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‘Britain ill-equipped to back Israel’

Royal Navy’s fleet of Type-45 destroyers are ill-equipped to respond to attacks, according to former Defense Secretary Ben Wallace..reports Asian Lite News

The UK lacks the military means to help Israel defend itself from Iranian ballistic missile attacks, defense experts have said. Iran struck Israel with nearly 200 long-range ballistic missiles on Tuesday, but RAF Typhoon aircraft based in Cyprus lacked the weapons needed to intercept them.

They were instead relegated to a monitoring role, with the Ministry of Defense saying they “did not engage any targets.” The Royal Navy’s fleet of Type-45 destroyers is also ill-equipped to respond to such attacks, according to former Defense Secretary Ben Wallace.

Its two carrier groups, meanwhile, are reportedly understaffed to the point where they would struggle if deployed to an active war zone. Tom Sharpe, former navy commander, told the Telegraph: “Our involvement (in the response to Iran) was underwhelming and it’s a reflection of 40 years of underfunding. Given what is going on in the Middle East and Russia, we need to expedite our ability to provide ballistic missile defense from our T-45 destroyers.”

MoD sources told the newspaper that “the Armed Forces remained open to the changing situation in the Middle East,” and were capable of destroying incoming ballistic missiles. RAF jets took part in defending Israel from an Iranian missile barrage in April following an Israeli attack on Tehran’s consulate in Damascus. However, that Iranian attack involved less sophisticated cruise missiles and drones.

The ballistic missiles used in Tuesday’s attack fly faster and on higher trajectories, making them harder to intercept. Tehran is believed to have spent large sums on developing its ballistic missile program in recent years, and US intelligence believes it to have a stockpile of over 3,000.

The UK plans to equip its Type-45s with next-generation Aster 30 interceptor weapons to intercept ballistic missiles, but the development program, though approved by the MoD, is yet to get underway. Wallace, who green-lit the program, told the Telegraph: “Britain could have the capability to have a Type-45 permanently guarding our shores equipped with the upgraded Aster 30.

“We should, with immediate effect, seek to accelerate the already planned upgrade of their missile systems in light of what we are seeing in the Middle East.” The US was able to deploy three Arleigh Burke-class destroyers to help defend Israel against the missile salvo.

UK forces, initially deployed to the region to conduct missions against Daesh in Iraq and Syria, have seen their numbers bolstered since the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas last year. However, their combat capabilities have been repeatedly questioned, including after a Telegraph investigation discovered that manpower shortages meant the Royal Navy was not at “optimal readiness” to be deployed to the Red Sea to counter the threat posed by the Houthis in Yemen to global shipping.

A source told the Telegraph: “The Navy has clearly been hiding the fact it has a clear problem with getting sailors to sea. They don’t have enough people to crew the ships they already have, let alone new ships.” Wallace said the UK’s F-35 aircraft, which fly from its carrier groups, were also poorly equipped to deal with threats in the Middle East.

“Sadly, because of slow walking by the F-35 Joint Programme Office in the US, Britain’s F-35s cannot enjoy the full range of weapons that we would like to put on them. This limits its utility and means that a land-based Typhoon still offers the best offensive capability in the Gulf region.”

He added: “If F-35s were properly equipped with the right missiles it probably is worth sending, but at the moment it isn’t. It would go down there and guard American aircraft carriers and not maximize its potential.”

Sharpe said: “We are getting a little fixated by drones and swarm attacks and yet, if you look at the Red Sea, 94 percent of attacks on shipping contained missiles. Tuesday was 100 percent missiles. The good old missile is not going away. All of this needs more money.”

Netanyahu bugged my bathroom, claims Boris

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson has claimed that his security team found a listening device from his personal bathroom after it was used by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu during their meeting in 2017, The Telegraph reported citing an excerpt of the Conservative politician’s new book.

Johnson’s new book titled ‘Unleashed’, which is slated for its release on October 10, mentioned the episode wherein the alleged incident took place in British Foreign Office when Johnson was serving as UK’s foreign secretary.

Johnson has alleged in his memoir that during his meeting with Netanyahu, the latter whom he refers to as Bibi, excused to go to the bathroom which Johnson described as similar to “the gents in a posh London club” which exist within a “secret annexe”.

Boris Johnson has claimed that his security team found a listening device from his personal bathroom after it was used by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu during their meeting in 2017, The Telegraph reported citing an excerpt of the Conservative politician’s new book.

Johnson’s new book titled ‘Unleashed’, which is slated for its release on October 10, mentioned the episode wherein the alleged incident took place in British Foreign Office when Johnson was serving as UK’s foreign secretary.

Johnson has alleged in his memoir that during his meeting with Netanyahu, the latter whom he refers to as Bibi, excused to go to the bathroom which Johnson described as similar to “the gents in a posh London club” which exist within a “secret annexe”.

In the book, Johnson writes, “Thither Bibi repaired for a while, and it may or may not be a coincidence but I am told that later, when they were doing a regular sweep for bugs, they found a listening device in the thunderbox.”

Post the excerpt was published in the media, Johnson was questioned if he could provide more detail on the issue, to which the former PM responded “I think everything you need to know about that episode is in the book,” reported The Telegraph.

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Israel strikes turn bustling Beirut into ghost town

An area of tightly packed blocks of flats, shops and businesses, Beirut’s southern suburbs are also home to Hezbollah’s main institutions…reports Asian Lite News

Beirut’s southern suburbs, a stronghold of the Hezbollah militant group, are usually teeming with life but on Wednesday the rubble-strewn streets and burning buildings were almost empty after days of Israeli bombardment and evacuation orders.

Photographers saw thick smoke rising from buildings hit by overnight strikes while young men on mopeds sped along largely empty roads and residents grabbed what they could from their homes, some driving off with mattresses tied to car roofs.

Mohammed Sheaito, 31, one of the few not leaving, said that “during the night, the ground shook below us… and the sky lit up” from the force of the strikes.

“The area has become a ghost town,” said the taxi driver, who has sent his parents, his sister and her children — already displaced by Israeli bombing in south Lebanon — to safety elsewhere.

An area of tightly packed blocks of flats, shops and businesses, Beirut’s southern suburbs are also home to Hezbollah’s main institutions.

Israel says it is targeting sites belonging to the Iran-backed militant group, which was founded during the Lebanese civil war after Israel besieged the city in 1982.

A series of Israeli raids last week hit the southern suburbs — known as Dahiyeh — before a massive strike on Friday killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, with raids on the area increasing after that.

Thousands have fled the bombings or because of Israeli army evacuation orders on social media posted ahead of some strikes.

Some are staying with relatives, others in schools turned shelters in Beirut or in rented flats, while those with nowhere to go have been sleeping on the streets.

“The area was full of people. We used to sit at the cafe or along the street, older people would play backgammon,” Sheaito said.

Now, everything is “closed — corner stores, restaurants… even the pharmacy,” he said, adding: “I leave Dahiyeh to buy food supplies.”

Mohammed Afif, the head of Hezbollah’s information office, told journalists on a media tour that was broadcast that all the buildings hit in Dahiyeh were “civilian buildings and are not home to military activity.”

In one neighborhood, emergency workers combed the rubble of a flattened four-building residential complex in a grim search for survivors. In another, a woman carried a cat as a building burned.

Rubble blocked some streets, with burnt-out cars scattered around various strike sites.

“I came quickly to get our identify papers and some other things,” said one resident who declined to be identified, expressing shock at finding an eight-building residential complex behind his home had been destroyed. He said the neighborhood was uninhabitable, with no water, shops, petrol stations or even electricity because generators had shut down in a country where the state network struggles to supply a few hours of power a day.

“Our apartment is full of dust and there is a strange smell — I left quickly before I choked,” he said. “I only saw one or two people on the street. There is no life here anymore.”

Germany flies out Beirut embassy staff

Meanwhile, Germany flew out its Beirut embassy’s non-essential staff, their dependants and some of its citizens in Lebanon with medical conditions, officials said.

About 110 passengers were aboard the German air force A321 plane, including diplomats, other personnel and some citizens considered in a vulnerable condition. 

The foreign and defense ministries earlier announced the special flight “to support the departure of the colleagues and their families” as well as staff of some German partner organizations from strife-torn Lebanon.

“German nationals who are particularly at risk due to medical circumstances are also being taken,” said the statement.

Israel has been bombing targets of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Beirut and eastern and southern Lebanon, in strikes that have killed hundreds and forced hundreds of thousands more to flee their homes.

The Beirut embassy remained operational to help the estimated 1,800 German citizens in the country.

“The embassy continues to support the remaining Germans in Lebanon in their departure via commercial flights and other means,” the statement added.

At the weekend, Berlin raised its alert level for the missions in Beirut, Tel Aviv and Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

A German government spokesman on Monday said that “we are currently at a stage where we support the departure (of citizens) but we are explicitly not in an evacuation scenario.”

The statement reiterated that “all Germans in Lebanon have been urged to leave the country since October 2023.”

Hezbollah began low-intensity cross-border strikes on Israeli troops a day after its Palestinian ally Hamas staged its unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, triggering war in the Gaza Strip.

Israel said earlier this month it was shifting its focus from Gaza to securing its northern border with Lebanon, in order to allow Israelis displaced since October to return to their homes.

Hezbollah vowed on Monday to keep fighting Israel and said it was ready to face any ground operation into Lebanon, after its leader was killed in an air strike that dealt the group a seismic blow.

ALSO READ: World urges restraint after Iran strikes Israel

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World urges restraint after Iran strikes Israel

Pope Francis called for a day of prayer for peace on October 7, the anniversary of Hamas’ attack on Israel…reports Asian Lite News

World leaders called on Iran and Israel to step back from the brink after Tehran fired a barrage of rockets at its arch-rival.

Tehran said Tuesday’s attack — launched as Israel said it was mounting a ground offensive against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon — was in response to the killings of Iran-backed militant leaders.

“The Chinese side calls on the international community, especially major influential powers, to truly play a constructive role and prevent the situation from further deteriorating,” said a foreign ministry spokesman in a statement published online.

“This situation is developing by the most worrying scenario,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday.

“We call all sides toward restraint … and we condemn any acts that could lead to the death of the civilian population.”

Hours earlier, Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova denounced what she said was the “complete failure” of US President Joe Biden’s approach.

“The White House’s incomprehensible statements demonstrate its complete helplessness in resolving crises,” she posted on Telegram.

Pope Francis called for a day of prayer for peace on October 7, the anniversary of Hamas’ attack on Israel.

Biden ordered the US military to “aid Israel’s defense against Iranian attacks and shoot down missiles that are targeting Israel.” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the attack was “totally unacceptable.”

“Initial reports suggest that Israel, with the active support of the United States and other partners, effectively defeated this attack,” Blinken said. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the “broadening conflict in the Middle East.”

With Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah broadening alongside its ongoing war with Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza, Guterres slammed “escalation after escalation” in the region.

“This must stop. We absolutely need a ceasefire.” Israel vowed to retaliate in the wake of Iran’s attack. “This attack will have consequences. We have plans, and we will operate at the place and time we decide,” said Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari.

Hamas said the attack was retaliation for killings including Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

Hamas “blesses the heroic rocket launches carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran against wide areas of our occupied lands,” adding it was “in revenge for the blood of our heroic martyrs.”

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez condemned the Iranian strikes and called for an end to the “spiral of violence” blighting the Middle East.

Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said Madrid was issuing “a new call to all the actors, obviously including Israel, to show restraint and not escalation.”

French President Emmanuel Macron condemned Iran’s attacks against Israel “in the strongest possible terms,” adding that France had “mobilized” its military resources in the Middle East to counter Tehran.

Macron also demanded that “Hezbollah cease its terrorist actions against Israel and its population,” while asking Israel to “put an end to their military operations as soon as possible.”

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned Iran’s attack “in the strongest terms.”

During a call with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, Starmer also “expressed the UK’s steadfast commitment to Israeli security and the protection of civilians.”

Japan’s new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said missile attacks by Iran on Israel were “unacceptable.”

“We will condemn this strongly. But at the same time, we would like to cooperate (with the United States) to defuse the situation and prevent it from escalating into a full-on war,” he said.

Israel bars UN secretary general

Israel declared UN chief Antonio Guterres “persona non grata” on Wednesday, accusing him of failing to specifically condemn Iran’s missile attack on Israel.

“Anyone who cannot unequivocally condemn Iran’s heinous attack on Israel does not deserve to step foot on Israeli soil,” said Foreign Minister Israel Katz in a statement.

“This is an anti-Israel Secretary-General who lends support to terrorists, rapists, and murderers,” he said.

Katz added that Guterres, who he said supported the “murderers of Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and now Iran, the mothership of global terror, will be remembered as a stain on the history of the UN for generations to come.”

Following Iran’s missile attack on Israel late Tuesday, Guterres condemned the “broadening conflict in the Middle East,” slamming “escalation after escalation” in the region.

“This must stop. We absolutely need a ceasefire,” said Guterres.

Israel has been a harsh critic of the UN, with ties between the state and the international body souring even more after the October 7 Hamas attacks.

Guterres has repeatedly called for a ceasefire to halt the fighting in both Gaza and Lebanon.

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UK forces involved in response to Iran attacks on Israel

Defence Secretary John Healey said British forces had “this evening played their part in attempts to prevent further escalation”, without giving more details…reports Asian Lite News

UK forces were involved in supporting Israel in the conflict in the Middle East after Iran launched a missile attack on the country.

Defence Secretary John Healey, who will be in Cyprus on Wednesday to visit personnel, said British forces had “this evening played their part in attempts to prevent further escalation”, without giving more details.

UK fighter jets were involved, as they were in April when Iran last attacked Israel with missiles. Responding on Tuesday to Iran’s attack, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the UK “stands with Israel” and recognises its right to self-defence.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had launched the missiles in retaliation for recent attacks that killed the leaders of the Hezbollah and Hamas militant groups, as well as a senior Iranian commander. Israel said most of the 180 missiles fired were intercepted. Healey thanked British personnel involved for their courage and professionalism.

“The UK stands fully behind Israel’s right to defend its country and its people against threats.” Healey’s visit to Cyprus will see him meet some of the British personnel preparing for the possibility of evacuating British nationals from Lebanon.

Britons in Lebanon have been advised to register their presence with officials on the government’s website and a UK-chartered plane is set to leave Beirut on Wednesday. But some told they had received no confirmation or details about their booking on the government-chartered flight, despite paying for a seat.

British citizen Libby, 25, was about to board a commercial flight from Beirut to Cairo on Wednesday morning, and described the situation in the Lebanese capital as “terrifying”. “You can’t sleep because you can hear the Israeli drones over your head, you wake up in the night because you hear strikes,” she said.

In April British jets shot down a number of drones fired at Israel from Iran. The drones were intercepted by the RAF in Syrian and Iraqi airspace, where it was already operating as part of the Operation Shader mission against the Islamic State group.

The decision to use jets in April was taken by the previous Conservative government and supported at the time and since by Starmer. The Prime Minister used the address from Downing Street to condemn Iran’s attack on Israel, saying he was “deeply concerned that the region is on the brink”.

“We stand with Israel and we recognise her right to self-defence in the face of this aggression,” he said. Calling on Iran to stop its attacks, he added: “Together with its proxies like Hezbollah, Iran has menaced the Middle East for far too long, chaos and destruction brought not just to Israel, but to the people they live amongst in Lebanon and beyond. Make no mistake, Britain stands full square against such violence. We support Israel’s reasonable demand for the security of its people.”

Starmer was on the phone to his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu when the Iranian attacks began. The two men had been speaking for around 15 minutes – about the prospect of missiles being fired by Tehran – when Netanyahu had to abandon the call because he had been told the attacks were under way.

During their call, Starmer also underlined the importance of a ceasefire in Lebanon and Gaza. Conservative Party leader Rishi Sunak said: “We stand unequivocally by Israel’s right to defend itself including against Hezbollah in Lebanon.”

In his statement, the prime minister repeated his advice to British nationals to leave Lebanon, warning the situation was becoming “increasingly grave”. He added: “If you have the means to leave, the time is now. Do not wait.”

As of last week, there were thought to be between 4,000 and 6,000 UK nationals, including dependants, in Lebanon. The missile attack came hours after Israel launched a ground invasion in southern Lebanon, in what it has described as “limited, localised and targeted” raids against Hezbollah.

Lebanese officials say more than 1,000 people have been killed following Israeli air strikes over the past two weeks. Hezbollah has responded by firing hundreds of rockets into northern Israel. The previously sporadic cross-border fighting between Israel and Hezbollah escalated on 8 October 2023 – the day after the unprecedented attack on Israel by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip – when Hezbollah fired at Israeli positions, in solidarity with the Palestinians.

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Israel Launches ‘localised’ ground raids on Hezbollah targets

The IDF elaborated that the operations focused on targets located in villages near the border, which pose an “immediate threat” to northern Israeli communities….reports Asian Lite News

In the early hours of Tuesday, massive Israeli strikes targeted the southern suburbs of Beirut following the initiation of “limited” and “localised” ground operations in the Lebanese capital, according to local media reports.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the commencement of the ground operation in a post on X, stating, “In accordance with the decision of the political echelon, a few hours ago, the IDF began limited, localised, and targeted ground raids based on precise intelligence against Hezbollah terrorist targets and infrastructure in southern Lebanon.”

The IDF elaborated that the operations focused on targets located in villages near the border, which pose an “immediate threat” to northern Israeli communities.

Prior to the raids, Israeli forces issued evacuation warnings to Lebanese residents in Haret Hreik, Mreijeh, and Laylaki, urging them to leave the areas immediately.

Israeli stated that the operations are part of a well-coordinated strategy planned by the General Staff and Northern Command, which IDF soldiers have been training and preparing for over the past few months. “The Israeli Air Force and IDF Artillery are supporting the ground forces with precise strikes on military targets in the area,” the post added.

The Israeli security forces emphasised that these operations were approved in accordance with political directives and that Operation ‘Northern Arrows’ would continue based on situational assessments in parallel with ongoing combat in Gaza and other theatres of conflict.

“The IDF is continuing to operate to achieve the goals of the war and is doing everything necessary to defend the citizens of Israel and return the citizens of northern Israel to their homes,” the post concluded.

Since September 23, Israel has intensified airstrikes across Lebanon, culminating in a significant strike on Friday in the southern suburbs of Beirut that reportedly killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and many of his associates.

This escalation has intensified ongoing clashes between Israel and Hezbollah, which began on October 8, 2023, when Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel in solidarity with Hamas in Gaza, prompting retaliatory Israeli artillery fire and airstrikes in southeastern Lebanon.

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Senior Hezbollah Commander Dies in Israeli Strikes

Hezbollah said on Sunday in a statement that Karaki “was martyred with a group of his jihadist brothers in the enemy’s criminal raid on Haret Hreik…reports Asian Lite News

Hezbollah has confirmed that the group’s senior leader Ali Karaki, head of the southern front, was killed, along with top leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, in the Israeli airstrikes targeting Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Hezbollah said on Sunday in a statement that Karaki “was martyred with a group of his jihadist brothers in the enemy’s criminal raid on Haret Hreik, accompanied by… Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah”.

On Friday evening, Israeli warplanes launched airstrikes on Hezbollah’s main headquarters in Dahieh, the southern suburbs of Beirut, during which Nasrallah and some other commanders of the armed group were killed, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has claimed on Sunday that it killed Nabil Qaouk, the commander of Hezbollah’s Preventive Security Unit and a member of Hezbollah’s central council, in an airstrike on Saturday. It gave no detail on where the strike took place.

The IDF said that Qaouk was “considered to be close to the top of” Hezbollah and “was directly engaged in promoting terrorist designs against the State of Israel and its citizens, even in recent days”.

The US designated Qaouk a global terrorist in October 2020, saying he had represented Hezbollah at events commemorating deceased Hezbollah terrorists as well as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani, who died in a US drone strike in January 2020.

The raids flattened several residential buildings, resulting in at least six deaths, 91 injuries, and significant infrastructure damage in the neighbourhood, local media reported earlier.

These heavy assaults mark the latest escalation of the ongoing clashes between Israel and Hezbollah, which began on October 8, 2023, when Hezbollah started launching rockets at Israel in solidarity with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, prompting Israel’s retaliatory artillery fire and airstrikes in southeastern Lebanon.

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US Voices Concerns After Israel’s Beirut Attack

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: “The choices that all parties make in the coming days will determine which path this region is on, with profound consequences for its people now and possibly for years to come.”

Hours after the Israeli military launched a series of air strikes on the Lebanese capital, Beirut, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Friday reiterated his concerns, saying that “diplomacy is the best path forward,” Al Jazeera reported.

“The choices that all parties make in the coming days will determine which path this region is on, with profound consequences for its people now and possibly for years to come,” Blinken said, while speaking to reporters in New York on Friday afternoon.

“The path to diplomacy may seem difficult to see at this moment, but it is there and in our judgement, it is necessary,” the top US diplomat added, saying that the Middle East and the world faces “a precarious moment.”

Blinken’s remarks came a few hours after the Israeli military launched a barrage of missiles in Beirut, accusing Hezbollah of having its “central headquarters” in its southern suburbs, Al Jazeera reported.

“We will continue to work intensely with all parties to urge them to choose that course,” Blinken said.

Meanwhile, Israel has confirmed the killing of top Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in the airstrikes carried out by the Israeli military in Beirut.

In a statement, the Israel Defence Forces said, “Hassan Nasrallah will no longer be able to terrorise the world.”

The IDF said that alongside Nasrallah, the commander of Hezbollah’s so-called Southern Front, Ali Karaki, was also killed, along with other commanders, the Times of Israel reported.

Nasrallah was targeted on Friday at Hezbollah’s main headquarters in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold known as the Dahiyeh. The headquarters is underground, beneath residential buildings in the Dahiyeh, the IDF said.

The IDF also said that dozens of anti-ship missiles stored by Hezbollah under buildings in the Lebanese capital of Beirut were also destroyed in Israeli airstrikes overnight.

Hezbollah was known by the IDF to be in possession of the Chinese C-704 and C802 missiles, as well as the Iranian Ghader, which have ranges of up to around 200 kilometres, as reported by Times of Israel.

Following the announcement of Nasrallah’s killing, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said that Israel will reach anyone who threatens the country and its citizens.

“The is not the end of the tools in the toolbox. The message is simple: to anyone who threatens the citizens of the State of Israel, we will know how to get to them,” he added.

Israel on Friday carried out a precision strike against Hezbollah’s central headquarters, located beneath residential buildings in Beirut’s Dahieh.

Notably, the strikes were carried out on the same day, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, issued a stern warning to Iran and the “proxies of Tehran,” there is “no place” in Iran, where the “long arms” of Israel cannot reach, while adding that it is true for the “entire Middle East.” (ANI)

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Hezbollah Chief Nasrallah KIlled in Beirut Airstrike

In a statement, the Israel Defence Forces said, “Hassan Nasrallah will no longer be able to terrorize the world.”

Israel has confirmed the killing of top Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in the airstrikes carried out by the Israeli military in Beirut.

In a statement, the Israel Defence Forces said, “Hassan Nasrallah will no longer be able to terrorize the world.”

The IDF said that alongside Nasrallah, the commander of Hezbollah’s so-called Southern Front, Ali Karaki, was also killed, along with other commanders, Times of Israel reported.

Nasrallah was targeted on Friday at Hezbollah’s main headquarters in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold known as the Dahiyeh. The headquarters is underground, beneath residential buildings in the Dahiyeh, the IDF says.

“The strike was carried out while the top brass of Hezbollah were at their headquarters and engaged in coordinating terror activities against the citizens of the State of Israel,” the Israeli military said

The IDF also said that dozens of anti-ship missiles stored by Hezbollah under buildings in the Lebanese capital of Beirut were also destroyed in Israeli airstrikes overnight.

Hezbollah was known by the IDF to be in possession of the Chinese C-704 and C802 missiles, as well as the Iranian Ghader, which have ranges of up to around 200 kilometres, as reported by Times of Israel.

Following the announcement of Nasrallah’s killing, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said that Israel will reach anyone who threatens the country and its citizens.

“The is not the end of the tools in the toolbox. The message is simple, to anyone who threatens the citizens of the State of Israel, we will know how to get to them,” he says.

Israel on Friday carried out a precision strike against Hezbollah’s central headquarters, located beneath residential buildings in Beirut’s Dahieh.

Notably, the strikes were carried out on the same day, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, issued a stern warning to Iran and the “proxies of Tehran,” there is “no place” in Iran, where the “long arms” of Israel cannot reach, while adding that it is true for the “entire Middle East.”

During his address at the 79th United Nations General Assembly, Netanyahu stated that the war with Hamas can end if the latter lays arms and releases the hostages, while asserting that Israel will continue its fight until it achieves “total victory.”

Israel has continued striking Hezbollah in Lebanon to counter the ‘threats’, the Iran-backed group poses to Israel with repeated strikes in northern Israel.

As the conflict heads towards escalation, all major countries have called for a ceasefire and hostage deal, while also stressing for a two-state solution as a means to achieve durable and sustainable peace in the region. (ANI)

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Carnage continues as Netanyahu rejects truce

Intensive airstrikes from Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) inside Lebanon continue unabated’ more than 90,000 people displaced from their homes in Lebanon…reports Asian Lite News

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged on Thursday to continue “full force” strikes against Hezbollah until the group halts its cross-border rocket attacks, dampening hopes of a ceasefire proposal recently advanced by US and European allies.

With intensive airstrikes from Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) inside Lebanon continue unabated, and more than 90,000 people displaced from their homes, the Jewish state refused to heed calls for a ceasefire with Hezbollah.

In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that “the report on a ceasefire is untrue.”

The office said that Netanyahu “didn’t even respond to” the ceasefire proposal, which was brokered by the United States and France.

Also on Thursday, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Israel would not consider a truce, Xinhua news agency reported.

“There won’t be a ceasefire,” he wrote on social media platform X. He said the country would continue its fight against Hezbollah “until victory and until residents could return to their homes in the north.”

Hezbollah Commander killed

In a significant blow to Hezbollah, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) announced the elimination of Muhammad Hussein Srour, Commander of the organisation’s Aerial Command, in a precision airstrike in Beirut.

Sharing a post on X, the IDF wrote, “Eliminated: Commander of Hezbollah’s Aerial Command, Muhammad Hussein Srour, in a precise IAF strike in Beirut.”

The IDF further said that Srour was responsible for advancing numerous aerial terrorist attacks targeting Israeli civilians. “Srour advanced and directed numerous aerial terrorist attacks aimed at Israeli civilians. During the “Iron Swords” war, he executed several terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers using UAVs and explosive devices,” the post said.

“In recent years, Srour led the manufacturing project of UAVs in southern Lebanon and established UAV manufacturing and intelligence gathering sites in Lebanon, located adjacent to civilian infrastructure in Beirut and southern Lebanon,” the post added.

The IDF also said that Srour’s role extended to the commander of the surface-to-air missile unit, as well as the “Aziz” Unit of the Radwan Force. It said, “He was also the commander in the surface-to-air missile unit, commander in the “Aziz” Unit of the Radwan Force and Hezbollah’s emissary to Yemen and the Houthi terrorist regime’s Aerial Command.”

UNSC holds emergency meeting

Requested by France, the UN Security Council on Wednesday convened an emergency meeting on Lebanon, the second meeting on the country’s deteriorating situation in less than a week, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres saying that “hell is breaking loose in Lebanon.”

In his remarks, Guterres urged the Security Council “to work in lock-step” to end the escalating violence between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants across the Blue Line, a buffer zone in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah and Israel must pull back from the brink of a potentially catastrophic regional war, he insisted, adding that there was now massive civilian displacement from southern and eastern Lebanon towards the Lebanese capital of Beirut, while the Israelis have endured repeated attacks from Hezbollah with more than 8,300 rockets, drones and increasingly high caliber missile attacks on military targets and residential areas.

90,000 displaced

Lebanon violence has displaced more than 90,000 people from their homes, with 70,000 cramming into 400 schools and other sites, UN humanitarians said.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) tallied the number of displacements since Monday with data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which reported it expects the numbers to increase, Xinhua news agency reported.

OCHA said it is gravely concerned over the safety of civilians on both sides of the Blue Line between Israel and Lebanon.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Syria estimated that more than 10,000 people — both Lebanese and Syrians — have crossed from Lebanon into Syria due to the hostilities.

The office said the world body and its partners provide food, water, mattresses and hygiene kits. The recent escalation of violence is also affecting education, health, and other vital civilian facilities in Lebanon.

OCHA said Lebanon’s Ministry of Education postponed the start of the school year until October 14, which affects thousands of students nationwide.

The office said Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday damaged four more water stations, bringing the total number of such facilities impacted since October 2023 to 24, affecting access to clean water for more than 250,000 people.

OCHA said the fighting forced 18 primary healthcare centres to close on Thursday.

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US call for ceasefire across Lebanon-Israel border

Washington hopes a ceasefire could lead to longer-term stability along the border between Israel and Lebanon…reports Asian Lite News

The US, France and other allies jointly called Wednesday for an “immediate” 21-day ceasefire to allow for negotiations in the escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that has killed more than 600 people in Lebanon in recent days.

The joint statement, negotiated on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, says the recent fighting is “intolerable and presents an unacceptable risk of a broader regional escalation.”

“We call for an immediate 21-day ceasefire across the Lebanon-Israel border to provide space for diplomacy,” the statement reads. “We call on all parties, including the Governments of Israel and Lebanon, to endorse the temporary ceasefire immediately.”

The signatories include the United States, Australia, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told the UN Security Council during a meeting that “we are counting on both parties to accept it without delay.”

Barrot said France, a former colonial power to Lebanon, and the US had consulted with the sides on “final parameters for a diplomatic way out of this crisis,” adding that “war is not unavoidable.”

US deputy ambassador to the UN Robert Wood encouraged the council to support the diplomatic efforts but didn’t offer specifics about the plan.

“We are working with other countries on a proposal that we hope will lead to calm and enable discussions to a diplomatic solution,” he said.

Earlier Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US administration was “intensely engaged with a number of partners to deescalate tensions in Lebanon and to work to get a ceasefire agreement that would have so many benefits for all concerned.”

Blinken and other advisers to President Joe Biden have spent the past three days at and on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly meeting of world leaders in New York lobbying other countries to support the plan, according to US officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic conversations.

Americans hope such a ceasefire could lead to longer-term stability along the border between Israel and Lebanon. Months of Israeli and Hezbollah exchanges of fire across the border drove tens of thousands of people from their homes on both sides of the border, and escalated attacks this week have rekindled fears of a broader war in the Middle East.

Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan and senior advisers Brett McGurk and Amos Hochstein have been meeting with Middle East allies in New York and have been in touch with Israeli officials about the proposal, one of the US officials said. McGurk and Hochstein have been the White House’s chief interlocutors with Israel and Lebanon since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, another Iranian-backed militant group.

An Israeli official said Netanyahu has given the green light to pursue a possible deal, but only if it includes the return of Israeli civilians to their homes. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing behind-the-scenes diplomacy.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati threw his support behind the French-US plan that “enjoys international support and which would put an end to this dirty war.”

He called on the Security Council “to guarantee the withdrawal of Israel from all the occupied Lebanese territories and the violations that are repeated on a daily basis.”

Israel’s UN Ambassador, Danny Danon, told journalists at the United Nations that Israel would like to see a ceasefire and the return of people to their homes near the border: “It will happen, either after a war or before a war. We hope it will be before.”

Addressing the Security Council later Wednesday night, he made no mention of negotiations on a temporary ceasefire but said Israel “does not seek a full-scale war.”

Both Danon and Mikati reffirmed their governments’ commitment to a Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 Israeli-Hezbollah war in Lebanon. Never fully implemented, it called for a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon to be replaced by Lebanese forces and UN peacekeepers, and the disarmament of all armed groups including Hezbollah.

Danon demanded that the resolution be enforced in full without delay: “I make this declaration here today, to remove any doubt: Never again. Never again will the Jewish people hide from the monsters whose purpose in life is to murder Jews.”

Earlier Wednesday, Biden warned in an appearance on ABC’s “The View” that “an all-out war is possible” but said he thinks the opportunity also exists “to have a settlement that can fundamentally change the whole region.”

Biden suggested that getting Israel and Hezbollah to agree to a ceasefire could help achieve a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. That war is approaching the one-year mark after Hamas raids in southern Israel on Oct. 7 killed about 1,200 people. Israel responded with an offensive that has since killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, who do not provide a breakdown of civilians and fighters in their count.

“It’s possible and I’m using every bit of energy I have with my team … to get this done,” Biden said. “There’s a desire to see change in the region.”

The US and other international mediators have tried and failed for months to broker a ceasefire in Gaza that also would release hostages held by Hamas.

The US government also raised the pressure with additional sanctions Wednesday targeting more than a dozen ships and other entities it says were involved in illicit shipments of Iranian petroleum for the financial benefit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and Hezbollah.

Meanwhile, the chief of Israel’s army said Wednesday that the military is preparing for a possible ground operation in Lebanon as Hezbollah hurled dozens of projectiles into Israel, including a missile aimed at Tel Aviv that was the militant group’s deepest strike yet.

Blinken has been urging both Israel and Hezbollah to step back from their intensifying conflict, saying that all-out war would be disastrous for the region and that escalation was not the way to get people back to their homes on the Israel-Lebanon border.

“It would be through a diplomatic agreement that has forces pulled back from the border, create a secure environment, people return home,” Blinken told NBC News. “That’s what we’re driving toward because while there’s a very legitimate issue here, we don’t think that war is the solution.”

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