Israel targets Beirut’s southern suburbs in late Monday strikes
Lebanese state media said new strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs overnight, after Israel’s military issued a warning to inhabitants of the area.
An AFP correspondent saw smoke rise from the suburbs, and the country’s National News Agency reported that the area was “the target of two raids”.
Israel launched an intense wave of air raids on southern Lebanon on Monday, with 100 aircraft targeting about 120 sites in the space of an hour, according to the Israeli military (IDF).
An IDF Arabic spokesperson issued an urgent warning to Lebanese civilians to avoid being on the beach or on boats on the coast from the Awali River southward until further notice.
The wave of strikes came as Israelis marked the anniversary of last year’s 7 October attacks by Hamas, the trigger for a year of escalating war in the region.
On Monday evening, sirens sounded in central Israel after several projectile launches were identified crossing from Lebanon. The Israeli military said some projectiles were intercepted, while the rest fell in open areas.
Key events
IDF says it ‘eliminated’ a Hezbollah commander in Beirut
The Israeli military has said it killed Suhail Hussein Husseini – commander of Hezbollah’s logistical headquarters – in a strike in an area of Beirut.
In a statement online, an IDF spokesperson said Husseini was a “partner in the agreements to transfer combat equipment between Iran and Hezbollah and was responsible for distributing smuggled combat equipment to various units in Hezbollah”.
The Guardian was unable to verify the claim and Hezbollah has so far made no comment.
In New York, protests marking 7 October have seen pro-Palestinian demonstrations grow to a blocks-long column that marched through Manhattan streets, avenues and landmarks.
Protesters spread a large Palestinian flag on a street near the New York Stock Exchange early on Monday afternoon, while a smaller group of counter-protesters held an Israeli flag.
Associated Press journalists saw several people being taken into police custody at various points in the march. Police said multiple arrests were made; no further information was immediately available.
While the protesters paused to conduct a Muslim evening prayer at the south-western corner of Central Park, the parents of American-Israeli hostage Omer Neutra shared their anguish from the park’s SummerStage venue.
“We would never have imagined we would still be standing here a whole year later, with no news of him,” his mother, Orna Neutra, told hundreds of people at an event that drew New York’s governor, mayor, US senators and other elected officials. Her son, a New York-born Israeli soldier, turns 23 next week.
Israel targets Beirut’s southern suburbs in late Monday strikes
Lebanese state media said new strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs overnight, after Israel’s military issued a warning to inhabitants of the area.
An AFP correspondent saw smoke rise from the suburbs, and the country’s National News Agency reported that the area was “the target of two raids”.
Israel launched an intense wave of air raids on southern Lebanon on Monday, with 100 aircraft targeting about 120 sites in the space of an hour, according to the Israeli military (IDF).
An IDF Arabic spokesperson issued an urgent warning to Lebanese civilians to avoid being on the beach or on boats on the coast from the Awali River southward until further notice.
The wave of strikes came as Israelis marked the anniversary of last year’s 7 October attacks by Hamas, the trigger for a year of escalating war in the region.
On Monday evening, sirens sounded in central Israel after several projectile launches were identified crossing from Lebanon. The Israeli military said some projectiles were intercepted, while the rest fell in open areas.
Welcome and summary
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s continuing coverage of the Middle East crisis.
Israel launched new strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs late on Monday, within hours of intense Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon where 100 aircraft targeted about 120 sites in the space of an hour, according to the IDF.
Lebanese state media said two new strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs on Monday night, shortly after Israel’s military issued a warning to inhabitants of the area.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah launched around 190 rockets at Israel, the IDF reported, adding that most were targeting the north of the country.
Late on Monday, Hezbollah said that it had launched a “barrage” of rockets at a military intelligence base on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.
Air raid alerts were activated across the centre of the country. The IDF said “about five launches were detected that crossed from Lebanon, some of them were intercepted by the Air Force and the rest fell in an open area”.
More on that in a moment’s – first here’s a summary of the day’s other main events.
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Israel’s military declared areas around a number of towns in north-west Israel as closed to the public on Monday. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that a “new closed military zone” would be imposed along the border with Lebanon and would include the towns of Shlomi, Rosh Hanikra, Hanita, Arab al-Aramshe and Adamit. A separate IDF statement warned Lebanese civilians to avoid being on the beach or on boats on the coast from the Awali River southward until further notice.
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At least 1,400 Lebanese people including civilians, medics and Hezbollah fighters have been killed and 1.2 million driven from their homes, Lebanese officials announced. In southern Lebanon an Israeli strike late on Sunday killed at least 10 firefighters, the latest in a series of attacks that have killed dozens of first responders, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported more than 30 strikes overnight into Sunday.
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Israel also intensified its bombardment of northern Gaza, calling for evacuations of the north of the territory amid renewed military operations. Israeli tanks advanced on Monday into Jabalia, the largest of the Gaza Strip’s eight historic urban refugee camps, after encircling it, residents said. “We are in a new phase of the war,” the Israeli military said in leaflets dropped over the area. “These areas are considered dangerous combat zones.”
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Ceremonies were held across Israel on Monday marking the first anniversary of the 7 October Hamas attacks. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, vowed in a televised address to continue fighting to “thwart any future threat against the state of Israel”. As memorial events took place across Israel, violence continued to rage on multiple fronts, with Israel also expanding its ground operation into Lebanon with elements of a third division joining the fighting. Demonstrations and memorials marking the anniversary of the 7 October attacks on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza took place across the world.
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Families of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza gathered near Netanyahu’s Jerusalem residence and stood during a two-minute siren, replicating a custom from Holocaust Remembrance and Memorial Day. Out of 251 people taken hostage on 7 October 2023, an estimated 97 are still being held inside the Gaza Strip, including 34 who the Israeli military says are dead.
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Joe Biden commemorated the anniversary of the 7 October attacks in Israel with a candle-lighting ceremony at the White House. The US president in a statement earlier on Monday marked “the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust” and condemned the “vicious surge in antisemitism in America” since the attacks. Biden also spoke with Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, on Monday.
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The UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, urged all sides to pull back from the brink in the Middle East as he addressed the House of Commons on the anniversary of the 7 October attack by Hamas on Israel. Starmer said stopping all arms sales to Israel would “never” be his position. The UK has withdrawn the families of its embassy staff working in Israel due to the escalation in fighting.