Middle East crisis live: Israeli military says it fired at UN peacekeepers after identifying ‘immediate threat’ | Israel-Gaza war
Israeli military says it fired at UN peacekeepers after identifying ‘immediate threat’
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has confirmed it was responsible for wounding two UN peacekeepers in Lebanon on Friday.
The UN peacekeepers were injured by an Israeli strike near their observation tower in south Lebanon, after Israeli forces “identified an immediate threat” and “responded with fire toward the threat”, according to the IDF. Their statement continues:
An initial examination indicates that during the incident, a hit was identified on a Unifil post, located approximately 50 meters (yards) from the source of the threat, resulting in the injury of two Unifil personnel.
The watchtower that came under Israeli fire on Friday is located at the mission’s main base in Naqoura.
As we reported earlier, Unifil said an Israeli bulldozer had also knocked over barriers at UN positions near the Blue Line denoting the frontier between Lebanon and Israel, while tanks had moved into the vicinity.
The IDF said it had instructed Unifil “to enter into protected spaces and remain there” hours before the incident.
The IDF statement came shortly after the military said it was “conducting a thorough review” to determine details of attacks on UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, after the four mission members were injured.
Key events
UN humanitarian chief says relief agency under unprecedented ‘assault and attack’
Unrwa chief Philippe Lazzarini said the UN relief agency “has never, ever been as much under assault and attack”. He told Reuters:
A year ago, it was primarily a financial existential threat, but today it’s a combination of a political and financial threat. 2025 will be, again, a difficult year
Unrwa, one of the UN’s largest agencies, has 13,000 staff working in Gaza and more than 30,000 in the region providing health and educational facilities to Palestinian refugees.
In July, the Israeli parliament gave preliminary approval to a bill that would declare Unrwa a “terrorist organisation”. Israeli leaders have accused Unrwa staff of collaborating with Hamas in Gaza, leading to many western donors to suspend funding.
Lazzarini has previously accused Israel’s government of campaigning to drive Unrwa out of existence, warning that it would “devastating consequences” for the UN and the Palestinian cause.
The head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency, Unrwa, said most Palestinian refugees living in camps in southern Lebanon or near Beirut have fled after escalating Israeli strikes.
Unrwa chief Philippe Lazzarini, in an interview with Reuters on Friday, said that repeatedly fleeing was sadly “part of the history” of Palestinians. Lazzarini said:
That’s part, unfortunately, of the plight, but if you compare with what happened also in Gaza recently, you might have heard me describing how people are constantly being moved like pinballs. And one of the fears is that we replicate a situation similar to the one we have seen until now in Gaza.
Many of the Palestinians who arrived in Lebanon after Israel’s creation in 1948, and their descendants, were living in 12 refugee camps around the country, which hosted about 174,000 Palestinian refugees.
Over the past three weeks, Israel has ramped up strikes across southern Lebanon and on Beirut’s southern suburbs, issuing evacuation warnings for more than 100 towns in southern Lebanon and neighbourhoods near the capital.
They include evacuation warnings and strikes on the Burj al-Barajneh Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut’s southern suburbs and Rashidiyeh Palestinian refugee camp near the southern coastal city of Tyre.
Israeli military says it fired at UN peacekeepers after identifying ‘immediate threat’
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has confirmed it was responsible for wounding two UN peacekeepers in Lebanon on Friday.
The UN peacekeepers were injured by an Israeli strike near their observation tower in south Lebanon, after Israeli forces “identified an immediate threat” and “responded with fire toward the threat”, according to the IDF. Their statement continues:
An initial examination indicates that during the incident, a hit was identified on a Unifil post, located approximately 50 meters (yards) from the source of the threat, resulting in the injury of two Unifil personnel.
The watchtower that came under Israeli fire on Friday is located at the mission’s main base in Naqoura.
As we reported earlier, Unifil said an Israeli bulldozer had also knocked over barriers at UN positions near the Blue Line denoting the frontier between Lebanon and Israel, while tanks had moved into the vicinity.
The IDF said it had instructed Unifil “to enter into protected spaces and remain there” hours before the incident.
The IDF statement came shortly after the military said it was “conducting a thorough review” to determine details of attacks on UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, after the four mission members were injured.
Here’s more on that conversation between the US defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, and his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, earlier today.
According to the Pentagon’s press secretary, Maj Gen Pat Ryder, Austin reaffirmed ironclad support for Israel’s right to defend itself during the call.
Austin also reiterated the US’s commitment to a diplomatic arrangement that safely returns both Lebanese and Israeli civilians to their homes on both sides of the border, Ryder said.
Echoing Austin’s post on X, Ryder said the US secretary emphasised the importance of ensuring the safety of Unifil forces in the area and urged Israel to “pivot from military operations to a diplomatic pathway as soon as feasible.”
US-made munition used in Israeli strike on central Beirut, shrapnel shows
William Christou
A US-made munition was used in an Israeli strike on central Beirut that killed 22 people and wounded 117, according to an analysis of shrapnel found by the Guardian at the scene of the attack.
The strike on Thursday night hit an apartment complex in the densely populated neighbourhood of Basta, central Beirut, levelling the apartment building and destroying cars and the interiors of nearby residences.
It was the deadliest strike on Lebanon’s capital city since fighting between Hezbollah and Israel started a year ago.
The Guardian found remnants of a US-manufactured joint direct attack munition (Jdam) in the rubble of the collapsed apartment building on Friday afternoon. Jdams are guidance kits built by the US aerospace company Boeing that attach to large “dumb bombs” ranging up to 2,000lbs (900kg), converting them into GPS-guided bombs.
The weapons remnant was verified by the crisis, conflict and arms division of Human Rights Watch and a former US military bomb technician.
Here are some images coming through the newswires from Lebanon where Israeli forces have killed nearly 2,000 people – including at least 28 healthcare workers – in recent weeks while forcibly displacing 1.2 million people across the country:
US defense secretary to Israel: ‘I urged ensuring the safety of UNIFIL forces’
US defense secretary Lloyd Austin said he spoke to Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday evening and urged “ensuring the safety of UNIFIL forces.”
Austin added on X:
“I urged ensuring the safety of UNIFIL forces and coordinating efforts to pivot from military operations to a diplomatic pathway as soon as feasible. I made clear that the United States is well postured to defend US personnel, partners, and allies against attacks from Iran and Iranian-backed partners and proxies. Minister Gallant and I reiterated our commitment to preventing any actor from exploiting tensions or expanding the conflict in the region. We also discussed urgent steps to address the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.”
The conversation between Austin and Gallant comes after the UN said Israeli forces fired on two UNIFIL peacekeepers stationed in southern Lebanon and “repeatedly hit” UNIFIL’s Naqoura headquarters. The two peacekeepers remain hospitalised, the UN said on Thursday.
The UN added:
“We remind the IDF and all actors of their obligations to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and property and to respect the inviolability of UN premises at all times.”
Since Israel launched its war on Gaza last October and most recently Lebanon, nearly 300 humanitarian aid workers, including over two-thirds being UN staff, have been killed during the conflict.
In May, the Human Rights Watch released a report in which it stated that Israeli forces are attacking known aid worker locations in the region.
“This pattern of attacks despite proper notification of Israeli authorities raises serious questions about Israel’s commitment and capacity to comply with international humanitarian law, which some countries, including the UK, rely on to continue to license arms exports that end up in Israel,” the HRW added.
Interim Summary
Here’s a look at where things currently stand:
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The Lebanese Red Cross said it deployed ambulances and volunteers “within minutes to treat and transport the injured, and search and rescue teams worked throughout the night” after strikes in Beirut on Thursday evening. Speaking from Beirut, Gabriel Karlsson, the British Red Cross Middle East manager, said that the Lebanese Red Cross were one of the first on the scene responding.
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Dozens of Palestinians have been injured by Israeli quadcopter fire at a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp, the civil defence said on Friday. Reuters reports that the civil defence said its crews were transferring the injured to a nearby hospital.
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More than 42,126 Palestinians have been killed and 98,117 injured in Israel’s war on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Friday. Meanwhile, two million survivors have been forcibly displaced across the narrow strip amid shortages in food, water and medical supplies due to Israeli aid restrictions.
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German chancellor Olaf Scholz will visit Turkey next week to meet President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan with the escalating conflict in the Middle East and migration on the agenda, German officials said on Friday. Scholz will hold talks with Erdogan on 19 October in Istanbul, followed by a press conference, government spokesperson Wolfgang Buechner told a media briefing in Berlin.
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US secretary of state Antony Blinken said on Friday there was deep concern in Asia about the prospect of conflict spreading in the Middle East, as the U.N. chief called for everything possible to be done to avoid “all-out war” in Lebanon. Reuters reports that the conflict in the Middle East was a central issue during Friday’s east Asia summit in Laos.
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Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez on Friday urged the international community to stop selling weapons to Israel as he condemned attacks by Israel’s armed forces against the United Nations’ peacekeeping force in Lebanon, reports Reuters. Israeli forces fired at an observation post used by UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon on Friday, injuring two, a UN source said, the third day in a row peacekeepers have reported Israeli fire at their positions as Israel wages war on Hezbollah.
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UN officials voiced concerns on Friday that an Israeli offensive and evacuation orders in northern Gaza might affect the second phase of its polio vaccination campaign scheduled to start next week, Reuters reports. Aid groups carried out an initial round of vaccinations last month, after a baby was partially paralysed by the type 2 polio virus in August, in the first such case in the territory in 25 years.
Concerns over a wider conflict in the Middle East have prompted international airlines to suspend flights to the region or to avoid affected airspace.
Below are some of the airlines that have adjusted services to and from the region, according to a list compiled by the Reuters news agency:
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Aegean Airlines: The Greek airline cancelled flights to and from Beirut until 31 October and to and from Tel Aviv until 21 October.
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Air Algérie: The Algerian airline suspended flights to and from Lebanon until further notice.
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airBaltic: Latvia’s airBaltic cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv until 31 October.
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Air Europa: The Spanish airline cancelled flights to Tel Aviv until 20 October.
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Air France-KLM: Air France extended its suspension of Paris-Tel Aviv flights until 15 October and Paris-Beirut flights until 26 October. KLM extended the suspension of flights to Tel Aviv until the end of this year at least. The Franco-Dutch group’s low-cost unit Transavia cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv, Amman and Beirut until end of March.
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Air India: The Indian flag carrier suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv until further notice.
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Bulgaria Air: The Bulgarian carrier cancelled flights to and from Israel until 31 October.
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Cathay Pacific: Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific cancelled flights to Tel Aviv until 25 October 2025.
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Cyprus Airways: The Cypriot carrier cancelled flights to Tel Aviv until 13 October.
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Delta Air Lines: The US carrier paused flights between New York and Tel Aviv through to 31 December.
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EasyJet: The UK budget airline stopped flying to and from Tel Aviv in April and will resume flights on 30 March 2025.
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Emirates: UAE’s state-owned airline cancelled flights to Beirut through to 15 October and flights to and from Iraq and Iran until 16 October.
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Ethiopian Airlines: The Ethiopian carrier suspended flights to Beirut until further notice, it said in a Facebook post on 4 October.
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flydubai: The Emirati airline suspended Dubai-Beirut flights until 31 October, a flydubai spokesperson said.
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IAG: IAG-owned British Airways cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv through to 26 October. IAG’s low-cost airline Iberia Express cancelled flights to Tel Aviv until 31 October, while Vueling cancelled operations to Tel Aviv until 12 January 2025, and to Amman until further notice.
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Iran Air: The Iranian airline cancelled Beirut flights until further notice.
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Iraqi Airways: The Iraqi national carrier suspended flights to Beirut until further notice.
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ITA Airways: Italy’s ITA Airways extended the suspension of Tel Aviv flights through to 31 October.
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LOT: The Polish flag carrier cancelled flights to Tel Aviv until 26 October, while its first scheduled flight to Beirut is planned for 1 April 2025.
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Lufthansa Group: The German airline group suspended flights to Tel Aviv until 31 October, to Tehran until 26 October and to Beirut until 30 November. It will not use Iranian and Iraqi airspace until further notice, aside from a corridor used for flights to and from Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan. Israeli airspace will not be used until 31 October.
SunExpress, a joint venture between Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines, suspended flights to Beirut through to 17 December. -
Pegasus: The Turkish airline cancelled flights to Beirut until 28 October.
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Qatar Airways: The Qatari airline temporarily suspended flights to and from Iraq, Iran and Lebanon, while flights to Amman will operate during daylight hours only.
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Ryanair: Europe’s biggest budget airline cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv until the end of December. Group CEO Michael O’Leary on 3 October told journalists the suspension was likely to be extended until the end of March.
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Sundair: The German airline cancelled flights from Berlin, Bremen and Muenster/Osnabrueck to Beirut until 8 December.
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United Airlines: The Chicago-based airline suspended flights to Tel Aviv for the foreseeable future.
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TAROM: Romania’s flag carrier extended the suspension of Beirut flights until 22 October.
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Virgin Atlantic: The UK carrier extended suspension of Tel Aviv flights until end-March 2025.
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Wizz Air: The Hungary-based airline suspended flights to and from Israel and Jordan through to 13 October.
Lisa O’Carroll
Two UN soldiers in southern Lebanon have been injured after the United Nations Interim Force (Unifil) headquarters in Naquora were affected by explosions for the second time in 48 hours, the international peacekeeping force has said.
One injured peacekeeper was taken to a hospital in Tyre, while the second is being treated in Naqoura.
Unifil described the attacks as a “grave violation of international humanitarian law” detailing an Israeli Defence Force attempt to take down permiter walls of one of its posts in the buffer zone separating southern Lebanon and Israel.
Unifil said in a statement:
Several T-walls (concrete blast barriers) at our UN position 1-31, near the blue line in Labbouneh, fell when an IDF caterpillar hit the perimeter and IDF tanks moved in the proximity of the UN position. Our peacekeepers remained at the location, and a Unifil quick reaction force was dispatched to assist and reinforce the position.
These incidents put again UN peacekeepers, who are serving in south Lebanon at the request of the security council under resolution 1701 (2006), at very serious risks.
This is a serious development, and Unifil reiterates that the safety and security of UN personnel and property must be guaranteed and that the inviolability of UN premises must be respected at all times.
Any deliberate attack on peacekeepers is a grave violation of international humanitarian law and security council resolution 1701 (2006).”
It follows an attack yesterday which saw two Indonesians injured.
The Irish Defence Forces confirmed all its troops were safe and had “not been directly affected by incoming fire” and all necessary protection measures were being “diligently observed” at UN post 6-52 where it is in command.
You can see the Israeli army statement referred to earlier (see 3.19pm BST) via the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) international spokesperson LTC Nadav Shoshani’s post on X:
The IDF has been notified of that two UN peacekeepers were inadvertently hurt during IDF combat against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
The IDF expresses deep concern over incidents of this kind and is currently conducting a thorough review at the highest levels of command to determine the details.”
The IDF has been notified that two @UN peacekeepers were inadvertently hurt during IDF combat against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. The IDF expresses deep concern over incidents of this kind and is currently conducting a thorough review at the highest levels of command to…
— LTC Nadav Shoshani (@LTC_Shoshani) October 11, 2024
Israeli military conducting review after UN peacekeepers hurt in Lebanon
The Israeli military is conducting a thorough review after being notified that two UN peacekeepers were “inadvertently” hurt in southern Lebanon, the Israeli army said in a statement on Friday, according to Reuters.
UN peacekeepers in Lebanon on Friday warned of “very serious risks” for their blue helmets after explosions wounded two mission members near the Israeli border, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Israel and Hezbollah have been clashing in south Lebanon since last week when Israel announced “targeted” incursions into Lebanon against the Lebanese militant group, which is backed by Iran.
Friday’s incidents came after peacekeeping mission Unifil said its positions had been “repeatedly hit” and two Indonesian blue helmets were injured on Thursday, sparking a wave of international condemnation.
On Friday morning, “Unifil’s Naqura headquarters was affected by explosions for the second time in the last 48 hours. Two peacekeepers were injured after two explosions occurred close to an observation tower,” the peacekeeping mission said, reports AFP.
A Unifil spokesperson said the injured peacekeepers are Sri Lankan.
In addition, several blast walls “at our UN position 1-31, near the blue line in Labbouneh, fell when an IDF Caterpillar hit the perimeter and IDF tanks moved in the proximity of the UN position”.
“These incidents put again UN peacekeepers, who are serving in south Lebanon at the request of the securitycouncil under resolution 1701 (2006), at very serious risks,” Unifil said in a statement.
Earlier, Lebanon’s foreign ministry said the Israeli army targeted “watchtowers and the main Unifil base in Ras Naqura, and on the Sri Lankan battalion’s base, which led to a number of wounded”.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency said an Israeli “Merkava tank targeted one of the Unifil towers on the main road linking Tyre and Naqura”, wounding the Sri Lankan personnel.
Hezbollah said on Friday said it fired rockets at Israel troops in Ras Naqura, reports AFP.
In the earlier incident, on Thursday, Unifil said an Israeli tank fired towards a watchtower at the mission’s Naqura headquarters, hitting it and causing two peacekeepers to fall, with injuries.
The incident sparked condemnation from European members of the mission as well as China.
On Thursday, Israel’s military said its forces had opened fire in the area of the UN base, after telling the peacekeepers to stay protected, as Hezbollah fighters were operating in the area.
Human Rights Watch on Friday called for a UN inquiry “on Israeli attacks on peacekeepers” in Lebanon.
Further to the news that France has summoned Israel’s ambassador over an incident where Israeli troops opened fire at three positions held by UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon (see 2.36pm BST), Reuters has shared a quote from the French foreign ministry.
“These attacks constitute serious violations of international law and must stop immediately,” the ministry said.
France has about 700 troops as part of the Unifil mission. None of its troops has been wounded so far, reports Reuters.
The ministry said that all sides in the conflict had an obligation to protect peacekeepers.
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