Israel-Gaza conflict latest: Hezbollah and Israel exchange heavy fire as Cairo peace talks end without deal
A round of high-level talks in Cairo meant to bring about a ceasefire and hostage deal to temporarily end the 10-month Israel-Hamas war in Gaza ended on Sunday without a final agreement, a US official said.
Talks will continue at lower levels in the coming days to bridge the remaining gaps.
The official, who spoke anonymously to discuss the talks, said lower level “working teams” will remain in Cairo to meet with mediators from the United States, Qatar, and Egypt in hopes of addressing remaining disagreements.
The end of the talks came as Israel and Hezbollah traded heavy fire early on Sunday.
Hezbollah claimed it had hit an Israeli military intelligence site near Tel Aviv as part of a barrage of hundreds of rockets and drones, while Israel claimed its dozens of strikes had been pre-emptive to avert a larger attack. Neither offered evidence.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed that the latest exchange of strikes with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon is “not the end of the story”.
Key Points
Israel-Hamas war ceasefire, hostage talks will continue after weekend meetings didn’t resolve gaps
Israel launches heavy airstrikes on Lebanon, Hezbollah retaliates
Netanyahu says Israeli strikes against Hezbollah 'not the end of the story'
Biden ‘closely monitoring events in Israel and Lebanon’
Watch: US urges maximum restraint after Israel and Hezbollah exchange heavy fire
15:00 , Alexander Butler
Israel’s economy is struggling. Economists say ending war would help
14:00 , Namita Singh
In Jerusalem’s Old City, nearly all souvenir shops are closed. In Haifa’s flea market, forlorn merchants polish their wares on empty streets. Airlines are canceling flights, businesses are failing and luxury hotels are half empty.
Nearly 11 months into the war with Hamas, Israel’s economy is struggling as the country’s leaders grind ahead with an offensive in Gaza that shows no signs of ending and threatens to escalate into a wider conflict.
Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tried to allay concerns by saying the economic damage is only temporary. But the bloodiest, most destructive war ever between Israel and Hamas has hurt thousands of small businesses and compromised international trust in an economy once thought of as an entrepreneurial dynamo. Some leading economists say a cease-fire is the best way to stop the damage.
Report:
Israel's economy is struggling. Economists say ending the war would help
Israeli hardliner Ben-Gvir repeats call for prayers at Al-Aqsa mosque compound
13:30 , Namita Singh
Israel’s hardline security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir repeated a call for Jews to be allowed to pray at the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, drawing sharp criticism for inflaming tensions as ceasefire negotiators seek a deal to halt fighting in Gaza.
“The policy allows prayers on the Temple Mount, there is equal law between Jews and Muslims - I would build a synagogue there,” Mr Ben-Gvir was quoted as saying by Army Radio in a post on social media platform X, following an interview on Monday.
Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office immediately put out a statement restating the official Israeli position, which accepts decades-old rules restricting non-Muslim prayer at the mosque compound, known as Temple Mount to Jews, who revere it as the site of two ancient temples.
“There is no change to the status quo on the Temple Mount,” Mr Netanyahu’s office said.
The hillside compound, in Jerusalem’s Old City, is one of the most sensitive locations in the Middle East, holy for both Muslims and Jews, and the trigger for repeated conflict. Mr Ben-Gvir, head of one of two hardline religious-nationalist parties in Mr Netanyahu’s coalition, has a long record of making inflammatory statements appreciated by his own supporters, but conflicting with the government’s official line.
Monday’s comment was condemned by some of his own cabinet colleagues, but Mr Netanyahu’s dependence on the support of Mr Ben-Gvir’s party to hold his right-wing coalition together means that the minister is unlikely to be sacked or face any significant penalty.
Monday’s comments came less than two weeks after he triggered outrage by visiting the compound with hundreds of supporters, many of whom appeared to be praying openly in defiance of the status quo rules.
Fears of escalation amid diplomatic impasse between Israel and Hamas
13:00 , Namita Singh
The escalation between Israel and Hamas comes with little hope of an end in sight to the war, as diplomacy by mediators - Qatar, Egypt and the United States - has so far failed to reach a ceasefire deal.
Neither Hamas nor Israel agreed to several compromises presented by mediators at talks in Cairo on Sunday, two Egyptian security sources told Reuters.
A senior US official, however, described the talks as “constructive,” saying they were conducted in a spirit on all sides to reach “a final and implementable agreement.”
Hamas official Osama Hamdan said the group rejected new conditions made by Israel during the talks, which the group didn’t attend, and added that US comments over an imminent ceasefire deal were false and aimed to serve election purposes.
MSF lashes out over attacks near Al-Aqsa Hospital
12:30 , Namita Singh
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said in a statement on X on Sunday night that an explosion approximately 250m away from the MSF-supported Al-Aqsa Hospital triggered panic.
“As a result, MSF is considering whether to suspend wound care for the time being, while trying to maintain life-saving treatment,” it said.
From around 650 patients, only 100 remain in the hospital, with seven in intensive care unit, it said, citing Gaza’s health ministry.
“This situation is unacceptable. Al Aqsa has been operating well beyond capacity for weeks due to the lack of alternatives for patients.
“All warring parties must respect the hospital, as well as patients’ access to medical care,” it added.
Families flee after new Israeli evacuation orders in Gaza as ceasefire hopes dim
12:00 , Namita Singh
Israel issued new evacuation orders for Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip late on Sunday, forcing more families to flee, saying its forces intended to act against militant group Hamas and others operating in the area.
In recent days, Israel has issued several evacuation orders across Gaza, the most since the beginning of the 10-month war, prompting an outcry from Palestinians, the United Nations and relief officials over the reduction of humanitarian zones and the absence of safe areas.
The Deir Al-Balah municipality says Israeli evacuation orders have so far displaced 250,000 people.
Israeli military strikes killed at least seven Palestinians on Monday, medics said. Two were killed in Deir Al-Balah, where around a million people were sheltering, two at a school in the Al-Nuseirat camp and three in the southern city of Rafah, near the border with Egypt.
The new orders forced many families and patients to leave Al-Aqsa Hospital, the main medical facility in Deir Al-Balah, where hundreds of thousands of residents and displaced people had taken shelter, for fear of bombardments.
The hospital is close to the area covered by the evacuation notice.
Iran says Hezbollah's attack shows Israel losing its deterrent power
11:30 , Namita Singh
Israel has lost its deterrent power as it was unable to anticipate the time and place of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah’s “limited and managed attack”, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said in a post on X on Monday.
“The myth of the invincibility of the Israeli army has long become an empty slogan,” he added.
Greek-flagged tanker burning after Houthi attacks, but no sign of oil spill
11:00 , Namita Singh
A Greek-flagged tanker repeatedly attacked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the Red Sea remains on fire but has not yet sprung a major oil leak, a European Union naval command said on Monday.
The attack on the Sounion marks the most serious assault in weeks by the rebels, who continue to target shipping through the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
The attacks have disrupted the one trillion US dollars (£758bn) in trade that typically passes through the region, as well as halting some aid shipments to conflict-ravaged Sudan and Yemen.
Images published by the EU’s Operation Aspides, whose mission is to protect shipping in the area, showed smoke rising from multiple points along the Sounion’s deck and its bridge on Sunday.
Fires could be seen burning in at least nine different locations on the deck of the vessel, which had been loaded with 150,000 tons of Iraqi crude oil - roughly a million barrels. Some flames appeared near hatches of the ship’s oil tanks.
“So far there are no obvious signs of an oil spill,” the EU mission said.
Iran says Hezbollah's attack shows Israel losing its deterrent power
10:19 , Alexander Butler
Israel has lost its deterrent power as it was unable to anticipate the time and place of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah’s “limited and managed attack”, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said in a post on X on Monday.
Its economy and infrastructure battered, can Lebanon afford a war with Israel?
09:00 , Namita Singh
The ferocious exchange of fire by Hezbollah and the Israeli military is raising fears of a regional war beyond the tense border.
The risks for Lebanon are far greater than in 2006, when a month long war with Israel ended in a draw. Lebanon has struggled with years of political and economic crises that left it indebted, without a stable electricity supply, a proper banking system and with rampant poverty.
And with Hezbollah’s military power significantly greater, there are concerns that a new war would be far more destructive and prolonged.
Can Lebanon afford any of it?
Report:
Its economy and infrastructure battered, can Lebanon afford a war with Israel?
ICYMI: Israel says polio vaccines have been delivered to Gaza
08:30 , Namita Singh
Polio vaccines for more than one million people have been delivered to Gaza, Israel’s military said on Sunday after the first confirmed case of the disease in the territory in a quarter of a century.
It was not immediately clear how, or how quickly, more than 25,000 vials of vaccine would be distributed in Gaza, where ongoing fighting and unrest have challenged humanitarian efforts during more than 10 months of war.
Other polio cases are suspected across the largely devastated territory after the virus was detected in wastewater in six different locations in July.
Aid groups plan to vaccinate more than 600,000 children under age 10 and have called for an urgent pause in the war to increase vaccinations.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations children’s agency have said that, at a minimum, a seven-day pause is needed.
The UN has aimed to bring 1.6 million doses of polio vaccine into Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are crowded into tent camps lacking clean water or proper disposal of sewage and garbage. Families sometimes use wastewater to drink or clean dishes.
Iran doesn't seek to increase regional tensions, foreign minister tells Italian counterpart
07:36 , Namita Singh
Iran does not seek to increase Middle East tensions, its foreign minister Abbas Araqchi told his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani, adding that its retaliation for the killing of the Hamas chief in Tehran will be “definite and calculated”.
Greek-flagged ship Sounion on fire since 23 August after Houthi attack
06:08 , Namita Singh
The Greek-flagged ship Sounion has been on fire since August 23 after an attack by Yemen’s Houthis, EU Red Sea naval mission Aspides said in a post on X on Monday.
Aspides added that so far there are no obvious signs of an oil spill.
The EU mission published photos dated yesterday showing fire and smoke coming out of the vessel’s main deck.
The vessel had been staffed by a crew of 25 Filipinos and Russians, as well as four private security personnel, when it was attacked in the Red Sea on Thursday. It was taken by a French destroyer to nearby Djibouti, the European Union’s Aspides naval mission.
The Sounion has 150,000 tons of crude oil aboard and represents a “navigational and environmental hazard,” the mission warned. “It is essential that everyone in the area exercises caution and refrains from any actions that could lead to a deterioration of the current situation.”
Late Friday night, the Houthis released footage of an explosion striking the Sounion, their fighters on the water in the distance chanting the group’s slogan: “God is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse the Jews; victory to Islam.”
Biden ‘closely monitoring events in Israel and Lebanon’
05:15 , Namita Singh
President Joe Biden was “closely monitoring events in Israel and Lebanon“, Sean Savett, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, said.
The Pentagon said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, and ordered both US carrier strike groups in the region to stay. The US military has been building up its forces across the region in recent weeks.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General CQ Brown, arrived in Israel late Sunday for meetings on what the Israeli military called “joint preparations in the region as part of the response to threats in the Middle East”.
All-out war apparently averted for now.
Danny Citrinowicz, an expert at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, said Hezbollah might be trying to “balance the equation without escalating into war”. Each side hopes their narrative will be sufficient for them to declare victory and avoid a wider confrontation, he said.
This is not the end of the story, warns Netanyahu
05:00 , Namita Singh
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military eliminated thousands of rockets that were aimed at northern Israel and shot down drones heading for the centre of the country.
“I repeat – this is not the end of the story,” he added.
Flights diverted as air raid sirens wailAir raid sirens were reported throughout northern Israel, and Israel’s international airport closed and diverted flights for about an hour.
Israel’s military spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said about 100 Israeli planes struck 270 targets, 90 per cent of them rocket launchers aimed at northern Israel. He said they were investigating the percentage of incoming rockets and drones intercepted but said the “vast majority” were thwarted.
Hezbollah said its attack involved more than 320 Katyusha rockets aimed at multiple sites in Israel and a “large number” of drones.
Some Israelis were shaken.
In the northern city of Acre, retired teacher Saadia Even Tsur, 76, said he was at the synagogue and arrived home five minutes after his bedroom was damaged. “I went up and saw the size of the miracle that happened to me,” he said. A window was broken and debris was on the bed.
Israel and Hezbollah trade fire over weekend
04:45 , Namita Singh
Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah traded heavy fire early Sunday but backed off from sparking a widely feared all-out war, as both sides signalled their most intense exchange in months was over.
Hezbollah claimed to hit an Israeli military intelligence site near Tel Aviv as part of a barrage of hundreds of rockets and drones, and Israel claimed its dozens of strikes had been preemptive to avert a larger attack. Neither offered evidence.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the attack, which was a response to Israel’s killing of a top militant commander in Beirut last month, had been delayed to give the Gaza cease-fire talks a chance, and so fellow Iran-backed groups could discuss with Iran whether to attack Israel all at once. Israeli and US military deployment also played a role.
“We will now reserve the right to respond at a later time” if the results of Sunday’s attack aren’t sufficient, Nasrallah said, adding that allied Houthi rebels in Yemen - and Iran itself - had yet to respond. But he told the Lebanese people: “At this current stage, the country can take a breath and relax.”
Israel and Hezbollah said they aimed only at military targets. Israel said no military target was hit by Hezbollah but that one soldier with its navy was killed and two others were wounded either by an interceptor for incoming fire, or by shrapnel from one. Two Hezbollah fighters and a militant from an allied group were killed, the groups said.
In pictures: Families flee during an Israeli military operation in Deir Al Balah, central Gaza Strip
04:34 , Barney Davis
Israel-Hamas war ceasefire, hostage talks will continue after weekend meetings didn’t resolve gaps
04:07 , Namita Singh
A round of high-level talks in Cairo meant to bring about a cease-fire and hostage deal to at least temporarily end the 10-month Israel-Hamas war in Gaza ended on Sunday without a final agreement, a US official said.
But talks will continue at lower levels in the coming days in an effort to bridge remaining gaps.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the talks, said lower level “working teams” will remain in Cairo to meet with mediators the United States, Qatar, and Egypt in hopes to addressing remaining disagreements.
The official called the recent conversations, which began on Thursday in Cairo and continued through Sunday, as “constructive” and said all parties were working to “reach a final and implementable agreement”.
The talks included CIA director William Burns and David Barnea, the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. A Hamas delegation was briefed by Egyptian and Qatari mediators but did not directly take part in negotiations.
Israelis ‘shaken’ by latest round of missiles between Hezbollah
03:30 , Barney Davis
Air raid sirens were reported throughout northern Israel, and the international airport closed and diverted flights for about an hour as Israel and Hezbollah exchanged rocket fire in their most intense exchange in months earlier on Sunday.
Israel’s military spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said about 100 Israeli planes struck 270 targets, 90% of them rocket launchers aimed at northern Israel.
He said they were investigating the percentage of incoming rockets and drones intercepted but said the “vast majority” were thwarted.Hezbollah said its attack involved more than 320 Katyusha rockets aimed at multiple sites in Israel and a “large number” of drones.Some Israelis were shaken.
In the northern city of Acre, retired teacher Saadia Even Tsur, 76, said he was at the synagogue and arrived home five minutes after his bedroom was damaged. “I went up and saw the size of the miracle that happened to me,” he said. A window was broken and debris was on the bed.
Three deaths confirmed in Lebanon, one in Israel
02:34 , Barney Davis
With three deaths confirmed in Lebanon and one in Israel, both sides indicated they were happy to avoid further escalation for now, but warned that there could be more strikes to come.
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the Iranian-backed group’s barrage, a reprisal for the assassination of senior commander Fuad Shukr last month, had been completed “as planned”.
However, the group would assess the impact of its strikes and “if the result is not enough, then we retain the right to respond another time”, he said.
Israel’s foreign minister said the country did not seek a full-scale war, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned: “This is not the end of the story.”
Earlier, Netanyahu had said: “We are determined to do everything we can to defend our country ... whoever harms us - we harm him”.
Israel and Hezbollah said they aimed only at military targets
01:09 , Barney Davis
Israel said no military target was hit by Hezbollah but that one soldier with its navy was killed and two others were wounded either by an interceptor for incoming fire, or by shrapnel from one.
Two Hezbollah fighters and a militant from an allied group were killed, the groups said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military eliminated thousands of rockets that were aimed at northern Israel and shot down drones heading for the center of the country.“I repeat — this is not the end of the story,” he added.
Cairo talks over Gaza end without agreement, Egyptian security sources say
Sunday 25 August 2024 23:34 , Barney Davis
Talks over a possible Gaza deal ended without agreement in Cairo, with neither Hamas nor Israel agreeing to several comprises presented by mediators, two Egyptian security sources said on Sunday.
Israel and Lebanon back down from all-out war
Sunday 25 August 2024 22:27 , Barney Davis
Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah traded heavy fire early Sunday but backed off from sparking a widely feared all-out war, as both sides signaled their most intense exchange in months was over.
The cross-border attacks came as high-level talks resumed in Egypt aimed at a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza that also would ease regional tensions.
The Hamas and Israeli delegations later left Cairo, and an Israeli official speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss behind-the-scenes diplomacy said the talks were expected to continue.Hezbollah claimed to hit an Israeli military intelligence site near Tel Aviv as part of a barrage of hundreds of rockets and drones, and Israel claimed its dozens of strikes had been preemptive to avert a larger attack. Neither offered evidence.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the attack, a response to Israel’s killing of a top militant commander in Beirut last month, had been delayed to give the Gaza cease-fire talks a chance, and so fellow Iran-backed groups could discuss with Iran whether to attack Israel all at once. Israeli and U.S. military deployment also played a role.
“We will now reserve the right to respond at a later time” if the results of Sunday’s attack aren’t sufficient, Nasrallah said, adding that allied Houthi rebels in Yemen - and Iran itself - had yet to respond. But he told the Lebanese people: “At this current stage, the country can take a breath and relax.”
Hamas says it rejects new Israeli conditions in Gaza ceasefire talks
Sunday 25 August 2024 21:23 , Barney Davis
Hamas said that it rejects new Israeli conditions put forward in Gaza ceasefire talks, casting further doubt on the chances of a breakthrough in the latest U.S.-backed effort to end the 10-month-old war.
Months of on-off talks have failed to produce an agreement to end Israel’s devastating military campaign in Gaza or free the remaining hostages seized by Hamas in the militant group’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war.
Key sticking points in ongoing talks mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar include an Israeli presence in the so-called Philadelphi Corridor, a narrow 14.5 km-long (nine-mile) stretch of land along Gaza’s southern border with Egypt.
Hamas said Israel has backtracked on a commitment to withdraw troops from the Corridor and put forward other new conditions, including the screening of displaced Palestinians as they return to the enclave’s more heavily populated north when the ceasefire begins.
“We will not accept discussions about retractions from what we agreed to on July 2 or new conditions,” Hamas official Osama Hamdan told the group’s Al-Aqsa TV on Sunday.
Israel says more polio vaccines are delivered to Gaza, where aid groups seek pause in fighting
Sunday 25 August 2024 20:30 , Barney Davis
Israel’s military on Sunday said polio vaccines for more than 1 million people had been delivered to Gaza, after the first confirmed case of the disease in the territory in a quarter-century.
It was not immediately clear how, or how quickly, the more than 25,000 vials of vaccine would be distributed in Gaza, where ongoing fighting and unrest have challenged humanitarian efforts during more than 10 months of war.
Other polio cases are suspected across the largely devastated territory after the virus was detected in wastewater in six different locations in July.
Aid groups plan to vaccinate more than 600,000 children under age 10 and have called for an urgent pause in the war to increase vaccinations. The World Health Organization and the United Nations children’s agency have said that, at a minimum, a seven-day pause is needed.
UN chief urges Hezbollah, Israel to cease hostilities
Sunday 25 August 2024 19:30 , Barney Davis
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “deeply concerned” by the escalation between Israel and Hezbollah and calls for both parties to immediately return to a cessation of hostilities, his spokesperson said on Sunday.
“These actions put both the Lebanese and Israeli populations at risk, as well as threatening regional security and stability,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
Hezbollah leader makes lengthy speech after rockets fired at Israel
Sunday 25 August 2024 18:29 , Tom Watling
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has said that his group would assess the impact of its rocket and drone attack on Israeli military targets earlier in the day before determining whether it would carry out further attacks to avenge a slain commander.
The leader of the Lebanese armed group said in a televised address that it had been able to carry out its attack “as planned,” denying statements by the Israeli military that its pre-emptive strikes had stopped a wider attack by the group.
Nasrallah, speaking about 12 hours after the most intense exchange of fire between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel since hostilities broke out in parallel with the war in Gaza, said the group had intentionally refrained from targeting civilians or public infrastructure, including Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.
He said the group’s main target was a military intelligence base about 110 km (70 miles) inside Israeli territory - the deepest attack yet and just 1.5 km north of Tel Aviv.
Nasrallah said the group would assess the results of the operation, a retaliation for Israel‘s killing of top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukron the edges of Beirut last month.
“If the result is not enough, then we retain the right to respond another time,” Nasrallah said.
Nasrallah said Hezbollah had not planned a larger attack, specifically denying Israeli military statements that the group had intended to fire thousands of projectiles.
But he acknowledged that the operation had been delayed for several reasons, including what he called a “mobilization” of Israeli and American military assets in the region.
British Airways and Wizz Air suspend flights to Israel amid regional escalation
Sunday 25 August 2024 18:01 , Tom Watling
British Airways and Wizz Air suspend flights to Israel amid regional escalation
Israeli military says one navy soldier killed, two wounded in combat in northern Israel
Sunday 25 August 2024 17:30 , Tom Watling
One Israel navy soldier was killed and two wounded during combat in northern Israel on Sunday, the Israeli military said.
It gave no details of the circumstances of the soldier’s death but Israeli media reported it occurred on a naval vessel offshore as an interceptor from Israel‘s Iron Dome aerial defence system engaged a drone fired by Hezbollah.
Hezbollah leader issues warning of future attacks
Sunday 25 August 2024 17:00 , Tom Watling
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has claimed that Hezbollah did not use precision missiles in their strikes this morning but that they could use them in the near future.
In a lengthy speech, he added that Hezbollah had targeted an Israeli military intelligence base just outside of Tel Aviv and had ruled out targeting civilian infrastructure.
Jordan warns that escalation in lebanon could lead to regional war
Sunday 25 August 2024 16:28 , Tom Watling
Jordan has warned that heightened escalation between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah could lead to a “regional war” that would threaten stability.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Sufain Qudah said that Israel‘s relentless “aggression” in Gaza and the failure to reach a ceasefire was exposing the region to the dangers of an expansion of the conflict, Jordanian state media reported.
Israel and Hezbollah traded messages saying neither wants further escalation, two diplomats say
Sunday 25 August 2024 16:01 , Tom Watling
Israel and the Lebanon-based group Hezbollah exchanged messages via intermediaries on Sunday in order to prevent further escalation following one of the biggest exchanges of fire between the two foes in 10 months, two diplomats told Reuters.
The main message was that both sides considered that Sunday’s intense exchange of bombardment was “done” and that neither side wanted a full-scale war, one diplomat said. The diplomats spoke on condition they were not identified.
From Hamas to Hezbollah, a look at the Iran-allied groups rallying to arms around Middle East
Sunday 25 August 2024 15:30 , Tom Watling
From Hamas to Hezbollah, a look at the groups rallying to arms around Middle East
Netanyahu says Israeli strikes against Hezbollah 'not the end of the story'
Sunday 25 August 2024 15:00 , Tom Watling
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel took pre-emptive action against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement in Lebanon and said air defences had intercepted all rockets and drones launched against Israel.
He said that the leaders of Hezbollah and Iran should know that the response was “another step towards changing the situation in the north and returning our residents safely to their homes” and that “this is not the end of the story”.
Watch live: Israeli government spokesman David Mencer gives update as Middle East conflict escalates
Sunday 25 August 2024 14:28 , Tom Watling
Watch: Israeli government spokesman gives update as Middle East conflict escalates
Gallant debriefs US defence sec on Lebanon strikes
Sunday 25 August 2024 14:00 , Tom Watling
Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant has debriefed his US counterpart Lloyd Austin on the exchange of rocket fire with the Hezbollah militia in southern Lebanon.
Conducted a joint situation assessment and spoke with @SecDef Austin about the precise strikes that the IDF has conducted in Lebanon in order to thwart an imminent threat against the citizens of Israel. We will use all the means at our disposal to defend Israel.
Discussed the…— יואב גלנט - Yoav Gallant (@yoavgallant) August 25, 2024
Suspended flights at Beirut international airport following Israel-Hezbollah exchange
Sunday 25 August 2024 13:29 , Tom Watling
Hamas issue statement after Hezbollah attack on Israel
Sunday 25 August 2024 13:00 , Tom Watling
Fellow Iran-backed militia Hamas have released a message in support of Hezbollah’s attack on Israel.
“We praise and bless the great qualitative response carried out by Hezbollah against vital and strategic targets deep within [Israel].
“We condemn the occupation’s escalation of its brutal aggression against the sisterly Lebanese Republic in flagrant violation of international conventions
“[Israeli] intransigence reveals once again that it is a rogue entity that poses a threat to the region and international security and stability."
Updated: What is Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed group that could go to all-out war against Israel?
Sunday 25 August 2024 12:30 , Tom Watling
What is Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed group that could go to war against Israel?
Updated: Death toll in Gaza
Sunday 25 August 2024 12:07 , Tom Watling
More than 40,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its retaliatory offensive in the Strip last October, the local health ministry has reported.
The Hamas-run body reported that 40,405 Palestinians have been killed while a further 93,468 have been injured.
Air France cancels flights to Tel Aviv and Beirut
Sunday 25 August 2024 11:47 , Tom Watling
Air France has cancelled its flights to Tel Aviv and Beirut until Monday at least, the company said after Hezbollah launched rockets and drones at Israel on Sunday and Israel’s military said it struck Lebanon with about 100 jets.
Israel residents assess damage to their homes after Hezbollah rocket attack
Sunday 25 August 2024 11:30 , Tom Watling
What to know about the heavy exchange of fire between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah
Sunday 25 August 2024 11:15 , Tom Watling
What to know about the heavy exchange of fire between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah
Israel enters a state of emergency
Sunday 25 August 2024 11:00 , Tom Watling
Israeli president praises ‘decisive action’ of military
Sunday 25 August 2024 10:50 , Tom Watling
The decisive action we witnessed early this morning epitomizes Israel's right and duty to defend itself and its citizens against the threat of terrorism.
This is once again an opportunity to express our gratitude and support for our daughters and sons in the Israel Defense…— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) August 25, 2024
Pictures from inside Gaza
Sunday 25 August 2024 10:42 , Tom Watling
While the main story this morning involves the exchange of rocket fire between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, the situation in Gaza remains difficult.
Below we have some pictures from the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.
Egypt warns against dangers of opening new war front in Lebanon
Sunday 25 August 2024 10:30 , Tom Watling
Egypt warned against the dangers of opening a new war front in Lebanon, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday, and called for stability in the country as Hezbollah and Israel clashed again.
UN officials say developments on Lebanese-Israeli border 'worrying', UN agencies say
Sunday 25 August 2024 10:20 , Tom Watling
The Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon (UNSCOL) and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) described the developments on the Lebanese-Israeli border as “worrying”, and called on all parties to cease fire and refrain from further escalation, they said in a statement.
