* as part of the overnight wave of attacks.

******* Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres said Sunday that it was “clear” neither side of the grinding war in Gaza was interested in a halt to fighting, and warned of the risk of transforming Lebanon into “another Gaza,” as hostilities flare between ******* and Hezbollah.

05:10 PM BSTNetanyahu says ‘half of the hostages held by ****** in Gaza are alive’

In a closed meeting of the Knesset’s foreign affairs and defense committee today, Benjamin Netanyahu, the ******** prime minister, reportedly told lawmakers that only half of the 97 hostages held by ****** in Gaza since October 7 are alive.

“According to the information we have, half of the hostages in Gaza are alive,” he is quoted as saying by Army Radio.

04:48 PM BSTHamas praises Hezbollah

****** has praised its ally, Hezbollah, after the Lebanese group launched overnight rocket strikes at northern *******.

****** said in a statement:

“****** saluted the resistance fighters in Lebanon for their resilience and bravery in facing the Zionist war machine and for their determination to continue fighting in support of the ************ people and their resistance in Gaza and the West Bank.”

04:29 PM BSTHezbollah deputy chief says in ‘new phase’ of battle with *******

Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem said Sunday his group was in a “new phase” in its battle against *******, which it has waged from across the Lebanese border since the Gaza war erupted.

“We have entered a new phase, namely an open reckoning” with *******, Mr Qassem said at the ******** of a senior Hezbollah commander ******* in an ******** strike this week. “Threats will not stop us… We are ready to face all military possibilities,” he added.

04:23 PM BST‘Clear’ that neither side of Gaza war interested in ceasefire, says UN chief

******* Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres said Sunday that it was “clear” neither side of the grinding war in Gaza was interested in a halt to fighting.

“It is for me clear that both sides are not interested in a ceasefire. And that is a tragedy, because this is a war that must stop,” Mr Guterres told US broadcaster CNN, adding that “neither the government of ******* nor the ****** really want the ceasefire.”

04:09 PM BSTIn picturesdata:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==

Smoke from projectiles fired from south Lebanon at northern ******* – ATEF SAFADI/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

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Mourners carry a coffin during the ******** of Hezbollah senior leader Ibrahim Aqil and Hezbollah member Mahmoud Hamad, who were ******* in Friday’s ******** strike on Beirut – REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

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The destruction after an ******** ******* on a school in Shati ******** Camp in the Gaza Strip – Ayman Alhesi/Anadolu via Getty Images

03:59 PM BSTUN chief warns of risk of transforming Lebanon into ‘another Gaza’

******* Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres has warned of the risk of transforming Lebanon into “another Gaza,” as hostilities flare between ******* and Hezbollah.

“What concerns me (is) the possibility of transforming Lebanon (into) another Gaza,” Mr Guterres said on CNN ahead of the annual gathering of world leaders at the UN.

03:50 PM BSTEU ‘extremely’ concerned by escalation in Lebanon

The ********* Union is “extremely concerned” about an escalation of the conflict between ******* and Hezbollah, and is calling for an “urgent” ceasefire, said Josep Borrell, the EU foreign policy chief, on Sunday.

“The ********* Union is extremely concerned about an escalation in Lebanon after the attacks Friday in Beirut,” Mr Borrell said in a statement, calling for a “ceasefire” along the demarcation line separating them, “as well as in Gaza”.

03:40 PM BSTUK calls for ‘immediate ceasefire’ between ******* and Hezbollah

David Lammy, the *** Foreign Secretary, has called for an “immediate ceasefire” after a “worrying escalation” between ******* and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, as heightening cross-border tensions led to fears of an all-out war.

“Our message to all parties is clear: we need an immediate ceasefire from both sides so that we can get to a political settlement, so that Israelis and Lebanese civilians can return to their homes and live in peace and security,” Mr Lammy said in a speech at the Labour party’s annual conference.

03:24 PM BSTHezbollah says confrontation with ******* is now ‘open-ended battle of reckoning’

Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s deputy secretary-general, said that the group had entered a new phase of its battle with ******* which he described as an “open-ended battle of reckoning,” in comments made on Sunday during a ******** for a top commander ******* in an ******** strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Friday.

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The ******** of Hezbollah senior leader Ibrahim Aqil and Hezbollah member Mahmoud Hamad, who were ******* in Friday’s ******** strike on Beirut – REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

03:15 PM BSTWatch: Northern ******* hit by rockets after Hezbollah confirms 16 ***** in Beirut attack03:06 PM BSTDrones fired at ******* from Iraq

An Iran-backed militia fired drones at ******* as part of the overnight wave of attacks.

The Islamic Resistance, an umbrella group of Iran-backed Iraqi militias, launched drones targeting a military base in ******* on Sunday as it reaffirmed its commitment to “destroying the enemies’ strongholds”.

The ******** military says it intercepted multiple aerial devices approaching ******* from the direction of Iraq. It added that the targets did not cross into ******** territory and no injuries were reported.

The Islamic Resistance has launched several attacks on ******** targets over the past year – one ******* by the group ******* three US personnel and wounded 34 others in Jordan in January.

Sunday’s ******* comes amid escalating ***** exchanges between ******* and Hezbollah in Lebanon, heightening fears of a broadening conflict.

******** fighter jets hit Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon with one of the most intense ******** raids since the war began this weekend. The ******* Defense Forces said on Saturday night it launched two waves of attacks – one attacking about 290 targets, and a second targeting 110 sites – across southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah meanwhile has launched over 100 rockets at *******, which the IDF said had been fired “toward civilian areas”.

The ******* Nations has urged for calm and warned of “imminent catastrophe” if a regional war ensues.

03:02 PM BSTForeign Press Association ‘deeply concerned’ over Al Jazeera raid

The Foreign Press Association (FPA) has said it is “deeply concerned” over the ******** raid this morning that forced the closure of Al Jazeera’s Ramallah bureau in the occupied West Bank.

In a statement posted to X, the FPA said:

“The Foreign Press Association is deeply troubled by this escalation, which threatens press freedom, and urges the ******** government to reconsider these actions. Restricting foreign reporters and closing news channels signals a shift away from democratic values.”

02:53 PM BSTIsrael army says Al Jazeera TV office in West Bank ‘used to incite *******’

The ******** military said on Sunday that it closed the Al Jazeera TV office in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, because it incited “*******”.

The closure order was signed after a legal opinion and intelligence assessment “determined that the offices were being used to incite *******, to support ********** activities and that the channel’s broadcasts endanger the security and public order in both the area and the State of ******* as a whole,” a military statement said.

02:40 PM BSTMilitary escalation not in *******’s ‘best interest’, says White House

A regional military escalation is not in *******’s “best interest,”  John Kirby, the White House national security spokesman, said on Sunday, as heightening cross-border tensions between ******* and Lebanon have led to fears of an all-out war.

“We don’t believe that escalating this military conflict is in their best interest,” Mr Kirby said on ABC’s “This Week,” adding that the ******* States was “saying this directly to our ******** counterparts.”

02:28 PM BSTWatch: Patients in Haifa moved deep underground after Hezbollah attacks02:01 PM BSTUK foreign minister says more sanctions possible over West Bank *********

Britain will keep under review possible new sanctions against ******** settlers in the West Bank and will act if it has to, foreign minister David Lammy said on Sunday, adding he was concerned by actions that were inflaming tensions.

Britain announced sanctions against ******** settlers in February and May this year over what it said was extremist groups perpetrating settler ********* against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Mr Lammy, who became foreign minister in July after a Labour election victory, indicated the new government would take a similar approach and said that further sanctions were possible.

He added that, notwithstanding *******’s genuine security concerns in the West Bank, “we are very worried about escalatory behaviour, very worried about inflamed tensions.”

“I’m absolutely clear: if we have to act, we will act, and I’m in discussions with G7 partners particularly and ********* partners on that,” Mr Lammy said.

“I’m not announcing further sanctions today, but that is kept under close review, and as you would expect, I am deeply, deeply concerned.”

01:45 PM BSTLammy: ‘Cannot be a moment to recoil from rule of law’

David Lammy said “this cannot be a moment to recoil from the rule of law” when asked why the Government had begun to take some steps which some may see as critical of *******.

The Foreign Secretary was questioned on why recent decisions on arms exports and restoring funding to UNRWA had been taken, and how he would explain these positions to Israelis.

Speaking at a Labour Party conference fringe event hosted by Labour Together, he said: “We in the Labour Party have been calling for a ceasefire now for approaching 10 months. We think there needs to be a ******** deal and there needs to be a ceasefire.

“But, actually, we’re also very clear that in a tough geopolitical environment particularly, this cannot be a moment to recoil from the rule of law and the international humanitarian law architecture that was set up in the wake of the Second World War which our men and women ***** fighting for, which our country is really clear on.”

01:11 PM BSTPictured: Patients in Haifa moved underground amid ********data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==

Medics transport a patient to underground parking after rocket attacks by Hezbollah – Saeed Qaq/Anadolu via Getty Images

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Medical teams transport patients to Rambam Hospital’s underground emergency facility in Haifa – ABIR SULTAN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

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Patient beds moved into the parking area – REUTERS/Shir Torem

12:48 PM BSTDeath toll in Gaza reaches 41,431, says health ministry

At least 41,431 ************ people have been ******* and 95,818 injured in ******** strikes on Gaza since October 7, the ******-run health ministry said in a statement on Sunday. The toll includes 40 deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to the ministry.

It said thousands of other ***** people are most likely lost in the rubble of the enclave.

12:17 PM BSTLebanon health ministry says ******** strikes ***** three

Lebanon’s health ministry said three people were ******* in separate ******** strikes on south Lebanon on Sunday, as ******* said it was striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

In separate statements, the health ministry said one person was ******* in “******* ******” strikes in three different south Lebanon villages. Hezbollah on Sunday announced one fighter had been *******, without specifying where they *****.

12:00 PM BSTNetanyahu says ******* has ‘landed a series of blows on Hezbollah’

******** prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that ******* had “landed a series of blows on Hezbollah” after a night of intense cross-border ***** and attacks this week in Lebanon.

“In recent days, we have landed a series of blows on Hezbollah that it could have never imagined. If Hezbollah did not get the message, I assure you it will get the message,” Mr Netanyahu said in a statement.

“No country can tolerate attacks on its citizens, attacks on its cities. And we, the State of *******, will not tolerate it either,” he said, vowing to return residents of northern ******* displaced by nearly a year of fighting to their homes.

11:42 AM BSTGaza rescuers say ******** strike on school shelter ****** 7

Civil defence rescuers in Gaza City said an ******** strike Sunday on a school-turned-shelter ******* at least seven people, with the ******** military saying it had targeted ****** terrorists.

The vast majority of the besieged Gaza Strip’s 2.4 million people have been displaced at least once by the war, with many seeking shelter in school buildings.

Civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal reported “seven martyrs and a number of wounded, including serious cases, as a result of ******** shelling of Kafr Qasim School” in the Al-Shati ******** camp.

He said hundreds of displaced Gazans were sheltering there.

The ******** military said it was targeting ****** fighters operating from the school grounds, and that its forces had taken steps “to mitigate the risk of harm to uninvolved civilians” including by using “precise munitions” and surveillance.

It said the air force had “conducted a precise strike on ****** terrorists in the northern Gaza Strip” who were “operating from a compound” at the school complex.

11:27 AM BSTWatch: Hezbollah rockets hit Haifa suburbs

Hezbollah rockets struck a suburb in the ******** city of Haifa, destroying cars and homes in the latest escalation of cross-border attacks.

The ******** military said rockets had been fired “toward civilian areas,” after previous barrages had mainly been aimed at military targets. Video footage shows explosions on leafy roads close to homes, while hospitals in northern ******* have been instructed to shift to war footing.

The ******* comes as ******* fighter jets hit Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon with one of the most intense ******** raids since the war began.

The ******* Defense Forces said on Saturday night it launched two waves of attacks – one attacking about 290 targets, and a second targeting 110 sites – across southern Lebanon.

It follows an ******** airstrike in Beirut on Friday that ******* at least 45 people, including one of Hezbollah’s top leaders, and a sophisticated pager ******* just days earlier.

11:16 AM BSTUAE leader seeks to deepen ‘strategic’ ties in US visit during ******** crisis

UAE president Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan is due Monday in Washington for a first official visit at a time of soaring tensions in the Middle East.

With his upcoming trip, Sheikh Mohamed will become the first sitting president of the oil-rich Gulf monarchy to make an official visit to Washington, and is §scheduled to meet with US president Joe Biden and vice president Kamala Harris.

US officials said the top agenda items were the *******-****** war in Gaza and the conflict in Sudan, where the UAE has been accused of backing one of the warring parties – a charge it denies.

The UAE, a federation of sheikhdoms, is one of a handful of ***** states to recognise ******* and enjoys growing clout in the Middle East owing to its oil wealth, business environment and reputation for stability.

It also neighbours oil giant Saudi Arabia, which the US has been pressing to forge relations with ******* in the hope of calming a region pushed to the edge by the *******-****** war.

10:56 AM BSTHundreds of thousands seek shelter

Hundreds of thousands of people sought shelter from Hezbollah rockets fired from Lebanon into northern ******* on Sunday, the military said.

“Hundreds of thousands of people had to take refuge in ***** shelters” across northern *******, military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told AFP.

*******’s civil defence agency ordered all schools in the country’s north closed following the rocket *****.

“It reminds me of October 7 when everybody stayed home,” Haifa resident Patrice Wolff told AFP.

“This is not pleasant. This is war,” said Sharon Hacmishvili, a resident of the area.

10:45 AM BSTUN warns of ‘catastrophe’

The ******* Nations special coordinator for Lebanon has urged calm in the Middle East as ******* and Hezbollah continued to trade ***** on Sunday, raising fears of a regional war.

“With the region on the brink of an imminent catastrophe, it cannot be overstated enough: there is NO military solution that will make either side safer,” Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert wrote in a post on X.

10:39 AM BSTDeath toll rises to 45 from ******** strike on Beirut

The ****** toll from an ******** air strike that targeted Hezbollah military commanders in Beirut’s southern suburbs this week has risen to 45, Lebanon’s health ministry said Sunday.

“The number of ***** has risen to 45 people,” a ministry statement said, updating an earlier toll of 37 from the Friday *******. It said “work continues to remove the rubble for the third day in a row” and that DNA sampling would be used to determine the identities of some of the bodies.

10:30 AM BSTHerzog denies ******** involvement in pager attacks

*******’s president Isaac Herzog has rejected claims ******* was involved in this week’s exploding pager and walkie-talkie attacks in Lebanon.

Speaking to Sky News, Mr Herzog said he “rejects out of hand any connection to this or that source of operation”, adding that Hezbollah had “many enemies”.

10:28 AM BSTHezbollah says it targeted Ramat David Airbase with dozens of missiles

Hezbollah said it targeted the ******** Ramat David Airbase with dozens of missiles in response to what it described as “repeated ******** attacks on Lebanon,” the group posted on its Telegram channel early on Sunday morning.

10:13 AM BST‘We do not want war with Lebanon,’ says ******** president

*******’s president, Isaac Herzog, has said that ******* “does not want war” with Lebanon.

Speaking to Trevor Phillips on Sky News, Mr Herzog claimed that the conflict was “instigated” by Iranian proxies in the region.

“******* is not interested to be at war with Lebanon. We do not want to get into a war with Lebanon,” he said. “But Lebanon has been hijacked by a ******* organisation which is also a political party called Hezbollah.”

“******* is fighting for its well being, its existence, its citizens. That’s what we are doing. And we are doing whatever is the right thing to do,” he added.

10:09 AM BSTPictures from the Haifa suburb *******data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==

A member of the ******** security forces stands guard inside a cordoned-off area in Kiryat Bialik – JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

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First responders, ******** security forces and local people gather amid debris and damaged vehicles in Kiryat Bialik – Ilia Yefimovich / Avalon

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Security forces investigate a damaged vehicle – Ilia Yefimovich / Avalon

09:56 AM BSTIsraeli president ‘disappointed’ in new *** Government

There is a “sense of disappointment” in the way the new *** Government has acted towards *******, Isaac Herzog has said.

The ******** president told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips on Sky News: “We have outstanding relations with the British Government. We have outstanding relations with the people of Britain.

“I have, personally, very close affinity with His Majesty’s Government and with Britain at large, but we also have to understand that between friends we expect friends and allies to be there for us all the time, as we are for them.

“There is a sense of disappointment in ******* and I have expressed it to my friends.”

He added: “I met with Prime Minister Starmer at the opening of the Olympic Games. We expect that all our allies will be side-by-side with us in combating this terrible situation and fighting, like we are, to bring our hostages back home.”

09:39 AM BSTNorthern ******** hospitals instructed to shift to war footing

Hospitals in northern ******* have been instructed to transfer their operations to facilities with extra protection from rocket and missile *****, the health ministry said on Sunday.

Rambam hospital in the city of Haifa will transfer patients to its underground, secure facility, the ministry said.

09:35 AM BSTWatch: ******** troops raid Al Jazeera TV bureau in West Bank

******** forces raided Al Jazeera’s Ramallah TV bureau in the West Bank on Sunday morning, with the broadcaster capturing the moment live.

The Qatar-based channel aired live footage of the ******** troops storming the channel’s office, handing over a military closure order to one of the Al Jazeera TV staff, before the broadcast was disrupted.

The military order demanded the broadcaster close for 45 days, a move decried by the ************ Journalists’ Syndicate as “arbitrary”.

“There is a court ruling for closing down Al Jazeera for 45 days,” an ******** soldier told Al Jazeera’s local bureau chief, Walid al-Omari, in the live footage. “I ask you to take all the cameras and leave the office at this moment.”

Video showed what appeared to be ******* troops tearing down a banner on a balcony used by the Al Jazeera office. Al Jazeera said it bore an image of Shireen Abu Akleh, a ************-********* journalist shot ***** by ******** forces in May 2022.

******** communication minister Shlomo Karhi later described the raid as affecting “the mouthpiece of ****** and Hezbollah,” while the ************ Journalists Syndicate denounced the ******** raid and order.

09:26 AM BSTIsraeli military says it intercepts ‘aerial target’ launched from the east

*******’s military said it has intercepted a “suspicious aerial target” launched from the east, and that no damage or injuries were reported.

Earlier, an official in the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a grouping of Iran-backed armed factions, said they launched cruise missile and explosive drone attacks at *******.

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