Live

New Israeli air attacks in Beirut are among biggest yet

New Israeli air attacks in Beirut are among biggest yet
By Alastair McCready, Umut Uras, Ylenia Gostoli, Maziar Motamedi, Alice Speri, Nils Adler and Virginia Pietromarchi
Published On 4 Oct 2024

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5 Oct 2024 - 00:00
 (00:00 GMT)

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You can read more on Iran’s warning of a “stronger” retaliation in case of a new Israeli attack here.

And you can read more about the latest round of US strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen here.

4 Oct 2024 - 23:40
 (23:40 GMT)

Here’s a recap of today’s events

We are going to bring our live coverage to an end soon. Here’s a summary of today’s main events:

  • Israel has launched its heaviest air strikes on the Lebanese capital Beirut so far, with dozens reportedly killed across Lebanon over the past day.
  • Lebanon’s Health Ministry has announced that more than 2,000 people have now been killed in Israeli attacks on the country, including 127 children and 261 women.
  • Israel’s military has confirmed two Israeli soldiers were killed after the Islamic Resistance in Iraq launched a drone that targeted a military base in the occupied Golan Heights.
  • Hamas has confirmed the death of a commander, Zahi al-Aoufi, along with seven other fighters, in an Israeli air strike on the occupied West Bank’s Tulkarem refugee camp that killed 18 people.
  • There has been a surge of attacks across Gaza, with civil defence crews recovering the bodies of 15 Palestinians in Khan Younis after an Israeli military incursion in the eastern areas of the city.
4 Oct 2024 - 23:20
 (23:20 GMT)
Analysis

WATCH: How Israel and US manufactured the case for genocide in Gaza

Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara makes the case that Israel’s deep humiliation in the days after the October 7 Hamas attacks led it to collaborate with the US to manufacture a case for Palestinian genocide.

Watch the video below:

4 Oct 2024 - 23:05
 (23:05 GMT)

US to provide humanitarian aid in response to Lebanon crisis

The State Department says that the United States will provide nearly $157m in new humanitarian assistance to support populations affected by conflict in Lebanon and the region.

The department said in a statement, “This funding will address new and existing needs of internally displaced persons and refugee populations inside Lebanon and the communities that host them.

“The assistance will also support those fleeing to neighbouring Syria,” the State Department said.

Washington provides Israel with at least $3.8bn in military aid annually, and US President Biden has greenlit $14bn in additional assistance to the US ally since the Gaza war began in October of last year.

4 Oct 2024 - 22:50
 (22:50 GMT)
Houthi

Blast heard in south Beirut after Israeli evacuation orders

A blast has been heard and smoke seen rising over Beirut’s southern suburbs, according to witnesses, Reuters is reporting.

The explosion came shortly after the Israeli military issued a new alert for residents of the area to immediately evacuate.

We will bring you more information as we get it from our staff on the ground in Lebanon.

4 Oct 2024 - 22:35
 (22:35 GMT)
Analysis

US military having doubts about wisdom of its ‘ironclad’ support for Israel – Report

Military officials in the United States are debating whether sending more forces to the Middle East risks further emboldening Israel, according to a report in The New York Times.

US officials say its policy of military support for Israel seeks a “de-escalation of the situation through deterrence and diplomacy”. But some senior officials now question if it is having the desired effect, the paper says.

In the 12 months since Hamas attacked Israel, the Pentagon has supplied billions of dollars of weapons to Israel, while sending its own aircraft carriers, guided missile destroyers and fighter squadrons, as well as deploying 43,000 troops in the region.

The Times said several Pentagon officials expressed concern that Israel was waging an increasingly aggressive campaign against the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, knowing that “an armada of American warships and dozens of attack planes stand ready to help blunt any Iranian response”.

One official was quoted as saying it was in Israel‘s interest to take advantage of the beefed-up US military presence in the region to achieve its objectives of destroying Hamas and Hezbollah.

General Charles Q Brown Jr, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who previously commanded US air forces in the Middle East, has raised the issue in meetings at the Pentagon and the White House, The Times reported, citing US officials.

“If you’re Israel and you’re a military planner, you want to do all that while things are in the region, not after it leaves,” said Dana Stroul, the Pentagon’s former top official for Middle East policy, of US military presence.

On Sunday, Biden administration officials said they had talked to Israeli officials about limiting its ground invasion of Lebanon. But Israel’s raids this week have so far looked more like a more extensive operation is planned, other officials said.

4 Oct 2024 - 22:20
 (22:20 GMT)
Houthi

Israeli army issues new evacuation order for Beirut

The Israeli army has issued an order for residents of Beirut’s southern suburbs to evacuate immediately.

The military specifically called on those living in a building in the Bourj el-Barajneh area to abandon their homes.

The issuance of these evacuation orders, which has become a near-nightly occurrence from the Israeli army, shortly preceded violent air strikes on the Lebanese capital.

4 Oct 2024 - 22:05
 (22:05 GMT)

Israeli military claim to have struck Hamas ‘command and control centre’

In its latest war update, the Israeli military says it struck the centre, which it claims was “embedded” inside a school in central Gaza.

Almost 80 percent of schools in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed by Israeli forces and the last remaining university in the Strip was demolished by the Israeli military in January.

4 Oct 2024 - 21:50
 (21:50 GMT)

Ireland rejects Israeli army’s request to withdraw peacekeepers from Lebanese border: Report

The Irish Times reports that Dublin has rejected an Israeli military request for Ireland to withdraw its peacekeeping troops from an outpost along the Lebanon-Israel border.

Ireland, which has a single outpost designated as post 6-52 on the border, is one of several countries contributing troops to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL.

UNIFIL was set up in 1978 to monitor the withdrawal of Israeli forces after they invaded Lebanon in reprisal for a Palestinian attack.

UNIFIL, as well as unarmed technical observers known as UNTSO, have since then been stationed in southern Lebanon to monitor hostilities along the demarcation line between Lebanon and Israel, known as the Blue Line.

Its roughly 10,000 peacekeepers are tasked with monitoring the ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel.

The Irish platoon stationed at the post is tasked with observing and reporting any incursions along the border.

The request for the troop removal raises concerns that Israel may be preparing a broader invasion of southern Lebanon, with the prospect of expanding operations along the entire border.

UNIFIL has communicated to Israel that the peacekeepers will not be withdrawn, reinforcing its commitment to maintaining stability in the region.

4 Oct 2024 - 21:35
 (21:35 GMT)

Hezbollah’s rockets have caused fires in northern Israel

By Hamdah Salhut

Reporting from Amman, Jordan

Al Jazeera is reporting from outside Israel because it has been banned by the Israeli government.

The Israeli army has said that at least 180 rockets were fired from southern Lebanon into northern Israel, many of them intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defence system.

However, many of them have impacted open areas and caused huge fires that local workers are still trying to put out.

The Israeli army says that they are in Lebanon for this exact reason: to try and stop the rocket fire, to quash Hezbollah’s military capabilities.

They said they had two goals in mind. The first is to restore the balance of power along the border, meaning they want to destroy Hezbollah, and the second is to return those evacuated Israelis back to those towns and settlements along the northern border.

The Israeli military and the defence minister alike have said that they have more surprises in store for Hezbollah and that they haven’t unleashed their full capabilities just yet, but that they are prepared to do so from land, air and sea.

4 Oct 2024 - 21:20
 (21:20 GMT)

Many people displaced from Dahiyeh have relocated to central Beirut

By Laura Khan

Reporting from Beirut, Lebanon

There have been at least four strikes in the last few hours.

Eleven strikes took place yesterday, and we’ve been hearing strikes daily.

The majority of them are in the southern suburbs of Beirut [Dahiyeh].

I have spoken to people from the areas of Dahiyeh, and they’ve been showing me pictures of the homes they left.

Some of them are still intact, but they’re surrounded by destroyed homes and buildings, and many of them are just expecting theirs to be next.

So those areas are completely emptied out, and those people are now piling into central Beirut, many staying with family or friends or in hotels.

The weather is currently quite warm, but of course, we’re going to be heading into the winter months, and with about 1.2 million people displaced across the country, it’s really putting a lot of pressure on already fragile infrastructure here.

4 Oct 2024 - 21:10
 (21:10 GMT)

UK charters flight to leave Lebanon on Sunday

The United Kingdom says it has chartered a flight to leave Beirut on Sunday to support its citizens wanting to leave the country.

“Any remaining British nationals who want to leave Lebanon are urged to register their presence immediately to receive details on how to request a seat,” the government said in a statement.

About 250 British nationals have already been evacuated, it added.

4 Oct 2024 - 21:00
 (21:00 GMT)
Houthi

Reports of more air strikes in Yemen

Al Masirah, a TV channel affiliated with Yemen’s Houthis, is reporting that there have been three air strikes carried out by US and British warplanes on the al-Jabana area in Hodeidah.

A wave of air strikes hit Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen earlier today.

Al Masirah said the strikes were carried out by US and British warplanes and hit Sanaa, Hodeidah’s airport, the Katheib area northwest of the port city and Dhamar.

The UK quickly denied involvement in the air strikes before the US military said in a statement that it had carried out 15 strikes against targets linked to the Iran-aligned Houthi fighters.

4 Oct 2024 - 20:50
 (20:50 GMT)
Houthi

Hamas confirms death of its commander in Tulkarem air strike

Hamas has confirmed the death of one of its commanders, Zahi al-Aoufi, in an Israeli strike on the West Bank city of Tulkarem, along with seven other fighters, the group said in a statement on its official Telegram channel on Friday.

The Palestinian group said the members of its armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, died as a result of “the brutal bombing of the Tulkarm camp by the occupation aircraft, which caused a horrific massacre in which dozens of citizens were killed and injured.”

The Israeli military said that Oufi was the head of the Hamas network in Tulkarem.

At least 18 people were killed in the attack on the Tulkarem refugee camp, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

The Israeli military said that its fighter jets carried out the attack on Thursday in coordination with Israel’s internal security service, the Shin Bet.

Dead bodies of the Palestinians who died as a result of Israeli air strike on a cafe were brought to the Sabit State Hospital morgue for burial in Tulkarem, West Bank on October 4, 2024 [Photojournalist/Stringer]
4 Oct 2024 - 20:40
 (20:40 GMT)

WATCH: More than 1.2 million people forced from homes amid Israeli attack on Lebanon

Hear from some of the over 1.2 million people who have fled their homes amid Israel’s intense bombardment of Lebanon.

Watch our video below:

4 Oct 2024 - 20:30
 (20:30 GMT)

Israeli strike in Tulkarem ‘shocking’: German Foreign Ministry

Germany has described the Israeli air strike on the Tulkarem refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, which killed at least 18 people, as “shocking”.

“The high number of civilian casualties in an Israeli air strike in Tulkarem is shocking. In the fight against terror, the Israeli army is obliged to protect civilians in the West Bank,” the German Foreign Ministry said on X.

Palestinians examine the damage following an Israeli air strike in the West Bank city of Tulkarem [Nasser Nasser/AP Photo]
4 Oct 2024 - 20:20
 (20:20 GMT)

Photos: Pro-Palestine protests in Kashmir

Kashmiri Shia Muslims shout pro-Palestine slogans during a protest in solidarity with Palestinians and against the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, at Mirgund north village of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, October 4, 2024 [Mukhtar Khan/AP Photo]
[Mukhtar Khan/AP Photo]
[Mukhtar Khan/AP Photo]

4 Oct 2024 - 20:10
 (20:10 GMT)

Harris to meet handpicked Muslim supporters in Michigan

By Ali Harb

As we reported earlier, US vice president and Democratic party candidate, Kamala Harris, will hold a private meeting with Muslim advocates in Flint, Michigan, north of Detroit, later today, multiple local sources have told Al Jazeera.

The meeting will be attended by members of Emgage, a Muslim-American political group that has faced criticism for endorsing Harris despite her pledge to continue to arm Israel as the US ally bombs Lebanon, Gaza, the occupied West Bank and Yemen.

President Joe Biden and Harris have seen their support in Arab and Muslim American communities plummet over their unwavering support for Israel despite well-documented abuses by the Israeli military in Gaza and across the region.

Some community advocates have slammed the White House’s approach of holding off-the-record meetings with unknown Arab and Muslim attendees without changing its “ironclad” backing of Israel.

Hussein Dabajeh, a Lebanese-American political consultant in the Detroit area, decried the lack of transparency around such meetings.

He said the Harris campaign is “afraid” to have an open dialogue with representatives of the community, so it is reverting to behind-closed-doors meetings to appear like it is listening to Arab and Muslim Americans.

“It’s a meeting just to check off the headline. There’s no actual substance behind it,” Dabajeh told Al Jazeera.

“It’s unfortunate that the people meeting with them believe after one year of our people getting massacred that these fake meetings are still going to do it.”

4 Oct 2024 - 20:00
 (20:00 GMT)

Universities must respect peaceful pro-Palestine activism: UN expert

Universities must respect peaceful activism and revise repressive policies targeting the pro-Palestinian solidarity movement on their campuses, a UN independent human rights expert said.

Gina Romero, special rapporteur on the rights to freedom of assembly and association, warned (PDF) on Friday that “the brutal repression of the university-based protest movement is a profound threat to democratic systems and institutions”.

Romero, who issued a report about the often violent repression of the pro-Palestine solidarity movement in more than 30 countries, added that universities risked “alienating an entire generation, damaging their participation and perception of their role in democratic processes, in addition to failing the responsibility to prevent atrocity crimes and to contribute to peace”.

The international solidarity movement in support of Palestine has grown exponentially since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza. Mass demonstrations and protests, as well as occupations, encampments and other types of peaceful assembly have taken place across the world, with many protests led by university students.

But universities have often responded harshly to the protests, with arrests, suspensions, and a host of measures aimed at restricting support of Palestine.

“Respecting and guaranteeing dissent is essential to ensure the universities remain spaces for free thought, speech and academic freedom,” Romero said.

 

4 Oct 2024 - 19:50
 (19:50 GMT)

WATCH: Tulkarem strike funerals

Thousands of Palestinians joined the funeral procession for at least 18 people killed in an Israeli strike on the occupied West Bank yesterday.

This was the largest and deadliest strike on the West Bank in decades.

Watch our video to learn more: